Embracing Nauvoo: Wild World of non-LDS Temples (Rick B 1 of 4)

Many people think there aren’t non-LDS temples, but that’s not true. When Joseph Smith was assassinated in 1844, the restoration did not just fracture geographically—it shattered the unified theology of the temple. While the LDS Church went on to build a massive global network of private temples, several other branches of the restoration developed highly unique, surprising, and divergent temple traditions of their own.

Don’t miss our other conversations on temples: https://gospeltangents.com/mormon_history/lds-temples/

In this presentation to the Book of Mormon Perspectives Forum, Gospel Tangents host Rick Bennett explores the fascinating history of “Divergent Temples” across different restoration groups:

The Wightites (Texas): Led by Apostle Lyman Wight, this group built the first temple west of the Mississippi in Zodiac, Texas, in 1849—nearly 30 years before the St. George Utah Temple. Shockingly, Wight’s temple endowments were completely open to the public. To secretly practice polygamy, women in the group used their maiden names on both the census and during proxy baptisms to avoid government detection.
The Strangites (Wisconsin & Michigan): Led by James Strang, who claimed an angel ordained him as Joseph’s successor on the day of the martyrdom. Strang established the “Order of the Illuminati,” which featured mysterious, phosphorus-anointed initiations that culminated in Strang being crowned as the “king in Zion.”
The Cutlerites (Missouri): Founded by Alpheus Cutler, the seventh member of Joseph Smith’s original Quorum of the Anointed. Today, a dwindling number of Cutlerites in Independence, Missouri, still perform temple work on the private second floor of their building. Scholars believe their endowment ceremony is the most unchanged version since the 1840s. However, to distance themselves from polygamy, they reject sealings for the dead while continuing to perform sealings for the living.

Whether you are interested in historical mysteries, theological evolutions, or the Masonic roots of early endowment dramas, this episode offers an eye-opening look at how different restoration groups have sought to build holiness to the Lord.

00:00 Introduction

04:13 Nauvoo Temple Origins

12:14 Groups That Kept Nauvoo-Style Temples

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 32:02 — 29.4MB) | Embed

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