Matthew 5:33-37 “Again, ye have heard that it hath been said by them of old time, Thou shalt not forswear thyself, but shalt perform unto the Lord thine oaths: 34 But I say unto you, Swear not at all; neither by heaven; for it is God’s throne: 35 Nor by the earth; for it is his footstool: neither by Jerusalem; for it is the city of the great King. 36 Neither shalt thou swear by thy head, because thou canst not make one hair white or black. 37 But let your communication be, Yea, yea; Nay, nay: for whatsoever is more than these cometh of evil.”
The prophecies, mandates, and requirements Mormons must obey are just silly. Furthermore, how do they reconcile what Jesus said in the Beatitudes?
If the title of our article was true, then anyone could get into heaven. The only thing someone would have to do is read a couple of articles on the internet to find out what the secret passwords are. Does this sound biblical, or even rational to you?
Most importantly, if a knowledge of the secret passwords and handshakes were the only requirements, what about Jesus? Where might his place be in the scheme of Mormonism?
Why did Jesus say He was the only way to get to the Father if temple ceremonies are needed?
John 14:6 “Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.”
In order for Mormons to gain entrance into heaven, possession of a temple recommend, and a working knowledge of the secret tokens, aka handshakes, and passwords are all that’s needed. Worthy Mormons learn what these are as they go through the endowment ceremonies, but the vast majority of LDS members aren’t temple worthy, so we’re wondering what this means for them. (That’s a subject for another day!)
Today we’re briefly looking at the temple rituals so we can determine if this is really needed to get into heaven.
In what the Church refers to as ‘The Endowment Ceremony’, Mormons watch a film portraying a reenactment of the earth’s creation, and God’s interaction with Adam and Eve.
Members are instructed to take their seats and refrain from speaking as they watch the film in a movie-theatre like setting, breaking their silence only for the times they’re led in special prayers, chants, and oaths promising secrecy, and devotion to the Church.
Included in the audience participation are four handshakes demonstrated and acted out, 
complete with oaths delivered by the instructor, and then repeated by members.
Before they move on to the veil ceremony members are instructed to mentally agree to an oath of death the instructor verbally reveals while they perform the gestures of the oath without audibly repeating it themselves. The oath is a promise to have their throats slit and to be disemboweled if they reveal the secrets of the temple.
This portion of the ceremony with the death oaths has been dramatically altered as of 1990. With numerous complaints of temple-worthy members, the Church announced that members would no longer need to verbally repeat the bloody oath. Instead, the instructor would do the talking while members silently agreed to it as they perform the hand gestures portraying the penalty.
After the handshakes they call tokens, and their secret passwords (names) are acted out, the group then moves on to acting out the scene at the veil for the final stage of the ceremony.
Five Points of Fellowship
The last segment of the ceremony entails members meeting ‘Elohim’ at the veil to give
scripted answers to the scripted questions he asks. They also reenact the Five Points of Fellowship, albeit this too, is a watered down version of the original.
Male members are instructed to reach through the veil where ‘Elohim’ is standing and during the perfunctory question and answer scene, they go through a routine of touching knee to knee, ear to ear, etc.
The veil is a floor-to-ceiling piece of silk-like drapery cloth with slits cut in the appropriate places for members and the person portraying ‘Elohim’ to interact with the scripted Q&A session, and the handshakes.
Stop for a moment and think about this scenario. Can you just imagine it?
Thinking about it breaks my heart, not just for them, but our Lord as well. The blasphemy of it all is shocking!
Now that their secret is out, are the temple oaths really needed?
Leave a Reply