Mormons could you clarify?

Question

The LDS church teaches that in order to reach the Celestial Kingdom (the highest level of heaven) and be with God you must be endowed and sealed (married) in the Temple.

Why would God require that you wear special under-garments and learn secret handshakes to get to heaven?

I would love my children no matter what and let them be with me. I WOULD NOT require that they learn passwords and handshakes and wear special clothing. What does that have to do with love? Why would a loving God who you say loves his children keep billions of them away who don't know the secret pass?

EXAMPLE: You raise a child. The child grows, leaves home for a while, and then desperately wants to return to see you. Would you requre them to learn handshakes to see you?

It sounds rediculous to me.

Plastik Punk,
As I said, if I wanted to return to God but hadn't been through the temple, would he let me? Would he force me to go through the temple if I wanted to be with him but didn't want to go through the temple?

Senator,
Even without handshakes, why do we need to make all new covenants to get to heaven? Would you make you children make all kinds of promises before letting them in? I just have my doubts.

Thanks for the Answers, but I guess I need to be more specific. Handshakes and passwords are obviously not the important part. The covenants are, right? But again, why do I need to make promises to be in the presence of God? Why keep people who want to be with you out because they have not made the promises?

Why be exclusive? Why give rewards for behavior if you have an eternity to improve?

Answer 1

As ridiculous as it sound, it s no more ridiculous than almost any other religious teaching.

Answer 2

To clarify, to gain entrance into the Celestial Kingdom, a person does not need to be endowed or sealed in the temple. One only needs to have faith, repent, be baptized, receive the Gift of the Holy Ghost, and endure to the end.

To recieve even more blessings, then yes, a person needs to be endowed and sealed in the temple. I personally doubt that admittance will require handshakes. I see them as symbolic of the covenants that we enter into in the temple ceremonies. It is making and keeping the covenants that is really important. If a person could and would have made and kept the same covenants but didn't have the opportunity, then I believe they will still be able to enjoy all the same blessings of a person that did.

This life is a preparatory time. We need to progress and learn. Every time I go to the temple, I learn more. If a person refuses to become more Christ-like, that person will spend eternity with people like him, and enjoy it. That's the love. We will all end up where we want to be. That's how loving God is. To be able to endure God's presence you have to be able to abide by His laws. A person that cannot live those laws won't want to be in His presence.

Edit: I thought my last paragraph explained that. It isn't that God doesn't want them to return. It really isn't His choice. It is ours. He has provided a way for us to become like Him, and only those that choose that path will be able to endure His presence. Those that do not, will not want to be there.

Answer 3

Using your example of your own children: say your purpose in raising your own children is to teach them responsiblity. Perhaps learning responsiblity for their own actions is the precise thing you hope for them to learn. And lets say that they struggle with learning that. Is the best way to teach your children responsiblity is to take responsiblity away from them? Would you be an unloving parent if you tried to teach your children responsiblity, even if it meant that they would face the harse consequences of their choices? In my opnion, I think it would not. Sometimes our children have to learn by facingthe precise consequcnes of their choices. It does not mean I love them any less than those who choose wisely. It does, however, mean that I will allow them to learn by their own choices.

Likewise, a loving God, perhaps the most loving "Parent" of all, allows us to learn by our choices. He allows us to face the consequnces of those choices. If we choice wisely, we received the "fruits" of those choices. If we choose unwisely, we face the reality of those choices. This is not unlike what we do as earthy parents of our physical/biological children.

No, one more noteworthy point and it is important in Mormon doctrine. God is a loving God and does not discrimiante against those of his children that never had a chance to learn about his Gospel while living on the earth. People born in the far reaches of civilization may never get the chance to her about Christ. A loving God would not damn such to an eternal hell. A loving God would give those children an change to hear his words. This does occur. God gives those deceased children, in the next life, who never had a chance to hear his message an opportunity to do so in the hereafter. And the place that those children receive their ordiance work performed vicariously for them by the living, is in a temple. The very place you are questioning about the garments and handshakes. The need for a temple is very important to God. It allows ALL of his children, both living and dead, to recveived of holy ordinacnes. That is why there are temples and that is why I am gratfule to God for restoring his true church to the eath in these days.

Answer 4

It is the covenants and promises you make in the temple that are essential. God asks us to do a lot of things, why choose one or two things that are done in the temple and pretend that they are different from any other commandment? God will not exclude people based on whether or not they are LDS in this life, but He will judge them based on their faith and willingness to follow Him.

Answer 5

It all comes down to the purpose of why we are here. He wants us to gain all the experience we can while we're down here. It's not the same after or before earthlife. After, it is perfect. There is no evil, no pain, no sorrow. Without darkness what is light? That is why we're down here.

So now that you understand that, let's get back to this whole covenant thing. The thing is, God wants to know that you put Him before the whole world. That's why He told Abraham to sacrafice his only son isn't it? I think it's more of an obedience thing than anything else.

Answer 6

Trying to understand things out of context and out of order is your first dilemma. We are the ones who choose to return to our Father in heaven. There is a lot more on this subject that I'm not gonna get in to. But you gotta crawl before you can walk. Instead of trying to understand the deeper doctrines of God, why don't you make sure you know the basics first.

*EDIT* Baptism is the gateway into the celestial kingdom. Not the temple. Sorry I got distracted. Hope that helps.

Answer 7

first- "special underwear" as you call it- or otherwise known as garments, aren't for God- they are for us. The remind us of the promises that we make to God- not for God, but for us. God has already made His promises to us- now it's our turn to make promises to Him. They remind us daily to fulfill our promises, and they are also an outward expression of an inner commitment to follow God and His teachings and to live morally and be spiritually clean. God has given us all that He can- now it is up to us to return. Of course He wants us to return no matter what. That is why we believe that there are three levels of heaven- so that everyone can return no matter what. That's where grace comes in. But what you do in this life determines (or helps determine) which level you get. Here's my example : you have two children, both have grown up and moved away. You tell them before they leave, that if they do all that they are supposed to do, and do a good job while away that they will have a reward waiting for them beyond what they could imagine. They both promise that they will do good. While away, one goes to college, gets good grades, stays out of trouble, gets no driving tickets, has minimal debt, loves to help others, and is generally very responsible. The second goes to college, but then drops out, has multiple tickets and citations, has been in a couple of car accidents at his fault, spends money that he doesn't have and then comes to you asking for more, is selfish, and generally very irresponsible. Now, they both want to come home, and of course you would never turn either of them down, so you let them both. But, you have a brand new porche to give to one of them when they get home-which one do you give it to? You love them both, but I think anyone would give it to the one that has proved themselves and kept his promises, and not the irresponsible one with a driving record. - it's kinda the same thing. Those that live their lives well and try to do all that God has asked of us in this life, get a greater reward because of it. We are all welcomed home with open arms, but some of us have a porsche waiting for us, some of us have a Lexus, and some of us have a Kia waiting for us (figuritvly speaking of course) :)

*EDIT- to your edit- we make the promises in this earth life, the promises to follow His commandments etc., we don't make promises once we get to heaven- it's the promises we made here, and whether or not we kept them. It is how we live this life that matters, that is why we are here, this is our test. back to my example, you wouldn't give the irresponsible child the porshe anyway as long as he promised to do better, he has already proven that he doesn't keep his promises very well. When someone provides a service for you, like mowing your lawn, cutting your hair, baby sitting- you don't pay them before they do it- why? because you want to make sure that they have done an adequate job- rewards come after earning them- not before, otherwise they wouldn't be rewards, they would be a gift- and God has already given us the gift of mercy and Jesus gave us the gift of the atonement. If entrance to the greatest reward possible was a gift as well, why would we do anything for God when He is just gonna hand over all that He has to us regardless of what we do? That is what doesn't make sense. You gonna still pay your gardner if he doesn't mow your lawn? so basically, we may have time in eternity to improve, but we will recieve those rewards once we have improved, not before.

Answer 8

I think your analogy is wrong.

It's more like, when you raise your children, you teach them your address and your phone number and how to get back to your house from wherever they are. You even give them a key to get in.

But, if they forget what you taught them, how are they going to come back? They forgot the address, they forgot the phone number, etc. They lose their key, or even deliberately throw it away. What do YOU do? You don't even know they are trying to get back in.

Answer 9

The Senator said it the best.

Answer 10

Hi,
Just another one of Satan's lies to trick, steal, and murder.