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Mormon Temple Ordinances - Eternal, Immutable, or Negotiable?

In the August 2001 edition of the Mormon Ensign magazine Elder Dennis B. Neuenschwander Of the Presidency of the Seventy gives an overview of "Ordinances and Covenants" as understood and practised in the Mormon Church. In emphasising the importance of ordinances and covenants in coming to know God and being endowed with power from on high he says the following:

Sacred ordinances and the divine authority to administer them did not begin with the Restoration of the gospel and the founding of the modern Church in 1830. The sacred ordinances of the gospel as requirements for salvation and exaltation were "instituted from before the foundation of the world." They have always been an immutable part of the gospel. The Prophet Joseph Smith taught: "Ordinances instituted in the heavens before the foundation of the world, in the priesthood, for the salvation of men, are not to be altered or changed. All must be saved on the same principles." (Emphasis added)

He goes on to give a potted account of apostasy and restoration in this context of ordinances and covenants:

Through time and apostasy following Christ's Resurrection and Ascension, however, the divine authority of the priesthood and the sacred ordinances were changed or lost, and the associated covenants were broken. The Lord revealed His displeasure over this situation in these words:

"For they have strayed from mine ordinances, and have broken mine everlasting covenant;

"They seek not the Lord to establish his righteousness, but every man walketh in his own way, and after the image of his own god."

This situation required a restoration of knowledge pertaining to the importance, significance, and appointed administration of sacred gospel ordinances, both live and vicarious, as well as the divine authority of the priesthood and priesthood keys to administer them.

The third article of faith of the Mormon Church teaches, "We believe that through the Atonement of Christ, all mankind may be saved, by obedience to the laws and ordinances of the Gospel."

Given that ordinances are so vital to man's salvation. Given that losing those ordinances and covenants as well as the authority to administer them has proved so devastating, and their restoration as they were originally "instituted in the heavens before the foundation of the world" so vital it is no wonder that Elder Neuenschwander observed:

It is this principle of consistent and unalterable requirements that gives true meaning to the performance of vicarious ordinances in the temple.

The problem is that these "consistent and unalterable requirements" have been changed numerous times in the history of Mormon temple worship. I am grateful to The Watchman Expositor for the following reproduction of a list of changes first published in the liberal Mormon Journal, Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought (1987):

Changes in the Mormon Temple Ceremonies

"As early as October 1835, Joseph (Smith) told his apostles of an awaited `endowment' which would grant them `power from on high,'" (p. 35).

In 1836, "...Joseph Smith declared that he `had now completed the organization of the Church, and we had passed through all the necessary ceremonies,'" (pp. 35-36).

"Five years later in Nauvoo, on 19 January 1841, a new revelation... (concerning) `your anointings, and your washings, and your baptisms for the dead....' Thus, the Saints who had been previously anointed in Kirtland learned that those rituals were a precursor to new ceremonies," (p. 36).

During the Nauvoo Period, a ceremony called the second anointing was introduced. It was in two parts. "First, an officiator anointed the heads of a husband and wife with oil, then conferred upon them the `fulness of the priesthood.... The second part was a private ceremony between the couple in which the wife washed the feet of the husband...," (p. 47).

In 1877, the theological influence of Brigham Young could be observed in the Temple Ceremony. In the St. George Temple, "...a revised thirty-minute `lecture at the veil' which summarized important theological concepts taught in the endowment and also contained references to the Adam-God doctrine" was given (p. 50-51).

In General Conference of April 1894, President Wilford Woodruff "...stopped the practice of sealing people to General Authorities and other Church members outside their family lineage and instead directed that they be sealed to their own parents," (p. 52).

The Word of Wisdom became a central issue in 1921. "For the first time, adherence to the Word of Wisdom became an official requirement for admission to the temple. Apparently this had been encouraged prior to 1921, but exceptions had been made," (p. 56).

In 1927, Apostle George F. Richards sent a letter "...to all temple presidents (which) directed that they `omit from the prayer circle all reference to avenging the blood of the Prophet," (p. 55). This reference was known as the Oath of Vengeance.

In addition to the Oath of Vengeance, several other important changes were made at this time.

The ceremony was shortened from "six to nine hours in length to roughly three hours." The "graphic penalties, all of which closely follow Masonic penalties' wording, were moderated." The Temple garment style was "altered," (p. 55).

Just as the most recent changes in the Temple have caused a great deal of anxiety among LDS adherents, so some of the previous changes did likewise.

"The introduction of this new-style garment caused considerable unrest among some members. Nevertheless, the pre-1923 style garment was required in the temple ceremony until 1975 when its use became optional," (p. 56).

Beginning in the late 1960's and early 1970's, "probably because of recommendations made by Harold B. Lee, a member of the First Presidency, ...several phrases used in ceremony film scripts were subsequently dubbed out in the mid-1970's," (p. 62).

Some of these deletions and changes, including, the "preacher's reference to Satan having black skin," which is no longer mentioned. Also, "Satan and the preacher no longer fix a specific salary to proselytize the audience for converts," (p. 62 ftnt.).

In the conclusion of his article, Buerger observed, "...the endowment ceremony still depicts women as subservient to men, not as equals in relating to God," (p. 68).

With the most recent Temple change, this statement joins the long list of other Temple doctrines which were at one time true, but are now, only formerly true.

This article began with an insight from former LDS President Spencer W. Kimball. In his same article, he explained, "Follow the prescribed procedures, and you may have an absolute knowledge that these things are absolute truths....

"The true and living Church and its members and representatives stand ready to provide answers to any questions...," (Ensign, Sept. 1978, pp. 7-8).

Perhaps someone from the LDS Church could explain which, if any, of the Temple ceremonies is the Absolute True One. For it is obvious, by the process of simple logic, that they cannot all be correct!

Traditionally these changes were introduced with little or no announcement and church authorities have often denied changes of any kind. Now, however, an 'unofficial' (what else?) web site has appeared, produced by a Mormon to "Provide access to current and historical texts of the endowment, without exposing those few portions of the ceremony that are explicitly reserved for initiates. By creating this site, I hope to discourage researchers from using temple exposés produced by individuals and organizations hostile to Mormonism."

The author acknowledges changes and gives his own timeline. Interesting is his explanation of the 1990 changes, probably the most radical in Mormon temple history:

Following surveys of Church members' feelings about the endowment, major revisions are made:

·  All penalties, the five points of fellowship, and syllables purported to having meaning in the Adamic language are omitted.

·  The part of the preacher is eliminated, as well as a reference to Lucifer's "popes and priests."

·  Women no longer covenant to obey the law of their husbands.

·  Language which faults Eve for initiating the Fall is dropped.

·  Many references to Adam are replaced with references to Adam and Eve.

·  The lecture at the veil is discontinued.

·  Orders from Elohim are repeated fewer times for brevity's sake.

It seems that even the Mormon Church cannot get away from focus groups in these days of closer public scrutiny and accountability. This writer had experience of the temple ordinances of the 1970's and early 1980's. If I had turned up one day and found such changes I would surely have concluded I had taken a wrong turn and ended up in the wrong church! Come to think of it…

Anyway the site is interesting, a useful resource and an indication of how attitudes have changed even in my lifetime to what were once regarded as eternal and immutable things.

The site can be found here.

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