Mormon Monastery » General Refs

“Christ Manifested to His People.”- Elder Marion D. Hanks. TAW: 3-28. Gospelink (subscription required)

“A House of Glory.”- Hugh Nibley. TAW: 29-47.

Nibley uses D&C 109 to walk you through the temple ordinances. Illustrated.
FARMS transcript, text only. Gospelink (subscription required)

“The Meaning of the Temple.” –Hugh Nibley, TAC: 1-41.

Drawings.
FARMS transcript, text only. Gospelink (subscription required)

“Temples- the Gates to Heaven.” – Elder Marion G. Romney. Ensign, March 1971.

“The Holy Temple.” – Elder Boyd K. Packer. Ensign, February 1995.

“Temples.” –Encyclopedia of Mormonism. Abbreviated EM throughout.

Four articles, particularly useful for those preparing to go to the temple.
Gospelink (subscription required)

“Ancient Temples and their Function.” –Sidney B. Sperry. Ensign, January 1972.

Between Heaven and Earth- Presentation originally broadcast between October 2002 (?) general conference sessions, featuring both LDS and non-LDS scholars such as Frank Moore Cross (Harvard), Krister Stendahl (Harvard), Lawrence Schiffman (NYU), John Lundquist, Truman Madsen, Elder Boyd K. Packer, and Elder Jeffrey R. Holland, among others.

Available for $4.50 on VHS or DVD from the BYU bookstore, Deseret Book, and LDS Church Distribution in multi-lingual format (English, Spanish, Portuguese.)

“What I Hope You Will Teach Your Children about the Temple.” President Ezra Taft Benson. Ensign, August 1985: 6-10.

“Endowment.” –Elder Alma P. Burton. EM, 454-456.

Gospelink (subscription required)

“The Purpose of the Temple.” – President David O. McKay. Pamphlet published by the LDS church, 1960(?).

“Temple Ordinances.” -Allen Claire Rozsa, EM: 1444-45

Gospelink (subscription required)

“Why these Temples?”- President Gordon B. Hinckley, Ensign. This article appears in the undated issue devoted to temples.

“What is a Temple?” – Hugh Nibley. MEC, 355-383

Looks at temple typology, ritual, and history. First written for the dedication of the London Temple in 1958.
Gospelink (subscription required)

Elder Russell M. Nelson, “Personal Preparation for Temple Blessings.” Ensign, May 2001

Gives some suggestions for personal temple preparation, including reading portions of the Old Testament.

Richard O. Cowan and Frank A. Bruno, Bibliography on Temples and Temple Work (Provo: Brigham Young University, 1982)

Elder Franklin D. Richards “The Temple of the Lord: The Importance of Temples, Ancient and Modern.” Utah Genealogical and Historical Magazine 11 (Oct. 1920): 146-49.

I’m not sure which Franklin D. Richards wrote this. One would have been dead for 20 years, and the other 20 years old and serving a mission, so I assume it’s a reprint of something the first one wrote.

Elder John A. Widtsoe. “Temple and Temple Building” Utah Genealogical and Historical Magazine 12 (July 1921): 113-22.

“What is a covenant?” from my Temple Preparation FAQ

Discusses covenants in the scriptures and the rituals for making them, and draws comparisons to the temple ordinances.

Edward L. Kimball. “The History of LDS Temple Admission Standards.” Journal of Mormon History Spring (1998): 135-175. .

Available electronically from the University of Utah library.
This paper details the history of requirements, standards, and questions to receive a temple recommend (if they had them at the time) and enter an LDS temple. The implementation and standards embodied by the temple recommend questions have changed over time, but not extensively. An excellent and important article.

Kenneth Godfrey. The Importance of the Temple in Understanding the Latter-day Saint Nauvoo Experience: Then and Now. Vol. 6, The Arrington Lecture Series. (Logan, Utah: Utah State University, 2001.) 41 pages.

Elder John A. Widtsoe. “Looking towards the Temple” Ensign, January (1972), 56.

Elder John A. Widtsoe. “Fundamentals of Temple Doctrine.” Utah Genealogical and Historical Magazine 13 (June 1922):129-35.

Elder John A. Widtsoe. “Temple Worship” The Utah Genealogical and Historical Magazine 12 (Apr. 1921): 49-66.