Why do eight temples not have angel moroni on them?

Answer 1

According to an official church web site: Eight (8) temples do not have an angel Moroni. They are the St. George Utah, Logan Utah, Manti Utah, Laie Hawaii, Cardston Alberta, Mesa Arizona, Hamilton New Zealand, and Oakland California Temples. http://www.ldschurchtemples.com/articles/facts/

Answer 2

This is not an official statement of the church, but...

A statue of the angel Moroni is not necessary for a temple to be complete. It is no official symbol of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, a Church which holds no official symbols (such as the cross, Christian fish, etc.). Many temples which today have such a statue on their tops didn't in years past. It is popular, but it is not a defining characteristic of a temple. For more on temples, see http://www.lds.org/temples/

Answer 3

Currently there are 8 temples without Angel Moroni statues. These are St. George Utah, Logan Utah, Manti Utah, Laie Hawaii, Cardston Alberta, Mesa Arizona, Hamilton New Zealand, and Oakland California. Others have received a statue after their dedication, including Idaho Falls, Frieberg Germany, Ogden and Provo Utah, Sao Paulo Brazil, Tokyo, Bern Switzerland, London England, Sydney Australia, Boston, and Manhattan New York.

The reason why Laie, Cardson, and Mesa don't have one is because they don't have a spire to put one on. St. George, Logan, and Manti were built before the Salt Lake Temple, before the original Angel Moroni Statue were made. (unless you consider the original Nauvoo Temple angel as Moroni...) The center spire of the Oakland temple might be a bit difficult to add a statue to, and it is gold anyway so the statue would hardly be visible. As for Hamilton... it could have one added, but has not received one yet. Those that received theirs afterwards were because of city zoning requirements or because the people of the temple district requested one.

It was not a tradition to put the Angel Moroni on all temples until the 1980's. This is rumored to be due to criticism of the original design of the Atlanta temple in the Atlanta Journal Constitution, which lead to the temple being redisigned to include a spire and statue. All those currently without Moroni statues were built before that time.

Answer 4

Having an angel Moroni statue on the temple is not necessary and has only been included in the design of every Temple since the Atlanta Georgia Temple was first built in 1983. When a review of the temple in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution mentioned the writer's wish that the temple had a Moroni statue, the Church added one to the Atlanta Temple's design, and has included one in the design of every Temple since then (although some were dedicated without angels because they had not yet been approved by local authorities). The Church also added Moroni statues to existing Temples that did not previously have one where feasable. (Idaho Falls, Ogden, Provo, Freiburg, Sao Paulo, Tokyo, Bern, London)

Eight Temples remain without Angel Moroni statues. (St. George, Logan, Manti, Laie, Cardston, Mesa, Hamilton, Oakland) Laie, Cardston, and Mesa do not have spires so it is unlikely they will ever recieve a Moroni statue unless it is on a spire seperate from the Temple. The others may recieve a statue in the future, although no plans to do so have been announced.