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 literal Houses of the Lord. In this context Mormons believe 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 in the latter days, 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 temptation.
The Mormon Endowment includes four basic aspects. One is a preparatory ordinance of ceremonial washing and anointing, and dressing in sacred temple garments or so-called “mormon underwear.” Another aspect is a course of instruction. Covenants constitute yet another aspect of the Endowment: Mormons solemnly promise the Lord to be obedient and follow His will. Finally, temple visitors can actually feel a degree of divine presence even now, for Mormon temples are specially dedicated as places of holiness, of light, of peace and revelation and understanding.
Information is conveyed in a highly symbolic manner during the Endowment in Mormon temples. Members of the Mormon Church have the experience of noticing and understanding different things each time they read the scriptures, and in a similar way, the Endowment provides understanding at various levels and encourages a person to return more and more so as to develop that understanding and to draw ever closer to the Lord.
Symbols used in the Endowment and the meanings of those symbols are sacred to Mormons. They view the meaning of the symbols as knowledge (an endowment) from God. For this reason, the only acceptable place for Mormons to discuss the symbols or their meaning is within the walls of a temple. Faithful Mormons do not divulge specific details of what goes on in the temple, not because they are secret, but because they are sacred.
During all subsequent sessions, Mormons receive the Endowment not for themselves but on behalf of deceased individuals, enabling the dead, whose spirits reside in the afterlife, to accept or reject the ordinances and covenants.