Someone recently posed this question in an LDS forum I belong to:
Howbeit the most High dwelleth not in temples made with hands; as saith the prophet, (Acts 7:48)
God that made the world and all things therein, seeing that he is Lord of heaven and earth, dwelleth not in temples made with hands; (Acts 17:24)
The first is based on Isa 66:1-2 where the people were still under the Old Covenant, and all would agree, LDS and non-LDS alike, that the people of God engaged in temple worship and practices.
Furthermore, in Isa 66:3-4, we read:
He that killeth an ox is as if he slew a man; he that sacrificeth a lamb, as if he cut off a dog’s neck; he that offereth an oblation, as if he offered swine’s blood; he that burneth incense, as if he blessed an idol. Yea, they have chosen their own ways, and their soul delighteth in their abominations. I also will choose their delusions, and will bring their fears upon them; because when I called, none did answer; when I spake, they did not hear: but they did evil before mine eyes, and chose that in which I delighted not.
What these verse refer to is that God doesn't dwell in the temple because that temple is no longer a house of prayer—it has become a place of idolatry. The temple authorities may claim to worship God, but in reality (argues Stephen) they are worshipping the works of their hands.
In reality, the texts are against idolatrous structures, but God-appointed structures. This can be seen in the meaning of the adjective χειροποίητος. Thayer defines the term thusly:
5702 χειροποίητος
χειροποίητος, χειροποίητον (χείρ and ποιέω), made by the hand i. e. the skill of man (see ἀχειροποίητος): of temples, Mark 14:58; Acts 7:48; 17:24 ; Heb. 9:11,24; of circumcision, Eph. 2:11. (In the Septuagint of idols; of other things, occasionally in Herodotus, Thucydides, Xenophon, Polybius, Diodorus.)*
This is similar to how Moulton-Milligan, Vocabulary of the New Testament, defines the term:
4654 χειροποίητος [pg 687]
χειροποίητος,
“made by hands,” in the LXX applied only to idols, bat in the NT used of material temples (Ac 748, 1724): cf. Orac. Sib. xiv. 62 ναῶν ἱδρύματα χειροποιήτων. In the travel-letter, P Lond 8544 (i/ii A.D.) (=111. p. 205, Selections, p. 70), the writer remarks that many go by ship ἵνα τὰς χε[ι]ροπ[οι]ή[τους τέ]χνας ἱστορήσωσι, “in order that they may visit works of art made by hands,” on the banks of the Nile.
Notice how, in Heb 9:11, 24 which are referenced by Thayer, Jesus Himself dwells in a heavenly tabernacle as the Great High Priest(!)
The NET note to Acts 7:48 is spot-on when it notes the following:
The phrase made by human hands is negative in the NT: Mar 14:58; Act 17:24; Eph 2:11; Heb 9:11, Heb 9:24. It suggests "man-made" or "impermanent." The rebuke is like parts of the Hebrew scripture where the rebuke is not of the temple, but for making too much of it (1Ki 8:27; Isa 57:15; 1Ch 6:8; Jer 7:1-34).
The critics are on another exegetical fishing trip where they forgot the fishing poles . . .
A friend cogently noted the following:
Along the same line that Robert has already commented, there is the verse from Psalm 127:1, "Except the LORD build the house, they labour in vain that build it: except the LORD keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain." When the temple, even the great Temple of Solomon becomes a place of idolatry, or a place that glorifies man or a king, it no more is a place "built by the Lord", but becomes a place made with "human hands". The illustrative language is meant to delineate between what God builds through righteousness and the work of His obedient children, and the futile structures that the natural man builds to honor his own ego.
Further Reading:
FairMormon, Mormonism and temples/Made with hands
Idem. Mormonism and temples/Made with hands/Stephen's witness
Our critics sure dislike us buliding temples..they sure use the verse about how God does not dwell in temples made out man's hands..any thoughts? How to address this issue.The following is my response:
Howbeit the most High dwelleth not in temples made with hands; as saith the prophet, (Acts 7:48)
God that made the world and all things therein, seeing that he is Lord of heaven and earth, dwelleth not in temples made with hands; (Acts 17:24)
The first is based on Isa 66:1-2 where the people were still under the Old Covenant, and all would agree, LDS and non-LDS alike, that the people of God engaged in temple worship and practices.
Furthermore, in Isa 66:3-4, we read:
He that killeth an ox is as if he slew a man; he that sacrificeth a lamb, as if he cut off a dog’s neck; he that offereth an oblation, as if he offered swine’s blood; he that burneth incense, as if he blessed an idol. Yea, they have chosen their own ways, and their soul delighteth in their abominations. I also will choose their delusions, and will bring their fears upon them; because when I called, none did answer; when I spake, they did not hear: but they did evil before mine eyes, and chose that in which I delighted not.
What these verse refer to is that God doesn't dwell in the temple because that temple is no longer a house of prayer—it has become a place of idolatry. The temple authorities may claim to worship God, but in reality (argues Stephen) they are worshipping the works of their hands.
In reality, the texts are against idolatrous structures, but God-appointed structures. This can be seen in the meaning of the adjective χειροποίητος. Thayer defines the term thusly:
5702 χειροποίητος
χειροποίητος, χειροποίητον (χείρ and ποιέω), made by the hand i. e. the skill of man (see ἀχειροποίητος): of temples, Mark 14:58; Acts 7:48; 17:24 ; Heb. 9:11,24; of circumcision, Eph. 2:11. (In the Septuagint of idols; of other things, occasionally in Herodotus, Thucydides, Xenophon, Polybius, Diodorus.)*
This is similar to how Moulton-Milligan, Vocabulary of the New Testament, defines the term:
4654 χειροποίητος [pg 687]
χειροποίητος,
“made by hands,” in the LXX applied only to idols, bat in the NT used of material temples (Ac 748, 1724): cf. Orac. Sib. xiv. 62 ναῶν ἱδρύματα χειροποιήτων. In the travel-letter, P Lond 8544 (i/ii A.D.) (=111. p. 205, Selections, p. 70), the writer remarks that many go by ship ἵνα τὰς χε[ι]ροπ[οι]ή[τους τέ]χνας ἱστορήσωσι, “in order that they may visit works of art made by hands,” on the banks of the Nile.
Notice how, in Heb 9:11, 24 which are referenced by Thayer, Jesus Himself dwells in a heavenly tabernacle as the Great High Priest(!)
The NET note to Acts 7:48 is spot-on when it notes the following:
The phrase made by human hands is negative in the NT: Mar 14:58; Act 17:24; Eph 2:11; Heb 9:11, Heb 9:24. It suggests "man-made" or "impermanent." The rebuke is like parts of the Hebrew scripture where the rebuke is not of the temple, but for making too much of it (1Ki 8:27; Isa 57:15; 1Ch 6:8; Jer 7:1-34).
The critics are on another exegetical fishing trip where they forgot the fishing poles . . .
An Old Testament event that is said to refute LDS theology is the dedication of the Temple by Solomon, where we read:
But will God indeed dwell on the earth? Behold, heaven and the heaven of heaven cannot contain you; how much less this house I have built! (1 Kgs 8:27 ESV [cf. 2 Chron 6:18])
Firstly, in the Christology of Evangelical Protestants, Jesus remains embodied; such is part-and-parcel of the Christology of Chalcedon in AD 451, so his rather (pathetic) comments on LDS Christology would also come back to bite him vis-à-vis his Trinitarian Christology. Furthermore, the word “contain” in Hebrew does not refer to the temple not having space to contain God (the sense that God’s size is so immense it cannot contain him [how to make sense of that in light of divine simplicity and “spirit” being immaterial in “mainstream” theology is a wonder to behold . . . ]) but to the power of Yahweh—the Hebrew term is כול and carries the meaning of “restrain”; an analogy would be how a paper bag cannot “contain” a grenade and its power once the pin is pulled.
A friend cogently noted the following:
Along the same line that Robert has already commented, there is the verse from Psalm 127:1, "Except the LORD build the house, they labour in vain that build it: except the LORD keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain." When the temple, even the great Temple of Solomon becomes a place of idolatry, or a place that glorifies man or a king, it no more is a place "built by the Lord", but becomes a place made with "human hands". The illustrative language is meant to delineate between what God builds through righteousness and the work of His obedient children, and the futile structures that the natural man builds to honor his own ego.
Further Reading:
FairMormon, Mormonism and temples/Made with hands
Idem. Mormonism and temples/Made with hands/Stephen's witness