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The Temple Lot, located in Independence, Jackson County, Missouri, is the first site to be dedicated for the construction of a temple in the Latter Day Saint movement. The area was dedicated on Wednesday, August 3, 1831 by the movement's founder, Joseph Smith, Jr.,〔(Independence Temple, LDSChurchTemples.com. )〕 and purchased on December 19, 1831 by his colleague Edward Partridge to be the center of the New Jerusalem or "City of Zion" after he received a revelation stating that it would be the gathering spot of the Saints during the Last Days.〔H. Michael Marquardt, ("The Independence Temple of Zion" ), 1997. Retrieved January 24, 2008.〕 The most prominent 2.5-acre section of the Temple Lot is currently an open, grass-covered field occupied in its northeast corner by a few trees and the headquarters of the Church of Christ (Temple Lot), which is not considered a temple by adherents of that sect. No other structures (with the exception of monuments, markers and signposts) exist on the 2.5-acre section, although numerous important structures exist on the 63.5-acre section, such as the United Nations Peace Plaza, the Community of Christ Auditorium, the Truman Railroad Depot, the LDS Visitors Center, the Community of Christ Temple, an LDS Church stake center,〔(Missouri Independence Mission History (LDS) )〕 and the Six Nations Tree of Peace. ==Overview== The city of Independence, Missouri became important to the Latter Day Saint movement starting in the autumn of 1830, only a few months after the religion was incorporated in the state of New York in April 1830. The movement's founder, Joseph Smith, had said he had received revelations designating this city as the "Center Place" of "Zion",〔Doctrine and Covenants 57:2–3 (LDS Church ed.).〕 and many early adherents apparently believed that the Garden of Eden had been located there—including later LDS Church leaders Brigham Young and Heber C. Kimball, who said he was told this by Joseph Smith. Alexander Majors, who was a sixteen-year-old resident of Independence in 1831, wrote in his memoirs: However, since Smith never issued an official revelation to the effect that Independence and the Temple Lot were the site of the Garden of Eden, Latter Day Saints (other than some adherents of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints) traditionally do not formally accept this claim as doctrine.〔Bruce A. Van Orden, (“I Have a Question: What do we know about the location of the Garden of Eden?” ), ''Ensign'', January 1994, 54–55; see also Andrew Jenson, ''Historical Record'', 7:438–39 (1888); Orson F. Whitney, ''Life of Heber C. Kimball'', Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 219 (1967); Heber C. Kimball, "Advancement of the Saints", ''Journal of Discourses'' 10:235 (1863); ''Journal History of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints'', Brigham Young to Orson Hyde, March 15, 1857 (1830-); Wilford Woodruff, Susan Staker (ed.), ''Waiting for the World to End: The Diaries of Wilford Woodruff'', Salt Lake City: Signature Books, 305 (1993); John A. Widtsoe, G. Homer Durham (ed.), ''Evidences and Reconciliations'', 396–397 (1960); Bruce R. McConkie, ''Mormon Doctrine'', Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 19–20〕 While Smith later issued a revelation indicating a spot named Adam-ondi-Ahman (fifty miles to the north of Independence) as the place Adam and Eve went to after being expelled from the Garden, he never officially confirmed or denied the idea that Independence had been the location of Eden itself. Although Smith had designated the Temple Lot site as the heart of his new City of Zion, the Latter Day Saints were expelled from Jackson County (late 1833) and later from Missouri (early 1839) before a temple could be constructed. Ownership of the property later became the subject of court challenges among some sects of the Latter Day Saint movement that arose from the succession crisis following Smith's assassination, most notably between the Church of Christ (Temple Lot) and the Community of Christ, formerly known as the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. In 1891 the Reorganized Church, founded by Smith's son Joseph Smith III, sued in the United States District Court for the Western District of Missouri to take possession of the property. It won in lower court, but lost in the United States Court of Appeals. The United States Supreme Court refused to review the case.〔Ron Romig, ("The Temple Lot Suit After 100 Years" ), ''JWHA Journal'', 12 (1992):3–15〕 The Temple Lot is currently owned by the small Church of Christ (Temple Lot), which acquired the land in 1867. This organization made a failed effort in 1929 to build a temple of its own on the property,〔(History of the Church of Christ ). Retrieved March 25, 2009.〕 which represents to date the only attempt to erect such a structure since the time of Joseph Smith. Currently this body has its headquarters on the site, which has twice been damaged by arson attacks. The Temple Lot church has insisted since about 1976 (when final attempts at conciliation by the RLDS took place) that it will not cooperate with other Latter Day Saint or Christian denominations in building a temple, nor will it sell the Lot, regardless of any price that might conceivably be offered.〔 Some members of other Latter Day Saint groups have described the Temple Lot church as "'squatters' on the location,"〔Max McCoy, ("Separatist by faith: Church of Israel's patriarch rebuts claims of racism" ), ''Joplin Globe'', 2001-01-28.〕 but that organization steadfastly defends its right to possess the property as its physical and spiritual "custodian".〔(History of the Church of Christ ). Retrieved on 2009-08-03. Updated 2011-03-2011〕 The Community of Christ, the second-largest church within the modern Latter Day Saint movement, now owns the bulk of the original 63 acre (26 ha) property around the Temple Lot, often referred to as the greater Temple Lot. This land had been purchased in the 1830s by Latter Day Saint bishop Edward Partridge to be the central common and sacred area according to the Plat of Zion. It maintains its world headquarters in this area, opening its Auditorium to the south of the Lot in 1958, while in 1994 it dedicated its Independence Temple just to the east. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) operates an interpretive visitor center one block east and south of the Temple Lot. It also maintains a Stake Center, LDS Social Services center, and mission headquarters on its portion of the greater Temple Lot. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Temple Lot」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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