Subtle change to the Law of Consecration covenant in the temple

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Pazooka
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Subtle change to the Law of Consecration covenant in the temple

Post by Pazooka »

I don’t know what to make of this. Around the turn of the twentieth century, James E. Talmage describes one’s temple covenant of consecration being aimed directly at mankind and the establishment of truth while today, those means and efforts are pledged to the Church for IT to do the building, etc.

You might not think that’s significant, but it’s kind of like the difference between helping your neighbor or paying the government to help your neighbor.

Today’s wording: It is that you do consecrate yourselves, your time, talents and everything which the Lord has blessed you, or with which he may bless you, to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saint, for the building up of the Kingdom of God on the earth and for the establishment of Zion.


An allusion to the wording at the time of Talmage’s House of the Lord, although I cannot find a transcript in order to get the exact wording:
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Pazooka
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Re: Subtle change to the Law of Consecration covenant in the temple

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This history of the development of the Endowment ceremony is a good read. Some interesting things I learned are:

- During the Great Depression, you could pay other members to perform vicarious endowments for your ancestors: $.75 for a man, $.50 for a woman. It is said this was mostly to help out the older folks who needed income. You would pick up your earnings at the front desk.

- When film first came out the Brethren said “heck no” to its use in the temple. A couple of decades later they used a clip of a volcano from Disney Studios’ Fantasia in their first attempt to use implement this new medium to facilitate the endowment. It was so that they could just change the background instead of having folks move from room to room.

https://www.jstor.org/stable/45226771?s ... ab_contents

buffalo_girl
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Re: Subtle change to the Law of Consecration covenant in the temple

Post by buffalo_girl »

I prefer Talmadge’s understanding of Consecration.

The movie, Man of God, on YouTube right now beautifully illustrates how Christ’s Church would benefit and change lives if we were less concerned with collecting & counting coin tied to our obsession with ’outward appearances’.

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Silver Pie
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Re: Subtle change to the Law of Consecration covenant in the temple

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Pazooka wrote: October 4th, 2022, 8:30 pm I don’t know what to make of this. Around the turn of the twentieth century, James E. Talmage describes one’s temple covenant of consecration being aimed directly at mankind and the establishment of truth while today, those means and efforts are pledged to the Church for IT to do the building, etc.

You might not think that’s significant, but it’s kind of like the difference between helping your neighbor or paying the government to help your neighbor.

Today’s wording: It is that you do consecrate yourselves, your time, talents and everything which the Lord has blessed you, or with which he may bless you, to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saint, for the building up of the Kingdom of God on the earth and for the establishment of Zion.


An allusion to the wording at the time of Talmage’s House of the Lord, although I cannot find a transcript in order to get the exact wording:
It would definitely be interesting to see exactly what the wording used to be.

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Luke
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Re: Subtle change to the Law of Consecration covenant in the temple

Post by Luke »

The wording used to be “to consecrate all to the upbuilding of the kingdom of God”.

Now it’s “to consecrate all to the LDS Church for the upbuilding of the kingdom of God”.

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FoxMammaWisdom
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Re: Subtle change to the Law of Consecration covenant in the temple

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http://www.ldsendowment.org

Does this website have what you're looking for? Check the footnotes discussing previous versions.

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harakim
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Re: Subtle change to the Law of Consecration covenant in the temple

Post by harakim »

Luke wrote: December 5th, 2022, 6:38 pm The wording used to be “to consecrate all to the upbuilding of the kingdom of God”.

Now it’s “to consecrate all to the LDS Church for the upbuilding of the kingdom of God”.
I took it as consecrating to the actual church, the one built without hands. It wouldn't make sense to consecrate to a corporation run by people. Anyway this church is not the actual church of jesus christ of latter day saints. That was established legally in the temple lot case.

CuriousThinker
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Re: Subtle change to the Law of Consecration covenant in the temple

Post by CuriousThinker »

Maybe I missed something, but Talmdage's writings say a promised blessing was pronounced with each covenant. I have been to the temple over 25 years now and never heard any told after each one. Did he mean something else?

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Pazooka
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Re: Subtle change to the Law of Consecration covenant in the temple

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CuriousThinker wrote: December 5th, 2022, 10:54 pm Maybe I missed something, but Talmdage's writings say a promised blessing was pronounced with each covenant. I have been to the temple over 25 years now and never heard any told after each one. Did he mean something else?
I had that same question, but could not find the content of the endowment script he would have been familiar with. It makes sense, though, in light of the fact that this is the pattern we also observe with the Sacrament.

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TheDuke
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Re: Subtle change to the Law of Consecration covenant in the temple

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I agree that I don't like the consecration to the church but to the Lord. I'm sure that like many on this forum with tithing, felt at some point they could consecrate by giving money elsewhere and this was changed to be clear (Iike intercourse to general sex wording after Bill Clinton's legal affairs changed context in his appeal to impeachment). but, I understand it even if I don't like it.

However, on a larger point, I think it is important to ponder what JS was after when implementing the endowment in the first place. To me the hurried approach to fitting it into a small space left if open to wrong interpretations (see JS own words on compromises in his version in the upper room of the store). To me Joseph saw a progression in the CK. He taught of 3 levels. The first is being a citizen in CK, the third as being like god, i.e. in a god partnership or celestial marriage. He said little about the middle level. But implied it has to do with angels and/or servants. To that level, I feel that he assigned the task of "being endowed with power". So go from a basic citizen to a god with middle level requiring the gaining of knowledge and power to bridge the levels. Hence the endowment and its naming convention. I do see where it fits and to get to the celestial marriage Joseph had to create the bridge. I do not see the endowment as being required for salvation, Jesus didn't say it was.

It doesn't seem required to see god only to become god. This is not how it is currently taught by the LDS PTB. They say it is required to see god, or return to his presence. I feel this is a misinterpretation of Joseph's teachings and contrary with the BoM, NT, and even D&C.

I guess I get confused in the specific covenants and blessings. To me, I see the first level with baptism (water and fire) and it was taught by Jesus. I see the highest level with marriage (perfect form of partnership, etc...). But, I personally cannot comprehend all the areas of knowledge and associated covenants and blessing required to become ready for the highest level. Hence, it seems to me the "endowment" is a placeholder for seemingly many necessary covenants and blessings or areas of knowledge required....

Anyway, my point is that only if we can (and I only try) to comprehend the purpose of the endowment in JS progression, can we understand its intended meaning.

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Silver Pie
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Re: Subtle change to the Law of Consecration covenant in the temple

Post by Silver Pie »

Pazooka wrote: October 4th, 2022, 8:30 pm I don’t know what to make of this. Around the turn of the twentieth century, James E. Talmage describes one’s temple covenant of consecration being aimed directly at mankind and the establishment of truth while today, those means and efforts are pledged to the Church for IT to do the building, etc.

You might not think that’s significant, but it’s kind of like the difference between helping your neighbor or paying the government to help your neighbor.

Today’s wording: It is that you do consecrate yourselves, your time, talents and everything which the Lord has blessed you, or with which he may bless you, to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saint, for the building up of the Kingdom of God on the earth and for the establishment of Zion.


An allusion to the wording at the time of Talmage’s House of the Lord, although I cannot find a transcript in order to get the exact wording:
Here's a link to an account of the 1879 version. I admit it's an expose published in the Tribune (the website - the one Jules posted above - is NOT anti-Mormon. It has no grudge against the LDS Church, but does have this as an account of the 1879 version) - more importantly, it does not mention what you're looking for.
LDS Endowment/1879


In a ~1927 version, it has been changed to giving all to the LDS Church:
"[This reconstruction of the endowment, which drew on various accounts of the ceremony, was published in 1931. The text appears to describe the pre-1927 endowment and thus was already outdated by the time it was published. The temple referred to in this text is the Salt Lake Temple.] "

LAW OF SACRIFICE
"You and each of you do covenant and promise that you will sacrifice your time, talents and all you may now or hereafter become possessed of to the upbuilding of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints."
http://www.ldsendowment.org/1931.html

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Silver Pie
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Re: Subtle change to the Law of Consecration covenant in the temple

Post by Silver Pie »

The site's disclaimer:
This website provides access to current and historical texts of the endowment, without exposing those few portions of the ceremony that are explicitly reserved for initiates. By creating this site, I hope to discourage researchers from using temple exposés produced by individuals and organizations hostile to Mormonism.

This website presents the temple ceremony with a degree of transparency that many Latter-day Saints will find uncomfortable. However, the site does not reveal any information that is protected by covenants of non-disclosure.

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