Any Ex-Mormons want to tell us what goes on in the Temple?

Question

Mormons are very defensive of the secret rituals that go on in the Temple. They say its sacred when in fact its secret. They know they could no longer use Jesus Christ in their logo to appear Christian and lure unsuspecting people in if everyone knew what really went on. Go to any Christian church in the world. There's not a single thing that goes on inside that isn't open to anyone. There are no secrets. So if Mormon rituals are so Holy and sacred, then they should be available for anyone to recieve.

Answer 1

It's sacred ceremonies..We do baptism for the dead.
No dead bodies, we baptize by proxy or for someone.
We also get married not for death do us part but Time and eternity, and we make sacred covenants in the temple as well.

As for not using Jesus Christ in our logo...sorry we have been using Jesus Christ in our logo since the church began.

Well we have regular baptisms too....you can go to your local mormon Church and ask to see a baptism there. Free of charge...You're invited....anyone can see.

Answer 2

There are several things that a person must do to be considered elgible to enter into the Celestial Kingdom (Mormon version of heaven). A person must be baptized, be given the gift of the Holy Spirit, have their endowment, and be sealed (married) in the temple. The first two, the baptism and the holy spirit are of course done when a person joins the church at the local church, not the temple. These rituals are however performed at the temple on behalf of those people who have passed on. LDS/Mormons believe that every single soul that will have ever existed on this planet needs to recieve these ordinances, and so the members of the LDS church who have had these ordinances done go to the temple to act as proxy (basically take on the name of the dead person) so that that person's ordinances can be done. The endowment ceremony is pretty much a right of passage in the LDS/Mormon church. Before a person goes on a mission, or gets married in the temple, they must have recieved their endowment. The endowment ceremony basically teaches the person what they must do to pass through the "veil" (aka the pearly gates) to get into the Celestial Kingdom. You have to wear special clothing in the temple such as a dress (if you are a girl), and apron, a sash, a hat/veil, slippers, etc. While you are in the endowment ceremony you watch a video that instructs you on what to do, as in taking the sash off and tying it differently. You learn different handshakes that you are supposed to need to know to pass through the veil. At the end of the ceremony you similate passing through the veil by going up to a curtain and doing the handshakes and saying the sayings you just learned, and they you are led into the Celestial Room which is supposed to be like going to the Celestial Kingdom. When couples get married in the temple, they are considered to be sealed "for time and all eternity" as LDS/Mormons believe that any marriage ceremony not sealed in the temple leads to separation for the family at death. The couple are both dressed in white, and temple worthy family members and friends are allowed into watch. The bride and groom are placed at an alter in which they kneel and look at each other. The rooms walls are mirrors so that this makes it feel for the couple that they are looking into eternity with each other. I've never actually been to an LDS/Mormon temple sealing, so I can't tell you any more about it. There is one more temple ceremony that I know nothing about since a vast majority of even temple attending mormons are never invited to participate in it.

And C M SarahLShaw 1967 said that ex-mormons description will be biased...I tried to keep this as unbiased as possible and stuck to the straight facts.

Answer 3

Sounds like you've been reading Anti-Mormon materials. Which is a reason why you have a lack of crediblity among the LDS here. I doubt missionaries ever said that at all. Edit: Don't give me BS about not believing LDS Doctrine or beliefs because LDS don't believe you. The truth is, your stuff comes straight from people who read Anti-Mormon materials or from material found off the web itself. Since the missionary discussions are rather prescribed and pre-determined, it is doubtful that you even spoke with them because Missionaries don't go into details about specifics in Temple ceremonies. You either read Anti-Mormon materials or you "heard" something Anti-Mormonish from someone else. LDS admire honesty but something doesn't ring correctly in your account, that is why we seriously doubt your intellectual honesty.

Answer 4

The point, which you've missed, of sacred things is that WE DON'T DISCUSS THEM WITH PEOPLE WHO DON'T UNDERSTAND OR WOULD MAKE LIGHT OF THEM. Yes, they are holy and sacred and they ARE available for anyone to receive. All you have to do is live worthy.

However, just in case you missed this before, the entire temple endowment is included in the Library of Congress. Some secret, huh?

EDIT: 17mezzo17 has never been to the temple as she's a CHILD of 15.

Answer 5

You can go to a visiting center that is outside of the temple and get information there. What we do is in the temple is not weird at all, it's just sacred to us, that's all. Why would we allow people who do not share the same beliefs to participate in what we do there. There are rituals and ceremonies in other religions that are not open to everybpdy and there isn't anything weird about that.

Answer 6

The rituals that go on in the mormon temple are on file in the library of congress as well as available on several websites such as this..

http://home.teleport.com/~packham/temples.htm

It really no big secret if you take the time to do a sliver of research..

Now there are rituals in other religions that not everyone is privvy to for instance a meeting of the elders in the jehoviah's witness church.. a meeting of the cardinal's in catholicism (conclave)...

Sacred
http://www.m-w.com/dictionary/sacred

In the mormon faith definition 5 b is what applies..

b : highly valued and important

Just because something is considered sacred doesn't mean it is secret.. Mormons value the temple rituals and don't like to talk about them outside the temple because they value them so much not because they want to keep some secret..

Answer 7

Anything so holy and sacred should only be available to those who are WORTHY to have them, and by worthy, I mean ready, able to accept it without mocking God. Right now, if you were to see it, you would no doubt either make fun of ou sacred temple rites, or you would just not understand and be making covenants that you don't intend to keep.

It's like when someone has a wedding in a church, but the members of the wedding party keep acting like idiots and jerks, and all but despoiling the sacredness of one' church.

Answer 8

What happens in the temple is not secret, but sacred. Big difference. Simply put, it is the most peacful place to worship on the face of the earth.

Just remember, X-Mormon comments will be biased against what we teach.

Answer 9

I believe this question has been appropriately answered although the question was not appropriate and is in fact a statement of your opinion more than a question at all.

These types of questions, asked the way it was asked, only promote persecution, bias, and an attitude of discrimination against people and organizations that are only doing good in the world. Shame on you

If you really have questions and want to know there are proper places to seek your answers, and appropriate ways to ask. If you are just bitter about something you really should let it go and move on to looking at positive things in your life rather than what you decide is fault finding in others lives.

I looked at the questions you ask on a regular basis and it seems you have a problem with the LDS church. If you disagree thats fine, but why continue to trash talk them at every opportunity? Why not promote something you do believe in and make the good a center of your life rather than having a negative focus.

By your fruits ye shall know them as to whether they be of God or of the Devil.

Answer 10

Well, I'm still an active, temple worthy "Mormon" but I'll tell you some of what goes on in there.

We all dress in white and speak reverently, for it is a sacred place, where God can dwell. White represents the purity we obtain through faith in Jesus Christ and obedience to his Gospel laws.

The person who spoke (above) about the baptismal font was right. I performed baptisms by proxy in the temple since I was 12. It was always a very peaceful, spiritual experience, which didn't feel weird at all.

In addition to that, we have sealings, in which we kneel around and hold hands over a cushioned sacred alter.

This page has an example of what a sealing room can look like: http://www.lightplanet.com/family/marriage/eternal_marriage.html

My family got sealed in this way... all my brothers and sisters came to the temple to be sealed to my parents as a family for eternity. There were mirrors on both walls, so when you and your family looks in those mirrors, its like seeing yourselves go on for eternity. After we got sealed, all my brothers and sisters and parents hugged.

Not all my brothers and sisters were active "Mormons" at the time. When children are sealed to parents in this way, only the parents need to be temple worthy.... so in other words, the "secrets" of the temple were quite open to be seen by my brothers and sisters who were "ex-Mormons".

As for the endowment, this is an ordinance where we promise to obey the law of chastity (ie to only have sex with our husband/wife) and to serve God and his children with everything that we have - talents, time and possessions. During the endowment, we all sit in comfortable seats in a room and watch a video about the creation and the purpose of life. This video includes many references to Jesus Christ, the Son of God, and Saviour of the world.

The video is the same, every time we do an endowment. It could be likened to sitting in meditation, as the things we learn in the temple are primarily given to us through direct revelation from God, through the Holy Spirit. The video is just a tool to direct our thoughts in the right directions.

A temple experience by someone not spiritually prepared wouldn't provide them with these deep spiritual insights. It might be very boring for them.

Apart from these ordinances, we also spend time in the temple meditating, praying, etc. We can come with prayerful questions, to seek and receive guidance to problems that we have in our lives.

The rituals that go on the temple of God are holy and sacred, and they are available for anyone to receive, provided they meet the prerequisites. Heavenly Father wants all of his children to obtain temple blessings.

Let me ask you a question: Does the university allow people to start studying a subject before they have met the pre-requisites? The university I attend (a secular one, BTW) doesn't allow children on campus. Why? Because the children would disrupt the learning of others, and would be unlikely to comprehend what the lecturers were trying to say.

God bless.