Endowment

A ceremony within a Mormon temple that prepares the participants for exaltation in the afterlife. According to Apostle Bruce R. McConkie, “Certain special, spiritual blessings given worthy and faithful saints in the temples are called endowments, because in and through them the recipients are endowed with power from on high” (Mormon Doctrine, pp. 226-227). In order to enter the celestial kingdom and become a God, it is necessary for a Mormon to participate in the endowment ceremony. These ordinances are administered for both the living and the dead. Those who participate must swear to never reveal what they have learned in the ceremony. The endowment ceremony includes a film depicting the Mormon view of the creation and fall of man, the great apostasy of Christianity, the restoration of the gospel “with all its ancient powers and privileges,” as well as the absolute conditions of personal purity and strict compliance with Mormonism’s requirements.

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