From the New York Times (via PaleoJudaica.blogspot.com):
Rebuilding Solomon’s Temple, in São Paulo
By ROBERT MACKEYThis week, as Jews around the world observed the fasting day of Tisha B’av, commemorating the destruction of the First and Second Jewish Temples in ancient Jerusalem, a Brazilian megachurch received planning permission to build a 10,000-seat replica of Solomon’s Temple in the city of São Paulo.
As Tom Phillips of The Guardian noted, a Brazilian newspaper, Estado de São Paulo, reported that the church will cost an estimated $200 million and should be completed in four years.
According to a post on the blog of Bishop Edir Macedo, the founder of Brazil’s evangelical Universal Church of the Kingdom of God, which is building the replica, the structure will be 180 feet high, making it nearly twice as tall as the Christ the Redeemer statue that towers over Rio de Janeiro. Mr. Macedo also said that stones of the same type used by Solomon had been ordered from Jerusalem to be used in a complex which will also house 36 Bible schools, television and radio studios and a 1,000-space parking lot.
In 1998, Alan Riding reported for The Times that the Brazilian police investigated charges that the Universal Church “pretends to cure people by expelling the Devil from their bodies, using grotesque and humiliating gestures reminiscent of the barbaric sects of the Middle Ages.”
The Bishop’s blog also reported that a leader of the city’s Jews has called the temple project “very interesting” and suggested that the project might help fight anti-Semitism by educating Brazilians about Israel. The blog also said this about the prospects for a similar project in Jerusalem : “For Jews, there is still hope that the Third Temple is constructed so that the Messiah will reign with them. But for that to happen, they will have to expect some natural disaster or governmental changes.”
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This would be quite a site to see — although it is rather disappointing that the inside of the building will apparently not be very similar at all to Solomon’s Temple nor, I am sure, will it have the sacred rituals that were performed in that edifice. As I was a missionary in Brazil and am very familiar with the church that is planning this project, I will refrain myself from making further comment…
12 Comments
I also served in Brazil (Rio de Janeiro) and so I’m also very familiar with this particular church. It is priestcraft plain and simple. Too bad such a magnificent looking building will house such thievery.
Thanks for the comment, James. I served in Rio de Janeiro (Norte) as well! When did you serve your mission? Yes, I also had plenty of interesting experiences with that church. When I learned that they were asking $1000 offering so that the rest of your life would be blessed I realized that they were not your average fairly-benign evangelical church.
I served in Rio from 2003-2005. It was wonderful, as I’m sure you know.
August 8th, 2010
Temple Institute of Jerusalem Responds to Publicized Plans of Brazil-based Universal Church of the Kingdom of God to construct Mega Church in the Form of $200 Million Replica of Biblical Holy Temple in Sao Paulo, Brazil:
THE MEGALOMANIACAL BISHOP EDIR MACEDO MOCKS THE GOD OF ISRAEL
This year, during the week in which Jews around the world observed the fast day of Tisha B’av which commemorates the destruction of the First and Second Holy Temples in ancient Jerusalem, the New York Times reported that a Brazilian mega church announced its intention to build a 10,000-seat replica of the Holy Temple in the city of São Paulo.
The Temple Institute of Jerusalem decries this hubris-inspired act of self-aggrandizement as being the equivalent of the destruction of the Third Temple, even before it is built.
This planned church is a mockery which stands in diametric opposition to everything that the Holy Temple of Jerusalem represents. The Bible, bequeathed to the world by the Jewish people, emphasizes the preeminence of Jerusalem and its spiritual and prophetic role in the future of both Israel and all mankind. We are witness today to the phenomenon of nations that seek to de-legitimize Israel’s connection to Jerusalem. This planned mega church represents the next logical step, the de-legitimization of the significance of Jerusalem altogether.
The Bible teaches that the essence of Jerusalem is the presence of G-d: “It will happen in the end of days, that the mountain of the Temple of the Lord will be firmly established as the head of the mountains…and all the nations will stream to it. Many peoples will go up and say, ‘Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the Temple of the God of Jacob…for from Zion will the Torah come forth, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem’.” (Isaiah 2:2–3)
Today, the world is focused on issues of sacred space, equal rights and moral sensitivity regarding the proposed Islamic center and mosque that is slated to be erected overlooking Manhattan’s Ground Zero. Bishop Macedo’s planned mega church is likewise a usurpation and abuse of the sacred space that is embodied by the Biblical concept and vision of the Holy Temple, and a gross expropriation of Judaism’s most sacred values. The Shechina glory (Divine Presence) of G-d cannot be copycatted and cannot simply be usurped and transplanted elsewhere. This is nothing more than the Universal Church of the Kingdom of God’s cynical and manipulative attempt to morph the Bible’s universal message into its own self-serving agenda.
The Temple Institute, founded in 1987, is a non-profit educational and religious organization located in Jerusalem, Israel. The Institute is dedicated to every aspect of the Biblical commandment to build the Holy Temple of God on Mount Moriah in Jerusalem. The major focus of the Temple Institute is its efforts towards the beginning of the actual rebuilding of the Holy Temple.
http://www.templeinstitute.org
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qxvQpsdLtr0
I am Brazilian, of the Evangelical Church. Never been but I respect the missionary activity. What happens is that this church loves blaspheme! This task is, according to Revelation, to Jews, and this will be done not in Brazil but in the original location where he had been the King Solomon’s Temple, where today is the Mosque of Omar. This is talk, lie, another trap of the enemy to draw the attention of the people of God’s prophetic clock true.
Oi Erica!
Obrigado por compartilhar seus sentimentos aqui. Parece que muita gente nao esta feliz com o que eles estao fazendo com este “templo.”
Obrigado por visitar o meu blog.
People of G-d!
Do we not know that your structure never did or ever could hold God? For the earth is his foot stool! If the Universal Church is made by mare man then it will diminish but if its made by Gods own hands then who dares to challenge God himself. Be VERY careful to not hold anger against any one for you will not be clean before Him. Instead of agrueing about other God believers why don’t we stop those evil demons that are destroying homes with disease, poverty, and sadness. Lets join together and help the ones who need us the most. We- the ones who were touched by G-d. For G-d would want this!
what makes me upset is the blindness of the brazilian followers of this church, they have no idea that as they give money their money for this project they are cooperating with the devil and the anti-christ to come. It has nothing to do with Our Lord Jesus Christ.
How does building the Temple of Solomon represent the coming of the anti-Christ?. Make sure you know what you talking about, and have reference before saying something. do not kill with you words.
Brothers in Christ, do not say of something that does not have full understanding.
The Edir Macedo has one the church full of scandals, thefts and diversion of offerings, etc.. But never found the church to build such a very great temples and invested so much in the Work of God and the Universal Church of the Kingdom of God. by chance that his president is not the owner of television network Rede Record, a company that makes millions of reais a month and with the rank of 2nd most watched on brazil. he may have many goods and money, but do not believe their “deviations ” are for your own comfort. I say this because I am Brazilian and I know very well everything that is done by Edir Macedo and his Church.
Before you condemn someone, see if this defendant deserves it, death penalty,because no man today had the audacity to perform the the construction of this great temple that makes us imagine the ancient temple of Solomon
What a joy it would go into a church and feel the true temple of Solomon. It would be the same feel as a historian feels when visiting the works of ancient
God bless all world
Servi em Sao Paulo Norte! A Igreja Universal… que grupo interessante.
I wasn’t aware of this one, actually. Hm. I remember this church pretty well. I read through their newsletter on occasion. I listened in on the sermons of a couple of these Brazil-based churches, actually. One of the pastors once incorrectly identified the author of Matthew as Paul while I was within earshot. I thus far have not been impressed with their biblical scholarship, and I must confess that this project does little to change that impression.
I’m mostly interested to see the renewed interest in Temples amongst other Christian groups. It’s not uncommon to see words like “Cathedral” and “Temple” used to simply describe large church buildings that serve no special purpose except for greater seating capacity (“cathedral” simply denotes that the building houses the bishop’s throne, the “cathedra”, and has little to do with the building’s size; we’re more familiar with the special meaning of the word “temple” and how it is different from a mere church building). This seems a more earnest attempt to put special meaning into the word “Temple”, though.
Por lo menos, lo importante es el interés de grupos cristianos o judíos sobre los temas del Templo. Va a ser uan buena oportunidad para que los mormones enseñemos el verdadero propósito de ellos.