Reflections on as deep a Temple and Garden of Eden experience as possible

It was special to be at the ground-breaking ceremony for the Cape Town South Africa Temple on Saturday 25 October 2025. The land was dedicated from the Temple and for each one of us who will spend time on it.

Sally and me turning the soil

My father particularly loved this picture of Jesus Christ.

I love to reflect on some significant things regarding this special site. 

We could see Lion's Head where the church work started in South Africa, and maybe in Africa as a whole in 1853. The journal of Elder William Holmes Walker

'On May 23rd we all went on the top of a mountain called The Lions Head, the guide for all approaching ships, to pray and council.
'We organized a branch of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, composed of 3 members. Returning in the evening, we continued making every possible effort to get an
opening, in every direction.'

This site of the Temple would have been close to where these three missionaries walked very often. They may well have walked on the very spot where the Temple will stand.

I love Heavenly Father's sense of humour - across the Liesbeeck River from the Temple Grounds is Devil's Peak. But Pam Cerff pointed out that there are also views of Groote Schuur Hospital, a place of healing, and University of Cape Town, a place of learning. Then someone else pointed out that on the other side of Table Mountain are the Twelve Apostles. 

My father often said (and I love to repeat this ) that Kirstenbosch is part of the Garden of Eden that has remained intact, also in view beyond UCT. DNA studies show that human DNA traces back to southern Africa, and fossils show that stone age people were in the Dell at Kirstenbosch. We don't know if the Garden of Eden was one hectare or a million hectares, or what... Nice to dream about Adam and Eve maybe treading on the soil where the Cape Town South Africa Temple will stand . I love that when we leave Kirstenbosch through Gate 1 we go out from the east side into the lone and dreary world.

Ja well, no fine, I love Cape Town and all that we enjoy here. We look forward to having the Temple here! My first ancestor came here in 1806 when Britain took the Cape, and then formally moved here in 1820. My parents were married here in 1943. I moved here from the West Rand in 1981. And our original ancestors come from 'here', the Cradle of Humankind. What better place to live on Earth? And now we look forward to having a Temple here.

Profile of a Prophet - By Hugh B Brown

 

Profile of a Prophet 

By Hugh B Brown, apparently 1955

This is a talk that I very frequently shared with those that we were teaching while I served as a missionary of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints during 1973 and 1974. It was good to listen to it again as I worked on the transcription. I hope that you will enjoy pondering on what Elder Brown said way back then, apparently in 1955, the year after I was born. After doing the transcription I found that the audio and text are already available, so I shall simply refer you to that source, although I leave my transcription below.

Listen to and read the talk.

Welcome:

Teacher, author, theologian and an apostle of the Lord Jesus Christ. I'm happy to introduce to your Elder Hugh B Brown. 

Elder Brown:

I should like to dispense with all formality, if I may, and say to faculty members and student body alike, 'my brothers and sisters'. 

I adopt that form of salutation for several reasons among them being the fact that all, or practically all who are here are members of the church which is sponsoring and maintaining this school. And secondly, I say brothers and sisters, because in my more mature years, I am coming to realize I think, a little better than I did, the eternal fact of the fatherhood of God and the brotherhood of men. I say brothers and sisters too, because I do not intend to undertake a sermon, a lecture, certainly not an oration, but I would like for just a few minutes to bear my testimony to you people. 

I'd like to take the witness stand in defense of the proposition that the gospel of Jesus Christ has been restored to the Earth in our day, and that this is the Church of Jesus Christ. 

I say I would like to take the witness stand. I'd like to be able, if I could, for just a minute to give some reasons for the hope I have, and for my allegiance to the church. Perhaps I can bring it to you most quickly by referring to an incident that happened in London, England in 1939. In September, just before the outbreak of the war, I had come to know rather intimately very prominent English gentleman. A member of the House of Commons, a member of the cabinet, formerly one of the justices on the Supreme Court, and the author of many of the books, which we in Canada studied while we were preparing for law. And in my conversations with this man on various vexations of the soul, as he called them, we talked frequently of religion. That before the outbreak of the war, and he called me on the phone and asked if I would come to his office and discuss with him, finally, some phrases of the gospel, because he says 'I've been intrigued by what you're told me. I think there's going to be a war is you have to return to America and we may not meet again. The latter statement proved to the prophetic. 

I went to his office, and he said this, in effect. 'I'm not only intrigued, but troubled by some things you've told me, and I wonder if you would be so good as to prepare for me a brief on Mormonism?' 

I may say to you students that a brief is something that men like President Wilkinson prepare when they're going into a court with the intention of presenting their case and giving their reasons for their position on any given question. 

He said, 'Will you prepare a brief on Mormonism, and come and let me be the judge, and you discuss Mormonism before me as you would discuss a legal problem?' He said 'First, I'd like to say to you that you have said to me a time or two that you believe the Joseph Smith was a prophet. You have said to me that you think that Jesus of Nazareth and God the Father appeared to Joseph Smith.' Now he said to me, 'That's fantastic.' He said 'The thing I'm troubled about is the fact that, as a barrister and solicitor from Canada, a man trained in logic and evidence could give me himself over to such palpably absurd ideas.' Now this man, brothers and sisters, this great judge, one of the, one of most intellectual men I ever met, I think he had the most incisive mind. He's mind, his mind seemed to me to be almost like a field fact. And when he said, 'What you tell me about Joseph Smith is fantastic', I was bold enough to suggest to him that we, perhaps, should prepare to go forward right then with our discussion. 

I said 'I'd like to present my brief right now.' He had intimated that I'd probably take three days, at least, to prepare for it, because he said 'I'm going to get the three hours in which present it. When I told him I was ready at the moment, I suggested to him that we have what in Canadian and English law, and to some extent in this country, is called an 'examination for discovery'.

Examination of discovery' is, briefly, getting together all the opposing sides, the attorneys, and the plaintiff, and the defendant, and seeing if they can find some area of agreement, and this save the time of the court later on. I said 'Perhaps we can have an examination for discovery here to see whether there is some area of agreement and from there, we can start to discuss my fantastic ideas. He agreed to that quite readily, and I said 'Of course, I am proceeding on the assumption that you are a Christian?' 

'Certainly.' 

'I assume you believe the Bible, Old Testament, New Testament, to be the word of God?' 

'I do.' 

'You mean what's written in the book?'

'Yes.' 

'You say that my statements that God spoke to a man in this age is fantastic, and absurd?' 

'To me it is.' 

'Do you believe that God ever did speak to anyone?' 

'Well, certainly. All through the Bible we have evidence of that?' 

'Did he speak to Adam?'

'Yes.' 

'Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Moses, Jacob, Joseph, and on through the Prophets?' 

'I believe he spoke to every one of them.'

'You believe that that time of contact between God and man, ceased at the meridian of time, or when Jesus appeared?' 

'No,' he said 'it reached its climax, its apex on that occasion.'

'Do you believe that God spoke to Jesus?' 

'Yes.'

'Was He the son of God?' 

'He was.' 

'Do you believe, sir, that', and I'm going to have to shorten this considerably, because I said it took me three hours to tell it to him and I must tell it to you in less than 30 minutes, 'Do you believe, sir, that after Jesus was resurrected, and after he ascended into heaven, and I assume you think you He did ascend to heaven?'

'I do.' 

'Do you believe that a certain lawyer, sometimes referred to as a tentmaker, by the name of Paul of Tarsus, on his way to Damascus contacted that very individual, namely Jesus of Nazareth, who had been crucified, and had ascended into heaven, do you believe that Saul saw a light and heard a voice?'

'I do.'

'Whose voice was it?'

'It was the voice of Jesus Christ, for He so introduced himself.'

He said 'I think I'll have to admit that, except that it stopped shortly after the first century of the Christian era.'

'Then, milord', and that's the way we speak to justices in the British Empire, 'Milord, I am submitting to you, in all seriousness, that it is, has been standard procedure, throughout all recorded time, for God to talk to men.'

'Why did it stop?' 

'I can't say.' 

'You think that God hasn't spoken since then?'

'I'm sure He hasn't.' 

'There must be a reason, can you give me a reason?' 

'I do not know.'

'May I suggest a reason, or several? Perhaps God does not speak to men anymore because he can't. He's lost the power.'

He said 'Of course, that would be blasphemous.' 

'Well, then, if you don't accept that, perhaps he doesn't speak to men anymore because he doesn't love us anymore. He's gone off and left us to find our own way in the dark.' 

But he said 'God loves all men, of all ages, and is no respecter of persons.' 

'Well, then, if he could speak, if he loves us, then the only other possible answer, as I see it, is that we don't need Him. We made such rapid strides, we're so well educated, we have such great science, we don't need God anymore.' 

And then he said, and his eyes were moist when he said it 'Mr Brown, there never was an age in the history of the world, there never was a people, or a time when the voice of God was needed as it is needed now.' And then he said to me 'Can you tell me why he doesn't?'

My answer was, 'Milord, He does. He has spoken, He is now speaking, and all we need is the faith to hear Him.' 

And then we proceeded, to, rather quickly, and I must not refer to very much of what we proceeded to do, but we proceeded to prepare what I have been pleased to call a 'Profile of a Prophet'. Now, I wonder if you students would like to fill in various things that I'm now going to mention, and add to them as you will, and then see whether Joseph Smith measures up. Stand him up against that profile, and see where he comes in. 

We agreed, between us, in pursuit of our examination for discovery of ground on which we both stand. 

First, we agreed that any man who claimed to be a prophet of God, also claimed to have been spoken to by God. 

We agreed that any man so claiming would be a dignified man: no table jumping; no whispering from the dead; no clairvoyance, but a dignified, clear statement of truth. 

We agreed that any man claiming to be a prophet of God, would declare his message without any fear, courageously, and without making any weak concessions to public opinion. 

We agreed that, if he were speaking for God, he could not make concessions, and we agreed that ordinarily what he taught was not in harmony with the generally accepted teachings of the day. 

We agreed that such a man would speak in the name of the Lord and say 'Thus saith the Lord' as Moses, Jeremiah and others. 

We agreed that such a man would predict future events, and predict them in the name of God, and that they would come the pass, as Isaiah and Ezekiel. 

We agreed that he would have, not only an important message for his time, but ordinarily a message for all future time, such as Noah and Malachi and others.

We agreed that his courage in deporting his people would be such that would enable him, not only to endure persecution, but to give him his life, if need be, for the cause he had espoused, such as Daniel, Hosea, Joel, David and others. 

We agreed that such a man would denounce wickedness fearlessly, that he would generally be rejected by the people of his time, but that as time went on, he'd grow in stature, and that they who put him to death would find, if they could live on, that their descendants would build monuments to his honor. 

We agreed that he would do many superhuman things, things that no man could do without God's help. 

We agreed that as he grows in stature, the consequence of his work would be among the most convincing evidences of his calling. 'By their fruits, ye shall know them. 

We agreed that his teachings would be in strict conformity with scripture. 

We agreed that his words and his writing what become scripture. 

Now I've gone quickly and left out a lot that you can fill in, but I asked you, in all seriousness, to stand the prophet Joseph Smith up against that profile of prophets, and see whether he measures up, and as a student of the life of the Prophet Joseph Smith for more than fifty years, I say to young men and women, there is no claim that any prophet has made in connection with his prophetic calling that Joseph Smith cannot qualify under. Think it through. 

I said to this friend of mine, 'I believe that Joseph Smith was a prophet and God, because he talks like a prophet, he taught like a Prophet, he lived and died like a prophet. I believe he was a prophet of God because He gave to this world some of the greatest of all revelation. I believe that he was a prophet of God because he predicted many things in the future which have come to pass since the prediction, things which only God could bring to pass.' 

I said to him, and I say to you, 'I believe that Joseph Smith was `a prophet of God because John, on the island Patmos, beloved disciple of Jesus, declared that the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.' And I submit to you, as I submitted to him, that if any man who ever lived had a testimony of Jesus, and gave his life for that testimony, and was effective in spreading the testimony and bringing convincing evidences of the truth of the statement that Jesus is the Christ, of all the men that have lived, I challenge any man that to show one who was given us more real evidences of the divine calling of Jesus Christ than did the prophet Joseph Smith. 

I believe the prophet Joseph Smith was a prophet because he did do many superhuman things. One of them was translating the Book of Mormon. Some people will not agree on that, but I submit to you, and I shall refer, I think to [?]. I submit to you that the Prophet Joseph Smith in translating the Book of Mormon did a superhuman task. 

I invite you to go out and write a Book of Mormon. I ask you to write one chapter of a Book of Mormon. I ask you to write, if you can, any kind of a story of the ancient inhabitants of America, and I ask you to write it without any source material, and I ask you to include in your statements with respect to the ancient inhabitants of America, some of the things that the Prophet Joseph included in the Book of Mormon. I ask you to write, for instance, 54 chapters dealing with war, 21 historical chapters, 55 on visions and prophecies, and remember, when you begin to write on visions and prophecies, you must have your record agree meticulously with the scriptures. You will write 71 chapters on doctrine and exhortation, and here, too you must check every statement with the scriptures, or you will be proven to be a fraud. You must write 21 chapters on the ministry of Christ and everything you claim He said and did, and every testimony you write in your book about Him must agree absolutely with the New Testament. I ask you, would like to undertake such a task? I would suggest to you, too, what you're up against in connection with this book, you're going to go write other chapters, you're going to have to introduce here figures of speech, similes, metaphors, narration, exposition, description, oratory, epic, lyric, logic and parable. Undertake that, will you? 

I ask those of you who are under 20 to undertake it. I ask you to remember that the man that translated the Book of Mormon, was a young man, and he hadn't had the opportunity of schooling that you have had, and yet he dictated that book in just a little over two months, and made few, if any, corrections. 

And for over 100 years, some of the best students and scholars in the world have been trying to prove that the Book of Mormon was not the word of God and they've taken the Bible to try to prove it, and not one of them has been able to prove that anything he wrote, was not in strict harmony with the Scriptures, with the Bible, with the Word of God. The Book of Mormon not only declared in entirety, that its purpose is to bring the knowledge right to the people, but the whole of the subject matter has that as its central theme. And there is no chapter in all literature, sacred or profane, which I say to you as a lawyer, has greater evidential value than the chapters in third Nephi where multitudes of people said 'We saw him. We felt of His hands and His side. We know He is the Christ'. 

I said to my friend 'Milord, I cannot understand you saying to me that my claims are fantastic. Nor can I understand why Christians who claim to believe in Christ, would persecute and put to death a man whose whole purpose was to prove the truths of the things they themselves were declaring, namely that Jesus was the Christ. I can understand them persecuting Joseph Smith and the rest of us if he had said 'I am Christ', or if he had said 'There is no Christ', or if he had said someone else is Christ. Then Christians believing in Christ might be justified, to some extent, at least, in persecuting, or disputing with him at least, but what he said was 'He whom ye ignorantly serve declare I unto you', paraphrasing what Paul said in Athens 'He whom you ignorantly worship declare I unto you'. Joseph came to Christians and said to them 'You've been in claiming to believe in Jesus Christ. I say to you that I saw Him, and I talked with Him. He is the Son of God.' 

When Joseph came out of that wood, at least four fundamentals truths came out with him. And he announced them tot he world. First, that the Father and the Son are separate and distinct individuals. Secondly, that the canon of scripture is not complete. Third, that man was created in the image of God. Fourth, that revelation, or the channel between the Earth and the heavens is open, and it continues. 

I'd like to say to you students there's nothing as far as I am concerned in all our claims finer and more challenging to students in any field of activity than the one which says. 'We not only believe what God has revealed has does reveal but we believe that He will yet reveal many great and important things pertaining to the Kingdom of God.' That is a challenge to research! It is a challenge to check on what we believe. It is a challenge to bring your beliefs, your thoughts, your education, your lives up to date. 

May I just say to you, and perhaps come of you are wondering, what was the reaction of this judge when we finished. He sat and listened intently, he asked some very pointed and searching questions, and at the end of the period, he said 'Mr Brown, I wonder if your people appreciate the importance of your message. Do you?' He said 'If what you have told me is true, it is the greatest message that has come to this Earth since the angels announced the birth of Christ. This was a judge speaking, a great statesman, an intelligent man. He threw out the challenge 'Do you appreciate the import of what you say?' He said 'I wish it was true. I hope it may be true. God knows it ought to be true. I would to God', he said, and He wept as he said it, 'that some man could appear on the earth, and authoritatively say 'Thus saith the Lord.'

As I intimated, we did not meet again. But I bring you just in the briefest form, two or three reasons why I believe that Joseph Smith, was a prophet of God. But, undergirding and overarching all the rest, I say to you from the very center of my heart. 'I know that Joseph Smith was a prophet of God. And all of these evidences and many other that could be cited, may have the effect of giving me, in a sense an intellectual conviction, but by the whisperings of the Holy Spirit, one may come to know, and by those whisperings, I say, I do know, and I thank God for that knowledge and pray for His blessing upon all of you in the name of Jesus. Christ. Amen.

Transcribed by https://otter.ai

Why are so many Christians not united?

Jesus Christ is clearly identified as a focus of the worship at the Temple

I have done a lot of thinking recently about the desire of Jesus Christ for us to be one with Him as He is one with the Father. In John 17:11, 21 - 23 He says: 

11 And now I am no more in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to thee. Holy Father, keep through thine own name those whom thou hast given me, that they may be one, as we are.

21 That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me.

22 And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one:

23 I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me.

An essential part of this oneness is the love that Jesus Christ said His disciples should have one for another, even for their enemies. In John 13:34 - 35 He says:

34 A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another.

35 By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another. 

In Matthew 5:43 - 48 He says:

43 ¶ Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy.

44 But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;

45 That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.

46 For if ye love them which love you, what reward have ye? do not even the publicans the same?

47 And if ye salute your brethren only, what do ye more than others? do not even the publicans so?

48 Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.

There are at least two thoughts that arise in my mind while reading these, the words of the Master, Himself. 

The first question that I discuss here is why Christians are so divided rather than united, at odds with each other rather than loving one another, even contentious rather than being in harmony, and to the point of killing each other in the name of Christ.

Using Google Maps to search for 'church' near my home shows 20 pins within a radius of 2 km. One includes 'Jesus' and one 'Christian' in the name.

The second thought is how anyone who reads these words of the Saviour can think that Jesus Christ was not quite clear in His mind regarding His being the Son of God, that He was one with His Father, but that His Father was not one entity with Him other than as a perfectly harmonious team of two individuals - exactly what He challenged us the be with each other. As I express this thought, I realise that the second thought is really one thought with the first thought...

Despite His commandment to love, and His prayer for oneness, Christians are terribly divided, even at war with each other. As we read in the 1820s, there were divisions, they were contending with each other, resulting in "a scene of great confusion" and "bad feeling ensued—priest contending against priest, and convert against convert; so that all their good feelings one for another, if they ever had any, were entirely lost in a strife of words and a contest about opinions." I grew up hearing about the war in Ireland where Catholics and Protestants were fully at war, killing each other. Although this may have been a political rather than a religious conflict, there was distinct division between people that was fueled by religious belief.  

As I drive around Cape Town where I live, I see so many different churches, not just the normal denominations mentioned above - Methodists, Presbyterians, Baptist, Catholics, Protestants, but all sorts of names of what almost seem to be franchises, almost commercialising Christianity. In about the 1960s I heard mention of about 3500 Christian denominations, and this number has multiplied greatly since then.

It appears that there are in excess of 2.5 billion Christians in 2019, comprising the world's largest religious group. This source also mentions that there are approximately 41 thousand Christian denominations and organisations. They also mention that, although there are many Denominations, there should be One Body of Christ

There are many denominations, but one body of Christ. Ideally, the church on earth — the body of Christ — would be universally united in doctrine and organization. However, departures from Scripture in doctrine, revivals, reformations, and various spiritual movements have forced believers to form distinct and separate bodies.

Every believer today would benefit from reflecting on this sentiment found in Foundations of Pentecostal Theology: "Denominations may have been God's way of preserving revival and missionary fervor. The members of denominational churches, however, must keep in mind that the Church which is the Body of Christ is composed of all true believers, and that true believers must be united in spirit to carry forward the Gospel of Christ in the world, for all will be caught up together at the Coming of the Lord. That local churches should band together for fellowship and missions is certainly a Bible truth."

And yet, I do not see one body in Christ, but what seems to me to be competition and argument. I have experienced this from many people who have contended hotly with me when I quote what Jesus Christ teaches and it does not agree with their beliefs, for example, what I have cited above about the Father and the Son being distinct from each other although perfectly united in heart and mind.

I got to thinking about the Jews and Muslims who also follow the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob -  the people of the book - and I researched these religions and do not find as much divisiveness among them. 

There are about 14.7 million Jews around the world, and it seems as though there are less than 100 movements, denominations, varieties, traditions, groupings, streams, branches, trends and such among the Jews.

There are apparently over 2 billion Muslims worldwide and there are less than about 60 sects or branches among Muslims.

Why would it be that the Christians who have such a direct command to love one another and to be one should be comparatively more divided than the Jews or Muslims? I have not compared the other religions, basically one of which is monotheist, and the others polytheist. There may be divisions among them, but it seems to me that Christianity exemplifies the opposite of unity rather than the epitome of unity. This saddens me - and I am sure that it saddens Heavenly Father. I very much doubt that it saddens Lucifer who I am confident is the one who sows the seeds of disunity. I remember something that my parents very often quoted - I suppose that, just maybe, they thought that their children demonstrated too much contention...

29 For verily, verily I say unto you, he that hath the spirit of contention is not of me, but is of the devil, who is the father of contention, and he stirreth up the hearts of men to contend with anger, one with another.

30 Behold, this is not my doctrine, to stir up the hearts of men with anger, one against another; but this is my doctrine, that such things should be done away.

Christ then proceeds to define His doctrine that hinges on the prefect unity between the Father, His son Jesus Christ, and the Holy Ghost, and describes how they are one. He explains that we should build on that doctrine and repent and become as little children and enter and continue on the covenant path.

This brings me back to the 17th chapter of John where Christ Himself says that "this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent". I believe that a lot of the disunity and contention arises from disagreement about the nature of the Godhead - certainly that has been where a lot of people have attacked my beliefs.

I am very grateful for the witness that I have received from the Spirit that has affirmed my belief in God the Eternal Father, and in His Son, Jesus Christ, and in the Holy Ghost. I have come to love all men, regardless of the differences that there may be between us, I love them, appreciate them, and respect them. Those differences, as distinct as they may be, contribute to the strength of what we can accomplish as we work in synergy rather than in competition. Those differences do not necessarily imply right or wrong, superior or inferior, good or bad. A friend of mine said that Heaven would be very boring if we were all the same! I happily reassured her that 'equal' does not mean 'the same'... We are different with different talents, interests, passions, types and temperaments. I love that I saw on coins growing up in South Africa the motto Unity Is Strength, as on our previous Coat of Arms "Ex Unitate Vire" and on our current Coat of Arms "!ke e: /xarra //ke" that means "diverse people unite".

My humble prayer is that I might help to bring unity rather than division within my own life, family, community, and wherever I can within the circle of my influence. I pray that I may have "a godly walk and conversation", with "works and faith agreeable to the holy scriptures - walking in holiness before the Lord" - as is the duty of members after they are received by baptism.

I thought that I would share this on YouTube as well...