What did and do you feel about the Mormon Temple Ceremony?

Well, it was kooky. I did the pre-1990 version at first - throat slitting, disemboweling, etc. Real creepy. After I left I had the first of several full-blown panic attacks about the temple ceremonies - flashbacks of mimicking slitting my throat and so on. Got talked down by a friend on the phone. That was the catalyst for me to find a therapist. I'll also say that I became a Freemason while I was an active Mormon to see for myself first-hand if there was any similarity. It's all documented now - it wasn't back in the days before the Internet. I probably wouldn't have become a Mason if not for Mormonism.

Anonymous

Creepy, weird, and cultic.  I did the pre-1990 version with mimicking slitting my throat, chest, and bowels.  It was gruesome.  The post-1990 version isn’t much better.  It’s all cultic and ripped off from the Masons.

Anonymous

That it was silly. Just like the Masonic stuff my father was involved in.

flyinlate

Can a person only make a promise to God in an LDS temple?

Are our lives not our living covenants with God?

Why was the Mormon endowment and marriage ceremony a 90% replica of the Masonic temple ceremony?

Do dead people, who may have been dead for millenia, have to wait until the 19th century forward to ever be with their family forever? Does God not let loved ones be with loved ones when they die, except under that legalistic provision of a modern LDS temple ceremony?

Do living people need to baptize for dead people?

Is baptism (like sacrament) symbolic? (or literal)

Why has the temple ceremony changed over time?
a) "Oath of Vengeance" (to avenge the blood of JS) -- removed in early 1900s
b) "Blood Oath" (to cut your own throat, sign made of thumb across neck) if you reveal the temple ceremony -- removed in 1990 (sign, but language remained)
c) Women covenanting directly with God (used to covenant w/their husbands, who covenanted w/God) -- changed in 2019. By nature before, a woman was incomplete w/out the man
d) there used to be a "Protestant Choir" (temple patrons as live actors) singing protestant songs led by a protestant preacher (a temple patron actor) as part of the endowment ceremony. It was a jab at protestants and the idea of "we're the right way."
e) women no longer having to veil their faces (2019)
f) informed consent elements entering (pre-endowment video) added in 2023

Is God omnipotent? if yes, then why does God need humans for the salvation of humans?

Were ancient temples performing celestial marriages, personal endowments and baptisms for the dead? (or where they blood sacrifice temples).

What Jesus the Sacrificial Lamb?

Why do Jews no longer have a temple? Why do they call synagogues their temple? ("I'm going to temple" is like saying I'm going to church).

What does Paul say about temples? (our bodies, our lives). Does Paul call the body of the church a temple?

What is the one sentence in the NT about baptisms for the dead? A: Paul was preaching resurrection to a city/group of people who didn't believe in Jesus' resurrection (the Church of Jerusalem, led by Jesus' brother James, Peter, and John) did not believe in Jesus' resurrection. The Essenes had a Mikvah type of ritualistic washing (like Elijah telling the king to go and wash 7x). Paul was saying in that NT scripture (read the whole chapter for context), "Look at those people that do baptisms for the dead, even they believe in resurrection." Paul wasn't advocating for baptizing for dead people, he was referencing a group of early Christians practicing it, saying even they believe in resurrection.

If Paul thought baptisms for the dead were necessary, you can bet he would have preached for the practice (not just referenced it saying, even those people who practice baptisms for the dead, believe in resurrection). Paul was a lawyer, a Sadducee, and highly passionate and articulate -- he would have preached for baptisms for the dead (and polygamy) if he thought is was what Jesus had taught.

Joseph was likely speculating about that one scripture in the entire Bible that mentions baptisms for the dead (mentions it, doesn't preach for it), and Joseph prefaces in D and C that he was pondering about his brother Alvin, who did not receive baptism (the protestant and Catholic view of the time is you'd go to hell w/out it) -- and that's what he came up with.

4) the church is building smaller temples to promote what it wants: "worthy," temple-recommend holding members (tithe payers, active in church, keeping the rules). temples also require a lot of volunteers. A religion needs an icon and place of spiritual significance. the church will promote temples more and more, as the necessary ordinances to get to heaven and the only way to be together forever (what is stronger psychological sauce than your family?) Temples are extremely beautiful, like the conference center or tabernacle, like cathedrals, they naturally imbue awe and wonder -- man's noble monuments as an ode to God. But does God want a $50m building with "Holiness To The Lord" enscribed on it? What did Jesus do at the expensive Herodian temple? What did Jesus teach us to the answer to the question, "wherein have we served you Lord," and he answered, "when you've served the least of mankind" (the marginalized). Our lives in serving the poor, in being devoted to the marginalized - are the key. there is no litearlism, no absolutism (handshakes and secret rites) -- there is a Lived Walk With God.

Discernment questions to ask yourself: What is the relationship between Masonic temple ceremony and LDS temple ceremony? Is there correlation to a secret temple ceremony where the entrant covenants to cut his/her own throat if they divulge the secret, and Joseph and the leaders secretly practicing polygamy? Does God need humans to save humans? Is God not omnipotent? Is baptism symbolic or literal? Can we only make promises to God in an LDS temple? are our lives themselves our covenant with God? why is there only one mention (not preaching for) of baptisms for the dead in the Bible? Do we need underwear with Masonic symbols sewn into them to remind us to live with virtue? Is there a literal protection in that underwear? What interest does the church have in building smaller temples in more areas?

shawnmatheson

If all time and money dedicated to temple worship was spent on serving the living in local communities, the amount of good Mormons could do is incredible. 

The ceremony itself is very weird and loaded with misogyny. If I had known what it entailed ahead of time I would not have gone through with it.

bethlundgreen

Why can’t I wear clothes for this? Was one thought I had.  Touched by a stranger without verbal consent. Going into a ceremony without any preconceived idea of what I would agree to or do. Why do I have to veil my face is another, be separated from my husband, or so strange rituals and chants and handshakes. Promising to give myself to my husband while he receives me is indicative of polygamous eternity.  So many sexist messages and rituals that are identical to Masonic temple ceremony, copied almost word for word.

Even so, I will say my experiences overall in the temple were positive. The psychological relief of making it was great, after prepping my entire life since infancy to gain entrance and be in the know. I felt privileged to reach a goal that both pleased my parents and most people I knew, AND gave me security in my eternal welfare. While in the temple, if you can dissociate enough, there are great conditions to feel uplifted. I like stepping away from the outside world, meditating and being in a beautiful clean place uninterrupted. Especially in contrast to the bombarding frenzied state of church callings, meetings routines and responsibilities that are required the other percentage of the time spent outside of the temple. It was only after analyzing deeper the content of the temple that I realized it was a sham. 

livsters

Cultish. I do not understand how anyone follows the church after that. Also, the original ceremony was very masonic -- JS joined the masons and introduced the first endowment ceremony a few months later. The ceremony has been watered down over the years to be less scary to members. The underlying meaning, however, is still there. True believing mormons: compare notes on the first endowment of friends or family of different ages. I am confident that your accounts of the endowment will be different. Also: check your celestial name against this list: fullerconsideration.com/…

Anonymous