View source for Third Temple

{{Short description|Hypothetical rebuilt Jewish holy temple in Jerusalem}}
{{About|the unrealized Jewish temple|Herod the Great's massive renovation of the Second Temple|Herod's Temple|the 2015 book|Yishai Sarid#Published works}}
{{Distinguish|Ezekiel's Temple}}
{{pp-30-500|small=yes}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2021}}
{{Use Oxford spelling|date=May 2021}}

The "'''Third Temple'''" ({{langx|he|{{Script/Hebrew|בֵּית הַמִּקְדָּשׁ הַשְּׁלִישִׁי}}}}, {{Transliteration|he|Bēṯ hamMīqdāš hašŠlīšī}}, {{Translation|'Third House of the Sanctum'}}) refers to a hypothetical rebuilt [[Temple in Jerusalem]]. It would succeed the [[First Temple]] and the [[Second Temple]], the former having been destroyed during the [[Siege of Jerusalem (587 BC)|Babylonian siege of Jerusalem]] in {{circa|587 BCE}} and the latter having been destroyed during the [[Siege of Jerusalem (70 CE)|Roman siege of Jerusalem]] in 70'' ''CE. The notion of and desire for the Third Temple is sacred in [[Judaism]], particularly in [[Orthodox Judaism]]. It would be the most sacred place of worship for [[Jews]]. The [[Hebrew Bible]] holds that [[Prophets in Judaism|Jewish prophets]] called for its construction prior to, or in tandem with, the [[Messianic Age]]. The building of the Third Temple also plays a major role in some interpretations of [[Christian eschatology]].

Among some groups of devout Jews, anticipation of a future project to build the Third Temple at the [[Temple Mount]] in the [[Old City of Jerusalem]] has been espoused as an ideological motive in [[Israel]].<ref name=":1">{{Cite news |last=Shani |first=Ayelett |date=August 10, 2017 |title=The Israelis who take rebuilding the Third Temple very seriously |language=en |newspaper=Haaretz |url=https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/.premium.MAGAZINE-the-israelis-who-take-third-temple-very-seriously-1.5441607 |access-date=2021-05-06}}</ref> Building the Third Temple has been contested by [[Muslims]] due to the existence of the [[Dome of the Rock]],<ref name=":1" /> which was built by the [[Umayyad Caliphate]] on the site of the destroyed Solomon's Temple and Second Temple; tensions between Jews and Muslims over the Temple Mount have carried over politically as one of the major flashpoints of the [[Israeli–Palestinian conflict]], and the area has been a subject of significant debate in the [[Israeli–Palestinian peace process]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Mostafa |first=Mohamed Galal |date=May 31, 2018 |title=Religion and the Israel-Palestinian Conflict: Cause, Consequence, and Cure |url=https://www.washingtoninstitute.org/policy-analysis/religion-and-israel-palestinian-conflict-cause-consequence-and-cure |access-date=2021-05-06 |website=The Washington Institute |language=en}}</ref> Most of the international community has refrained from recognizing any sovereignty over [[Jerusalem]] due to conflicting territorial claims between Israel and the [[Palestinian National Authority]], as [[Status of Jerusalem|both sides have asserted it as their capital city]].

==Attempts at rebuilding==
Since the [[Siege of Jerusalem (70 CE)|destruction of the Second Temple in 70 CE]] by the Romans, some Jews have expressed their desire to build a Third Temple on the [[Temple Mount]]. Prayer for this is a formal part of the Jewish tradition of thrice daily ''[[Amidah]]'' prayer.<ref name="groundwork">{{Cite web |last=Fiske |first=Gavriel |date=2013-07-16 |title=Laying the groundwork for a Third Temple in Jerusalem |url=https://www.timesofisrael.com/laying-the-groundwork-for-a-third-temple-in-jerusalem/ |access-date=2023-10-26 |website=The Times of Israel |language=en-US}}</ref> Although it remains unbuilt, the notion of and desire for a Third Temple is sacred in Judaism. 

Following the Second Temple's destruction, "most rabbis adopted the position that Jewish law prohibits reconstructing the Holy Temple [Third Temple] prior to the age of messianic redemption, or that the law is too ambiguous and that the messiah must come first."<ref name="groundwork" />

===Bar Kochba revolt===
{{main|Bar Kokhba revolt}}

In the early 2nd century CE, Roman [[Emperor Hadrian]] granted permission to rebuild the destroyed Second Temple, probably as a means to pacify the Jews after the wider [[Diaspora Revolt]] and the specifically Judaean [[Kitos War]], but changed his mind.<ref name= JE>{{cite encyclopedia |title=Bar Kokba and Bar Kokba War |encyclopedia=[[Jewish Encyclopedia]] (online version) |url=http://jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/2471-bar-kokba-and-bar-kokba-war#anchor2 |access-date= 26 April 2025}}</ref> There used to be a minority of scholars claiming that the forces of [[Simon bar Kokhba]] captured Jerusalem from the Romans<ref name= JE/> in 132 and held it for about three years{{cn |date= April 2025}}, but there isn't much mainstream support for the concept.<ref name= JE/> The dwindling hope for regaining Jerusalem led to the writing of the [[Mishna]], as the religious leaders believed that the next attempt to rebuild the temple might be centuries away, and memory of the practices and ceremonies must be documented, otherwise they would be lost.{{cn|date= April 2025}} As punishment for the revolt, the Romans renamed Jerusalem to [[Aelia Capitolina]] and the province to [[Syria Palaestina]];{{dubious |Outdated. It appears pretty sure by now that the Roman rebuilding project, along with a new name, predates the rebellion. |date= April 2025}}{{cn |date= April 2025}} Jews were prohibited from accessing the city except on the day of [[Tisha B'av]]. [[Rabbis]] who survived persecution (see [[Ten Martyrs]]) were allowed to continue their [[Talmudic academies in Syria Palaestina]] as long as they paid the ''[[Fiscus Judaicus]]'' tax.{{cn |date= April 2025}}

===Julian===
[[File:Subterrain firs defeat Julian's effort to rebuilt the temple.jpg|thumb|upright=0.8|Subterranean fires defeat Julian's effort to rebuild the temple, illustration by James Dabney, 1877]]
There was an aborted project under [[Roman Empire|Roman]] emperor [[Julian (emperor)|Julian]] (361–363 CE) to rebuild the Temple. Julian is traditionally called Julian the Apostate due to his policy of reversing Emperor [[Constantine the Great|Constantine]]'s Christianization campaign by restoring traditional religious practices and holy places across the Empire.<ref>{{cite thesis |id={{ProQuest|879089978}} |last1=Finkelstein |first1=Aryay Bennett |date=2011 |title=Julian among Jews, Christians and 'Hellenes' in Antioch: Jewish Practice as a Guide to 'Hellenes' and a Goad to Christians }}{{pn|date=November 2023}}</ref> As part of this policy, Julian permitted the Jews to begin building a Third Temple.<ref name="julian3">{{Cite web |last=Kavon |first=Eli |date=2017-12-04 |title=Emperor Julian and the dream of a third temple |url=https://www.jpost.com/opinion/emperor-julian-and-the-dream-of-a-third-temple-516999 |access-date=2023-10-26 |website=The Jerusalem Post |language=en-US}}</ref> [[Rabbi Hilkiah|Rabbi Hilkiyah]], one of the leading rabbis of the time, spurned Julian's money, arguing that [[gentile]]s should play no part in the rebuilding of the temple.{{Citation needed|date=September 2010}}

According to later ancient sources, including [[Sozomen]] (c. 400–450 CE) in his ''Historia Ecclesiastica'' and the pagan historian and close friend of Julian, [[Ammianus Marcellinus]],<ref>See Britannica Deluxe 2002 and Stewart Henry Perowne.</ref> the project of rebuilding the temple was aborted because each time the workers tried to build the temple using the existing substructure, they were burned by terrible flames coming from inside the earth and an earthquake destroyed what work was done:
{{blockquote|Julian thought to rebuild at an extravagant expense the proud Temple once at Jerusalem, and committed this task to [[Alypius of Antioch]]. Alypius set vigorously to work, and was seconded by the [[Roman governor|governor of the province]]; when fearful balls of fire, breaking out near the foundations, continued their attacks, till the workmen, after repeated scorchings, could approach no more: and he gave up the attempt.<ref>(The Roman History of Ammianus Marcellinus, Book 23, Chap. 1, Line 3).</ref>|author=Ammianus Marcellinus|title=The Roman History of Ammianus Marcellinus|source=Book 23, Chapter 1, Line 3}}

The failure to rebuild the Temple has been ascribed to the [[363 Galilee earthquake|Galilee earthquake of 363'' ''CE]], and to the [[Jew]]s' own ambivalence about the project.<ref name="julian3" /> Sabotage is a possibility, as is an accidental fire. Divine intervention was the common view among Christian historians of the time.<ref name="Solomon">See [http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/jewish/julian-jews.html "Julian and the Jews 361–363 CE"] and [http://www.gibsoncondo.com/~david/convert/history.html "Julian the Apostate and the Holy Temple"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051020130904/http://www.gibsoncondo.com/~david/convert/history.html |date=2005-10-20 }}.</ref> When Julian was killed in battle after a reign of less than three years, the [[State church of the Roman Empire|Christians reasserted control]] over the empire, and the opportunity to rebuild the Temple ended.

===Sassanid vassal state===
{{main|Jewish revolt against Heraclius}}
In 610 CE, the [[Sassanid Empire]] drove the [[Byzantine Empire]] out of the Middle East, giving the Jews control of Jerusalem for the first time in centuries. The new rulers soon ordered the restart of animal sacrifice for the first time since the time of [[Bar Kochba]]. Shortly before the Byzantines took the area back, the Persians gave control to the Christian population, who tore down the partly built edifice,<ref>{{Cite book
|title=Jerusalem Today: What Future for the Peace Process?
|first=Ghada
|last=Karmi
|year=1997
|publisher=Garnet & Ithaca Press
|isbn=0-86372-226-1
|page=116}}</ref> and turned it into a garbage dump, which is what it was when the Caliph [[Umar|Omar]] took the city in the 630s.

===Muslim conquest of Syria===
An Armenian chronicle from the 7th century CE, written by [[Sebeos|the bishop Sebeos]], states that the Jews and Arabs were quarreling amongst each other about [[Islam and Judaism|their differences of religion]] during [[Siege of Jerusalem (637)|the Siege of Jerusalem in 637'' ''CE]] but "a man of the sons of Ishmael named Muhammad" gave a "sermon of the Way of Truth, supposedly at God's command" to them saying that they, both the Jews and the Arabs, should unite under the banner of their father [[Abraham]] and enter [[Holy Land|the Holy Land]].<ref>[http://rbedrosian.com/seb9.htm Sebeos' ''History'']. Translated from Classical Armenian by Robert Bedrosian.</ref> Sebeos also reports that the Jews began a reconstruction of the temple, but the Arabs expelled them and re-purposed the place for their own prayers. In turn, these Jews built another temple in a different location.<ref>Sebeos' ''History'', Chapter 31.[http://www.attalus.org/armenian/seb9.htm#29.] See also Crone & Cook, ''Hagarism: The Making of the Islamic World'' (Cambridge University Press, 1977), p. 10; Suermann, H. "Early Islam in the Light of Christian and Jewish Sources" in Neuwrith, Sinai, & Marx (eds.), ''The Qur'ān in Context'' (Brill, 2010), pp. 135–148; and Wright, Robert, [https://books.google.com/books?id=Hm15lrKLpIEC ''The Evolution of God''], ebook edition, chapter 16 (Little, Brown and Company, 2009) for discussions of this and related accounts.</ref>

===During the Mongol raids into Syria===
In 1267, during the [[Mongol raids into Palestine|Mongol raids into Syria]], an [[interregnum]] period between the complete domination of the [[Levant]] by the [[crusader states]] until 1260 and the conquest of Levant by the [[Mamluks]] in 1291, [[Nachmanides]] wrote a letter to his son. It contained the following references to the land and the Temple:
{{blockquote|What shall I say of this land ... The more holy the place the greater the desolation. Jerusalem is the most desolate of all ... There are about 2,000 inhabitants ... but there are no Jews, for after the arrival of the [[Tartars]], the Jews fled, and some were killed by the sword. There are now only two brothers, dyers, who buy their dyes from the government. ''At their place a quorum of worshippers meets on the Sabbath, and we encourage them, and found a ruined house, built on pillars, with a beautiful dome, and made it into a synagogue'' ... People regularly come to Jerusalem, men and women from Damascus and from Aleppo and from all parts of the country, to see the Temple and weep over it. And may He who deemed us worthy to see Jerusalem in her ruins, grant us to see her rebuilt and restored, and the honor of the Divine Presence returned.<ref>[https://www.chagim.org.il/STUDY/%D7%95%D7%9E%D7%99-%D7%A9%D7%96%D7%9B%D7%95-%D7%9C%D7%A8%D7%90%D7%95%D7%AA-%D7%99%D7%A8%D7%95%D7%A9%D7%9C%D7%99%D7%9D-%D7%91%D7%97%D7%95%D7%A8%D7%91%D7%A0%D7%94%2C-%D7%94%D7%95%D7%90-%D7%99%D7%96%D7%9B%D7%A0%D7%95-%D7%9C%D7%A8%D7%90%D7%95%D7%AA-%D7%91%D7%A0%D7%99%D7%A0%D7%94-%D7%95%D7%AA%D7%99%D7%A7%D7%95%D7%A0%D7%94 מתוך מכתב הרמב"ן לבנו, 1268]</ref>}}

===Modern rebuilding efforts===
In mainstream Orthodox Judaism, the rebuilding of the Temple is generally left to the coming of the [[Messiah in Judaism|Jewish Messiah]] and to [[divine providence]]. A few organizations, representing a small minority of Orthodox Jews, want to realize the construction of a Third Temple in present times. [[The Temple Institute]], the self-proclaimed "[[Temple Mount Administration]]" and the [[Temple Mount and Eretz Yisrael Faithful Movement]] each state that its goal is to build the Third Temple on the Temple Mount (Mount [[Moriah]]).

===Attempts to re-establish a Jewish presence on the Temple Mount===
In August 1967, after the [[Israel]]i capture of the Mount, Rabbi [[Shlomo Goren]] (deceased 1994) the former [[Chief Rabbi]] of the [[Israel Defense Forces]] (IDF) (and later chief rabbi of the State of Israel), began organizing public prayer for Jews on the Temple Mount. Rabbi Goren was known for his controversial positions concerning Jewish sovereignty over the Temple Mount. On August 15, 1967, shortly after the [[Six-Day War]], Goren led a group of fifty Jews onto the Temple Mount, where, fighting off protesting Muslim guards and Israeli police, they held a prayer service.<ref>{{Cite web |publisher= pbs.org |title= Forcing the End. (Evangelicals and rabbis' look at the Six day War and views about End Times) |url=https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/apocalypse/readings/forcing.html }}</ref> Goren continued to pray for many years in the [[Tankiziyya|Makhkame building]] overlooking the Temple Mount, where he conducted yearly [[High Holy Days]] services. His call for the establishment of a [[synagogue]] on the Temple Mount was reiterated by his brother-in-law, the former Chief Rabbi of Haifa, [[She'ar Yashuv Cohen]] (deceased 2016).

Goren was sharply criticized by the [[Ministry of Defense (Israel)|Israeli Defense Ministry]], who, noting Goren's senior rank, called his behaviour inappropriate. The episode led the Chief Rabbis of the time to restate the accepted laws of Judaism that [[Temple Mount#Jewish religious law concerning entry to the site|no Jews were allowed on the mount due to issues of ritual impurity]]. The secular authorities welcomed this ruling as it preserved the status quo with the [[Jerusalem Islamic Waqf]]. Disagreeing with his colleagues, Goren maintained that Jews were not only permitted, but commanded, to ascend and pray on the mount.

Goren advocated building a Third Temple on the Temple Mount from the 1960s onward. In the summer of 1983, Goren and several other rabbis joined Rabbi [[Yehuda Getz]] (deceased 1995), who worked for the Religious Affairs Ministry at the [[Western Wall]], in touring a chamber underneath the mount that Getz had excavated. The tunnel was shortly discovered and resulted in a massive brawl between young Jews and Arabs in the area. The tunnel was quickly sealed with concrete by Israeli police.<ref>{{Cite web |publisher= templemount.org |title= Preparations for a Third Jewish Temple. (Goren about Temple Mount) |url=http://www.templemount.org/tempprep.html}}</ref> The sealed entrance can be seen from the [[Western Wall Tunnel]], which opened to the public in 1996.

The [[Chief Rabbinate of Israel|Chief Rabbis of Israel]], [[Isser Yehuda Unterman]] and [[Yitzhak Nissim]], together with other leading rabbis, asserted that "For generations we have warned against and refrained from entering any part of the Temple Mount."<ref name="The Jerusalem Connection">{{Cite book |last1=Lapidoth |first1=Ruth E. |title=The Jerusalem Question and Its Resolution: Selected Documents |last2=Hirsch |first2=Moche |publisher=Martinus Nijhoff |year=1994 |isbn=0-7923-2893-0 |location=Jerusalem |pages=542}}</ref> A recent study of this rabbinical ruling suggests that it was both "unprecedented" and possibly prompted by governmental pressure on the rabbis, and "brilliant" in preventing Muslim–Jewish friction on the Mount.<ref>Hassner, Ron E., "War on Sacred Grounds," Cornell University Press (2009), pp. 113–133.</ref> Rabbinical consensus in the [[Religious Zionism|Religious Zionist]] stream of Orthodox Judaism continues to hold that it is forbidden for Jews to enter any part of the Temple Mount<ref>These rabbis include: [[Mordechai Eliyahu]], former Sephardi Chief Rabbi of Israel; [[Zalman Baruch Melamed]], [[rosh yeshiva]] of the [[Beit El yeshiva]]; [[Eliezer Waldenberg]], former rabbinical judge in the Rabbinical Supreme Court of the State of Israel; [[Avraham Yitzchak Kook]], Chief Rabbi of Palestine ([http://www.kadosh.co.il/mkdsh026.html Mikdash-Build (Vol. I, No. 26)] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130927090658/http://kadosh.co.il/mkdsh026.html |date=2013-09-27 }}); [[Avigdor Nebenzahl]], Rabbi of the [[Old City (Jerusalem)|Old City]] of Jerusalem.</ref> and in January 2005, a declaration was signed confirming the 1967 decision.<ref>These rabbis include: Rabbis [[Yona Metzger]] (Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi of Israel); [[Shlomo Amar]] (Sephardi Chief Rabbi of Israel); [[Ovadia Yosef]] (spiritual leader of Sefardi Haredi Judaism and of the [[Shas]] party, and former Sephardi Chief Rabbi of Israel); [[Eliyahu Bakshi-Doron]] (former Sephardi Chief Rabbi of Israel); Shmuel Rabinowitz (rabbi of the [[Western Wall]]); [[Avraham Shapiro]] (former Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi of Israel); [[Shlomo Aviner]] (rosh yeshiva of [[Ateret Cohanim]]); [[Yisrael Meir Lau]] (former Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi of Israel and current Chief Rabbi of [[Tel Aviv]]). ''Source: [http://www.templeinstitute.org/archive/25-01-05.htm Leading rabbis rule Temple Mount is off-limits to Jews] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120924071750/http://www.templeinstitute.org/archive/25-01-05.htm |date=24 September 2012 }}''</ref> On the eve of [[Shavuot]] in 2014, or 6th Sivan, 5774 in the Hebrew calendar, 400 Jews ascended the Temple Mount; some were photographed in prayer.<ref name=pray>{{cite web |url= http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/181344 |title= Temple Mount is Jewish for a Day |work= Arutz Sheva |access-date= 2014-06-04 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20140603134139/http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/181344 |archive-date= 2014-06-03 |url-status= dead }}</ref>

====Obstacles====
The most immediate and obvious obstacle to the realization of these goals is the fact that two historic Islamic structures, which are 13 centuries old, namely the [[Qibli Mosque|Al Aqsa Mosque]] and the [[Dome of the Rock]], are built on top of the Temple Mount. Any efforts to damage or reduce access to these sites, or to build Jewish structures within, between, beneath, beside, cantilevered on top of, or instead of them, could lead to severe international conflicts, given the association of the [[Muslim]] world with these holy places.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/232881 |title=Radical cleric calls for 'Islamic war' for Jerusalem |publisher=Arutz Sheva |date=24 July 2017 |access-date=16 August 2017}}</ref>

The Dome of the Rock is regarded as occupying the actual space where the Second Temple once stood, but some scholars disagree and instead claim that the Temple was located either just north of the Dome of the Rock, or about 200 meters south of it, with access to the Gihon fresh water spring, or perhaps between the Dome of the Rock and the Al Aqsa Mosque.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Four Temple Location Theories by Lambert Dolphin |url=https://www.templemount.org/theories.html |access-date=2023-10-26 |website=www.templemount.org}}</ref>

In addition, most Orthodox Jewish scholars reject any attempts to build the Temple before the coming of the Messiah. This is because there are many doubts about the exact location where it must be built. For example, while measurements are given in [[cubit]]s, there exists a controversy whether this unit of measurement equals 1.84 feet, the scholarly consensus, or 1.43 feet, put forward by respected historian Asher Selig Kaufman.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2005-09-03 |title=Just how much is a cubit, anyway? |url=https://www.deseret.com/2005/9/3/19910255/just-how-much-is-a-cubit-anyway |access-date=2023-10-26 |website=Deseret News |language=en}}</ref> Without exact knowledge of the size of a cubit, the [[altar]] could not be built. The [[Talmud]] recounts that the building of the Second Temple was only possible under the direct prophetic guidance of [[Haggai]], [[Zechariah (Hebrew prophet)|Zechariah]], and [[Malachi]]. Without valid prophetic revelation, it would be impossible to rebuild the Temple, even if the mosques no longer occupied its location.

====Status of Temple Mount====
{{Main|Temple Mount}}
Many rabbis interpret ''[[halakha]]'' (Jewish religious law) as prohibiting Jews from entering the [[Holy of Holies]].<ref name=ariel/> The situation is complicated as the Dome of the Rock and Al-Aqsa Mosque fall under control of Muslim clerics, but Israeli police administer its security.<ref name=cnn>{{Cite news|url=http://archives.cnn.com/2000/WORLD/meast/09/28/jerusalem.violence.02/ |work=CNN |title=Israeli troops, Palestinians clash after Sharon visits Jerusalem sacred site |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060615033158/http://archives.cnn.com/2000/WORLD/meast/09/28/jerusalem.violence.02/ |archive-date=June 15, 2006|access-date=9 May 2019}}</ref> According to [[CNN]]:
{{blockquote|In 1996, the Israeli government opened an archeological tunnel just outside the compound, sparking riots in which 80 people, most of them Palestinians, were killed.<ref name=cnn/>}} 

A 2000 visit to the Temple Mount by [[Ariel Sharon]] resulted in a clash between "stone-throwing Palestinians and Israeli troops, who fired tear gas and rubber bullets into the crowd," coinciding with the beginning of the [[Second Intifada]] which [[Sharm El Sheikh Summit of 2005|ended in 2005]].<ref name=cnn/> 

During the [[Sukkot]] festival in 2006, [[National Union (Israel)|National Union]] [[Knesset]] member [[Uri Ariel]] visited the Temple Mount without incident, and the Israeli police witnessed no provocation by the protestors.<ref name=ariel>{{cite news |url=http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/772340.html |title=Rightist MK Ariel visits Temple Mount as thousands throng Wall |newspaper=Haaretz |date=October 9, 2006 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070210110336/https://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/772340.html |archive-date=10 February 2007 |access-date=8 May 2019}}</ref>

==Jewish views==
===Orthodox Judaism===
[[File:(Venice) La distruzione del tempio di Gerusalemme -Francesco Hayez - gallerie Accademia Venice.jpg|thumb|upright=1.2|Destruction of the Temple of Jerusalem, by [[Francesco Hayez]]]]
Orthodox Judaism believes in the rebuilding of a Third Temple and the resumption of [[korban]] ([[Sacrifice#Judaism|sacrifices]]), although there is disagreement about how rebuilding should take place. Orthodox scholars and [[rabbi]]nic authorities generally believe that rebuilding should occur in the era of the [[Messiah in Judaism|Jewish messiah]] at the hand of [[divine providence]], although a minority position, following the opinion of [[Maimonides]], holds that Jews should endeavour to rebuild the temple themselves, whenever possible.<ref>{{cite web |date=17 July 2007 |title=Reb Chaim HaQoton – ר' חיים הקטן |url=http://rchaimqoton.blogspot.com/2007/07/building-third-holy-temple.html |work=rchaimqoton.blogspot.com}}</ref>{{reliable source|date=May 2019}}<ref>{{Cite news |last=Beaumont |first=Peter |date=2015-08-10 |title=Jewish activists launch crowdfunding appeal to breed perfect red heifer |language=en-GB |work=The Guardian |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/aug/10/jewish-activists-crowd-funding-breed-red-heifer-third-temple-cow |access-date=2023-10-26 |issn=0261-3077}}</ref>

The generally accepted position among Orthodox Jews is that the full order of the sacrifices will be resumed upon the building of the Temple.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Rich |first=Tracy R. |title=Qorbanot: Sacrifices and Offerings – Judaism 101 (JewFAQ) |url=https://www.jewfaq.org/qorbanot.htm |access-date=2023-10-26 |website=www.jewfaq.org}}</ref> This belief is embedded in Orthodox Jewish prayer services. Three times a day, Orthodox Jews recite the [[Amidah]], which contains prayers for the Temple's restoration and for the resumption of sacrifices, and every day there is a recitation of the order of the day's sacrifices and the [[psalm]]s the [[Levites]] would have sung that day. [[Conservative Judaism|Conservative]], [[Reform Judaism|Reform]], and [[Reconstructionist Judaism|Reconstructionist]] authorities disavow all belief in the resumption of korban.

Maimonides wrote in ''[[The Guide for the Perplexed]]'' "that God deliberately has moved Jews away from sacrifices towards prayer, as prayer is a higher form of worship". However, in his Jewish legal code, the ''[[Mishneh Torah]]'', he states that [[Animal sacrifice#Judaism|animal sacrifice]]s will resume in the Third Temple, and details how they will be carried out.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Gillis |first=David |title=On the Problem of Sacrifices: Maimonides' Ladder of Enlightenment |url=https://www.thetorah.com/article/on-the-problem-of-sacrifices-maimonides-ladder-of-enlightenment |access-date=2024-03-09 |website=www.thetorah.com}}</ref> Some{{Who|date=May 2010}} attribute to Rabbi [[Abraham Isaac Kook]] the view that animal sacrifices will not be reinstituted. These views on the Temple service are sometimes misconstrued (for example, in ''Olat Raiyah'', commenting on the prophecy of [[Malachi]] ("Then the grain-offering of Judah and Jerusalem will be pleasing to God as in the days of old and as in former years" [Malachi 3:4]), Kook indicates that only grain offerings will be offered in the reinstated Temple service, while in a related essay from ''Igrot HaRaiyah'' he suggests otherwise.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Zivotofsky |first=Ari |date=2017-05-11 |title=The Korbanot – Tzarich Iyun |url=https://outorah.org/p/33325/ |access-date=2024-03-09 |website=O U Torah [Orthodox Union]}}</ref>

===Conservative Judaism===
[[Conservative Judaism]] believes in a [[Jewish Messiah|messiah]] and in a rebuilt Temple, but does not believe in the restoration of [[korbanot|sacrifices]]. Accordingly, Conservative Judaism's [[Committee on Jewish Law and Standards]] has modified the prayers. Conservative prayer books call for the restoration of the Temple, but do not ask for the resumption of sacrifices. The Orthodox study session on sacrifices in the daily [[shacharit|morning]] service has been replaced with the Talmudic passages teaching that deeds of loving-kindness now atone for sin.

In the daily Amidah prayer, the central prayer in [[Jewish services]], the petitions to accept the "fire offerings of Israel" and "the grain-offering of Judah and Jerusalem" ([[Malachi]] 3:4) are removed. In the special [[Mussaf]] Amidah prayer said on [[Shabbat]] and [[Jewish holidays]], the Hebrew phrase ''na'ase ve'nakriv'' (we will present and sacrifice) is modified to read to ''asu ve'hikrivu'' (they presented and sacrificed), implying that sacrifices are a thing of the past. The prayer for the restoration of "the House of our lives" and the [[Shekhinah]] to dwell "among us" in the weekday [[Torah reading]] service is retained in Conservative prayer books, although not all Conservative services say it. In Conservative prayer books, words and phrases with dual meaning, referring to both Temple features and theological or poetic concepts, are generally retained. Translations and commentaries, however, generally refer to the poetic or theological meanings only. Conservative Judaism also takes an intermediate position on Kohanim and Levites, preserving patrilineal tribal descent and some aspects of their roles, but lifting restrictions on whom Kohanim are permitted to marry.

In 2006, the [[Committee on Jewish Law and Standards]] adapted a series of [[responsum|responsa]] on the subject of the role, in Conservative Judaism, of [[Niddah]], a description of a woman during menstruation, which was considered in relation to the role of Temple-related concepts of [[Tumah and taharah|ritual purity]] within contemporary Judaism. One responsum adopted by a majority of the Committee held that concepts of ritual purity relevant to entry into the Temple are no longer applicable to contemporary Judaism and accepted a proposal to change the term "[[Niddah|family purity]]" to "family holiness" and to explain the continuing observance of ''niddah'' on a different basis from continuity with Temple practices.<ref>{{cite web |author=Grossman (Rabbi) |first=Susan |date=December 6, 2006 |title=Mikveh and the sanctity of being created human, Committee on Jewish Law and Standards |url=http://www.rabbinicalassembly.org/docs/Grossman-Niddah.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080407061730/http://www.rabbinicalassembly.org/docs/Grossman-Niddah.pdf |archive-date=April 7, 2008 |work=Rabbinical Assembly}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |author=Berkowitz (Rabbi) |first=Miriam |date=December 6, 2006 |title=RESHAPING THE LAWS OF FAMILY PURITY FOR THE MODERN WORLD, Committee on Jewish Law and Standards |url=http://www.rabbinicalassembly.org/docs/Berkowitz-Niddah.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090320161047/http://www.rabbinicalassembly.org/docs/Berkowitz-Niddah.pdf |archive-date=March 20, 2009 |work=Rabbinical Assembly}}</ref> Another responsum, also adopted by a majority of the committee, called for retaining existing observances, terminology, and rationale, and held that these Temple-related observances and concepts continued to have contemporary impact and meaning.<ref>{{cite web |author=Reisner (Rabbi) |first=Avram |date=December 6, 2006 |title=Observing niddah in our day: An Inquiry on the status of purity and the prohibition of sexual activity with a menstruant, Committee on Jewish Law and Standards |url=http://www.rabbinicalassembly.org/docs/Reisner-Niddah.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080407061721/http://www.rabbinicalassembly.org/docs/Reisner-Niddah.pdf |archive-date=April 7, 2008 |work=Rabbinical Assembly}}</ref> Thus, consistent with Conservative Judaism's philosophy of pluralism, both views of the continuing relevance of Temple-related concepts of ritual purity are permissible Conservative views.

[[Theodor Herzl]] includes the reconstructed Temple in his novel ''[[The Old New Land|Altneuland]]'', but along with an intact Dome of the Rock.<ref name="herzl">{{Cite book |last=Herzl |first=Theodor |url=https://archive.org/details/oldnewlandaltneu0000herz/page/109 |title=Altneuland. English Translation by Lotta Levenson. |date=1941 |publisher=Markus Wiener Publishing and the Herzl Press |isbn=9781558761605 |location=Princeton, New Jersey |page=[https://archive.org/details/oldnewlandaltneu0000herz/page/109 109] |language=en-us}}</ref>

===Reform Judaism===
[[Reform Judaism]] does not believe in rebuilding a central Temple or restoring Temple sacrifices or worship. It regards the Temple and sacrificial era as a period of a more primitive form of ritual from which Judaism has evolved and should not return.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Warshal |first=Rabbi Bruce |date=2019-11-18 |title=Let's rethink the Temple and the Temple Mount {{!}} Opinion |url=https://www.sun-sentinel.com/2019/11/18/lets-rethink-the-temple-and-the-temple-mount-opinion/ |access-date=2023-10-26 |website=Sun Sentinel |language=en-US}}</ref> It also believes a special role for [[Kohen|Kohanim]] and [[Levite]]s represents a [[caste]] system incompatible with modern principles of [[egalitarianism]], and does not preserve these roles. Furthermore, there is a Reform view that the ''shul'' or synagogue ''is'' a modern Temple; hence, "Temple" appears in numerous congregation names in Reform Judaism.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Perlin, (Rabbi, D.D.) |first=Amy R. |date=2014-08-20 |title=What is the Third Temple? (Shabbat & Tisha B'Av Observance 8/8/14) |url=https://www.tbs-online.org/rabbi-perlins-study/third-temple-shabbat-tisha-bav-observance-8814/ |access-date=2024-03-09 |language=en-US |publication-place=Temple B'nai Shalom}}</ref> Indeed, the re-designation of the synagogue as "temple" was one of the hallmarks of early Reform in 19th-century Germany, when Berlin was declared the new Jerusalem, and Reform Jewry sought to demonstrate their staunch German nationalism. The [[Anti-Zionism]] that characterized Reform Judaism throughout much of its history subsided significantly following the [[Holocaust]] and the subsequent establishment and later successes of the modern state of [[Israel]]. The belief in the return of the Jews to the Temple in Jerusalem is not part of mainstream Reform Judaism, however.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Smith |first=David |date=2008-10-16 |title=Temple time? |url=https://www.jpost.com/jewish-world/jewish-features/temple-time |access-date=2024-03-09 |website=The Jerusalem Post {{!}} JPost.com |language=en}}</ref>

==Christian views==
{{See also|Christian views on the Old Covenant}}
While there is a wide variety of views within [[Christianity]] regarding the significance or requirement of a third temple in [[Jerusalem in Christianity|Jerusalem]], according to the writers{{which|date=June 2025}} of the [[New Testament]], the [[New Covenant]]—insofar as they interpreted [[Jeremiah 31]]:31–34 and Ezekiel 36:26–37 as referring to it—is marked by the indwelling of the [[Holy Spirit]] in the Christian believer. Therefore, every Christian's body and gathering thereof comprise "the temple" and, as such, the temple, if not Judaism, has been [[Supersessionism|superseded]].<ref>{{bibleverse|Ezekiel|36:26–27|HE}}</ref>{{cn|date=June 2025}}

[[Paul of Tarsus]] illustrates this belief in his letter to the early Corinthian church (in [[1 Corinthians 6]]:19 of the New Testament):

{{blockquote|text=Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own? (1 Corinthians 6:19, [[New American Standard Bible|NASB]])}}

The author argues that [[Jesus]], having claimed to be and do what the temple was and did, is the ''new temple'',<ref>{{bibleverse||John|2:19–21}}</ref> and that, as parts of the "body of Christ" (ie, the Christian church), are [[People of God|his people]] and parts of a new temple, as well.<ref>{{bibleverse|2 Corinthians|6:16|9}}</ref><ref>{{bibleverse|Ephesians|2:19–22|9}}</ref><ref>{{bibleverse|1 Peter|2:4–5|9}}</ref> (That said, Jesus was a contemporary of the [[Second Temple]], as was Paul of Tarsus for at least a portion of his life.) The result, according to [[N. T. Wright]], is that the earthly temple, along with the city of Jerusalem and the [[Land of Israel]], is no longer of any spiritual significance:
{{blockquote|text=[Paul] refers to the church, and indeed to individual Christians, as the 'temple of the living God' (1 Cor. 3:16, 6:19). To [[Western Christians]], thinking anachronistically of the temple as simply the Jewish equivalent of a [[cathedral]], the image is simply one metaphor among many and without much apparent significance. For a first-century Jew, however, the Temple had an enormous significance; as a result, when Paul uses such an image within twenty-five years of the [[Crucifixion of Jesus|Crucifixion]] (with the actual temple still standing), it is a striking index of the immense change that has taken place in his [Paul's] thought. The Temple had been [[Supersessionism|superseded]] by the [[Christian Church|Church]]. If this is so for the Temple, and in Romans 4 for the [[Holy Land|Land]], then it must ''a fortiori'' be the case for [[Jerusalem in Christianity|Jerusalem]], which formed the concentric circle in between those two in the normal Jewish worldview.<ref name="T. Wright 1994">N. T. Wright, "Jerusalem in the New Testament" (1994)</ref>}}

In the teaching of both Jesus and Paul, then, according to Wright,

{{blockquote|text=God's house in Jerusalem was meant to be a 'place of prayer for all the nations' (Isaiah 56:7; Mark 11:17); but God would now achieve this through the new temple, which was Jesus himself and his people.<ref name="T. Wright 1994"/>|author=T. Wright, 1994}}

[[Ben F. Meyer]] also argued that Jesus applied prophecy regarding [[Zion]] and the temple to himself and his followers:
{{blockquote|text=[Jesus] affirmed the prophecies of [[salvation]] with their [[Eschatology|end-time]] imagery Zion and the temple—belonging to the [[eschatological]] themes that the "pilgrimage of the peoples" evoked. But contrary to the common expectation of his contemporaries, Jesus expected the destruction of the temple in the coming eschatological ordeal (Mark 13:2=Matt 24:2=Luke 21:6). The combination seems contradictory. How could he simultaneously predict the ruin of the temple in the ordeal and affirm the end-time fulfilment of promise and prophecy on Zion and [the] temple? The paradox is irresolvable until one takes note of another trait of Jesus' words on the imagery of Zion and temple, namely, ''the consistent application to his own [[Disciple (Christianity)|disciples]] of Zion- and temple-imagery'': the city on the mountain (Matt 5:14; cf. Thomas, 32), the cosmic rock (Matt 16:18; cf. John 1:42), the new sanctuary (Mark 14:58; Matt 26:61). The mass of promise and prophecy will come to fulfilment in this eschatological and messianic circle of believers.<ref>Ben F. Meyer, "The Temple at the Navel of the Earth," in ''Christus Faber: the master builder and the house of God'', Princeton Theological Monograph Series no. 29 (Allison Park, Pennsylvania: Pickwick Publications, 1992) pp. 217, 261.</ref>}}

Some would therefore see the need for a third temple as being diminished, redundant, or entirely foreclosed and superseded. In contrast, others take a position that the building of the third temple is an integral part of [[Christian eschatology]]. The various perspectives on the significance of the building of a third temple within Christianity are therefore generally linked to a number of factors including: the level of literal or spiritual interpretation applied to what is taken to be "end-time" prophecy; the perceived relationships between various scriptures such as [[Book of Daniel|Daniel]], the [[Olivet Discourse]], [[2 Thessalonians]] and [[Ezekiel]] (amongst others); whether or not a [[Dual-covenant theology|dual-covenant]] is considered to be in place; and whether [[Old Testament]] (Hebrew Biblical) promises of the restoration of Israel remain unfulfilled or have [[Preterism#Partial preterism|come true given the Messiah was Jesus]] ([[2 Corinthians 1]]:20). Such factors determine, for example, whether Daniel {{bibleverse-nb||Daniel|9:27|31}} or 2 Thessalonians {{bibleverse-nb||2Thessalonians|2:4|}} are read as referring to a still-future physically restored third temple.

A number of these perspectives are illustrated below.

===Christian mainstream===
The dominant view within [[Roman Catholic]], [[Eastern Orthodox]] and [[Protestant]] Christianity is that animal sacrifices within the Temple were a ''[[Typology (theology)|foreshadowing]]'' of the [[Atonement in Christianity|sacrifice]] [[Jesus]] made for the sins of the world through his crucifixion and shedding of [[Blood of Christ|his blood]] on the first day of [[Passover]].<ref>Assuming Nisan 15, see [[Chronology of Jesus#Scholarly debate on the hour, day, and year of death]] for details.</ref> The [[Epistle to the Hebrews]] is often cited in support of this view: the temple sacrifices are described as being imperfect, since they require repeating (ch. 10:1–4), and as belonging to a [[Covenant (biblical)|covenant]] that was "becoming obsolete and growing old" and was "ready to vanish away" (ch. 8:13, [[English Standard Version|ESV]]). See also [[Abrogation of Old Covenant laws]]. Christ's crucifixion, being a sacrifice which dealt with [[Christian views on sin|sin]] once and for all, negated any need for further animal sacrifice. Christ himself is compared to the [[Kohen Gadol|High Priest]] who was always standing and performing rituals and sacrifices. Christ, however, having performed his sacrifice, "sat down" – finally attained perfection (ch. 10:11–14,18). Further, the veil or curtain to the [[Holy of Holies]] is seen as having been torn asunder at the crucifixion – figuratively in connection with this theology (ch 10:19–21), and literally according to the [[Gospel of Matthew]] (ch 27:50–51). Likewise, [[Book of Revelation|Revelation]] 21:22 explicitly describes the absence of a temple in the [[New Jerusalem]], "for its temple is the Lord God almighty and the Lamb." For these reasons, a third temple, whose partial purpose would be the re-institution of animal sacrifices, is seen as unnecessary and thus [[Supersessionism|superseded]]. Irenaeus<ref>{{cite web |date=22 July 2010 |title=Irenaeus Against Heresies – CARM Christian Apologetics & Research Ministry |url=http://carm.org/irenaeus-heresies4-21-41 |at=Book 4, Chapters 21 to 41}}</ref> and Hippolytus<ref>{{Cite book |last=Hippolytus |url=https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Ante-Nicene_Fathers/Volume_V/Hippolytus/The_Extant_Works_and_Fragments_of_Hippolytus/Dogmatical_and_Historical/Treatise_on_Christ_and_Antichrist |title=Ante-Nicene Fathers Vol. V, Hippolytus, The Extant Works and Fragments of Hippolytus, Dogmatical and Historical}}</ref> were among early church writers who foresaw a rebuilding of the Temple, as necessary for the preparation for the reign of the [[Antichrist]].

Additionally, Jesus himself stated, in response to a [[Samaritan]] asking whether it is right to worship on [[Mount Gerizim]] or Mount Zion, that "a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem... But in spirit and in truth". He stated of the [[Herod's Temple|Herodian temple]], "Not one stone will be left on another; every one of them will be thrown down" – John 4:21, Luke 21:6.

====Protestant====

=====Dispensationalist=====
[[File:Ground Plan of Ezekiel's Temple.png|thumb|right|"Ground Plan of Ezekiel's Temple" by dispensationalist author [[Arno Clemens Gaebelein|A. C. Gaebelein]]|upright=1.4]]
Those Protestants who do believe in the importance of a future rebuilt temple (viz., some [[Dispensationalism|dispensationalists]]) hold that the importance of the sacrificial system shifts to a Memorial of the Cross, given the text of [[Ezekiel 39|Ezekiel Chapters 39]] and following (in addition to Millennial references to the Temple in other Old Testament passages); since Ezekiel explains at length the construction and nature of the Millennial temple, in which Jews will once again hold the priesthood; some others hold that perhaps it was not eliminated with Jesus' sacrifice for sin, but is a ceremonial object lesson for confession and forgiveness (somewhat like water baptism and Communion are today); and that such animal sacrifices would still be appropriate for ritual cleansing and for acts of celebration and thanksgiving toward God. Some dispensationalists believe this will be the case with the [[Second Coming]] when [[Jesus]] reigns over earth from the city of [[New Jerusalem]].{{Specify|date=June 2007}} Some interpret a passage in the [[Book of Daniel]], Daniel 12:11, as a prophecy that the end of this age will occur shortly after sacrifices are ended in the newly rebuilt temple.{{Citation needed|date=June 2007}}

In 1762, [[Charles Wesley]] wrote:<ref name="wes">{{cite web |url=http://www.wesley-fellowship.org.uk/Zionist_Hymn.html |title=''A Wesley 'Zionist' Hymn?'' Charles Wesley's hymn, published in 1762 and included by John Wesley in his 1780 hymn-book, A Collection of Hymns for the use of the People called Methodists |work=The Wesley Fellowship |date=2010-07-01 |access-date=2014-07-05 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140717011126/http://wesley-fellowship.org.uk/Zionist_Hymn.html |archive-date=2014-07-17 |url-status=dead }}</ref>
{{poemquote|We know, it must be done,
For God hath spoke the word,
All Israel shall their Saviour own,
To their first state restor’d:
Re-built by his command,
Jerusalem shall rise,
Her temple on Moriah stand
Again, and touch the skies.}}

=====Dispensational Evangelical=====
{{unreferenced section|date=August 2020}}
Many [[evangelicalism|Evangelical]] Christians believe that New Testament prophecies associated with the Jewish Temple, such as Matthew 24–25 and 2 Thessalonians 2:1–12, were not completely fulfilled during the Roman destruction of Jerusalem in 70'' ''CE (a belief of [[full preterism]]) and that these prophecies refer to a future temple. This view is a core part of [[dispensationalism]], an interpretative framework of the Bible that stresses [[biblical literalism]] and asserts that the Jews remain God's [[chosen people]]. According to dispensationalist theologians, such as [[Hal Lindsey]] and [[Tim LaHaye]], the Third Temple will be rebuilt when the [[Antichrist]], often identified as the political leader of a trans-national alliance similar to the [[European Union]] or the [[United Nations]], secures a peace treaty between the modern nation of Israel and its neighbours following a global war. The Antichrist later uses the temple as a venue for proclaiming himself as God and the long-awaited Messiah, demanding worship from humanity.

====Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox====
{{religious text primary|section|date=August 2020}}
[[Catholic Church|Catholic]] and [[Eastern Orthodox Church|Eastern Orthodox]] Christians believe that the [[Eucharist]], which they hold to be one in substance with the one self-sacrifice of [[Jesus|Christ]] on the [[Christian cross|Cross]], is a far superior offering when compared with the merely preparatory temple sacrifices, as explained in the [[Epistle to the Hebrews]]. They also believe that Christ Himself is the ''New Temple'', as spoken of in the Book of Revelation and that Revelation can best be understood as the [[Eucharist]], [[World to Come|heaven on earth]]. Their church buildings are meant to model [[Solomon's Temple]], with the [[Tabernacle]], containing the Eucharist, being considered the new "Holy of Holies." Therefore, they do not attach any significance to a possible future rebuilding of the Jerusalem Temple.

The Orthodox also quote [http://www.sacred-texts.com/bib/kjv/dan009.htm#027 Daniel 9:27] ("... ''he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease'' ...") to show that the sacrifices would stop with the arrival of the Messiah, and mention that according to Jesus, St. Paul and the Holy Fathers, the temple will only be rebuilt in the times of the Antichrist.

Quotations: [http://www.usccb.org/bible/matthew/24 Matthew 24:15] "When you see the desolating abomination spoken of through Daniel the prophet standing in the holy place (let the reader understand)...."

[http://www.usccb.org/bible/2Thessalonians/2 2 Thessalonians 2:3–4] "Let no one deceive you in any way. For unless the apostasy comes first and the lawless one is revealed,* the one doomed to perdition, who opposes and exalts himself above every so-called god and object of worship, so as to seat himself in the temple of God,* claiming that he is a god – do you not recall that while I was still with you I told you these things?"

===Latter Day Saints===
[[Latter Day Saint movement|Latter Day Saints]] (LDS) believe that the Jews will build the Third Temple before the [[Second Coming (LDS Church)|Second Coming of Jesus Christ]],<ref>{{Cite book |last=Smith |first=Joseph Fielding |authorlink=Joseph Smith |title=Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=q4zqk3Mslx8C&q=temple |date=1938 |publisher=[[Deseret Book]] |page=286 |isbn=9781441493729 }}</ref> and after the Second Coming the Jews will accept Jesus as the Messiah. Most Jews will then embrace the fullness of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Then, it is believed, the Third Temple will be God's temple as Christ reigns on the earth, and it will become the Jerusalem LDS Temple.{{citation needed|date=August 2020}} There will be many [[Temple (LDS Church)|LDS Temples]] but two main temples will jointly serve as the central governing places – the Jerusalem Temple will function as the resurrected Jesus Christ's [[Eastern Hemisphere]] governing place and the [[Temple lot|New Jerusalem Temple]] in [[Independence, Missouri]], will function as the resurrected Jesus Christ's [[Western Hemisphere]] governing place.{{citation needed|date=August 2020}} Both of these two temples will have [[throne]]s for Jesus Christ to sit on during his millennial reign.<ref>{{cite book|author=Smith, Joseph Fielding|author-link=Joseph Fielding Smith|title=Doctrines of Salvation: Sermons and Writings of Joseph Fielding Smith, 3 vols|year=1954–1956|publisher=[[Bookcraft]] [[Salt Lake City, Utah]]|others=compiled by [[Bruce R. McConkie]]}}{{Volume needed|issue=no|date=May 2016}}{{page needed|date=May 2016}}</ref>

The [[Community of Christ]], the second largest denomination of the [[Latter Day Saint movement]], has operated a temple, open to the public, in Independence, Missouri, since 1994. Another denomination of the LDS movement, the [[Church of Christ (Temple Lot)]], possess the [[Temple Lot]], the actual spot on which the Temple will be built.

==Muslim view==
Most Muslims view the movement for the building of a Third Temple on the Temple Mount as an affront to Islam due to the presence of the [[Qibli Mosque|Al-Aqsa Mosque]] and the [[Dome of the Rock]] in the stead of the former Holy Temple. Today the area is regarded by the majority of Muslims as the [[Holiest sites in Islam|third holiest site in Islam]]. Muslims are resolute in calling for recognition of their exclusive rights over the site and demand that it be wholly transferred to Muslim sovereignty; furthermore, some Muslims [[Temple denial|deny any association with the Mount to the former Jewish Temples]] which stood at the site.<ref>{{Cite web
|url = http://www.israelnationalnews.com/news.php3?id=114927
|title = Israeli Sheikh: Temple Mount is Entirely Islamic
|last = Fendel
|first = Hillel
|date = November 6, 2006
|publisher = [[Arutz Sheva]]
|access-date = 2006-11-12
|quote=We remind, for the 1,000th time, that the entire Al-Aqsa mosque, including all of its area and alleys above the ground and under it, is exclusive and absolute Muslim property, and no one else has any rights to even one grain of earth in it.}}
</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Nahmias |first=Roee |date=2007-02-17 |title=Sheikh Salah: Western Wall belongs to Muslims |url=https://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3366266,00.html |access-date=2024-03-09 |work=Ynetnews |language=en}}</ref>

The [[Organisation of Islamic Cooperation]] was initiated in reaction to [[Denis Michael Rohan]], an Australian Christian who [[Al-Aqsa mosque fire|set fire to a 12th-century pulpit]] of the [[Qibli Mosque|Al-Aqsa mosque]], in an attempt to initiate the second coming of Christ. The protection of the Al-Aqsa Mosque is in the primary mandate of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation.{{cn|date=June 2025}}

==Baháʼí view==
In the [[Baháʼí Faith]], the prophecy of the Third Temple was fulfilled with the writing of the [[Summons of the Lord of Hosts#Súriy-i-Haykal (Tablet of the Temple)|Súriy-i-Haykal]] by [[Bahá'u'lláh]] in pentacle form.<ref name="rob3">{{Cite book |author=Taherzadeh |first=Adib |author-link=Adib Taherzadeh |url=http://www.peyman.info/cl/Baha%27i/Others/ROB/V3/p133-146Ch07.html |title=The Revelation of Bahá'u'lláh, Volume 3: 'Akka, The Early Years 1868–77 |publisher=George Ronald |year=1984 |isbn=0-85398-144-2 |location=Oxford, England, UK |page=133 |language=en}}</ref> The Súriy-i-Haykal or Tablet of the Temple, is a composite work which consists of a tablet followed by five messages addressed to world leaders; shortly after its completion, Bahá'u'lláh instructed the tablet be written in the form of a [[pentacle]], symbolizing the human temple and added to it the conclusion:<ref name="slh_intro">{{Cite book |author=Universal House of Justice |author-link=Universal House of Justice |url=http://reference.bahai.org/en/t/b/SLH/slh-3.html |title=The Summons of the Lord of Hosts |publisher=[[Baháʼí World Centre]] |year=2002 |isbn=0-85398-976-1 |location=Haifa, Israel |page=1 |chapter=Introduction}}</ref>
{{blockquote|Thus have We built the Temple with the hands of power and might, could ye but know it. This is the Temple promised unto you in the Book. Draw ye nigh unto it. This is that which profiteth you, could ye but comprehend it. Be fair, O peoples of the earth! Which is preferable, this, or a temple which is built of clay? Set your faces towards it. Thus have ye been commanded by God, the Help in Peril, the Self-Subsisting.<ref name="slh">{{Cite book|author=Bahá'u'lláh |author-link=Bahá'u'lláh |year=2002 |title=The Summons of the Lord of Hosts |publisher=[[Baháʼí World Centre]] |location=Haifa Israel |isbn=0-85398-976-1 |url=http://reference.bahai.org/en/t/b/SLH/slh-9.html#gr276 | page=137 }}</ref>}}

[[Shoghi Effendi]], the head of the Baháʼí Faith in the first half of the 20th century, explained that this verse refers to the prophecy in the Hebrew Bible where [[Book of Zechariah|Zechariah]] had promised the rebuilding of the Temple in the End Times as fulfilled in the return of the [[Manifestation of God (Baháʼí Faith)|Manifestation of God]], Bahá'u'lláh, in a human temple.<ref name="slh_intro" /><ref name="pdic">{{Cite book|first=Shoghi |last=Effendi |author-link= Shoghi Effendi |year= 1996 |title= Promised Day is Come |publisher= Baháʼí Publishing Trust |location=Wilmette, Illinois, USA |isbn= 0-87743-244-9 |url= http://reference.bahai.org/en/t/se/PDC/pdc-12.html#gr6 |pages=47–48}}</ref> Throughout the tablet, Bahá'u'lláh addresses the Temple (himself) and explains the glory which is invested in it allowing all the nations of the world to find redemption.<ref name="rob3" /><ref name="shawamreh">{{Cite web| first = Cynthia C. | last = Shawamreh |title = Comparison of the Suriy-i-Haykal and the Prophecies of Zechariah | date= December 1998 | access-date = 2006-09-30 | publisher = bahai-library.org | url = http://bahai-library.com/shawamreh_haykal_prophecies_zechariah}}</ref> In the tablet, Bahá'u'lláh states that the Manifestation of God is a pure mirror that reflects the sovereignty of God and manifests God's beauty and grandeur to mankind.<ref name="rob3" /> In essence, Bahá'u'lláh explains that the Manifestation of God is a "Living Temple" and Bahá'u'lláh addresses the organs and limbs of the human body and bids each to focus on God and not the earthly world.<ref name="rob3" />

==See also==
* [[Apocalypse of Zerubbabel]]
* [[Beautiful Gate]]
* [[Ezekiel's Temple]]
* [[Zvi Hirsch Kalischer#Views on the re-settlement of the Land of Israel|Tzvi Hirsh Kaliszer]]
* [[Red heifer]]
* [[Temple]]
* [[TempleOS]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Further reading==
* Gorenberg, Gershom. ''The End of Days: Fundamentalism and the Struggle for the Temple Mount''. Free Press, 2000. {{ISBN|0-684-87179-3}} (Journalist's view)
* [[David Ha'ivri]]. ''Reclaiming the Temple Mount''. HaMeir L'David, 2006. {{ISBN|965-90509-6-8}} (Overview of the History of the Temple Mount and advocacy of immediate rebuilding of a Third Temple)
* Grant R. Jeffrey. ''The New Temple and The Second Coming''. WaterBrook Press, 2007. {{ISBN|978-1-4000-7107-4}}
* N. T. Wright, [https://web.archive.org/web/20110501032326/http://www.ntwrightpage.com/Wright_Jerusalem_New_Testament.pdf "Jerusalem in the New Testament"] (1994) (Jesus claimed to do and be what the Temple was and did)
* Ben F. Meyer. "The Temple at the Navel of the Earth," in ''Christus Faber: the master builder and the house of God''. Princeton Theological Monograph Series no. 29. Allison Park, Pennsylvania: [[Pickwick Publications]], 1992. (Arguing that, for Jesus, the real referents of the imagery of biblical promise—Zion, or cosmic rock and, on it, God's gleaming temple of the end of days—were himself and his messianic remnant of believers.)

{{Temple Mount}}
{{Religious Zionism}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Book of Ezekiel]]
[[Category:Jewish messianism]]
[[Category:Judaism-related controversies]]
[[Category:Neo-Zionism]]
[[Category:Religious Zionism]]
[[Category:Tabernacle and Temples in Jerusalem]]
[[Category:Temple Mount]]
[[Category:Proposed religious places]]
[[Category:Proposed buildings and structures in Israel]]
[[Category:Temple Mount and Al-Aqsa in the Israeli–Palestinian conflict]]