Views on participating in Temple and other ordinances

THE BOOK OF MORONI

CHAPTER 8

Infant baptism is an evil abomination—Little children are alive in Christ because of the atonement—Faith, repentance, meekness and lowliness of heart, receiving the Holy Ghost, and enduring to the end lead to salvation. Between A.D. 400 and 421

1 An epistle of my afather Mormon, written to me, Moroni; and it was written unto me soon after my calling to the ministry. And on this wise did he write unto me, saying:

2 My beloved son, Moroni, I rejoice exceedingly that your Lord Jesus Christ hath been mindful of you, and hath called you to his ministry, and to his holy work.

3 I am mindful of you always in my prayers, continually praying unto God the Father in the name of his Holy Child, Jesus, that he, through his infinite goodness grace, will keep you through the endurance of faith on his name to the end.

4 And now, my son, I speak unto you concerning that which grieveth me exceedingly; for it grieveth me that there should disputations rise among you.

5 For, if I have learned the truth, there have been disputations among you concerning the baptism of your little children.

6 And now, my son, I desire that ye should labor diligently, that this gross error should be removed from among you; for, for this intent I have written this epistle.

7 For immediately after I had learned these things of you I inquired of the Lord concerning the matter. And the word of the Lord came to me by the power of the Holy Ghost, saying:

8 Listen to the words of Christ, your Redeemer, your Lord and your God. Behold, I came into the world not to call the righteous but sinners to repentance; the whole need no physician, but they that are sick; wherefore, little children are whole, for they are not capable of committing sin; wherefore the curse of Adam is taken from them in me, that it hath no power over them; and the law of circumcision is done away in me.

9 And after this manner did the Holy Ghost manifest the word of God unto me; wherefore, my beloved son, I know that it is solemn mockery before God, that ye should baptize little children.

10 Behold I say unto you that this thing shall ye teach—repentance and baptism unto those who are accountable and capable of committing sin; yea, teach parents that they must repent and be baptized, and humble themselves as their little children, and they shall all be saved with their little children.

11 And their little children need no repentance, neither baptism. Behold, baptism is unto repentance to the fulfilling the commandments unto the remission of sins.

12 But little achildren are alive in Christ, even from the foundation of the world; if not so, God is a partial God, and also a changeable God, and a respecter to persons; for how many little children have died without baptism!

13 Wherefore, if little children could not be saved without baptism, these must have gone to an endless hell.

14 Behold I say unto you, that he that supposeth that little children need baptism is in the gall of bitterness and in the bonds of iniquity; for he hath neither afaith, hope, nor charity; wherefore, should he be cut off while in the thought, he must go down to hell.

15 For awful is the wickedness to suppose that God saveth one child because of baptism, and the other must perish because he hath no baptism.

16 Wo be unto them that shall pervert the ways of the Lord after this manner, for they shall perish except they repent. Behold, I speak with boldness, having authority from God; and I fear not what man can do; for perfect love casteth out all fear.

17 And I am filled with charity, which is everlasting love; wherefore, all children are alike unto me; wherefore, I love little children with a perfect love; and they are all alike and partakers of salvation.

18 For I know that God is not a partial God, neither a changeable being; but he is unchangeable from ball eternity to all eternity.

19 Little children cannot repent; wherefore, it is awful wickedness to deny the pure mercies of God unto them, for they are all alive in him because of his mercy.

20 And he that saith that little children need baptism denieth the mercies of Christ, and setteth at naught the aatonement of him and the power of his redemption.

21 Wo unto such, for they are in danger of death, hell, and an endless torment. I speak it boldly; God hath commanded me. Listen unto them and give heed, or they stand against you at the judgment-seat of Christ.

22 For behold that all little children arealive in Christ, and also all they that are without the law. For the power of redemption cometh on all them that have no law; wherefore, he that is not condemned, or he that is under no condemnation, cannot repent; and unto such baptism availeth nothing—

23 But it is mockery before God, denying the mercies of Christ, and the power of his Holy Spirit, and putting trust in dead works.

24 Behold, my son, this thing ought not to be; for arepentance is unto them that are under condemnation and under the curse of a broken law.

25 And the first fruits of repentance is baptism; and baptism cometh by faith unto the fulfilling the commandments; and the fulfilling the commandments bringeth remission of sins;

26 And the remission of sins bringeth meekness, and lowliness of heart; and because of meekness and lowliness of heart cometh the visitation of the bHoly Ghost, which Comforter filleth with hope and perfect love, which love endureth by diligence unto prayer, until the end shall come, when all the saints shall dwell with God.

27 Behold, my son, I will write unto you again if I go not out soon against the Lamanites. Behold, the apride of this nation, or the people of the Nephites, hath proven their destruction except they should repent.

28 Pray for them, my son, that repentance may come unto them. But behold, I fear lest the Spirit hath ceased striving with them; and in this part of the land they are also seeking to put down all power and authority which cometh from God; and they are denying the Holy Ghost.

29 And after rejecting so great a knowledge, my son, they must perish soon, unto the fulfilling of the prophecies which were spoken by the prophets, as well as the words of our Savior himself.

30 Farewell, my son, until I shall write unto you, or shall meet you again. Amen.

End of Copy and Paste:

I actually adhere to these teachings, particularly verses 22 and 23. I believe that Christ is the “God of the Living” and not the God of the dead. I do not want to put my faith in “dead works” and I do not wish to deny the justice, grace and mercy of Christ.

I feel comfortable at the temple so I go. I receive more personal revelation when I am at the temple than any other time. There’s a lot of value to me in that. I don’t know how much I believe that temple ordinances are essential or important. Or that I am really affecting deceased persons by what I am doing at the temple. But I like going, I feel peace there and I consider myself worthy so I go.

For other ordinances, I have had many spiritual experiences when performing priesthood ordinances. So I choose to believe in the priesthood mostly along TBM lines. If you are uncertain about the priesthood, I don’t think that would exclude you from participating in priesthood ordinances. You are just as qualified as any other priesthood holder. I think a good rule of thumb might be if you would be willing to receive the ordinance in your current state of belief then you should not feel guilty about performing the ordinance. If you believe in the sacrament enough to receive it, then you shouldn’t feel guilty about blessing it. If in your current state of faith you would be willing to receive the aaronic priesthood, then maybe you should feel comfortable about ordaining someone else to it. If the priesthood does work like TBMs believe then you were compliant with the requirements. If not, you did no harm.

But don’t do anything that makes you uncomfortable. Believing differently from others shouldn’t make you uncomfortable in performing priesthood ordinances. Everyone has some different beliefs. So I would encourage you to try to be more comfortable with more.

I’ll try to share my thoughts and what I’ve thought about my desire to go to the temple or not:

1. If they are asking me my beliefs in the interview questions, I answer how I believe, not how I think they think the answers should be answered. Interviewers are only representing God, it doesn’t matter who they are individually or what they think. I know what the questions will be, so I answer them in my head before the interview and answer them how I feel I can with a clear conscience. If the result is they do not feel I’m worthy to attend the temple, I’m ok with that also. I have to be true to how I feel, not try to “pass” the interview. Also: I’ve had a recommend for 1 year, so I don’t need to answer those questions for another year…so until then, I’ll work on my questions. As long as I’m not sinning, I can go to the temple. Doubting is not sinning.

2. I am a busy man. I will go to the temple if I feel it is good for me, regardless if others feel it is where I should be. However, if someone needs me to help out or to give service, that is a good thing for me to consider to do. In the end, I will do it if it is good for me or my family…not out of obligation to meet others’ expectations.

3. I try not to rock the boat or create waves … I don’t find any value in trying to show I’m not TBM and others must see how different I am. I think I can be different, and be in the church, and be in the temple. Of course, I don’t have any issues about my testimony in God…I just have redefined it and my testimony of the church…but it is still a testimony. Other TBMs may not agree with me, but I’m ok…they don’t know everything either (although they sometimes think they do and there is only “one” way). I don’t have to resolve my understanding of things with theirs or feel if I don’t see it their way then my way is not as valid.

4. When getting to doctrinal points in the temple or anything that seems to conflict the church teachings with my beliefs, I can back up and at a higher level somewhere find common ground on peace and love and God’s love for us, or some symbolic meaning that connects me with other TBM views … and be ok with talking to others on that level. That way, I’m still honest with my views and with agreeing on that level with theirs. Then I focus on that, not on the differences.

5. While I struggle through questions or look for answers, I have allowed myself to keep going through the motions or going to church or doing callings realizing I don’t have to know ALL things in order to keep moving. I can question events about Joseph Smith that make me think differently about him from what I was taught in church, but still read the Book of Mormon and find wisdom in the teachings. I can doubt the prophet has visitations with the Lord, but still enjoy his sermons on Love. I can doubt the Word of Wisdom is a commandment from God, but I have never found a need to break it. In all of my doubting and searching, I think I realized everyone is still searching for answers, so we all continue to move forward without 100% knowledge…that is what faith and religion demands.

Just because you are beginning to see things differently doesn’t mean there is not a place for you in the church, despite what others think. Like Hawkgrrrl told me…”what they say is really about them, not about you.” I think going to church is about you and what you think God is teaching you about yourself and how to find peace and joy.

I have found I have learned a lot by allowing my personal journey to teach me things that I could not have learned if I stayed in my protective Stage 3 self. I think God wants us to do things because we have faith in it, not because we fear others if we don’t do it.

I hope that helps. (Just FYI…my last temple experience was awful. I look forward to trying it again! More for me to learn!)

My wife is exMo, so I don’t have pressure of a spouse wanting me to go to the temple with them. If circumstances were different, I would consider having a TR to support my spouse. That is a great motivation IMO, even if I had doubts or less-than-perfect knowledge or testimony. Like others have mentioned, showing concern for the faith of others is a noble and beautiful attitude. I think it is very Christ-like.

I personally don’t have a TR. I choose not to go that route and haven’t had one in about 5 years or more. Funny enough though, I have zero issues with the temple or ritual. I think very highly of it all, and feel like the blessings and promises I received really happened for me. In the end though, I think not having a TR right now affords me a little more wiggle room from a Church legalistic standpoint to be fringe and explore ideas more widely. It also prevents me from holding official leadership callings that I really don’t want to have right now either. Both of those are a plus to me (right now, I might change my mind in the future).

I don’t really care what the leaders in my wards think about my not having a TR. When they have asked or pushed for me to renew, I’ve politely and confidently declined. But they also see that I am active and happy in Church. Those counterbalance each other. I’ve found that leaders will only push so much and then they chill out. They really shouldn’t push and pressure members to renew TR’s that don’t seem to want to. They know this.

It took me a little while, but I am comfortable with priesthood ordinances. I don’t mind giving people blessings or participating in ordinances. I don’t see my “authority” like I used to, but I have found different angles to approach these services. I feel like the faith of the person, and to some extent my love and concern for them, opens up something divine in a “blessing.” I think of it more like accessing a stream of the subconscious, but that may be exactly where “God” lives within us anyway. People feel blessed and hear the messages they hear. I feel good and uplifted serving people. It’s all win-win to me.

I absolutely love what I see as the pure symbolism of the temple. I also absolutely love the concept of redeeming the dead – even if I don’t believe we actually are “redeeming” them through the ordinances. I have a recommend and attend when I can – which isn’t often, given my current work schedule.