re mormon temples mserv mozart cc iup edu mail server writes saw bcstec ca boeing com steve a ward writes dan kuhub cc ukans edu writes dan s question about mormon temple rituals deleted for brevity just thought i would interject this and i believe you dan when you say that you don t mean to offend for us lds temple goers the temple ceremonies are very sacred so much so that anyone who goes there promises never to divulge them so how much can you trust someone who is telling you about the cerermony one thing i don t understand is why being sacred should make the temple rituals secret there are lots of sacred things in christianity including the sacred scriptures themselves but there is nothing secret about these things is it appropriate for the lord not to reveal certain things before the world i e publish them widely these things sacred to himself he may place any pre or post conditions he feels are necessary moreover there are precedents in scripture where knowledge of sacred things is withheld after the transfiguration jesus instructed peter james and john to tell the vision to no man until the son of man be risen again from the dead matt if we were living at the time of savior there would be no public record of this event a faithful friend of paul experiences a vision of paradise when he heard unspeakable words which it is not lawful for a man to utter cor this person heard something which paul can not write to the corinthians and us there is an incident recorded in the book of mormon where words uttered by babes were forbidden that there should not any man write them nephi the entire text follows for those of you without access to the bom nephi behold it came to pass on the morrow that the multitude gathered themselves together and they both saw and heard these children yea even babes did open their mouths and utter marvelous things and the things which they did utter were forbidden that there should not any man write them some lds scholars speculate that these words which could not be written are the sacred portions from temple we are to withhold from the world but it could be something else i can understand why mormons would limit temple access to only faithful mormons but i have never understood the emphasis on shrouding temple ritual in mystery there is much we can discuss about the temple ordinances we can discuss regarding baptisms and other vicarious ordinances for the dead we can discuss certain concepts regarding the endowment the ritual however there are certain elements i can not discuss with anyone including other saints outside of the temple as a portion of the endowment we receive the tokens and signs that will permit us access to heaven i must keep this knowledge sacred and respect the conditions under which it is revealed to me a idler
