Word battle: Temple VS church

As kind of a split off from the discussion about being the international church of Jediism I was thinking it might be interesting to discuss what we view the difference is between a church and a temple. I know a number of posts in the other thread mentioned the distinction being important to them.

I'm not so sure that I really make much of a distinction between the two. I tend to view them as rather synonymous with each other.

What do you think?

Agreed with your statement, Goken. I dont see much of a difference. Either or works for me.

But for the sake of arguement, gonna pull in the definitions of both.

Church: a building used for public Christian worship.
"they came to church with me"
synonyms: place of worship, house of God, house of worship; cathedral, abbey, chapel, basilica; megachurch; synagogue, mosque


Temple: a building devoted to the worship, or regarded as the dwelling place, of a god or gods or other objects of religious reverence.
"at the altar of the temple"
synonyms: house of God, house of worship, shrine, sanctuary; church, cathedral, mosque, synagogue, shul; archaicfane

As we can see, the synonyms are almost identical, but the definitions differ greatly. One (church) seems more monotheistic. The other (temple) seems to be more open to polytheism or lack of a "God" figure such as religious objects.

May the Force guide this discussion.

Church is very Christian-centric. Temple is not.

Just for the sake of arguement, I went and looked up another definition.

Synagogue: the building where a Jewish assembly or congregation meets for religious worship and instruction.
•a Jewish assembly or congregation.

This word comes from two Greek words, sun (bring) and agein (together). It also states in the definition that it is a "building" (or place) where an congregation (group of people) "meets for religious worship and instruction. That sounds, imo, more akin to what we do here. Now not all here openly "worship", but we do observe the Force, and those that choose to train are being "instructed".

So... International Synagogue of Jediism anybody?

They are different names for similar buildings, but rarely used together. A church is not a temple for me, but I find it difficult to explain why that is...

Coming from a Mormon background, I always thought church was for everyday (and Sundays, especially) gathering and Temples for the more dedicated works. I never got to go to the temple since I was never deemed worthy but I did go to the part where you could do the baptisms.

Now that I have a more open thought process, I see a temple as just another word for church. I think for some people 'temple' just sounds a bit more....higher? Especially those like me back in the day, just because you went to church didn't mean you went to the temple.

Also coming from a Mormon background I have always seen and preferred the distinction.

A church is a place you go on sunday for community centric worship and learning. This is where we did sunday school, young womens, ect ect....

A Temple is where you go to perform higher service's such as weddings, baptism for the dead ((Really big thing for Mormons)) and prophet/high ranking people of the faith. In the LDS no one was allowed to enter a temple past a certain place without the right credentials and garments. (Being Clean)

Huge difference....

While yes I realize not all religions practice this.....this is what comes to mind when I hear the two words.

Trisskar wrote: Also coming from a Mormon background I have always seen and preferred the distinction.

A church is a place you go on sunday for community centric worship and learning. This is where we did sunday school, young womens, ect ect....

A Temple is where you go to perform higher service's such as weddings, baptism for the dead ((Really big thing for Mormons)) and prophet/high ranking people of the faith. In the LDS no one was allowed to enter a temple past a certain place without the right credentials and garments. (Being Clean)

Huge difference....

While yes I realize not all religions practice this.....this is what comes to mind when I hear the two words.

Reading yours and Vlad's distinctions, I think for me the difference comes because church was where I was bored stiff on Sundays, where I was 'told' but not 'taught'. As someone that studied Egyptian history diligently as a teenager, a 'temple' for me is a place for worship and higher spiritual workings. Therefore, the two are not the same.

Very much liking the direction this took. Thank you Vlad and Triss for sharing how the Mormon church (and temple) does things (never knew the two were different before, so learning something new every day ), and Edan for really cementing that idea for me.

I, growing up, went to a lot of churches. All of them were boring (save one, but only went there once :c) and you were sat down and TOLD how it was. It was a lecture more often than not. Sit down, listen, stand, sing now, sit back down, drink this, eat this, kneel.... very much a chore. To this day I don't like going to church.

But temples, in my mind, have always been a place you go to be guided. A teacher at a church sits you down and tells you how it is. A teacher at a temple asks you why you think it is as it is, and guides you towards understanding why you think that. (the longer I'm here, and with my apprenticeship I've been feeling the latter is more true for this place.)

My perspective: Church is almost exclusively used in Christian contexts. A church is a Christian temple. Hence finding it odd here... Jedi are not necessarily Christian and this seems very Abrahamic-Rite biased. Seems to be a lot of it around, lately.

I can only attribute this to the organisation, and almost all of its councillors, originating from a very Christian country. If we hope to be truly international, we need take a wider view of this sort of thing. It matters, and it's off-putting to those who aren't used to "just living with" Christian terms and ideas. The idea of a "Jedi Church" to me just sounds like stealth Christianity... "you can be a Jedi Knight, by the way here's a pamphlet on the coolest Jedi of them all!"