Endowment (Mormonism)
In Mormonism, the endowment is a two-part ordinance (ceremony) designed for participants to become kings, queens, priests, and priestesses in the afterlife. As part of the first ceremony, participants take part in a scripted reenactment of the Biblical creation and fall of Adam and Eve. The ceremony includes a symbolic washing and anointing, and receipt of a "new name" which they are not to reveal to others except at a certain part in the ceremony, and the receipt of the temple garment, which Mormons then are expected to wear under their clothing day and night throughout their life. Participants are taught symbolic gestures and passwords considered necessary to pass by angels guarding the way to heaven, and are instructed not to reveal them to others.[1][2][3] As practiced today in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church), the endowment also consists of a series of covenants (promises to God) that participants make, such as a covenant of consecration to the LDS Church. All LDS Church members who choose to serve as missionaries or participate in a celestial marriage in a temple must first complete the first endowment ceremony.
For the use of this term in an earlier or wider context, see Endowment (Latter Day Saints).
The second part of the endowment, called the second anointing, is the pinnacle ordinance of the temple, jointly given to a husband and wife couple to ensure salvation, guarantee exaltation, and confer godhood.[7] Participants are anointed kings, queens, priests, and priestesses, whereas in the first endowment they are only anointed to become those contingent to following specified covenants. The second anointing is only given to a select group, and its existence is not widely known among the general membership.[5]: 11 [8][9]
The endowment as practiced today was instituted by founder Joseph Smith in the 1840s with further contributions by Brigham Young and his successors. The ceremony is performed in Latter Day Saint temples, which are dedicated specifically for the endowment and certain other ordinances sacred to Mormons, and are open only to Mormons who meet certain requirements. There was a brief period during the construction of the Salt Lake Temple where a small building referred to as the Endowment House was used to administer the endowment ordinance. The endowment is currently practiced by the LDS Church, several denominations of Mormon fundamentalism, and a few other Mormon denominations. The LDS Church has simplified its ceremony from its 19th century form.
A distinct endowment ceremony was also performed in the 1830s in the Kirtland Temple, the first temple of the broader Latter Day Saint movement, which includes other smaller churches such as the Community of Christ. The term "endowment" thus has various meanings historically, and within the other branches of the Latter Day Saint movement.
The prevalence of LDS Church members who participate in the endowment ceremony is difficult to determine. However, estimates show that fewer than half of converts to the LDS Church ultimately undergo the first endowment ceremony, and young people preparing for missions account for about one-third of "live" endowments (as contrasted with proxy endowments for the deceased).[6]: 173 The second endowment ceremony had been given 15,000 times by 1941, but has become less common today.[10][5]: 42–43
Latter-day Saint scholars' statements comparing modern endowment to ancient practices
The Latter-day Saint viewpoint is that the endowment is of ancient origin, revealed from the earliest time to the biblical Adam. Much research has been done by Latter Day Saints finding parallels between the endowment and ancient traditions. The LDS Church temple is referred to as a "house of learning" since it is a "kind of educational environment teaching by action and educating through ritual."[81] The endowment ordinance, as presented in Latter-day Saint temples, has been referred to as a "ritual drama"[82][83] that commemorates episodes of sacred history due to its "theatrical setting."[6]: 166 When viewed as a restoration of ancient rites, the ritual drama and aesthetic environment in which the endowment is presented are both rich in Judeo-Christian symbolism. Comparative studies of the art, architecture, and rituals found in Mormonism, such as the endowment, reveal parallels to early Catholic and Jewish traditions.[86]
The Testament of Levi discusses ceremonies and clothing that LDS scholar Blake Ostler relates to the modern LDS endowment.[i] Some scholars have suggested that Jewish temple initiation was later merged with early Christian baptismal initiation sometime after the destruction of the Second Temple.[88] By the fourth century CE, Christian baptism had adopted a much more dramatic and complex set of rituals accompanying it, including washing ceremonies, physical anointing with oil, being signed with a cross on the forehead, and receiving white garments and a new name, all which paralleled the Jewish initiation for priests and kings.[88] St. Cyril of Jerusalem, in his Catechetical Lectures, related the anointing with oil at baptism with the anointing of a priest and king in the Old Testament, suggesting that the initiate actually became a priest and king in Christ.[88]
The general theme of ascension through multiple gates or veils of heaven is found all throughout early Jewish, Christian, Muslim, and other Near Eastern religious writings, as well as in the Bible. Early works often describe angels and other sentinels which are set at these points, and several of these state that the ascending individual would be required to give specific signs and names to the sentinels in order to pass through the veil.[89][87] The descriptions of key words, signs, and tokens being presented to the sentinels of the veils of heaven are particularly prevalent in old Gnostic Christian and Mandaean writings, and in Jewish lore. In one of the Nag Hammadi texts, Jesus promises that those who accept him would pass by each of the gates of heaven without fear and would be perfected in the third heaven.[90] The Coptic Book of 1 Jeu describes Jesus instructing the apostles in the hand-signs, names, and seals that they must use before the guardians of heaven would remove the veils of heaven to allow them passage.[87] In Hekhalot Rabbati 17:1–20:3, an old Jewish esoteric text, the faithful pass through seven doors in order to enter the presence of God, passing by angels whose names they must give, while presenting a seal. 3 Enoch also describes the names and seals given to the angels.[89]
The Latter Day Saint temple garment is usually identified by Mormon scholars with the sacred "linen breeches" (michnasayim/mikhnesei bahd) and the "coat of linen" (kuttoneth) that ancient Israelite priests were commanded to wear.[91][85] According to the Talmud, worn-out undergarments and priestly sashes were burned, being used as torch wicks in the temple.[92] The temple garment has been compared to the modern tallit katan, a sacred undershirt of Orthodox and ultra-Orthodox Judaism. Both the temple garments in Mormonism and the tallit katan are meant to be worn all day under regular clothing as a constant reminder of the covenants, promises, and obligations the wearer is under.[93] Latter-day Saint scholars interpret a biblical scripture in Luke as instructing the apostles to wait for both the pouring out of the Spirit on the day of Pentecost and the endowment ceremony before going out to evangelize.[94][95]