"The endowment and the temple work as revealed by the Lord to the Prophet Joseph Smith fall clearly into four distinct parts: The preparatory ordinances; the giving of instruction by lectures and representations; covenants; and, finally, tests of knowledge. I doubt that the Prophet Joseph Smith, unlearned and untrained in logic, could of himself have made the thing so logically complete." (Widtsoe, "Temple Worship," p. 58.)
"In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you … no man cometh unto the Father, but by me." (John 14:2-4, 6)
"...it is noteworthy that Origen, an early Christian theologian, interpreted the word monai [mansions] as meaning 'stations or halts in the journey of the soul to God. Only after testing in theses can [the soul] proceed.' The Greek word … for 'receive' (paralambano) is also relevant to our discussion because a closely related word (paralambanein) is a 'technical term for the reception of the rites and secrets of the mysteries.'" (Matthew B. Brown--The Gate of Heaven, Insights of the Doctrines and Symbols of the Temple, p. 183)
Also See:
Temple Endowment
No comments:
Post a Comment