English Deutsch Français Italiano Español Português 繁體中文 Bahasa Indonesia Tiếng Việt ภาษาไทย
All categories

considered "worthy" or allowed to join in your temple worship and other activities since I already know Christ as my Savior and he considers me worthy? I am truly trying to get a grasp of what you mean by, someone has to be worthy. You would certainly be more than welcome in my church.

2007-05-17 20:20:44 · 14 answers · asked by Sigmondo, The Other Green Meat 3 in Society & Culture Religion & Spirituality

Just a note, everyone has the right to be what they want to be. They have the right to believe or not to believe I respect all people and their freedoms. I am just really curious about this

2007-05-17 20:27:08 · update #1

14 answers

Congratulations on your faith in Jesus Christ. Faith along with repentance are the first steps. Following comes baptism by immersion by one having authority and the gift of the Holy Ghost. At that point a person may be prepared to make temple covenants. That is the purpose of the Temple. Do you want to enter and make sacred promises without knowing what they are? Baptism, church membership and attendance prepare us to do so. It doesn't make us any better people than you are, if that is your definition of 'worthy'. Worthy is not to be perfect, but to being trying to follow the Lord's plan, as we understand it.

2007-05-19 09:54:41 · answer #1 · answered by Isolde 7 · 0 0

All people are invited to come unto Christ and are welcome in the Mormon Church. Church services are held at thousands of Chapels across the country and around the world, usually two or three times each Sunday.

The church however is a different building from the "temple." The temple is closed on Sundays because work is performed there. Marriages, baptisms, etc... . All members must be worthy in order to enter the temple, which means they are living by the standards they agreed to live by when they received their temple recommend and entered the temple for the first time. Non-members (and some members) are not considered worthy to enter the temple because they have not accepted the tenets of the faith or do not live according to the standards required to be temple worthy. The temple is considered holy and the most sacred place on earth. No one should enter in unless they agree to live by the moral standards set forth and sustain the leaders of the church in their callings.

No one, including any members, have to live by those standards which will make them temple worthy. It is a choice. But no one who is not worthy should enter a temple. If someone is not temple worthy, they may become worthy by living their life in the ways that will prepare them.

One of the ways we become temple worthy is by keeping the sabbath day holy and attending church services in one of the many chapels found around the world. All are welcome.

2007-05-17 21:05:36 · answer #2 · answered by rndyh77 6 · 4 0

You already have some great answers (Peepers is not one of them). Let me tell you how I understand it.
The temple is revered as the House of the Lord. In the Old and New Testament days of the temple, not everyone was allowed in. YOu had to be worthy then as well. What does worthy mean?
If one chooses to enter the Holiest place on earth, they must prepare to do so. Your mind has to be in the right place and your focus must be on God as much as possible. If not, you are wasting your time. You won't learn anything. There are certain steps that must be taken first, such as baptism by one holding the authority to act in the name of the Lord (one that has been called of God and ordained to the Holy Priesthood). You must be confirmed a member of His church. You must do all you can to follow the commandments as taught by Jesus Christ. You must receive the Holy Ghost. You must have a testimony of Him and His church. Then you are considered worthy to enter His house of worship. There is no trickery, deception, or weird stuff. But if you are not properly prepared, all things of the Lord can seem strange to the world (because the Lord's people should not be OF the world).
To relate it, think of how strange it seems to non-Christians that Jesus performed all the miracles that He did.

I think of it this way. If your mother kept an immaculate house with white carpet and paint, etc. Would you even think of stepping foot in there without properly preparing yourself? You would remove your muddy shoes at the door, and you would wash your hands before sitting down at her dinner table.
The temple is very special because it is the House of the Lord. The temple was very special to the early saints in the Bible. That is why Jesus was so upset to see corruption in His temple with the moneychangers.

I hope any of this makes sense to you. I hope you truly have a desire to enter His temple. It is certainly an attainable goal, and one that has blessed my life.

I grew up Wesleyan (similar to Baptist). I was raised by good parents. I was a skeptic of the LDS church and never studied it until after college. I went into my investigation skeptical. But after a looooooooong, soul wrenching, quest, all my questions were answered and no other church I have found hold answers that bring the scriptures to life and the mysteries of God seem so attainable. The more I strive to learn, the more the Spirit guides me. Everything fits together, on a universal scale, and the meaning of life is so evident now. No contradictions in the Bible have I found. The Bible was the key to my conversion. It holds so many clues to what Jesus Christ has in store for us.
I hope you sincerely try to find out for yourself.

Much love,
LDS convert

2007-05-18 17:54:48 · answer #3 · answered by BigOnDrums 3 · 4 0

Mr Peepers is just the wrongest person I have ever encountered. I wonder where he gets all this nonsense from?

I am a former evangelical Christian, now a Mormon Christian. I am still saved, I still know Jesus as my personal saviour, I still believe the Bible 100% (more, in fact, than I did as an Evangelical because my old church didn't believe in Creation) and all this is completely in keeping with all that is taught in the Church and believed by the other Church members around me. Like you, we love the Lord, and we love to worship Him. But we have two special places set aside for us to worship in.

You are always welcome to visit a church meeting on a Sunday. However, the Temple is the House of the Lord and no unclean thing can enter. It's about casting pearls before swine - it is so sacred there that only those who truly love Jesus and follow him, and show this in how they live, can enter.

There is no lying involved, and no dancing funny little jigs. Everyone is interviewed by the Bishop and Stake President about their beliefs and behaviour. The first two questions, for example, are:

Do you have faith in and a testimony of God the Eternal Father, His Son Jesus Christ, and the Holy Ghost? [Testimony in a Mormon context means the same sort of thing as baptism of the Holy Spirit - an experience of spiritual witness]

Do you have a testimony of the Atonement of Christ and of His role as Savior and Redeemer?

You are also asked whether you live the Law of Chastity, pay tithing [although no one will check your wage slips] and live the Word of Wisdom. My Bishop always explains to me that of course no one is ever really completely worthy because only Jesus is perfect, but these guidelines help us to keep on the right track.

So you are more than welcome in my church too, but whether you could go into the Temple would depend on how you were to answer the questions.

2007-05-18 12:24:06 · answer #4 · answered by sunnyannie 5 · 6 0

Many people inside the "Mormon" church call the temple a place of learning. I've learned that unless a person understands the method God uses to teach us, we won't understand the curriculum. In fact, if we don't understand His methods, we're almost guaranteed to misunderstand.

That said, there is a lot of symbolism in the temple. As MirandaJ said, it's more about being ready to understand what is taught there. That readiness also includes worthiness, spiritual maturity, integrity, etc.

Jesus taught in parables (again with the symbolism) for one main reason- Mercy. Those who weren't ready for the bigger meaty doctrines wouldn't get what he was really teaching, and they wouldn't be held accountable for it.

I think that's one of the main reasons the LDS church is a little more selective about who is allowed to enter the temples..... Milk before meat.

2007-05-20 05:55:44 · answer #5 · answered by Yoda's Duck 6 · 1 0

You ask if you are worthy to enter the temple. That is a question that has more then one part.

For those who are members of the church already, not everyone of them is worthy to go to the temple. It isn't so much the things you do in life, although that plays a major role. It's your spiritual readiness that matters. Following the commandments that Moses laid out is just part of it. Accepting Christ as our savior is another. It is a personal choice with each person whether or not we make ourselves worthy to go. Yes, going to the temple is something to strive for, but there are things needed before you go.

Worthiness isn't just accepting Christ, or following the commandments. It's more a learning and feeling. There are things you have to understand before going to the temple would mean anything.

The temple is a special place, the house of the Lord. As such, it is looked at very highly. It is a sacred place where the spirit of the Lord is always present. The things taught there are very sacred and very special. Unless you know and can understand the things taught, it would make no sense. It's like learning anything. You can't just start baking and be able to make a complicated, very involved desert without first learning how to measure and how to mix things so they work together. It's the same thing with temple work. There are basic things you have to learn before you go on to harder ones.

The person that said that deep doctrine isn't taught in sunday school is wrong. We get very deep into doctrine in our sunday school meetings. Also, women aren't kept from knowing things. In fact, if we want to know anything, all we have to do is ask. Yes, the men do know more about preisthood things then I do, but that isn't my responsibility to know, so I'm fine with it.

There are questions that our Bishop and a member of the Stake Presidency asks us during an interview to get our temple recommends. It is done every two years now, which is nice, it used to be every year... anyway, these questions deal with our own personal worthiness. Someone said the first two questions for you already. We have to have a testimony of Christ before we can even think about going to the temple, so in that one, you are worthy. We also have to accept and understand in part, the doctrine of the Godhead. Not the trinity, we don't believe in that. That question includes the whole Godhead, not just Christ. There are other questions that are more in depth and that I won't get into.

You do have to be baptized, confirmed (given the gift of the Holy Ghost by a properly authorized priesthood holder), and accept certain things before you can start preparing to go to the temple. It's that way for everyone, not just you.

It was the same way in old testament times also. Not everyone was allowed in the temple. This is why Christ got so mad at the moneychangers and animal barterers. They were seen as unclean, and as so, had no right to be in the temple, or on the temple grounds. They weren't selling things in the right frame of mind, they were doing it for greed. That is why Christ got so mad. They were defiling His Father's house(see Matt 21:12-16).

It used to be that only men were allowed to go to the temple, that was in old biblical times. They were the only ones with the proper knowledge and learning to go. They were also the only ones with the proper authority to do temple work. It's great that everyone is now able to go!!

You are welcome to visit any meeting house (chapel) on any Sunday and attend all our meetings. They are open to everyone, in fact, we like visitors!! You can participate in our meetings, take the sacrament (communion), listen to the talks and participate in sunday school and priesthood meetings. Most everyone is really friendly, and we enjoy getting to know new people.

Here are some links to temple info. Maybe it will help to answer your question better.

2007-05-20 05:47:32 · answer #6 · answered by odd duck 6 · 1 0

Everyone is welcome to come to our churches but only worthy Members are allowed in the temples.
So the answer is No. Only members are allowed in the temple.
This is in no way applying you are not a good person. You may be the best person in the USA but you have to be a member of the church to enter the temple.

2007-05-19 17:37:12 · answer #7 · answered by J T 6 · 0 0

You can come and worship with us on Sunday in a chapel, and welcome.

As for the temple, it's not so much being WORTHY as being READY. It's like taking subjects in school; you can't take algebra until you can master basic mathematics. Likewise, you can't begin to appreciate what is taught in the temple until you have learned the basics of the gospel as we believe it.

But, at any chapel, there will more than likely be a sign that says "Visitor's WELCOME!"

2007-05-19 13:53:58 · answer #8 · answered by mormon_4_jesus 7 · 1 0

I am not a Mormon but I did investigate their Church for several months, their temples are considered to be sacred and as such without being temple worthy you are not able to enter the Temple. You need to realize that Mormons believe that they are saved accordingly to their works as well as by grace. The only other way to enter a Temple is when it is first opened, that day everyone is able to enter.

As for going to their Church (called wards) you are more than welcome, it even says under their sign that visitors are welcome. You can take part of their sacrament, bible study, and priesthood.

2007-05-17 20:27:00 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 3 2

Well this comes from a person who was raised mormon but does not believe in the current restrictions and limitations of the Church and is finding out that they don't believe in Religion. To be honest the use of the word "worthy " as I heard it used in church as a teen ager always did turn me off I always heard every one saying you have to prove yourself worthy that seemed like an automatic put down to me and it still does. Theres one thing that comes to me though that worthiness is a place of knowledge and understandinding that is allowed to all of Gods children. The fact that the deeper Mysterys of the Mormon Gospol are not explored in their Sunday school or made readily availible to Women does seem rather odd. However as I have come to understand it The reason the Mormom Church seems to not make the deeper Mysterys of their Gospel readily avalible to all the members of the church is in an effert to lift its self above the masses. However in doing so it has alienated those persons for whom the Church would seek the most to be among its membership. Another thing that comes to mind is that in order for one to see a full view of what ever forrest your looking at you have to soar above the trees

2007-05-17 21:18:24 · answer #10 · answered by screbel 2 · 0 3

fedest.com, questions and answers