Why this website?
Site contents
About the endowment
The Initiatory
The Endowment Proper
The
Creation
The
Garden
The
Telestial World
The
Terrestrial World
The
Veil
Baptism for the dead
Sealings
Second anointing
Timeline
Historical documents
Masonic parallels
The endowment on film
Garments & temple clothes
Suggested readings
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This site is not meant to be a basic introduction to Mormonism or temple worship in general, nor is it meant to provide an exhaustive discussion of the ceremony's history and meaning. Below are some suggested resources to consult for additional information.
LDS-APPROVED PUBLICATIONS
- James E. Talmage, The House of the Lord (Salt Lake City: Signature
Books, 1998). A reprint of the original 1912 edition, including photos
of the Salt Lake Temple interior.
- Boyd K. Packer, The Holy Temple (Salt Lake City: Corporation
of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 1982).
- Daniel H. Ludlow, ed., Encyclopedia of Mormonism, 5 vols. (New York: Macmillan, 1992). See the entries on "Endowments" (2:454) and "Temple Ordinances" (4:1444).
HISTORICAL AND THEOLOGICAL STUDIES
- David John Buerger, The Mysteries of Godliness: A History of Mormon
Temple Worship (San Francisco: Smith Research Associates, 1994).
- Michael W. Homer, "'Similarity of Priesthood in Masonry': The
Relationship between Freemasonry and Mormonism," Dialogue: A
Journal of Mormon Thought 27.3 (Fall 1994): 1-113.
- Colleen McDannell, Material Christianity: Religion and Popular
Culture in America (New Haven: Yale UP, 1995). See chapter 7, "Mormon
Garments."
- Douglas J. Davies, The Mormon Culture of Salvation (Aldershot,
England: Ashgate, 2000).
- John-Charles Duffy, "Concealing the Body, Concealing the Sacred: The
Decline of Ritual Nudity in Mormon Temples," Journal of Ritual
Studies 21.2 (2007): 1-21.
- Devery S. Anderson, ed., The Development of LDS Temple Worship, 1846-2000: A Documentary History (Salt Lake City: Signature Books, 2011).
DEVOTIONAL REFLECTIONS
- Margaret and Paul Toscano, Strangers in Paradox: Explorations in
Mormon Theology (Salt Lake City: Signature Books, 1990). See chapter
23, "The Mormon Endowment."
- Levi S. Peterson, "My Mother's House," Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon
Thought 24.3 (Fall 1991): 79-88. About the second anointing.
- John D. Charles, Endowed from on High: Understanding the Symbols of the Endowment (Bountiful, UT: Horizon, 1997).
APOLOGETICS
- Hugh Nibley, Temple and Cosmos, vol. 12 of The Collected Works of Hugh Nibley (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book and FARMS, 1992).