Endowment
The Mormon Temple Endowment In general terms, an endowment is a gift. Members of the Mormon Church, however, frequently use the word in connection with their temples, which they consider to be Houses of the Lord. In this context, an Endowment is a course of teaching, ordinances (sacred rituals), and covenants (mutual promises between the individual and God) received in a Mormon temple by worthy and prepared adult members. In 1842, upon introducing ordinances which should be performed in the temple which the Mormons had built in Nauvoo, Illinois, Joseph Smith, the founder of the Mormon Church, taught that such ordinances were “of things spiritual, and to be received only by the spiritual minded.” He also taught that the Endowment illustrates the whole of the human condition and man’s actual connection with God; it gives preparation to Mormon missionaries; it provides a completeness of blessings; and it grants added power for the faithful to combat... Read the rest of this article »
