Endowment (Latter Day Saints)

In the theology of the

Although it was not generally referred to as an endowment at the time, in retrospect, Latter Day Saints have viewed the

In January 1831, Smith issued a revelation where he wrote that after Mormons relocated to Kirtland, Ohio, they would "be endowed with power from on high" and "sent forth".^[7] Smith reiterated this in February 1831, stating that the "elders of the church Smith reaffirmed that the faithful members would "be taught from on high" and "endowed with power",^[8] and that God would call the elders of the church together in Kirtland in a general conference and "pour out [his] Spirit upon them in that day they assemble themselves together".^[9] In a revelation given to an individual, Smith assured the man that "at the conference meeting he [would] be ordained unto power from on high".^[10]

This general conference of the church was held from June 3 to June 6, 1831, in which a number of men were ordained to the "High" or

In 1833, Joseph Smith established what he called a School of the Prophets,

Although the events at this school were never specifically called an "endowment", it has been classified as such by scholars including

A year and a half after the June 1831 endowment, Smith said he received a revelation in December 1832 to prepare to build a "house of God", or a temple.^[15] A revelation soon followed identifying the location of the temple in Kirtland, Ohio,^[16] and another revelation affirmed that in this building the Lord "design[ed] to endow those [he] had chosen with power on high".^[17] In a later revelation the Lord indicated that the elders were to be "endowed with power from on high; for [he had] prepared a greater endowment" than the 1831 endowment.^[18] Upon the completion of the Kirtland Temple after three years of construction (1833–36), the elders of the church gathered for this second promised endowment in early 1836.

The Kirtland Temple endowment ceremonies were patterned after Old Testament sacerdotal practices. They consisted of preparatory washings, administered in private homes, in which men washed and purified their bodies with water and alcohol Kirtland Elders' Quorum Record 1836-1841, 25 January 1836, archived from the original on 4 July 2008, retrieved 5 January 2010. After this, they gathered in the temple where they were anointed with specially consecrated oil and with blessings pronounced upon their heads by Smith and other church leaders. The men's anointings were sealed with uplifted hands. Following these ceremonies many men reported participating in extraordinary spiritual experiences, such as seeing visions, speaking prophecies or receiving revelations. The culmination of the endowment was a solemn assembly, held on March 30, in which the men partook of the sacrament and then washed each other's feet. Those present spent the rest of the day and night prophesying, speaking in tongues, testifying and exhorting each other.^[19][20] To those present it was a "day of Pentecost". Indeed, Smith told the solemn assembly that they could now "go forth and build up the kingdom of God".^[21]

On April 3, 1836, Joseph Smith and

Initially, Smith intended the Kirtland endowment to become an annual affair; he administered the same ceremonies again in 1837.[23] However, because of persecution^{[citation needed]} the Mormons largely abandoned Kirtland and its temple in 1838-39 and moved west. As Smith's theology expanded during the 1840s, the Kirtland endowment was superseded by the Nauvoo endowment. Mormons looked back upon the Kirtland Temple rituals with the authority bestowed by the three prophets as preparatory to the greater endowment revealed at Nauvoo. This was certainly the view of Brigham Young, who said:

And those first Elders who helped to build it [Kirtland Temple], received a portion of their first endowments, or we might say more clearly, some of the first, or introductory, or initiatory ordinances, preparatory to an endowment. The preparatory ordinances there administered, though accompanied the ministration of angels, and the presence of the Lord Jesus, were but a faint similitude of the ordinances of the House of the Lord in their fulness.^[24]

Nauvoo endowment

On May 3, 1842,

The Nauvoo endowment consisted of two phases: (1) an initiation, and (2) an instructional and testing phase. The initiation consisted of a washing and anointing, culminating in the clothing of the patron in a "Garment of the Holy Priesthood", which is thereafter worn as an undergarment.

The instructional and testing phase of the endowment consisted of a scripted reenactment of

• Temple (Latter Day Saints)

Notes