The House of the Lord: A Catholic Biblical Theology of God's Temple Presence in the Old and New Testaments

by Steven C. Smith, Brant Pitre (Foreword)

The House of the Lord invites readers to participate in a unique a deep exploration of the Old and New Testaments that searches out and contemplates the reality of God's presence with his people, with a particular focus on investigating God's self-revelation in and through the biblical temple. The journey represents a tour de force of biblical theology, guided by author Steven Smith, a Catholic biblical scholar, seminary professor, and expert on the temple and the Holy Land. In addition to the temple, Smith observes the centrality of priesthood in both the Old and New Testaments, exploring all four Gospels like never before, through a temple lens.From Genesis onward, Smith carefully traces the biblical mystery of the temple, including the Sanctuary of Mount Eden, the tabernacle of the wilderness, the rise and fall of Solomon's Temple, Herod's Temple in Jesus's day, and the heavenly sanctuary of Revelation. Supported by a massive array of evidence and details, from sources across two millennia of biblical theology, this book will be read and read again for its value as a reference work. The House of the Lord is for anyone who seeks to understand more deeply the message of the biblical story.

Genres: Theology, Catholic, Scripture

392 pages, Paperback

Published July 24, 2019

About the author

Indie Author, hailing from the not so sunny United Kingdom.

I have always considered myself a creative zany person, expressing my idea's through writing and art. This led me on a journey to release my first ever self-published book late September 2016. The Dragon's Reclaim series is set to be an 8-part Fantasy saga, and as I edge closer to the series end, I know that new chapters will open out for me to create a diverse range of e-books and paperbacks in the years to come.

I find myself fascinated by dragons and all thing's fantasy fiction, so, was only a matter of time before I wrote my own idea's down.

As time passed by my ideas were combined, thus creating a whole world for my character's to live in, and soon I had an entire saga spinning round in my head.

I continue to tell my fairy tale adventure, and each and every day I become more and more inspired as the adventure grows.

More recently I have delved into publishing a Crime Novel, and a double-header Fantasy set of books, which are ten times more brutal and hard-hitting than any of my previous works. (18+)

Future works will include sequels to the above, and of course the conclusion of Dragon's Reclaim. Not to mention some other fantasy genre's including Vampires, Werewolves & Zombies. Stay tuned.

Reviews

[Scott · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book really is remarkable for a variety of reasons: the author’s perceptive exegesis and engagement with the theological tradition. While there is still plenty to disagree with due to the author’s Roman Catholicism, I was also surprised to see where many insights harmonized nicely with evangelical treatments on the temple—notably, Beale.

Overall an excellent treatment and worthy reading for evangelicals.

*I have a longer review forthcoming.*

[Kevin de Ataíde · Rating 4 out of 5]

I can’t give this book any less that four stars, despite the endless typos and grammatical errors, because of the excellence of its subject matter and the way this is treated. This is the type of theology that is missing from the seminary curriculums. The book begins by introducing Eden as the garden sanctuary of a primordial temple and Adam as the priest guardian of that sanctuary, who ultimately failed in that role and was ejected into the outer courtyard of the world. But with a promise: humanity would one day re-enter the garden. The steps that would be taken to restore mankind to the garden would lead the Hebrews from a primitive priesthood of the patriarchs and the Levitical institution of the tabernacle and temple to the eternal priesthood of the God-man Jesus Christ, whose humanity would become the new and eternal Temple, as described by the Christian documents of the New Testament. This has been a fascinating read, and I recommend it as supplementary reading to students and priests in seminary; it would form their understanding of Scripture, patristics and ecclesiology. Absolutely seminal.

[Ethan DeCock · Rating 5 out of 5]

Written as a response or to give a Catholic perspective to the same idea presented by “The Temple and the Church’s Mission” by G.K. Beale.

Steven Smith presents a biblical theology for the temple of God and how the Temple is viewed in light of the New Covenant community, the Church.

The Catholic (and Eastern Orthodox) has a much better grasp of Temple Theology than what the Protestant scholars can offer due to having a more succinct continuity of Old Covenant to New Covenant with their retention of Priesthood, Sacred Space, Altar, Temple Eucharistic sacrifice and Church Hierarchy. This is not something the Protestant world can offer due to its semi-Gnostic approach to the New Testament understanding of the “invisible church”.

A fantastic read, great scholarship, very approachable and a must read for anyone interested in Temple Theology.

[Nelson · Rating 5 out of 5]

I used this book extensively for my core thesis in a forthcoming article in the Interpreter Journal.

This book is fascinating and in some places mindblowing. I think it's a must-read for Latter-day Saints. In some ways it illuminates our temple worship. For example, Adam and Eve are the main characters in the endowment. The book established that the temple cult is centered around the high priest, and Adam was the first high priest. The commandment given to Adam ("till" and "keep" the garden) are the same verbs in Hebrew (avad and shamar) as the commandment given to priests ("work and "guard").

In other places, the book works in the other direction: it helps us see how the Restoration actually "restored" plain and precious truths. For example, Adam was the first priest and the primary concern of priests is sacrifice, but according to the Bible, Noah was the first to build an altar. We know from the endowment that Adam built an altar.

Adam was commanded to "fill the earth" with God's temple presence.

Much more to say, but I'm tired.