The post about quoting Rapter Jesus & putting on the apron because Satan says, hide yourself, got me to thinking. Who came up with all that garbage, anyway?
If Adam and Eve ate a poisoned apple, then why was not the apron placed over the mouth, becauswe it was a sexual sin of Satan rapeing Eve and producing Serpant Satan seeds, See Gen 3:15 and Moses 4:21
Joseph Smith probably wrote most of it. He became a mason and several weeks later introduced the endowment ceremony which was basically parts of the masonic ceremony wrapped in Christian & Mormon theology.
Its been gradually altered over the years but I assume most of was originally from him. However Brigham Young did thrown in a little Adam-God (which was later removed).
I just finished "The Development of LDS Temple Worship" and it was a fascinating read (while a bit tedious). It charts and talks around many of the changes over the years, and highlights who had their fingerprints in the pie. BY was the one who started to lock it down in print. They were concerned about uniformity with multiple temples opening up (and the numerous endowment houses of various types).
One of the things I found interesting was how prominent prayer circles were, with most of the meeting houses having a room with an altar so groups could come together for worship and ritualistic prayer. The policy slowly changed until it was ultimately eliminated and all specialized circles were ultimately forbidden.
My favorite nastygram letter was from the 1st presidency to the president of the Alberta temple, basically telling him all the impromptu practices, including seances, needed to stop immediately. :-)
It is also interesting how the whole character changes drastically with respect to the pet peeves of the current prophet. For example, one high priest, mentioned the 2nd anointing over the pulpit, and the prophet at the time was so pissed, he pulled all of the recommends and they stopped doing it for over a decade until Hugh B Brown started guilting them into starting up the practice again.
They detailed when the MIS computer people went to the big 15 to help them understand they needed to do something because they were not even keeping up with the birth rate, let alone saving all those who have died. For me, it became very apparent that the leadership have no concept on the eternities, or how big and vast everything is. No wonder the big 15 spend all of their time straining at gnats and choking on camels.
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/29/2012 01:48AM by luminouswatcher.
LW, your response was very interesting. I remember several people in the early 90s, heading to Fairview & Manti. They had instructions on how to build an altar in their homes, I think taken from early church writings. They would dress in their full temple regalia & have prayer circles.
Also, about that time, there was a list given to SP & bishops on how to identify splinter groups. It mentioned prayer circles being held outside of the temple. !gasp!
Profile of the Splinter Group Members Or Others with Troublesome Ideologies They follow the practice of home school. There is a preoccupation with the evil of the world and the events preceding the coming of the Savior. Many have John Birch membership or leanings. Many do not work and have no jobs. They study the mysteries, feeling that what is provided in our meetings today is superficial. They meet in study groups. They listen to tapes such as the “Bo Gritz” tapes and others about such tapes as Armageddon. They are inordinately preoccupied with food storage. They feel & teach that there is a great conspiracy, that the government is corrupt, & that you can trust few people. They feel many of the members and church leaders have gone astray. They feel President Benson’s counselors have muzzled the prophet so that he cannot tell us the things he would like to tell us, especially about the last days. They staunchly profess that they sustain the prophet & local leaders, but when asked to stop doing certain things, like meeting in groups to study the mysteries, they tell you straight out they will have to take the matter to the Lord to see what He tells them before they will agree. Some have met or are meeting with leaders of the Church of the Firstborn. They believe we must be super spiritual to know the will of God or even our leaders may lead us astray. They read the books of Avraham Gileadi & other materials which are unapproved by the church. Many of these folks are on state welfare & others try to obtain church welfare. We observe that many of these people reportedly have visions & dreams which they share with group members but not priesthood leaders. The element of plural marriage, though seldom spoken of outside this group, continues to surface as a part of the belief structure of many. Some have held prayer circles in full temple clothing outside the temple. While this practice has now been stopped, some of these folks would linger in the celestial room of the Manti Temple for hours to teach one another.
Whereas Caffeine-Free Cult Lite has learned in the last century how to be a Fundamentalist Cult in broad daylight by appearing more normal and mainstream.
One of the difficult things the LDS Church has had to contend with is how quickly the church grew and added members with different backgrounds and how quickly they will create their church out of their own ideas and interpretations.
I recall a common adage when I was a member that went something like this: leave a Ward/Stake alone for three weeks and they will create a whole new religion!
Keeping all of the temple rituals/ordinances exact, Sacrament prayers exact, Correlation, all has been done in an effort to unify the church's teachings, and disallow deviation and disavow earlier teachings that are just too silly or stupid to believe! :-)
The actual script used now has changed. I know the roots of the temple ceremonies and scripts is Masonry. A few words were changed here and there from the Masonic ceremony.