The temple garments now represent Jesus. When I first went through the temple they were a modern version of the skins Adam and Eve wore and were to protect us from the world.
The viel represent’s Christ atonement. When I first went through the veil represented the veil in Solomon’s temple and separated the holiest area of the temple from the rest of the temple. Only those with all the signs and tokens could pass through the viel into God’s celestial presence.
Russ is just putting the Jesus stamp on everything. He certainly wants to leave his mark on the church.
So disappointing back in 1969 getting my endowments as I witnessed nothing more than an inane voice-over enactment of the creation story--which I already knew---so nothing new there.
Nothing new nothing new nothing new.
Well, the penalties, the blood oaths. The new name which I thought was only mine. Elias! Wow! Me? That got my attention as did the upside down pentagrams on the wall. I had to make do with that as proof that we were experiencing something as wonderful as what I had always heard the temple as being.
The ceremony is so dumbed down now there is no point to it at all except to promise EVERYTHING to the church. And in exchange for what? I just read the old temple ceremony with all the changes and what caught my eye is that the promise of exaltation is gone and replaced with receiving ordinances, passwords, and handshakes that will get you past the angels guarding the gate. Who knows what you will get once you get inside? They don't specify--anything!
So God, who knows every hair on your head, needs a password and a club house handshake from you?
Well, that's why men go bald, you know, to make it easier for god. Turns out he's not very good at his job and needs plenty of shortcuts.
And just why is his knowledge limited to head hair in the first place? It grows other places too. Doesn't he know every hair on… um… the rest of our bodies?
Haven't been through the Temple in decades, are you saying that the name that my wife and I were assigned on our first time through the Temple is now obsolete (I got to know her name, she has to be ignorant of mine), no longer used, irrelevant?
They still do the new names I think. No expiration date. You're still set for the resurrection. It's just that they don't advertise that they hand the same name out like popcorn. Everyone who goes the same day that month gets the same name and then the same list of names rolls over to the next month or something like that.
So when your name is called at the resurrection be ready to stand in line with tens of thousands of others with the same name.
And when you call your wife's name at the resurrection you are going to have to spot her in the crowd that all rose up with her. Needle in a haystack.
The name thing makes no sense except as a gimmick. Why would an omniscient god need that in order to admit you to his club? It all sounds so "grade-school".
I was promised to become a God King if I lived up to my covenants. They are watering the temple ceremonies down because nothing in the temple can be kept secret. They are also shortening things to try and boost attendance. The church doesn’t know what it is anymore. It’s confused. It cracks the whip on wearing garments but at the same time it waters the temple ceremonies down. It’s like different people are making the decisions which might be the case or a old guy who mixes things up.
No more promises of being Kings and High Priestesses and being on the road to Godhood. Now the signs and tokens just get you past the angels standing as sentinels. This is like getting in to Studio 54 in the old days. You gotta have connections or be really hot.
The old saying is a joke--"As man is god once was as god is man may become." Now it's "As man is, God is getting there as fast as he can!"
All this nonsense that in the Garden of Eden the lions lay down with lambs, but they gotta kill a couple anyway so Adam and Eve have some animal skins to cover up their essentials. Where's PETA when you need it?
And God had no access to some nice cotton? Couldn't have made them some robes like him? Some of his wives MUST sew.
Nothing makes sense. Maybe Jesus' tie-in with the garments is that he killed the animals to get the skins and tanned them himself?
Done & Done Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > All this nonsense that in the Garden of Eden the > lions lay down with lambs, but they gotta kill a > couple anyway. . .
When I read that, I thought of the Plan of Salvation™.
Consider this:
> All this nonsense that the Plan of Salvation™ is about > eternal life and peace, but they gotta kill > the One anyway . . .
STILL absolutely NO ONE can tell us when Joseph got the Revelation that "restored" the Temple Ceremony - the same one Adam & Abraham and Solomon and all the old guys used.
The church is making these changes in the middle of the biggest temple building boom in its history. They are throwing their investment into doubt. Could this be on purpose?
It's as if they are emphasizing the mutabilility of their doctrine by playing the "make up something else" card, which is a legitimate move in Mormonism because Mormons really don't care that it's made up.
I think it's a case of compartmentalization. They need to believe for the sake of believing. The same effect occurs when a person's paycheck depends on holding certain beliefs. Logic takes a back seat.
If being Mormon is wrong, they don't want to be right. There was a time when Mormonism was congruent with American values. Then American values changed.
Mormons are a community. Taking off the blinders voluntarily is a form of self exile. Who wants that?
bradley Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Mormons are a community. Taking off the blinders > voluntarily is a form of self exile. Who wants > that?
Brother Of Jerry Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > “It is difficult to get a man to understand > something when his salary depends on his not > understanding it. > — Upton Sinclair, 1878-1968
"Russ is just putting the Jesus stamp on everything. He certainly wants to leave his mark on the church"
My dog wants to leave his mark on Russ.
I recently had a JW give me their testimony. They told me Jesus was tortured abd died so we wouldn't have to go through it ourselves. Well, Halloween is next month so why not start the ghoul stuff early? Being God can't be easy. Eternity would make a guy stir crazy.
Jesus as a victim doesn't fly with me. It's like Chuck Norris getting beaten to death by kindergarteners.
Oh, come now, the things in the temple are the restoration of ancient Jesus-truths! Like the compass and square that represent "encircling the whole earth" and "being square with your fellow man."
Not like they were totally stolen from the Masons, who you know, actually would have a use for items like, you know...a compass or a square.
Haha. Everything in the Temple is about Jesus now----except for the parts that aren't. Really hard to picture Jesus sitting around with his pals in a Baker's Hat and Green apron.