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The Mormon Endowment - Page 5

Nighthawk, I'm reading the link you provided earlier in this thread titled, Further Light and Knowledge. I'm only through the first three chapters but I agree with you, it is a poweful book. A lot of this is new to me even though I've been endowed since 1977.

One thing that hit me hard is that the church is only going to teach us the basics of the Gospel. It is up to each one of us to learn the deeper mysteries of God. How many times have we heard someone say that we never hear anything new at church? It's always the same old talks. Faith, repentance, baptism etc. Why don't the bretheren come up with new truths or teachings for us to learn? The answer is, the church is focused on converting the non member and teaching the basics of the Gospel. In other words, a Kindergarden and elementary education. For those who want to learn more advanced truths, at the college and gradulate level as pertaining to spiritual matters, we are to persue this on our own. Learning the deeper meaning of the temple endowmwnt is a start.

Also, the entire temple ceremony, word for word is on line at various sites. Is this in violation of the command to never reveal these truths? If you think about it, it is not. Even with the entire endowment written out on line, they have revealed nothing. They have repeated the endowment but we are not under obligation to never repeat certain things we learn in the temple. There is a big difference between repeat and reveal. I could write down the entire second token of the melchezidec priesthood but have revealed nothing. It's only once I understand the meaning behind this and reveal what I have learned that I am in trouble. Since I do not understand the endowment enough to reveal it, I am not in any danger of violating this covenant.

It is similar to giving a book to a three year old and having her read it. She can't. It's right there in front of her but she doesn't understand the symbols we call letters that we have learned to understand. She sees written shapes and characters but cannot gather the meaning behind them. Most of us are like the three year old with regards to the truths of the temple. We haven't learned the hidden meaning behind the symbols to understand what we are supposed to be learning.

Endowment Mormon The

I agree with you in all matters on this one. As I have studied the endowment, I have also learned some rather deep meaning contained in the penalties. If you consider them in an eternal manner, with them as symbols of giving up eternal blessings, all of it suddenly gains great meaning.

The Mormon Endowment Studies Doctrine Mormon

LDS, my understanding of not revealing these to others would mean that if someone uses them all by themselves they aren't breaking that covenant because to whom have they revealed them?

I know we are told not to speak of these things outside of the Temple, but we covenant a bit differently. My memory, at least, tells me we covenant not to reveal these things to others, not necessarily that we won't use these things outside of the Temple. I think it is possible that we are counseled not to speak of these things outside of the Temple in order to ensure we don't inadvertantly reveal something to someone. If we never discuss them outside of the Temple, then it is impossible for us to reveal them to someone who hasn't also received them and is therefore entitled to them. I must admit it has been a few months since I last was at the Temple, so my memory could be off. I am going next month with a friend and I will pay very close attention to the exact wording of that covenant.

Of course, the risk that someone can over hear you or walk in on you while you are using them does exist.

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But, as gaucho pointed out, even if someone walks in or sees them being used, doesn't mean that they will mean anything to them.

All of the endowment ceremony, including detailed descriptions of the signs and tokens, is available on the internet. But even if someone is sincerely interested in gaining the knowledge and/or endowment of power for themselves, unless they conform to the requirements and prepare themselves, and actually attend to the ordinances within the temple, it will do nothing for them.

From Spiritual Progression in the Last Days:

Once we have these things, as we progress, we will be required to use them outside the temple, at least in identifying appropriate "supernatural" messengers.

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I am just not sure I agree with this position/theory. I think some of the reason for not revealing them has to do with how sacred they are. We shouldn't be casting our pearls before swine, so to speak. I think if we reveal even just the wording of the tokens to someone who is not prepared, we have cast our pearls before swine.

The Mormon Endowment

Gaucho, in my humble opinion, this is only a rationalization of something we know we cannot do or rationalize.

I was reading some of the post of you all and it seems to me that everybody think it is okay to read the entire endowment on the internet because really the people who is putting it do not understand the revealed truth behind those lines. But you all are forgetting the big picture, first how these people obtained that information, second most of those sites are clearly making fun of something we know is sacred (some of them include pictures with people dress in ceremonial clothing) third, we are in a way 'promoting' those kind of sites by visiting them because if they don't have people visiting it they will not have it online in the first place. I think we know better than that so whether this people understand or not or whether we are breaking the covenant or not it doesn't make a difference, Satan is using those sites to mock God, to mock those things we consider sacred. Really, in the begining when I saw a couple of sites like that I didn't think it was a big deal and even thought it would be a good way to remember and to study the words, but when I let the Spirit to guide instead of my head and human rationalization, it came the feeling that it was the wrong thing to do and that I should not read those things on the net or any other place but the Temple. Just my two cents and testimony.

The Mormon Endowment - Page 5

I agree that those who have displayed the endowment on line are doing it to mock the church. Their intent is to show people we are different or maybe peculiar? I've never read the endowment on line....there is no reason to. A local radio station here in Phoenix once played a tape of the temple ceremony on the air. A member of my ward on the High Council heard it and commented in our Priesthood Quorum how different it was to hear it outside the temple. It is not the same and nobody who listened to it got anything out of it. So, nothing was revealed.

Don't get me wrong....I don't mean to say it is ok to go around repeating what we hear in the temple. I just meant to say if someone did, or those who have done it, have not revealed anything. The Lord has kept the meaning of the temple endowment hidden to all but those who are ready to hear it. This includes most of us who have already been through the temple. It may take many years of frequent temple worship before we really understand what is going on there.

The Mormon Endowment Mormon Doctrine Studies - Page 5

I think we will still be guilty of breaking the covenant regardless of whether the person understands it or not. We have revealed the words, even if we haven't revealed the meaning. So, although we haven't done any major harm, other than not treating something as sacred when we should, we have broken the covenant not to reveal anything. To me, that is still a big transgression. It may not cause harm to the Lord, or his Church, but I will be held accountable nonethless. In my opinion....