Matthew Porter Wilcox, “The Coming Forth of the Book of Abraham,” in BYU Religious Education 2009 Student Symposium (Provo, UT: Religious Studies Center, Brigham Young University, 2009), 105–121 [14]Archivováno 17. 6. 2015 na Wayback Machine.
cafepress.com
Both males and females wear a sacred garment and a sacred
cincture (tie-around-belt) under their clothing. [4][5]Archivováno 21. 6. 2015 na Wayback Machine.
Until the 1920s, the infamous "oath of vengeance" was administered in conjunction with the law of chastity and the law of consecration. This oath, as described by initiates during Congressional hearings in 1904–1906, ran as follows:
You and each of you do covenant and promise that you will pray and never cease to pray Almighty God to avenge the blood of the prophets upon this nation, and that you will teach the same to your children and to your children's children unto the third and fourth generation.
The "blood of the prophets" is generally understood as a reference to the martyrdom of Joseph and Hyrum Smith.
[1]
THE LAW OF CONSECRATION
[Peter, James, and John return to the Terrestrial Room.]
PETER: A couple will now come to the altar.
We are instructed to give unto you the law of consecration as contained in the book of Doctrine and Covenants, in connection with the law of the gospel and the law of sacrifice, which you have already received. It is that you do consecrate yourselves, your time, talents, and everything with which the Lord has blessed you, or with which he may bless you, to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, for the building up of the kingdom of God on the earth and for the establishment of Zion.
All arise.
Each of you bring your right arm to the square.
You and each of you covenant and promise before God, angels, and these witnesses at this altar, that you do accept the law of consecration as contained in this, the book of Doctrine and Covenants [he displays the book], in that you do consecrate yourselves, your time, talents, and everything with which the Lord has blessed you, or with which he may bless you, to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, for the building up of the kingdom of God on the earth and for the establishment of Zion.
Each of you bow your head and say, "Yes."
That will do.
The garment is a rich symbol that can work at multiple levels. In the
context of the initatory's sequence of washing, anointing, and clothing
(derived from Exodous 28), the garment is one piece of the priestly vestments
that initiates don in the course of the endowment, betokening their consecration
to God's service and their empowerment to enter God's presence. At the
same time, receipt of the garment, said to represent the coat of skins
from Genesis 3, identifies initiates with Adam and Eve and thus forms
part of the endowment's reenactment of the creation and the fall. The
coat of skins--and thus the garment--can be read as a type of Christ's
atonement, which covers sin in a way that feeble human efforts (the fig
leaf aprons) cannot.
At another level, the ritual of clothing evokes the promise that those
who "have not defiled their garments" shall be "clothed
in white raiment" (Revelation 3:4–5). Several passages in the first chapters of Revelation have
echoes in the initiatory: Revelation 1:5–6; 2:17; 3:4–5, 12, 18.
Read in the light of Matthew 22:11–14, a parable about a man who is thrown
into outer darkness when he attends the king's feast without a wedding
garment, the temple garment may be understood as a symbol of spiritual
preparedness, akin to the parable of the ten virgins with their oil lamps
(Matthew 25:1–13). The initiatory's injunction to cover one's nakedness
can be taken as an exhortation to prepare for judgment, in light of scriptural
passages that equate nakedness with the shame of sin (Revelation 3:18;
2 Nephi 9:14; Mormon 9:5; cf. the allusion to the final judgment in the
explanation of the knee mark). The garment yields yet another set of meanings when seen as an enactment
of scriptural metaphors about being clothed: with salvation and righteousness
(Isaiah 61:10), with purity (2 Nephi 9:14), with humility (1 Peter 5:5),
with charity (D&C 88:125), with strength (Psalm 18:39). Pushing this
symbolism farther, receiving the garment can be seen as a token of being
encircled in the robe of God's righteousness and in the arms of safety
(2 Nephi 4:33; Alma 34:16). Understood in this way, the garment is a sign
of grace. The garment can be a symbolic reminder that we depend upon God
for all we have, "both food and raiment" (Mosiah 4:19, 21),
and that the One who clothes the lilies in glory has promised to clothe
us also–to give us all that we need (Matthew 6:28–32). [3]
Anxieties about publicly displaying the garment have led to discussions
about how LDS athletes should cope with public locker rooms or how soldiers
should cope with open barracks. (In such situations, the Saints are advised
to be as discreet as possible, to use questions about the garment as a
teaching opportunity, and to bear ridicule with patience.)
Displays of the garment by non-Mormons--as in Tony Kushner's drama Angels
in America, in which Mormon characters are shown wearing the garment--are
deeply offensive to many Saints. An indication of how strong Latter-day
Saints' feelings about the garment can run is a 2003 incident in which
an anti-Mormon demonstrator at the Church's General Conference blew his
nose into a temple garment he was wearing around his neck; an incensed
LDS observer was arrested for battery after trying to wrest the garment
away from the protestor. LDS convictions about the garment's significance
as a sacred object are also conveyed in a widely circulating piece of
folkore which narrates the divine destruction (usually by fire) of a laundromat
whose owners hang temple garments in the window for public ridicule. [6]
The most important defining feature of a temple garment is the four marks.
The mark of the square, shaped like a reverse L, appears over the right
breast. The mark of the compass, shaped like a V, appears over the left
breast. The navel mark is a horizontal line about three-fourths inch long
placed in the midsection; the knee mark is the same, placed just above
the hem of the right leg. Originally, the four marks were cut into the
garment during the initiatory. In the twentieth century, this custom gave
way to stitching the marks into the garment at the time of its manufacture. [7]
You and each of you solemnly covenant and promise before God, angels, and these witnesses at this altar that you will obey the law of God and keep his commandments.[8]
THE LAW OF SACRIFICE [9]
ELOHIM: Brethren and sisters, you are about to be put under covenant to obey and keep the law of sacrifice, as contained in the Old and New Testaments. This law of sacrifice was given to Adam in the garden of Eden, who, when he was driven out of the garden, built an altar on which he offered sacrifices.
And after many days, an angel of the Lord appeared unto Adam, saying, "Why dost thou offer sacrifices unto the Lord?" And Adam said unto him, "I know not, save the Lord commanded me." And then the angel spake saying, "This thing is a similitude of the sacrifice of the Only Begotten of the Father, which is full of grace and truth. Wherefore, thou shalt do all that thou doest in the name of the Son, and thou shalt repent and call upon God in the name of the Son forevermore."
The posterity of Adam down to Moses, and from Moses to Jesus Christ, offered up the firstfruits of the field and the firstlings of the flock, which continued until the death of Jesus Christ, which ended sacrifice by the shedding of blood.
And as Jesus Christ has laid down his life for the redemption of mankind, so we should covenant to sacrifice all that we possess, even our own lives if necessary, in sustaining and defending the kingdom of God.
All arise.
Each of you bring your right arm to the square.
You and each of you solemnly covenant and promise before God, angels, and these witnesses at this altar that you will observe and keep the law of sacrifice, as contained in the Old and New Testaments, as it has been explained to you.
Each of you bow your head and say, "Yes."
That will do.
THE LAW OF THE GOSPEL [10]
PETER: A couple will now come to the altar.
Brethren and sisters, this couple at the altar represent all of you as if at the altar, and you will be under the same obligations as they will be.
We are required to give unto you the law of the gospel as contained in the Book of Mormon and the Bible; to give unto you, also, a charge to avoid all lightmindedness, loud laughter, evil speaking of the Lord's anointed, the taking of the name of God in vain, and every other unholy and impure practice; and to cause you to receive these by covenant.
All arise.
Each of you bring your right arm to the square.
You and each of you covenant and promise before God, angels, and these witnesses at this altar that you will observe and keep the law of the gospel and this charge, as it has been explained to you.
Each of you bow your head and say, "Yes."
That will do.
THE LAW OF CHASTITY [11]
PETER: A couple will now come to the altar.
We are instructed to give unto you the law of chastity. This I will explain. To the sisters, it is that no one of you will have sexual intercourse except with your husband to whom you are legally and lawfully wedded. To the brethren it is that no one of you will have sexual intercourse except with your wife to whom you are legally and lawfully wedded.
Sisters, please arise.
Each of you bring your right arm to the square.
You and each of you covenant and promise before God, angels, and these witnesses at this altar that you will observe and keep the law of chastity, as it has been explained to you.
Each of you bow your head and say, "Yes."
That will do.
Brethren, please arise.
Each of you bring your right arm to the square.
You and each of you covenant and promise before God, angels, and these witnesses at this altar that you will observe and keep the law of chastity, as it has been explained to you.
Each of you bow your head and say, "Yes."
That will do.
Čtvrtá penalta. [12] "THE SECOND TOKEN OF THE MELCHIZEDEK PRIESTHOOD
PETER: We will now give unto you the second token of the Melchizedek priesthood, the patriarchal grip, or Sure Sign of the Nail, with its accompanying sign.
[Peter demonstrates the token.]
We desire all to receive it. All arise.
[All initiates receive the token.]
This token has a name and a sign, but no penalty is mentioned. However, you will be under just as sacred an obligation of secrecy in connection with this token and sign as you are with the other tokens and signs of the holy priesthood which you have received in the temple this day.
The name of this token will not be given unto you at this stage in the endowment, but it will be given later on.
[Peter demonstrates the sign for this token and then leads initiates in making the sign.]
That will do. "
We are required to kneel at this altar, where we have an oath administered to the effect, that we will, from this time henceforth and forever, use our influence to murder this nation, and teach it to our posterity and all that we have influence over, in return for their killing the Prophet Joseph. They say the murdering of Smith is a national offense. It is true that all was not personally engaged in the act; but the nation has long winked at the abuse of the Mormons, and in this way they have encouraged mobs from time to time, until they have finally taken the life of the Lord's Prophet, and now it is the will of the Lord, that the nation should be destroyed; and this is his will, that we shall enter into this secret conspiracy against the Government, &c., for the above reasons and many more given. [13]
You and each of you solemnly covenant and promise before God, angels, and these witnesses at this altar that you will each observe and keep the law of your husband and abide by his counsel in righteousness. [48]
Kompletní znění první smlouvy Aaronova kněžství [50]
Both males and females wear a sacred garment and a sacred
cincture (tie-around-belt) under their clothing. [4][5]Archivováno 21. 6. 2015 na Wayback Machine.
Historie Obdarování [59]Salt Lake City Messenger, no. 76, November 1990.
web.archive.org
Both males and females wear a sacred garment and a sacred
cincture (tie-around-belt) under their clothing. [4][5]Archivováno 21. 6. 2015 na Wayback Machine.
Matthew Porter Wilcox, “The Coming Forth of the Book of Abraham,” in BYU Religious Education 2009 Student Symposium (Provo, UT: Religious Studies Center, Brigham Young University, 2009), 105–121 [14]Archivováno 17. 6. 2015 na Wayback Machine.
