Kirtland Temple: The Biography of a Shared Mormon Sacred Space Paperback – May 12, 2014

I am preparing to be a tour guide at this historic and special building and found this volume to be packed with useful information and careful research.

A Fascinating and Honest Account I found this book to be a fascinating and honest account of the Kirtland Temple in its several manifestations. It reads like a Ph.D. dissertation and perhaps it is. That's okay, however, because Howlett's research seems to be thorough. I am not a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, nor have I belonged to the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints or The Community of Christ. I had ancestors, however, who were gathered up and drawn down from Canada and New York through the Midwest to Nauvoo. After the death of Joseph Smith, Jr., in the Carthage Jail, my people followed James J. Strang up to Beaver Island, MI, and eventually ended up with the group that followed Smith's son and founded the Reorganized Church. I read the book because I wanted to know something about my ancestors' experiences, but I learned much, much more. Most troubling was the evidence of history being re-written to fit circumstances and social needs, and that, of course, is wrong history, bad history, totally dishonest history. I thank Howlett for this honest history of a monument and the people who told their own stories around it.

Howlett has written a fun read about a sacred and historical edifice

The kirtland temple has always been a focus of pride and conflict among the various LDS churches. There is a great deal of information about this site, and the author clearly presents the conflicts and the passionate attachment. The subtitle includes "shared sacred space" and what the author can't seem to articulate is what makes this a sacred space. Is it simply what took place here? Or does it exist as sacred in the present sense? It is a focus of longing among LDS but that isn't sacred in itself. There is way too much C of C vs Mormon sniping related in the text. The details of the cult murder that took place in the area is well presentd, but like so much of the rest, it is undigested and leaves more questions than it answers. It would be an epic accomplishment if the author had sat down with various LDS and together asked these things. Can you imaging a consensus approach to the subject ?

Good lesson on how the Temple has been utilized since it's dedication buy both churches