New temples, and who holds the keys of authority

New temples, and who holds the keys of authority March 29, 2017

 

Interior of St. Peter's dome.
Around the base of the interior of Michelangelo’s dome atop St. Peter’s Basilica in Vatican City are words from the Latin Vulgate translation of Matthew 16:18-19: “Tu es Petrus et super hanc petram aedificabo ecclesia meam et portae inferi non praevalebunt adverse eam et tibi dabo claves regni caelorum” (“Thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven.”)
Public domain image from Wikimedia Commons.

 

It’s soul-satisfying to see new temples arising in areas near and far.  I love temples.

 

At this link though, I especially like the video about the statues of the Savior and the Twelve that have just been installed in the as-yet-unopened Visitor Center on the grounds of the still-under-construction Rome Italy Temple.

 

I think these statues make a statement.  Especially the statue of the apostle Peter, who is holding the symbolic keys of authority.  After all, there’s another denomination, prominently represented in Rome, that places quite a bit of emphasis on the keys held by St. Peter and his successors.

 

The papal coat of arms
The image of the papal crown and the crossed keys of St. Peter is omnipresent throughout St. Peter’s Basilica, which was expressly designed to symbolize the claimed authority of the Pope.

(Public domain image from Wikimedia Commons)

 

The original statues of the Christus and of the Twelve by Bertel Thorvaldsen, copies of which now stand in the Mormon Visitor Center in Rome, are to be found in Vor Frue Kirke, the Cathedral of Copenhagen, Denmark.

 

During an address delivered at the April 2008 General Conference of the Church and titled, simply, “The Twelve,” President Boyd K. Packer related a story, set in that Danish church that struck me then and that has stuck with me ever since:

 

In 1976 an area general conference was held in Copenhagen, Denmark. Following the closing session, President Spencer W. Kimball desired to visit the Vor Frue Church, where the Thorvaldsen statues of the Christus and of the Twelve Apostles stand. He had visited there some years earlier and wanted all of us to see it, to go there.

To the front of the church, behind the altar, stands the familiar statue of the Christus with His arms turned forward and somewhat outstretched, the hands showing the imprint of the nails, and the wound in His side very clearly visible. Along each side stand the statues of the Apostles, Peter at the front to the right and the other Apostles in order.

Most of our group was near the rear of the chapel with the custodian. I stood up front with President Kimball before the statue of Peter with Elder Rex D. Pinegar and Johan Helge Benthin, president of the Copenhagen stake.

In Peter’s hand, depicted in marble, is a set of heavy keys. President Kimball pointed to those keys and explained what they symbolized. Then, in an act I shall never forget, he turned to President Benthin and with unaccustomed firmness pointed his finger at him and said, “I want you to tell everyone in Denmark that I hold the keys! We hold the real keys, and we use them every day.”

I will never forget that declaration, that testimony from the prophet. The influence was spiritually powerful; the impression was physical in its impact.

We walked to the back of the chapel where the rest of the group was standing. Pointing to the statues, President Kimball said to the kind custodian, “These are the dead Apostles.” Pointing to me, he said, “Here we have the living Apostles. Elder Packer is an Apostle. Elder Thomas S. Monson and Elder L. Tom Perry are Apostles, and I am an Apostle. We are the living Apostles.

“You read about the Seventies in the New Testament, and here are two of the living Seventies, Elder Rex D. Pinegar and Elder Robert D. Hales.”

The custodian, who up to that time had shown no emotion, suddenly was in tears.

I felt I had had an experience of a lifetime.

 

 


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