Chapter I
A PRE-VIEW OF THE SUBJECT
{1} Both by derivation and common usage the term "temple," in its literal application, is of restricted and specific meaning. The essential idea of a temple is and ever has been that of a place specially set apart for service regarded as sacred, and of real or assumed sanctity; in a more restricted sense, a temple is a building constructed for and exclusively devoted to sacred rites and ceremonies.
The Latin Templum was the equivalent of the Hebrew Beth Elohim, and signified the abode of Deity; hence, as associated with Divine worship, it meant literally the HOUSE OF THE LORD.[1]
Structures regarded in their entirety as sanctuaries, {2} or enclosing apartments so designated, have been reared in many different ages, both by worshippers of idols and by the followers of the true and living God. Heathen temples of antiquity were regarded as abiding places of the mythical gods and goddesses whose names they bore, and to whose service the structures were dedicated. While the purlieus of such temples were used as places of general assembly and public ceremony, there were always inner precincts, into which only the consecrated priests might enter, and wherein, it was claimed, the presence of the deity was manifest. As evidence of the exclusiveness of ancient temples, even those of heathen origin, we find that the altar of pagan worship stood not within the temple proper, but in front of the entrance. Temples have never been regarded as places of ordinary public assembly, but as sacred enclosures consecrated to the most solemn ceremonials of that particular system of worship, idolatrous or Divine, of which the temple stood as visible symbol and material type.
