Chapter 6

The Temple

"The order of the house of God has been, and ever will be, the same, even after Christ comes; and after the termination of the thousand years it will be the same; and we shall finally enter into the celestial kingdom of God, and enjoy it forever.

- Joseph Smith¹

Although it was not mentioned in Chapter 4, the ordinance of baptism for the dead is performed by the Latter-day Saints in buildings they call temples. Various other ordinances, notably the Endowment and marriage for eternity, are also performed there, both for the living and the dead. Therefore, in keeping with the theme of this book, this last chapter will be devoted to the presentation of evidence that similar ordinances were practiced in ancient Christianity. It is hoped that along the way the reader will get a sense of the beauty and majesty of these ordinances and the principles they symbolize--in this way coming to realize that the restoration of temple worship is indeed the crowning achievement of the Prophet Joseph Smith.

The reinstitution of temple worship was an integral part of the "Restoration of All Things," and yet the content of these ordinances is so shocking to much of the rest of the Christian world that they are routinely labeled as satanic in anti-Mormon literature.² A large part of the information purveyed in these "exposés" is patently false, however, so perhaps the average Christian would be less shocked by LDS temple ordinances if he or she could be disabused of the wild notions about what goes on in them. This is easier said than done, unfortunately, since Latter-day Saints do not speak openly about certain aspects of these sacred ordinances, especially the Endowment.

Esotericism and the Latter-day Saints

Why Secrecy?

The esotericism involved with the Temple is the crux of the problem encountered by a book such as this, which seeks to present parallels to LDS beliefs and practices in ancient Christianity. As a Latter-day Saint who has participated in these rites, I am bound not to discuss certain aspects of them outside of our temple walls. This is no attempt on the part of Mormons to make their rituals seem more mysterious and impressive. Rather, Latter-day Saints do not discuss certain things in order to follow Jesus' admonition that certain aspects of the gospel are too sacred to be spoken about to those who are not prepared to appreciate or understand them. (Matthew 7:6) That is, even though many may be curious about certain aspects of the gospel, they are probably not willing to take on the added responsibility which goes along with that knowledge. For anyone who is willing to learn the mysteries of God "precept upon precept; line upon line, . . . here a little, and there a little" (Isaiah 28:10), and to make such commitments, the doors to the knowledge of the temple are soon opened. (Latter-day Saints may qualify to enter the temple only after one year of membership, as long as they have been living in accordance with their covenants.) As Jesus said immediately after he charged his disciples not to cast their pearls before swine, "Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you . . . ." (Matthew 7:7) The Book of Mormon explains this principle clearly:

And now Alma began to expound these things unto him, saying: It is given unto many to know the mysteries of God; nevertheless they are laid under a strict command that they shall not impart only according to the portion of his word which he doth grant unto the children of men, according to the heed and diligence which they give unto him. And therefore, he that will harden his heart, the same receiveth the lesser portion of the word; and he that will not harden his heart, to him is given the greater portion of the word, until it is given unto him to know the mysteries of God until he know them in full. And they that will harden their hearts, to them is given the lesser portion of the word until they know nothing concerning his mysteries . . . . (Alma 12:9-11)

Esoteric Doctrines and the Latter-day Saints

There are both esoteric doctrines and rites within Mormonism. These can take a variety of forms. The esoteric doctrines, for the most part, are of a personal nature. That is, God may reveal certain mysteries to a prophet, Apostle, or any other member of His Church, but unless direction comes to reveal it through the President of the Church, one is to keep it to himself. Brigham Young summarized:

If the Lord Almighty should reveal to a High Priest, or anyone other than the head, things that are true . . . or a new doctrine that will be, in five, ten or twenty years hence become the doctrine of this Church and Kingdom, but which has not yet been revealed to this people, and reveal it to him by the same Spirit, the same messenger, the same voice, the same power that gave revelations to Joseph when he was living, it would be a blessing to that High Priest or individual; but he must rarely divulge it to a second person on the face of this earth, until God reveals it through the proper source to become the property of the people at large.³

On rare occasions, the prophets have taught from the pulpit in such a way that only those who were prepared could understand it.⁴

The Endowment

The esoteric rites in Mormonism are associated with the Temple, and especially with the ritual known as the "Endowment." And yet, the temple rites are not unknown, because Latter-day Saint authors have spoken about them in general terms and because some disaffected Latter-day Saints have revealed some of the more esoteric aspects to the public. Why do Latter-day Saints refuse to speak openly about certain aspects of the temple rites? The main reason is that those who enter the temple make covenants not to speak about temple worship and ordinances outside the temple. Also, the rites of the Temple are conveyed in symbolic forms so that only those who are spiritually prepared can discern their sacred meanings. Thus, one may know something of the form of the ritual but be completely in the dark as to its meaning. LDS scholar Hugh Nibley makes exactly this point:

Even though everyone may discover what goes on in the temple, and many have already revealed it, the important thing is that I do not reveal these things; they must remain sacred to me. I must preserve a zone of sanctity which cannot be violated whether or not anyone else in the room has the remotest idea what the situation really is . . . . No matter what happens, it will, then, always remain secret: only I know exactly the weight and force of the covenants I have made--I and the Lord with whom I have made them--unless I choose to reveal them. If I do not, then they are secret and sacred no matter what others may say or do. Anyone who would reveal these things has not understood them, and therefore that person has not given them away. You cannot reveal what you do not know!⁵

In keeping with the sacred nature of the Temple we will give an explanation of the temple Endowment which will consist exclusively of the information available in publicly published statements of various Latter-day Saint general authorities. I will neither go beyond the substance of these statements in my commentary nor comment very much on those parts of ancient ceremonies presented which parallel the Endowment. That is, certain aspects of the ancient ceremonies I will present are very similar to the temple ceremony, and certain aspects are not. (Very little doctrine or practice was transmitted through the apostasy without changes or corruptions, and given their esoteric nature the temple ceremonies would probably have been among the first ordinances to become corrupted or lost.)

In large part I will leave it up to the reader to judge the significance of each area of information presented. Thus, those readers who have participated in the Endowment will necessarily be better equipped in their judgment than those who have not. However, much of the information presented will be related to those parts of the temple ceremony which are public knowledge, so even one who is only cursorily familiar with this aspect of Mormonism will be in a position to examine much of the evidence.

The temple Endowment is primarily a vehicle to present greater light and knowledge about the gospel to those who seek them. In the temple, the Plan of Salvation is presented to the participants in symbolic form, reminding them of their covenants before God and the way to eternal life. By gaining this knowledge and living by it one receives the keys one needs to come into the presence of God in the world to come. The public descriptions and explanations of the Endowment by prophets and Apostles of the LDS Church which follow should give the reader some idea of what constitutes this sacred ordinance.

Elder John A. Widtsoe, formerly an Apostle in the Restored Church, outlined the Endowment thus:

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.⁶

Elder Boyd K. Packer, of the Quorum of the Twelve, explains that the first phase of the Endowment ceremony deals with preparatory or "initiatory" ordinances wherein the participant is washed and anointed. He points out that these ordinances are "mostly symbolic in nature."⁷

The Lord has said concerning these ordinances: "I say unto you, how shall your washings be acceptable unto me, except ye perform them in a house which you have built to my name?" (D&C 124:37) Also: "I say unto you, that your anointings, and your washings . . . are ordained by the ordinance of my holy house." (D&C 124:39) Elder Packer goes on to explain that in connection with the washings and anointings, candidates are officially clothed in a symbolic white garment and promised certain blessings.⁸ Indeed, throughout the Endwoment various symbolic white vestments are used.⁹

The next phase consists of Christ-centered instruction about one's place in the Plan of Salvation. Apostle James E. Talmage gave the following description:

The Temple Endowment, as administered in modern temples, comprises instruction relating to the significance and sequence of past dispensations, and the importance of the present as the greatest and grandest era in human history. This course of instruction includes a recital of the most prominent events of the creative period, the condition of our first parents in the Garden of Eden, their disobedience and consequent expulsion from that blissful abode, their condition in the lone and dreary world when doomed to live by labor and sweat, the plan of redemption by which the great transgression may be atoned, the period of the great apostasy, the restoration of the Gospel with all its ancient powers and privileges, the absolute and indispensable condition of personal purity and devotion to the right in present life, and a strict compliance with Gospel requirements.¹⁰

Elder Packer explains that much of the instruction in the temple is given in symbolic fashion. This should come in no surprise, since so much of the teaching in the scriptures is done symbolically as well.¹¹

Associated with this instruction are various covenants the participants make in relation to their daily conduct. Elder Talmage made the following observations about this phase of the ceremony:

The ordinances of the endowment embody certain obligations on the part of the individual, such as covenant and promise to observe the law of strict virtue and chastity, to be charitable, benevolent, tolerant and pure; to devote both talent and material means to the spread of truth and the uplifting of the race; to maintain devotion to the cause of truth; and to seek in every way to contribute to the great preparation that the earth may be made ready to receive her King,--the Lord Jesus Christ. With the taking of each covenant and the assuming of each obligation a promised blessing is pronounced, contingent upon the faithful observance of the conditions.

No jot, iota, or tittle of the temple rites is otherwise than uplifting and sanctifying. In every detail the endowment ceremony contributes to covenants of morality of life, consecration of person to high ideals, devotion to truth, patriotism to nation, and allegiance to God. The blessings of the House of the Lord are restricted to no privileged class; every member of the Church may have admission to the temple with the right to participate in the ordinances thereof, if he comes duly accredited as of worthy life and conduct.¹²

In relation to the final phase of the endowment, the tests of knowledge, not much can be said beyond the following statement by the prophet Brigham Young:

Let me give you a definition in brief. Your endowment is, to receive all those ordinances in the house of the Lord, which are necessary for you, after you have departed this life, to enable you to walk back to the presence of the Father, passing the angels who stand as sentinels, being enabled to give them the key words, the signs and tokens, pertaining to the holy Priesthood, and gain your eternal exaltation in spite of earth and hell.¹³

As President Young seems to indicate, the Endowment as a whole symbolizes and prepares one for the celestial ascent, or as President David O. McKay described, the "step-by-step ascent into the eternal presence." Thus, the ceremony also includes a symbolic "prayer circle," which, along with the rest of the Endowment "precedes the symbolic entrance into the celestial world and the presence of God."¹⁴

In addition to the above, there are a significant number of specific ritual aspects of the Endowment which I have not mentioned. However, those familiar with the ceremony will recognize many of these elements in the descriptions of the ancient rites that follow.

The temple Endowment is a profound experience for those who participate in it seeking light and knowledge from above, so one could say that its own fruits justify it, no matter whether it was ever practiced by the ancient Church, or not. However, significant evidence does exist that the ancient Christians practiced similar rituals and had a rich esoteric tradition. Therefore the next task at hand is to describe various of these rites in the context of the people who practiced them.

Esotericism in Early Christianity

Esoteric Doctrines

When critics of the Restoration speak of the secrecy involved in the Endowment, they never fail to bring up Jesus' statement to the high priest at His trial: "I spake openly to the world; I ever taught in the synagogue, and in the temple, whither the Jews always resort; and in secret have I said nothing." (John 18:20) Certainly no Latter-day Saint would say that Jesus lied when he said this, but certain facts must be pointed out in relation to this statement in order to assess the impact it should have on our appraisal of the Endowment.

First, while Jesus' teaching was for the most part public before his death, it may not have been when he appeared to the Apostles and some others after his resurrection. Luke begins the Acts with this statement:

The former treatise have I made, O Theophilus, of all that Jesus began both to do and teach, Until the day in which he was taken up, after that he through the Holy Ghost had given commandments unto the Apostles whom he had chosen: To whom also he shewed himself alive after his passion by many infallible proofs, being seen of them forty days, and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God . . . . (Acts 1:1-3)

What were these things that Jesus spoke of during the forty days? The New Testament is strangely silent about what must have been the most important teaching to ever take place in the Savior's earthly ministry. It is highly unlikely that it was just a repetition of what Jesus had already said. Shortly before his death, Christ insisted to the Apostles that he hadn't taught them everything: "I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now." (John 16:12)

Second, although Jesus taught in public, he usually did it in such a way that those who were not prepared to hear the gospel would misunderstand. The Savior's parables certainly were useful tools to bring His lofty teachings down to the level of the common man, but it is not often recognized that these symbolic stories also served the function of veiling the truth from those who were not seeking it. When His disciples asked Him the purpose of speaking in parables, Jesus gave them a most instructive answer:

And the disciples came, and said unto him, Why speakest thou unto them in parables? He answered and said unto them, Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given. For whosoever hath, to him shall be given, and he shall have more abundance: but whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken away even that he hath. Therefore speak I to them in parables: because they seeing see not; and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand. (Matthew 13:9-13)

Apparently not many of His hearers understood Jesus' parables, for it was His standard practice to take His disciples aside after reciting a parable and explain it to them clearly. (See Matthew 13)

Professor Joachim Jeremias delineates this pattern of secrecy in the New Testament by listing the items of information which Jesus apparently did not divulge to the public at large. He also shows that in doing so, Jesus was completely at home in the religious environment of the time, for the "whole environment of primitive Christianity knows the element of the esoteric." As one of his examples he cites the Essenes of Qumran, who buried the Dead Sea Scrolls. This sect of Jews apparently required that at his admission, a new member would swear terrible oaths to never reveal the secret teachings of the order to outsiders.

The classes of information Jeremias claims made up the esoteric teaching of Jesus before the Resurrection are: 1) Jesus' messiahship, 2) the prediction of Jesus' crucifixion, 3) prophecies about the signs of the end times, and 4) individual items of instruction. Jesus revealed His messiahship to his disciples before the passion, but always enjoined them to secrecy about it (Mark 8:30; 9:9). He publicly proclaimed His position only once, when he revealed it to the Sanhedrin just before his death (Mark 14:62). His predictions of His own death were exclusively given to close disciples (Mark 8:31; 9:31; 10:32-34), as were his predictions for the end of the world (Mark 13:3). Items of individual instruction were usually given in enigmatic terms, followed by some hint that a deeper meaning was implied. ("He who is able to receive this, let him receive it" [Matthew 19:12], or "He who has ears to hear, let him hear" [Matthew 9:15].) In addition to all this, Jeremias claims that Jesus hinted in general terms about a secret teaching which was to be made public in the future (Matthew 10:27; Mark 4:22).¹⁵

Morton Smith, of Harvard University, concurs with Jeremias that the religious environment of Judaism was permeated with secrecy--not only the Essenes, but the priests of the temple at Jerusalem and the Samaritan priests had "a large body of secret traditions and practices." There were, in addition, a large number of secret sects in Judaism, including the well-known Pharisees. The Pharisees had a large body of secret doctrines which they not only were sworn to keep secret from outsiders, but from less reliable members of their own sect.¹⁶

This practice of revealing the higher truths only to the mature in the gospel was continued in the Apostolic Church. The writings of Paul, in particular, are replete with oblique references to secret teachings. Jeremias¹⁷ quotes the following passages (among others) to show that Paul possessed some body of esoteric doctrine which was only to be imparted to the "mature" (Greek teleioi):

Let a man so account of us, as of the ministers of Christ, and stewards of the mysteries of God. (1 Corinthians 4:1)

Howbeit we speak wisdom among them that are perfect: yet not the wisdom of this world, nor of the princes of this world, that come to nought: But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom, which God ordained before the world unto our glory . . . . (1 Corinthians 2:6-7)

I have fed you with milk, and not with meat: for hitherto ye were not able to bear it, neither yet now are ye able. (1 Corinthians 3:2)

Many similar passages could be cited, but emphasis has been placed on those addressed to the Corinthians because, as Jeremias points out, these were people who had been Christians for years!

As was mentioned above, esoteric trends entered Christianity not through pagan channels, but through its parent Judaism. "Whether oral or recorded in apocryphal works, the esoteric traditions transmitted within Christianity during the first centuries often seem to be of Jewish origin."¹⁸ Accordingly, Jewish-Christian texts like the Pseudo-Clementine literature are replete with references to the secret tradition. For example, in the Clementine Homilies Peter explained that certain "hidden truths" were to be kept from the wicked.

And Peter said: "We remember that our Lord and Teacher, commanding us, said, 'Keep the mysteries for me and the sons of my house.' Wherefore also He explained to His disciples privately the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven. But to you who do battle with us, and examine into nothing else but our statements, whether they be true or false, it would be impious to state the hidden truths."¹⁹

In the Recognitions Peter explained further that sometimes certain subtle tactics had to be used to make sure the hidden wisdom was not spoken in front of the unworthy:

But if he remains wrapped up and polluted in those sins which are manifestly such, it does not become me to speak to him at all of the more secret and sacred things of divine knowledge, but rather to protest and confront him, that he cease from sin, and cleanse his actions from vice. But if he insinuate himself, and lead us on to speak what he, while he acts improperly, ought not to hear, it will be our part to parry him cautiously. For not to answer him at all does not seem proper, for the sake of the hearers, lest haply they may think that we decline the contest through want of ability to answer him, and so their faith may be injured through their misunderstanding of our purpose."²⁰

Meantime Peter, rising at the crowing of the cock, and wishing to rouse us, found us awake, the evening light still burning; and when, according to custom, he had saluted us, and we had all sat down, he thus began. "Nothing is more difficult, my brethren, than to reason concerning the truth in the presence of a mixed multitude of people. For that which is may not be spoken to all as it is, on account of those who hear wickedly and treacherously; yet it is not proper to deceive, on account of those who desire to hear the truth sincerely. What, then, shall he do who has to address a mixed multitude? Shall he conceal what is true? How, then, shall he instruct those who are worthy? But if he set forth pure truth to those who do not desire to obtain salvation, he does injury to Him by whom he has been sent, and from whom he has received commandment not to throw the pearls of His words before swine and dogs, who, striving against them with arguments and sophisms, roll them in the rand of carnal understanding, and by their barkings and base answers break and weary the preachers of God's word. Wherefore I also, for the most part, by using a certain circumlocution, endeavour to avoid publishing the chief knowledge concerning the Supreme Divinity to unworthy ears." Then, beginning from the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, he briefly and plainly expounded to us, so that all of us hearing him wondered that men have forsaken the truth, and have turned themselves to vanity.²¹

This tradition of keeping certain teachings secret was continued for hundreds of years after the passing of the Apostles. For example, Ignatius of Antioch, at the beginning of the second century, insisted to the Roman Christians that he knew certain truths about the government and hierarchy of the heavens, but he could not reveal them because the Roman Saints might be harmed by knowledge they weren't ready for:

I am able to write to you of heavenly things, but I fear lest I should do you an injury. Know me from myself. For I am cautious lest ye should not be able to receive [such knowledge], and should be perplexed. For even I, not because I am in bonds, and am able to know heavenly things, and the places of angels, and the stations of the powers that are seen and that are not seen, am on this account a disciple; for I am far short of the perfection which is worthy of God.²²

In the late second and early third centuries Clement of Alexandria and his pupil Origen were quite specific about a secret tradition that existed in the Church in their day.²³ For example, against the charges of the pagan Celsus, Origen retorted that the Christians weren't the only ones with a set of esoteric doctrines:

In these circumstances, to speak of the Christian doctrine as a secret system, is altogether absurd. But that there should be certain doctrines, not made known to the multitude, which are (revealed) after the exoteric ones have been taught, is not a peculiarity of Christianity alone, but also of philosophic systems, in which certain truths are exoteric and others esoteric.²⁴

However, Origen distinguished the pagan mysteries from the Christian mysteries in that the Christians required that one be purified from evil for a period of time before initiation:

And since the grace of God is with all those who love with a pure affection the teacher of the doctrines of immortality, whoever is pure not only from all defilement, but from what are regarded as lesser transgressions, let him be boldly initiated in the mysteries of Jesus, which properly are made known only to the holy and the pure. The initiated of Celsus accordingly says, "Let him whose soul is conscious of no evil come." But he who acts as initiator, according to the precepts of Jesus, will say to those who have been purified in heart, "He whose soul has, for a long time, been conscious of no evil, and especially since he yielded himself to the healing of the word, let such an one hear the doctrines which were spoken in private by Jesus to His genuine disciples." Therefore in the comparison which he institutes between the procedure of the initiators into the Grecian mysteries, and the teachers of the doctrine of Jesus, he does not know the difference between inviting the wicked to be healed, and initiating those already purified into the sacred mysteries!²⁵

At the turn of the third century Tertullian chided certain heretics, not for having esoteric teachings, but for making the higher teachings available to everyone:

I must not omit an account of the conduct also of the heretics--how frivolous it is, how worldly, how merely human, without seriousness, without authority, without discipline, as suits their creed. To begin with, it is doubtful who is a catechumen, and who a believer; they have all access alike, they hear alike, they pray alike--even heathens, if any such happen to come among them. "That which is holy they will cast to the dogs, and their pearls," although (to be sure) they are not real ones, "they will fling to the swine."²⁶

Lactantius lamented the fact that Christian silence concerning the mysteries of the Kingdom engendered suspicion and base rumors among the pagans:

This is the doctrine of the holy prophets which we Christians follow; this is our wisdom, which they who worship frail objects, or maintain an empty philosophy, deride as folly and vanity, because we are not accustomed to defend and assert it in public, since God orders us in quietness and silence to hide His secret, and to keep it within our own conscience; and not to strive with obstinate contention against those who are ignorant of the truth, and who rigorously assail God and His religion not for the sake of learning, but of censuring and jeering. For a mystery ought to be most faithfully concealed and covered, especially by us, who bear the name of faith. But they accuse this silence of ours, as though it were the result of an evil conscience; whence also they invent some detestable things respecting those who are holy and blameless, and willingly believe their own inventions.²⁷

As late as the fourth century, Basil of Caesarea reported that there was still a strong unwritten and secret tradition that he believed originated with the Apostles:

Of the beliefs and practices whether generally accepted or publicly enjoined which are preserved in the Church some we possess derived from written teaching; others we have received delivered to us "in a mystery" by the tradition of the Apostles . . . .²⁸

In the same manner the Apostles and Fathers who laid down laws for the Church from the beginning thus guarded the awful dignity of the mysteries in secrecy and silence, for what is bruited abroad random among the common folk is no mystery at all. This is the reason for our tradition of unwritten precepts and practices, that the knowledge of our dogmas may not become neglected and contemned by the multitude through familiarity. "Dogma" [doctrine] and "Kerugma" [preaching] are two distinct things; the former is observed in silence; the latter is proclaimed to all the world. One form of this silence is the obscurity employed in Scripture, which makes the meaning of "dogmas" difficult to be understood for the very advantage of the reader . . . .²⁹

Also, a fourth century Mesopotamian Christian document divides members of the Church into the "just" and the "perfect." And Guy Stroumsa of Hebrew University takes it for granted that "each category of believers receives a different type of teaching."³⁰

We have discussed in detail the fact that there was an esoteric tradition within early Christianity, but now the question of what that tradition included naturally arises. Clement of Alexandria claimed that the true "gnostic" tradition was concerned primarily with cosmogony and theology. In other words, it was concerned with the creation and the nature of God:

The science of nature, then, or rather observation, as contained in the gnostic tradition according to the rule of the truth, depends on the discussion concerning cosmogony, ascending thence to the department of theology. Whence, then, we shall begin our account of what is handed down, with the creation as related by the prophets, introducing also the tenets of the heterodox, and endeavouring as far as we can to confute them. But it shall be written if God will, and as He inspires; and now we must proceed to what we proposed, and complete the discourse on ethics.³¹

Jean Daniélou finds that the esoteric teachings attributed to the Apostles by the Apocrypha and the traditions of the elders who knew the Apostles had primarily to do with the "celestial voyage" or the journey from earth to heaven. ³²

This, then, was the content of the early esoteric tradition--creation, theology, and celestial voyage. And although the specifics of the tradition changed with the variations in belief of the various Christian movements, the form remained the same. For example, the Gnostics borrowed this form of the "gnosis" from original Jewish Christianity, as we shall see later in this chapter, but scholars such as Jean Daniélou claim they substituted the original content with "foreign oriental or Hellenistic conceptions." ³³

Secret Rites

It is not enough to prove that there was a body of esoteric doctrine in ancient Christianity. In order to show a more complete correspondence to Mormonism, it must be shown that these secret doctrines were connected in some way to secret rituals analogous to those practiced in modern LDS temples.

In our discussion of baptism for the dead, it was shown that the early Church guarded all of its ordinances, including baptism and the Eucharist, in a shroud of secrecy. Davies reports that in the first two centuries of Christianity, there are a number of references to baptism and the Eucharist, but no detailed descriptions, because "the observance of the disciplina arcani [secret discipline] inhibited full descriptions of these rites."³⁴ Indeed, very early on (ca. A.D. 110) Ignatius also referred to the Eucharist as one of "the mysteries":

It is fitting also that the deacons, as being [the ministers] of the mysteries of Jesus Christ, should in every respect be pleasing to all. For they are not ministers of meat and drink, but servants of the Church of God. They are bound, therefore, to avoid all grounds of accusation [against them], as they would do fire.³⁵

The early second-century Epistle to Diognetus claimed that an outsider must not expect to be able to learn anything about the worship of the Christians: "You must not hope to learn the mystery of their peculiar mode of worshipping God from any mortal."³⁶ And Tertullian refuted charges of immorality in Christian meetings by saying that since no Christian would reveal what goes on there, strangers must be making the charges.³⁷

In the fourth century, Athanasius spoke of this tradition of secrecy and referred to these rites as "the mysteries":

We ought not then to parade the holy mysteries before the uninitiated, lest the heathen in their ignorance deride them, and the Catechumens being over-curious be offended.³⁸

Why the emphasis on guarding the ordinances from the profane? Actually, the word "mystery" [Greek mysterion] is a technical religious term equivalent to the Latin sacramentum, which simply means "ordinance."³⁹ The term was normally used in the context of the Greek "mystery religions" which were common in the ancient world, and included various secret doctrines and rites.⁴⁰ Therefore, when Paul and later Christian writers spoke of "the mysteries," they were borrowing a technical term loaded with meaning, and may well have been referring not only to certain doctrines, but to various rites associated with them.⁴¹

Indeed, "D.W.B. Robinson argues that teleioi [as used by Paul] is employed in the mystery-initiate sense [in Phil. 3:15 (cf. 1 Cor. 2:6; Col. 1:28)]; Hebrew believers were 'the first initiates into God's hidden mystery.'"⁴² That is, the Greek word teleioi is another technical term associated with the mystery religions, and when Paul used it to denote the "mature in the faith," he could also have meant, more specifically, "those who have been initiated into the mysteries."⁴³

It is quite possible, then, that even from the beginning Christians associated their esoteric doctrines with certain rituals. As Guy Stroumsa observes, "In fact there is a manifest connection between ritual and doctrine."⁴⁴ But were baptism and the Eucharist the only rituals ever referred to as "mysteries" in early Christianity? A clue might have been given by a certain statement of Hippolytus (ca. A.D. 200):

But if there is any other matter which ought to be told, let the bishop impart it secretly to those who are communicated. He shall not tell this to any but the faithful and only after they have first been communicated. This is the white stone of which John said that there is a new name written upon it which no man knows except him who receives.⁴⁵

R.P.C. Hanson insists that it "is not clear what the matter delivered through this secret rule was. It obviously could not have had any reference to baptism and Eucharist."⁴⁶

We shall see that not only were there rituals other than baptism and the Eucharist in early Christianity, but in some ways they were strikingly similar to the LDS Endowment. Later much of the symbolism of these rites was adopted into the liturgies of baptism and the Eucharist. (This could have been a natural consequence of the fact that all the early Christian rituals were considered more or less part of the esoteric tradition.)

"Orthodox" Christian Rites: The Mysteries of Clement

There are perhaps dozens of allusions to the secret rites of the ancient Church in early Christian documents, but two descriptions of these rites stand out from the rest as more complete and clear. First, Clement of Alexandria described in various places in his writings a rite he called a "mystery," which was an initiation ceremony not necessarily connected with baptism. Second, Cyril of Jerusalem, in the fourth century, described in detail the liturgies of baptism and the Eucharist, which by that time included a variety of ritual actions, some of which are recognizable in Clement's earlier "mystery."

According to Mosheim, Clement of Alexandria claimed to possess a secret tradition of knowledge (Greek gnosis) handed down from the Savior to the Apostles and on to Clement himself by way of certain of his teachers.

Clement represents this secret discipline, to which he gives the title of gnosis, as having been instituted by Christ himself . . . . It appears that he considered this gnosis, or gift of knowledge, as having been conferred by our Lord, after his resurrection, on James the Just, John, and Peter, by whom it was communicated to the other Apostles; and that by these this treasure was committed to the seventy disciples, of whom Barnabas was one . . . . Clement makes it a matter of boast that the secret discipline thus instituted by Christ was familiar to those who had been his masters and preceptors, whom he very lavishly extols, and seems to exult not a little in having, under their tuition, enjoyed the advantage of being instructed in it himself.⁴⁷

Clement represented the true gnosis as having been transmitted to initiates in the form of a "mystery," which, as we have seen, probably meant in a ritual enactment or symbolic ordinance. He also stipulated that certain "purifications and previous instructions" were given before the mysteries were revealed:

But since this tradition is not published alone for him who perceives the magnificence of the word; it is requisite, therefore, to hide in a mystery the wisdom spoken, which the Son of God taught.⁴⁸

Wherefore also all men are His; some through knowledge, and others not yet so; and some as friends, some as faithful servants, some as servants merely. This is the Teacher, who trains the Gnostic by mysteries, and the believer by good hopes, and the hard of heart by corrective discipline through sensible operation.⁴⁹

Thence the prophecies and oracles are spoken in enigmas, and the mysteries are not exhibited incontinently to all and sundry, but only after certain purifications and previous instructions.⁵⁰

The teachings of these mysteries were probably quite symbolic, and Clement wrote that the Lord teaches in "enigmas" so that one has to work to get at the truth:

Dreams and signs are all more or less obscure to men, not from jealousy (for it were wrong to conceive of God as subject to passions), but in order that research, introducing to the understanding of enigmas, may haste to the discovery of truth.⁵¹

What form did this "mystery" take? Clement made several allusions to the initiation rite in his Stromata and his Exhortation to the Heathen. Another possible reference was made in Clement's recently discovered letter to a certain Theodore, in which he quoted a lost Secret Gospel of Mark.

In the Exhortation to the Heathen Clement invited the Greeks to abandon their mystery religions and participate in the true mysteries of God. He represented the Christian mystery as a "drama of truth" and an "initiation," lighted by torches and including a hymn sung about the altar in imitation of the choir of angels around the throne of God:

Come, O madman, not leaning on the thyrsus, not crowned with ivy; throw away the mitre, throw away the fawn-skin; come to thy senses. I will show thee the Word, and the mysteries of the Word, expounding them after thine own fashion. This is the mountain beloved of God . . . consecrated to dramas of the truth,--a mount of sobriety, shaded with forests of purity . . . . O truly sacred mysteries! O stainless light! My way is lighted with torches, and I survey the heavens and God; I become holy whilst I am initiated. The Lord is the hierophant [teacher of mysteries], and seals while illuminating him who is initiated, and presents to the Father him who believes, to be kept safe for ever. Such are the reveries of my mysteries. If it is thy wish, be thou also initiated; and thou shall join the choir along with angels around the unbegotten and indestructible and the only true God, the Word of God, raising the hymn with us.⁵²

E. Louis Backman, of the Royal University of Upsala, Sweden, indicates that this hymn was probably sung as part of a "ring-dance" performed in many religions, including early Christianity:

Let me first emphasize that the closing words [of the hymn] must not be regarded as referring only to that which awaits in the future a person inducted into the Christian mysteries. These remarkable final words should also, perhaps mainly, be interpreted quite literally. If you are inducted into the Christian mysteries, then you must perform a ring-dance round the altar . . . not only with the other novitiates but also with the angels! For they are present and participate in the mystery.⁵³

The idea that the "ring-dance" was performed in imitation of the angels around God's throne may be significant for the interpretation of a certain remark Jesus made in the Epistle of the Apostles. There Jesus alluded to a certain "service" or rite which was performed daily at the "altar of the Father."⁵⁴ Hennecke and Schneemelcher speculate: "Is this a projection into heaven of a practice of the Christian community?"⁵⁵ If so, the practice of such "mysteries" extended back at least several decades before Clement.

This "ring-dance" was an act of praise and included a prayer. Backman⁵⁶ cites a passage from the Stromata in which Clement reveals that the initiates raised their hands in prayer during the dance: "So also we raise the head and lift the hands to heaven, and set the feet in motion at the closing utterance of the prayer . . . ."⁵⁷

References to the mystery of the ring-dance/prayer circle in early Christianity can also be found in the writings of Gregory Thaumaturgus (A.D. 210-260), bishop of Pontus, and Basileios (A.D. 344-407), bishop of Caesarea:

We do find the following [in Gregory's writings]: 'He who has done everything preserved and prescribed by Providence in its secret mysteries, reposes in Heaven in the bosom of the Father and in the cave in the bosom of the Mother (Christ Jesus). The ring-dance of the angels encircles him, singing his glory in Heaven and proclaiming peace on earth.' In his Four Sermons (10:1146) he quotes a curious legend, 'Today (Christ's birthday) Adam is resurrected and performs a ring-dance with the angels, raised up to heaven'.⁵⁸

In [Basileios's] writings there are several references to the existence of the dance in early Christianity. Thus he says of one who has died in blessedness (Letter 40): 'We remember those who now, together with the Angels, dance the dance of the Angels around God, just as in the flesh they performed a spiritual dance of life and, here on earth, a heavenly dance.' Thus life in this temporal world, where it is lived in righteousness, may be described as a spiritual heavenly dance. In another letter (ad 1:2) he writes 'Could there be anything more blessed than to imitate on earth the ring-dance of the angels and at dawn to raise our voices in prayer and by hymns and songs glorify the rising creator.'⁵⁹

One might think it strange that the prayer described by Clement was given with arms raised, but J. G. Davies explains that this was the natural posture for one consumed with the thought of the risen Lord.⁶⁰ A passage from the first-century Odes of Solomon explains that this posture was adopted in imitation of the Savior on the cross: "I stretched forth my hands and sanctified my Lord: For the extension of my hands is His sign: And my expansion is the upright tree [or cross]."⁶¹ An Egyptian Christian work of unknown date, called the First Book of Adam and Eve, intimates that Adam and Eve were believed to be the first to adopt this posture in prayer: "Then Adam and Eve spread their hands unto God, praying and entreating Him to drive Satan away from them . . . ."⁶² This or a similar gesture is still practiced in a number of Christian churches. It is also part of the LDS temple ceremony.

Clement's letter to Theodore also sheds some light on the early Christian mysteries. In this document, Clement wrote to a certain local church leader who had asked several questions about a document called the Secret Gospel of Mark, which a libertine Gnostic group called the Carpocratians had corrupted to suit their agenda. Clement decried the fact that the Gnostics had corrupted the text and described the document as an expansion of Mark's canonical gospel written after Peter died:

[Thus] he composed a more spiritual Gospel for the use of those who were being perfected. Nevertheless, he yet did not divulge the things not to be uttered, nor did he write down the hierophantic teaching of the Lord, but to the stories already written he added yet others and, moreover, brought in certain sayings of which he knew the interpretation would, as a mystagogue [teacher of mysteries], lead the hearers into the innermost sanctuary of that truth hidden by seven [veils]. Thus, in sum, he prearranged matters, neither grudgingly nor incautiously, in my opinion, and, dying, he left his composition to the church in Alexandria, where it even yet is most carefully guarded, being read only to those who are being initiated into the great mysteries.⁶³

Even though the fragments we have of the Secret Gospel of Mark do not reveal the secret teachings, it may give us one more detail about what Clement called "the great mysteries." Clement includes a passage from the Secret Gospel in his letter which tells of Jesus teaching the mysteries to a young man whom he had recently raised from the dead:

And after six days Jesus told him what to do and in the evening the youth comes to him, wearing a linen cloth over [his] naked [body]. And he remained with him that night, for Jesus taught him the mystery of the Kingdom of God.⁶⁴

Therefore, it may be inferred that people participating in the "great mysteries" were dressed in linen robes.⁶⁵ Certainly it would have been standard procedure to call for special ritual clothing in such an important rite, just as was done for the rites of the temple at Jerusalem. And indeed, references to special symbolic garments or robes abound in early Christian literature. Note, for example, that the Shepherd of Hermas includes a description "of a marked secret and symbolic nature" of twelve virgins clothed in white linen. The angel told Hermas that nobody can enter the Kingdom of God unless he is clothed in their garments.⁶⁶

Origen insisted, in a sermon on the book of Leviticus, that the faithful must have garments kept apart from the common clothing of the world:

Therefore, you have a priesthood because you are 'a priestly nation,' and for this reason 'you ought to offer an offering of praise to God,' an offering of prayers, an offering of mercy, an offering of purity, an offering of justice, an offering of holiness. But in order to offer these things worthily, you must have clean clothes separated from the common clothing of the rest of humanity . . . .⁶⁷

In these sermons Origen compared the Christian garment (whether it was real or figurative) to the garments given to the Temple priests, and likened these to the skin tunics given to Adam and Eve by God:

But before we begin to say something about this kind of garment, I want to compare those miserable garments, with which the first man was clothed after he had sinned, with these holy and faithful garments. Indeed, it is said that God made those. "For God made skin tunics and clothed Adam and his wife." Therefore, those were tunics of skins taken from animals. For with such as these, it was necessary for the sinner to be dressed. It says, "with skin tunics," which are a symbol of the mortality which he received because of his skin and of his frailty which came from the corruption of the flesh. But if you have been already washed from these and purified through the Law of God, then Moses will dress you with a garment of incorruptibility so that "your shame may never appear" and "that this mortality may be absorbed by life."⁶⁸

We have already seen several of the ritual elements included in Clement's "Great Mysteries," but we are left to speculate about the specific teaching enacted in the "drama of truth." Given that the esoteric traditions seem to have normally included cosmogony (creation), theology, and the cosmic journey, we may infer that aspects of these subjects were symbolically reenacted in Clement's drama. For instance, Wagner speculates that this initiation may have included a ritual enactment of certain aspects of the creation:

Perhaps the initiation was a nocturnal rite which included human gnostic teachers breathing the Spirit into the candidates as Jesus breathed upon his disciples in their special room after the resurrection (John 20) and in harmony with the creation of humanity (Gen. 2).⁶⁹

The reenactment of the "cosmic journey" or heavenly ascent most likely followed the pattern of the ascension narratives common in ancient Judaism and Christianity. These ascension narratives usually included a ritual clothing in the heavenly garment and anointing.⁷⁰ The heavenly garment is obtained after one ascends through the various spheres of heaven, giving the appropriate passwords along the way.⁷¹ The Ascension of Isaiah includes a good example of this motif:

And then many of the righteous will ascend with him, whose spirits do not receive their garments till the Lord Christ ascends and they ascend with him. Then indeed will they receive their garments and thrones and crowns when he shall have ascended into the seventh heaven . . . . And again I beheld when he descended into the second heaven, and again he gave the password there, for the doorkeepers demanded it and the Lord gave it.⁷²

In the account of Enoch's ascension in 2 Enoch the prophet was also anointed before he was clothed in the garment:

And the Lord said to his servants tempting them: 'Let Enoch stand before my face into eternity,' and the glorious ones bowed down to the Lord, and said: 'Let Enoch go according to Thy word.' And the Lord said to Michael: 'Go and take Enoch from out his earthly garments, and anoint him with my sweet ointment, and put him into the garments of My glory.'⁷³

These ascension narratives often included ritual handclasps, such as were included in the Christian Gnostic, Jewish Gnostic, and Greek mysteries, as we shall see.⁷⁴ Whoever was being conducted through the heavens was lifted along after grasping the right hand of the guiding angel or God. For example, in the Gospel of Nicodemus, Jesus descends into Hades after His death, grasps the right hand of Adam, and leads him to paradise with all the saints following:

The King of glory stretched out His right hand, and took hold of our forefather Adam, and raised him . . . . And setting out to paradise, He took hold of our forefather Adam by the hand, and delivered him, and all the just, to the archangel Michael.⁷⁵

A similar occurrence was also described in 1 Enoch: "And the angel Michael, . . . seizing me by my right hand and lifting me up, led me out into all the secrets of mercy; and he showed me all the secrets of righteousness."⁷⁶

It must be remembered that these apocryphal narratives were often centered around ritual forms that were practiced on earth, as well as in heaven. For example, J.R. Porter uses the example of Levi's heavenly anointing in the Testament of Levi as an example of the close relationship between earthly and heavenly rituals:

Another heavenly anointing is found in the Testament of Levi 8.4-5 where the patriarch Levi is invested, according to the ritual for the installation of the high-priest, by seven angels, one of whom anoints him with holy oil. This reflects the well-known idea of the correspondence and the simultaneity of the earthly and heavenly ritual and it raises the question as to whether the actual high priest may have been considered in Israel to be raised by his anointing to the heavenly sphere and to have become an angelic being thereby.⁷⁷

"Orthodox" Christian Rites: The Later Rituals of Baptism and the Eucharist

By the third and fourth centuries much of the symbolism of the "great mysteries" had been incorporated into the liturgies of baptism and the Eucharist.⁷⁸ Those who had not been initiated were kept out and strict silence in regard to the mysteries was required of the initiates. Mosheim explains:

The multitude professing Christianity were therefore divided by them into the "profane," or those who were not yet admitted to the mysteries, and the "initiated," or faithful and perfect . . . . and as none were permitted to be present at these "mysteries," as they were termed, save those whose admission into the fellowship of the church was perfect and complete, so likewise was it expected that, as a matter of duty, the most sacred silence should be observed in regard to everything connected with the celebration of them, and nothing whatever relating thereto to be committed to the ears of the profane.⁷⁹

The most complete description of these rites now extant was given by Cyril of Jerusalem, who wrote a series of catechetical lectures designed to instruct investigators (or "catechumens") and the newly baptized in the late fourth century. The last five of these lectures are called the "Lectures on the Mysteries," and were intended for those who had been recently baptized and given the Eucharist. A description of these rites follows.

In an effort to mimic the design of the Jerusalem Temple, the basilicas of this era were divided into three parts: the atrium or forecourt, the church proper for the congregation, and the holy place where the clergy officiated at the altar.⁸⁰ "The Christian sanctuary, insofar as it was a temple, recalled in some way the holy of holies, in the temple of Jerusalem."⁸¹ The initiate was first taken to the forecourt of the baptistry where facing West, he extended his arm and renounced Satan using the following formula: "I renounce thee, Satan. And all thy works. And all thy pomp. And all thy service." The initiate then turned to the East. Cyril explained that this action constituted a symbolic re-entrance into the Garden of Eden: "When therefore thou renouncest Satan, utterly breaking all thy covenant with him, that ancient league with hell, there is opened to thee the paradise of God, which He planted towards the East, whence for his transgression our first father was banished; and a symbol of this was thy turning from West to East, the place of lights." Then the initiate recited another formula: "I believe in the Father, and in the Son, and in the Holy Ghost, and in one Baptism of repentance."⁸²

The initiate was then conducted to the inner chamber where he was stripped naked, anointed with oil, and baptized. Cyril described this process:

As soon, then, as ye entered, ye put off your tunic; and this was an image of putting off the old man with his deeds. Having stripped yourselves, ye were naked; in this also imitating Christ, who was stripped naked on the Cross, and by His nakedness put off from Himself the principalities and powers, and openly triumphed over them on the tree . . . . O wondrous thing! ye were naked in the sight of all, and were not ashamed; for truly ye bore the likeness of the first-formed Adam, who was naked in the garden, and was not ashamed. Then, when ye were stripped, ye were anointed with exorcised oil, from the very hairs of your head to your feet, and were made partakers of the good olive-tree, Jesus Christ . . . . After these things, ye were led to the holy pool of Divine Baptism, as Christ was carried from the Cross to the Sepulchre which is before our eyes And each of you was asked, whether he believed in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, and ye made that saving confession, and descended three times into the water, and ascended again; here also hinting by a symbol at the three days burial of Christ . . . .⁸³

The Catholic editors of another English translation of Cyril's works explain that the "tunic was the garment worn by both sexes next to the skin. The candidates would already have removed their shoes and outer garments . . . ."⁸⁴ Who performed the anointing over the whole body? "For the men, no doubt, priests, deacons and the lower clergy. But for the women? . . . [Apostolic Constitutions] 3:15-16 says that the deaconesses completed the anointing after a deacon had begun it on the forehead."⁸⁵

After baptism the initiate was anointed again, and Cyril gave a more complete description this time:

[The] ointment is symbolically applied to thy forehead and thy other senses; and while thy body is anointed with the visible ointment, thy soul is sanctified by the Holy and life-giving Spirit. And ye were first anointed on the forehead . . . . Then on your ears; that ye might receive the ears which are quick to hear the Divine Mysteries . . . . Then on the nostrils . . . . Afterwards on your breast; that having put on the breast-plate of righteousness, ye may stand against the wiles of the devil . . . .⁸⁶

In some churches the initiate's feet were washed at this time, as well.⁸⁷

A subsequent passage in Cyril's lectures indicates that the initiate was symbolically clothed in white after the baptism:

Let thy garments be always white, for the Lord is well pleased with thy works; for before thou camest to Baptism, thy works were vanity of vanities. But now, having put off thy old garments, and put on those which are spiritually white, thou must be continually robed in white: of course we mean not this, that thou art always to wear white raiment; but thou must be clad in the garments that are truly white and shining and spiritual . . . .⁸⁸

According to Arthur McCormack, the initiate was required to wear the white garments for the rest of the day, and he also received a new name after the clothing.⁸⁹

The officiating bishop also wore white priestly garb reminiscent of the priestly robes worn in the Jerusalem Temple. Wharton B. Marriott writes that "the dress appropriate to the most solemn offices of the holy ministry, during the primitive age, was white."⁹⁰ He also reports that the bishops anciently "wore mitres or priestly caps, after the model of the Jewish priests."⁹¹ Jerome described the mitres of the Jewish priests:

The fourth of the vestments is a small round cap . . . much as though a sphere were to be divided through the centre, and one half thereof to be put upon the head . . . . It has no peak at the top, nor does it cover the whole head as far as the hair extends, but leaves about a third of the front part of the head uncovered. It is attached by a band onto the back of the head, so as not to be liable to fall off.⁹²

There are other articles the Catholic clergy have historically worn as part of their sacred vestments, including a girdle or sash and a stole worn over the shoulders. The stole is worn on different sides, depending on the degree within the priesthood, and is said to represent "the Stole of immortality," lost through the transgression of Adam and Eve.⁹³

Cyril went on to describe the liturgy of the Eucharist. First the deacon gave the officiating priest water to wash his hands and the elders positioned themselves to stand around the altar in a circle.⁹⁴ "Then the Deacon . . . cried aloud, 'Receive ye one another; and let us kiss one another . . . .' The kiss therefore is reconciliation, and for this reason holy . . . ."⁹⁵ A prayer was then offered by the priest in behalf of those in the circle and the others attending which included the giving of thanks, petition for blessing to be pronounced upon the Eucharist, and petition "for the common peace of the Churches, for the welfare of the world(1); for kings; for soldiers and allies; for the sick; for the afflicted; and, in a word, for all who stand in need of succour . . . ."⁹⁶

Cyril then went on to explain that the prayer included petitions in behalf of the dead, who were expected to derive some benefit therefrom. (Perhaps this is a remnant of other ordinances for the dead?)

Then we commemorate also those who have fallen asleep before us, first Patriarchs, Prophets, Apostles, Martyrs, that at their prayers and intercessions God would receive our petition. Then on behalf also of the Holy Fathers and Bishops who have fallen asleep before us, and in a word of all who in past years have fallen asleep among us, believing that it will be a very great benefit to the souls, for whom the supplication is put up, while that holy and most awful sacrifice is set forth . . . . For if a king were to banish certain who had given him offence, and then those who belong to them should weave a crown and offer it to him on behalf of those under punishment, would he not grant a remission of their penalties?⁹⁷

Charles Walker writes, "Formerly the names of those to be prayed for in the Liturgy were written on tablets, or parchments, which, from being folded twice, were called diptychs."⁹⁸ The editors of the Catholic edition explain that there was probably more to this prayer which Cyril does not repeat and which was "recited by the celebrant in a low voice and perhaps behind a curtain (veil, screen)."⁹⁹

Next the priest chanted the Lord's Prayer and invited the participants to share in the sacrament of the Eucharist.¹⁰⁰ It is interesting to note that the Lord's prayer also served as a sort of password for the initiates:

As those who were admitted to the inner sights of the mysteries had a formula or pass-word . . ., so the catechumens had a formula which was only entrusted to them in the last days of their catechumenate--the baptismal formula itself and the Lord's Prayer."¹⁰¹

As the faithful approached the priest they put forward their hands in the shape of a cup to receive the bread:

In approaching therefore, come not with thy wrists extended, or thy fingers spread; but make thy left hand a throne for the right, as for that which is to receive a King. And having hollowed thy palm, receive the Body of Christ, saying over it, Amen.¹⁰²

Finally the participant took a sip from the cup and anointed his sense organs with the wine:

Then after thou hast partaken of the Body of Christ, draw near also to the Cup of His Blood; not stretching forth thine hands, but bending, and saying with an air of worship and reverence, Amen, hallow thyself by partaking also of the Blood of Christ. And while the moisture is still upon thy lips, touch it with thine hands, and hallow thine eyes and brow and the other organs of sense.¹⁰³

Little of these rites now remain in the liturgies of the Christian churches of today, so one might wonder what became of them. C.W. Heckethorne asserts that the secret tradition of early Christianity was lost after the Church became the dominant religion and there really weren't very many people around from whom one could keep secrets:

The number of the faithful having greatly increased--the Christians from being persecuted having become persecutors, and that of the most grasping and barbarous kind--the Church in the seventh century instituted the minor orders, among whom were the doorkeepers, who took the place of the deacons. In 692 everyone was ordered thenceforth to be admitted to the public worship of the Christians, their esoteric (secret) teaching of the first ages was entirely suppressed, and what had been pure cosmology and astronomy was turned into a pantheon of gods and saints. Nothing remained of the mysteries but the custom of secretly reciting the canon of the Mass. Nevertheless in the Greek Church the priest celebrates divine worship behind a curtain, which is only removed during the elevation of the host, but since at that moment the worshippers prostrate themselves, they are supposed not to see the holy sacrament.¹⁰⁴

Gnostic Christian Rites

It bears repeating that there was, indeed, a true gnosis, or hidden knowledge. J.N.D. Kelly points out that such a strain had existed in the other branches of Christianity since the earliest times:

There was a powerful strain in early Christianity which was in sympathy with Gnostic tendencies. We can see it at work in the Fourth Gospel, with its axiom that eternal life consists in knowledge of God and of Christ, and even more clearly in such second-century works as 2 Clement and Theophilus's Ad Autolycum. As we noticed above, Clement of Alexandria freely applied the title 'gnostics' to Christians who seemed to have a philosophic grasp of their faith. It is the existence of a genuinely Christian, orthodox 'gnosis' side by side with half-Christian versions which in part accounts for the difficulty in defining Gnosticism precisely.¹⁰⁵

According to Morton Smith, the fact that there existed an esoteric tradition in the earliest forms of Christianity goes a long way to explain why there was such a great profusion of Gnostic Christian sects, although gnosticism had existed in other forms previous to the advent of Christ:

But it seems likely that the primitive secret tradition of Christianity will prove the most important single factor in solving one of the major problems of the history of gnosticism: Why did so very many gnostic sects spring up so early in so many parts of the Christian Church? Groups that seem gnostic occasionally appear in paganism or Judaism, but nowhere else is there anything like the quantity and vigor of the Christian development. This has to be explained, and the explanation must be something in Christianity. What else but the secret tradition?¹⁰⁶

Although a Gnostic strain was present in post-Apostolic Catholic Christianity, that doesn't necessarily mean that their gnosis was the true one! Clement and Origen's gnosis apparently included various quasi-Platonic speculations of their own which were not present in the original Church,¹⁰⁷ and earlier "orthodox" writings with a Gnostic flair, such as the Epistle of the Apostles, soon fell out of favor because they were "too heavily loaded with strange views and no longer had any contemporary significance."¹⁰⁸

We are not so much interested in the content of the secret doctrine as we are in the content of the secret rituals that went along with them. H.J. Rose explains that it has always been standard procedure to keep rituals, but change the doctrines associated with them to suit the times. Thus rituals are among the most conservative elements of religion.¹⁰⁹ Therefore, even though the Gnostics held to some doctrines that are repugnant to Latter-day Saints and mainstream Christians alike, it is still instructive to investigate their rituals to determine whether they might have been remnants of an earlier esoteric tradition within Apostolic Christianity.

In Gnostic Christianity we find rituals very similar to the mysteries of other branches of the early Church.¹¹⁰ Indeed, as was discussed above, Clement claimed that the Carpocratian Gnostics had obtained a copy of the Secret Gospel of Mark and had corrupted it to suit their own libertine tendencies. Therefore, since this document was associated with the "Great Mysteries," it should not be surprising that the Gnostics had similar rites.¹¹¹ In order to provide a survey of these rites, they will be briefly discussed in connection with three documentary sources: 1) the Gospel of Philip, 2) the Books of Jeu , the Pistis Sophia, and related documents, and 3) the Acts of John.

The Coptic Gnostic Gospel of Philip was discovered in 1945 in Egypt as part of the Nag Hammadi texts. J.J. Buckley claims that this document is in essence a preparatory manual for an esoteric initiation rite.¹¹² Although the descriptions of the rites practiced by those who accepted this document are somewhat vague, they are of great interest to Latter-day Saints. The text describes five successive rites: "The Lord [did] everything in a mystery, a baptism and a chrism and a Eucharist and a redemption and a bridal chamber."¹¹³ Considering anointing (chrism) and the Eucharist to be related to baptism, the text goes on to compare baptism, the rite called the "redemption," and marriage to the three levels of the sanctuary in the Temple at Jerusalem: "Baptism is 'the Holy' building. Redemption is 'the Holy of the Holy.' 'The Holy of the Holies' is the bridal chamber."¹¹⁴

Some more details of the marriage ceremony are given, as well, which will be discussed later in this chapter. At least one of these rites undoubtedly included the teaching of various "mysteries." Hennecke and Schneemelcher discuss the content of the esoteric teaching, and reveal that certain passwords designed to allow the soul to ascend through the heavens were included:

The gospel [of Philip] must therefore have contained revelations imparted by Jesus to another person (probably Philip) and reported by him. The instruction here bears upon a subject familiar to Gnosis: the manner of the ascent of the soul. By means of ritual formulae, which are at the same time passwords, the soul ascending after death to its heavenly fatherland obtains from the planetary Archons, the hostile 'powers' of destiny who oppose its return, free passage through the seven successive spheres of the visible firmament.¹¹⁵

Clues about the nature of the ritual formulas required were given by Irenaeus, who noted that some Gnostic sects referred to the redemption as "The name which is hidden from every deity."¹¹⁶ He also observed that "others still repeat certain Hebrew words, in order the more thoroughly to bewilder those who are being initiated."¹¹⁷

In connection with the ritual enactment of the heavenly ascent, it is also interesting to note that certain Gnostic ascension narratives also contained ritual handclasps. For example, in one Manichean narrative, the Primeval Man is drawn up to heaven by celestial messengers:

The Living Spirit, who was accompanied by the Mother of Life, extended his right hand to Primeval Man. The latter seized it and thus was drawn up out of the depths of the world of darkness. Together with the Mother of Life and the Living Spirit he rose up and up, soared like victorious light out of darkness, till he was returned to the paradise of light, his celestial home, where his kin awaited him.¹¹⁸

Other Coptic Gnostic works contain information about the "mysteries" the Gnostics practiced. Two good examples are the Pistis Sophia and the Two Books of Jeu. In these documents the Apostles and some female disciples gather together somewhere to receive instruction in the mysteries from the risen Lord. The Pistis Sophia relates that after clothing themselves in linen garments, the participants situated themselves in a circle about Jesus, who stood at the altar. Then Jesus offered a rather strange prayer in behalf of his disciples:

Thomas, Andrew, James and Simon the Canaanite were in the west, with their faces turned towards the east, but Philip and Bartholomew were in the south (with their faces) turned towards the north, but the other disciples and the women disciples stood behind Jesus. But Jesus stood beside the altar. And Jesus cried out, turning towards the four corners of the world with his disciples, who were all clothed in linen garments, and said: iao, iao, iao . . . . But when Jesus had said this, he said: Thou Father of all Fatherhood of the Infinite hearken unto me for my disciples' sake . . . .¹¹⁹

In all of these documents Jesus answered various questions his disciples asked. Although the answers given usually reflected some rather strange Gnostic doctrines, the general subjects covered can be inferred from a related document called the Sophia Jesu Christi:

After he had risen from the dead, when they came, the twelve disciples and seven women who had followed him as disciples, into Galilee . . . where they were now at a loss in regard to the true nature of the universe, the plan of salvation, the holy providence, the excellency of the powers, about all that the Redeemer did with them, the secrets of the holy plan of salvation, then there appeared to them the Redeemer . . . .¹²⁰

In the Two Books of Jeu the Savior also gave various "seals" and passwords necessary to ascend to the highest heaven, just as were given in the Gospel of Philip:

Here also are imparted the secret names of the aeons, their several numbers, the "seals" and "pass-words," the formulae which allow free passage through each of their spheres, on after the other, and ensure escape from their grasp and power.¹²¹

It is interesting to note that one of the formulae given in the Pistis Sophia is the statement: "He is I, and I am he." Jean Doresse explains that this is "the mystery whose words are of an extraordinary power, and thanks to which each of the Perfect ones will be absorbed, in the end, into the person of Jesus himself . . . ."¹²² Remember that Ignatius had a similar formula he considered necessary, "Thou art I and I am thou,"¹²³ which may have been part of the "orthodox" Christian esoteric tradition.

Then, of course, the discourse was concluded with a charge to keep the mysteries secret:

These mysteries which I shall give you, preserve, and give them to no man except he be worthy of them. Give them not to father nor to mother, to brother or to sister or to kinsman, neither for food nor for drink, nor for woman-kind, neither for gold nor for silver, nor for anything at all of this world. Preserve them, and give them to no one whatsoever for the sake of the good of this whole world.¹²⁴

The Acts of John was a common Gnostic document which relates a similar initiation ceremony including the familiar ring-dance/prayer circle. According to Max Pulver, this document was always believed to refer to an initiation rite, and certain clues are given about some of the paraphernalia used in the ceremony:

Thus, as late as the fourth century the hymn from the Acts of St. John was still regarded as a ritual of initiation; here Christ is a mystagogue . . . . That is, Christ was held to have delivered a secret initiation and to have left a secret tradition to his disciples, and above all to John . . . .¹²⁵

In the last four verses of the hymn [in the Acts of St. John] Christ refers to himself as a torch, a mirror, a door, and a way. These are not only familiar symbols but also probably instruments of initiation.¹²⁶

A passage from the Acts of John itself describes the ring-dance/prayer circle practiced as part of the initiation:

But before he was arrested by the lawless Jews, whose lawgiver is the lawless serpent, he assembled us all and said, 'Before I am delivered to them, let us sing a hymn to the Father, and so go to meet what lies before (us).' So he told us to form a circle, holding one another's hands, and himself stood in the middle and said, 'Answer Amen to me'. So he began to sing the hymn and to say . . . . [A long hymn follows, which includes the following injunction:] 'Now if you follow my dance, see yourself in Me who am speaking, and when you have seen what I do, keep silence about my mysteries.'¹²⁷

The overarching purpose of this initiation, according to Pulver, was once again to give certain symbols, marks of recognition, and passwords to the disciples so they could ascend to the highest heaven and become deified:

The initiates [in the Acts of John] have entered into the godhead, fused with it. And the mystery god has no longer any outward form but only a voice . . . . This voice imparts to them the symbols, the marks of recognition and passwords . . . .¹²⁸

The End of Esotericism

It has been established beyond doubt that an esoteric tradition of both doctrines and rituals existed in the early Church. However, it is equally clear that these esoteric trends eventually were modified or disappeared altogether. What happened to the esoteric doctrines and rituals in early Christianity, and why did they fall out of favor?

The devaluation of the esoteric traditions started in the second century with the "orthodox" fight against Gnosticism. Guy Stroumsa explains:

A more convincing answer lies with the fight of the Church Fathers against Gnosticism. Various Gnostic groups seem to have accepted and developed, sometimes in baroque fashion, early Jewish-Christian esoteric traditions. The appropriation of these traditions by the Gnostics made them suspect for "orthodox" Christian intellectuals. In their merciless fight against the Gnostics, the Church Fathers felt the need to reject these esoteric traditions, which had accompanied Christianity since its beginning, but which had become an embarrassing burden. Victory over Gnosticism thus meant the eradication of esotericism from Christian doctrine.¹²⁹

Obviously, it would have been very difficult for the Church hierarchy to combat such claims to an esoteric tradition, unless they denied its existence altogether.¹³⁰ On the other hand, certain Jewish Christian groups felt that the way to fight pretensions to the hidden wisdom was by secretly teaching the true gnosis. Peter explained the principle in the Clementine Homilies:

And thus, as the true Prophet has told us, a false prophet must first come from some deceiver; and then, in like manner, after the removal of the holy place, the true Gospel must be secretly sent abroad for the rectification of the heresies that shall be.¹³¹

Of course, Jewish Christianity was not very successful as a movement, and was soon absorbed into the Catholic tradition. The more successful Catholic tradition responded, as was mentioned above, by either downplaying or denying the secret tradition,¹³² and even by denying the authenticity of apocryphal writings that had formerly been considered orthodox.¹³³

In both the East and West by the fourth century the vocabulary of the esoteric traditions was appropriated to describe the new "mystical" traditions of the monks.¹³⁴ The beginnings of this trend can be found in Origen¹³⁵, and its culmination in Gregory the Great, who wrote that the mysteries imparted to the faithful not only should not be spoken, but cannot be spoken.¹³⁶ The point of this mystical tradition was to "experience the divinity" by means of the "interior senses," thus obtaining a knowledge of the divine that could not be obtained in any other way, and could not be expressed by means of human language.¹³⁷

Naturally, the mystical tradition was much more acceptable to the Church hierarchy than the esoteric tradition. After all, if the hidden wisdom cannot be expressed in human language, it would be difficult for heretics to exploit it.

As Stroumsa points out, the cultic practices associated with the esoteric tradition survived much longer than the secret doctrines in the form of the secret discipline associated with baptism and the Eucharist.¹³⁸ The esoteric doctrines were gradually either replaced by mysticism or trivialized. Whereas the original "gnosis" had to do with the great mysteries of theology, cosmology, and creation, when Basil of Caesarea described the secret tradition, he named only trivial practices such as praying toward the east and signing initiates with the cross after baptism:

For instance, to take the first and most general example, who is thence who has taught us in writing to sign with the sign of the cross those who have trusted in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ? What writing has taught us to turn to the East at the prayer? Which of the saints has left us in writing the words of the invocation at the displaying of the bread of the Eucharist and the cup of blessing? For we are not, as is well known, content with what the Apostle or the Gospel has recorded, but both in preface and conclusion we add other words as being of great importance to the validity of the ministry, and these we derive from unwritten teaching.

Moreover we bless the water of baptism and the oil of the chrism, and besides this the catechumen who is being baptized. On what written authority do we do this? Is not our authority silent and mystical tradition? Nay, by what written word is the anointing of oil itself taught? And whence comes the custom of baptizing thrice? And as to the other customs of baptism from what Scripture do we derive the renunciation of Satan and his angels? Does not this come from that unpublished and secret teaching which our fathers guarded in a silence out of the reach of curious meddling and inquisitive investigation?¹³⁹

Stroumsa also suggests that Basil may have been protecting the more important points of the esoteric tradition in this way¹⁴⁰, but assuming he had nothing more to offer, it would help to explain why the esoteric tradition was completely dropped soon after Basil's lifetime.

It is difficult to say exactly how long the secret tradition survived in Christianity.¹⁴¹ With the fight against Gnosticism and the Peace of the Church in the fourth century¹⁴², a new religious sensibility developed within Christianity so that only isolated groups of heretics retained any esoteric doctrines and rites.¹⁴³ By far the most perfect representative of the new ethos was Augustine, who lived in the late fourth and early fifth centuries, and in this section we will examine his thought on the subject of esotericism.

Augustine summarized his position while commenting on a certain statement Jesus made, recorded in the Gospel of John. "I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now." (John 16:12) Apparently the Gnostic heretics had appropriated this passage to show that they were in possession of the teachings Jesus declined to tell His disciples at that time, and Augustine justly pointed out that just because Jesus declined to say something doesn't give anyone license to claim he has those very teachings:

Do we on that account know what it is that He would not say, as we should know it were we reading or hearing it as uttered by Himself? For it is one thing to know whether we or you could bear it; but quite another to know what it is, whether able to be borne or not. But when He Himself was silent about such things, which of us could say, It is this or that? Or if he venture to say it, how will he prove it? For who could manifest such vanity or recklessness as when saying what he pleased to whom he pleased, even though true, to affirm without any divine authority that it was the very thing which the Lord on that occasion refused to utter? Which of us could do such a thing without incurring the severest charge of rashness,--a thing which gets no countenance from prophetic or Apostolic authority?¹⁴⁴

Next Augustine simply assumed that the Catholic Church was in possession of the teachings Jesus declined to preach, and asked why the catechumens (investigators) of his day could bear all the teachings and sacramental practices of the Church, but the disciples of Jesus couldn't. The answer? It wasn't really that those without the Holy Spirit couldn't bear such things, but they were kept from the neophytes for a time so that they would "more ardently desire them":

How then, could not the disciples bear any of those things which were written after the Lord's ascension, even though the Holy Spirit was not yet sent to them, when now they are all borne by catechumens prior to their reception of the Holy Spirit? For although the sacramental privileges of believers are not exhibited to them, it does not therefore happen that they cannot bear them; but in order that they may be all the more ardently desired by them, they are honorably concealed from their view.¹⁴⁵

Augustine explained further that anyone can bear the teachings of the Church, but without the aid of the Holy Spirit, they cannot understand them. For example, he excused the incomprehensibility of his doctrine of God by claiming that anyone could immediately see its truth with the aid of the Holy Spirit:

So shall the result be, that not from outward teachers will you learn those things which the Lord at that time declined to utter, but be all taught of God; so that the very things which you have learned and believed by means of lessons and sermons supplied from without regarding the nature of God, as incorporeal, and unconfined by limits, and yet not rolled out as a mass of matter through infinite space, but everywhere whole and perfect and infinite, without the gleaming of colors, without the tracing of bodily outlines, without any markings of letters or succession of syllables,--your minds themselves may have the power to perceive.¹⁴⁶

And although no one keeps silence about Him, who is there that apprehends Him as He is to be understood, although He is never out of the mouths and the hearing of men ? Who is there, whose keenness of mind can even get near Him ? Who is there that would have known Him as the Trinity, had not He Himself desired so to become known ? And what man is there that now holds his tongue about that Trinity; and yet what man is there that has any such idea of it as the angels ? The very things, therefore, that are incessantly being uttered off-hand and openly about the eternity, the truth, the holiness of God, are understood well by some, and badly by others: nay rather, are understood by some, and not understood at all by others.¹⁴⁷

Finally, Augustine gave the most compelling reason for his prejudice against esoteric traditions. That is, many of the heretical groups who made use of esoteric doctrines actually preached a "hidden knowledge" that was contradictory to the exoteric doctrines taught in the scriptures:

Accordingly, when the Lord says, "I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now," He means that what they were still ignorant of had afterwards to be supplied to them, and not that what they had already learned was to be subverted.¹⁴⁸

Here again we see the influence of the early fight against Gnosticism. As a result of their indiscriminate appeals to the secret tradition to defend their wild speculations, all esotericism became suspect to their enemies.

Heavenly Marriage

Eternal Marriage

The crowning ordinance of the temple is the Celestial Marriage ceremony. In this rite a husband and wife are joined together not just till death separates them, but for eternity, as part and parcel of the exaltation or deification bestowed on those who reach the highest level of the Celestial kingdom. Those "sealed" together in this rite will be able to participate in the creative work of God in the world to come. The Lord explained this principle to Joseph Smith:

Therefore, if a man marry him a wife in the world, and he marry her not by me nor by my word, and he covenant with her so long as he is in the world and she with him, their covenant and marriage are not of force when they are dead, and when they are out of the world; therefore, they are not bound by any law when they are out of the world. Therefore, when they are out of the world they neither marry nor are given in marriage; but are appointed angels in heaven, which angels are ministering servants, to minister for those who are worthy of a far more, and an exceeding, and an eternal weight of glory. For these angels did not abide my law; therefore, they cannot be enlarged, but remain separately and singly, without exaltation, in their saved condition, to all eternity; and from henceforth are not gods, but are angels of God forever and ever. (D&C 132:15-17)

This is a bold and wonderful promise, and one which none of the mainstream Christian sects can give. In fact, Latter-day Saints receive endless criticism for this belief because the sects interpret a certain answer Jesus gave to the Sadducees to mean that there is no marriage in heaven. Matthew reports the conversation thus:

The same day came to him the Sadducees, which say that there is no resurrection, and asked him, Saying, Master, Moses said, If a man die, having no children, his brother shall marry his wife, and raise up seed unto his brother. Now there were with us seven brethren: and the first, when he had married a wife, deceased, and, having no issue, left his wife unto his brother: Likewise the second also, and the third, unto the seventh. And last of all the woman died also. Therefore in the resurrection whose wife shall she be of the seven? for they all had her. Jesus answered and said unto them, Ye do err, not knowing the scriptures, nor the power of God. For in the resurrection they neither marry, nor are given in marriage, but are as the angels of God in heaven. (Matthew 22:23-30)

It must be admitted that the doctrine of eternal marriage is not explicitly taught in the New Testament. However, Latter-day Saints normally reply that there is evidence that Christian marriage was among the early esoteric traditions (see below), so it is not surprising that Jesus would not have explained the doctrine in detail to the Sadducees, who did not even believe in a resurrection and were only trying to trap Jesus in his words. From an LDS viewpoint, Jesus' reply to the Sadducees was technically correct, since the people in question were Sadducees themselves ("there were with us seven brethren"), and hence were not on the path to the highest degree of salvation. (D&C 132:15-16)¹⁴⁹

Details of the earliest Christian concept of marriage were undoubtedly left out of the New Testament, and R.M. Grant reports that Christian marriage was considered "a great mystery" by Paul, and therefore was probably part of the esoteric teaching:

In Ephesians 5:22-33 the prophecy of Genesis 2:24 ["the two shall become one flesh."] is described as "a great mystery" and is referred not only to Christ and the church but also to Christian marriage in general.¹⁵⁰

Paul also taught that "neither is the man without the woman, neither the woman without the man, in the Lord." (1 Corinthians 11:11)

In the early third century Origen reported that certain Christians, apparently considered orthodox, believed in marriage after the resurrection. Interestingly, he asserted that they thought this way because they understood the scriptures in a "Jewish sense," and we have seen that many of the great changes came in Christianity through the adoption of Greek philosophical tenets in place of Jewish beliefs.

Certain persons . . . are of the opinion that the fulfillment of the promises of the future are to be looked for in bodily pleasure and luxury . . . . And consequently they say, that after the resurrection there will be marriages, and the begetting of children, imagining to themselves that the earthly city of Jerusalem is to be rebuilt . . . . Such are the views of those who, while believing in Christ, understand the divine Scriptures in a sort of Jewish sense, drawing from them nothing worthy of the divine promises.¹⁵¹

Another more subtle reference to this subject may be found in the second century sermon, 2 Clement:

For the Lord Himself, being asked by one when His kingdom would come, replied, "When two shall be one, and that which is without as that which is within, and the male with the female, neither male nor female."¹⁵²

As was stated in our discussion of Gnostic Christian rites similar to the Endowment, certain Gnostic groups considered marriage to be their most holy mystery. We have already seen this in the Gospel of Philip, and Irenaeus charged a Gnostic group called the Marcosians with a similar practice, as well:

For some of [the Marcosians] prepare a nuptial couch, and perform a sort of mystic rite (pronouncing certain expressions) with those who are being initiated, and affirm that it is a spiritual marriage which is celebrated by them, after the likeness of the conjunctions above.¹⁵³

The Gospel of Philip states that "those who have united in the bridal chamber will no longer be separated."¹⁵⁴ One aspect of the ceremony is revealed when the bridal chamber is referred to as "mirrored": "One receives them [the male and female powers] from the mirrored bridal chamber."¹⁵⁵ As with the LDS sealing ceremony, this Gnostic rite could not be rejected in mortality and then accepted later: "If anyone becomes a son of the bridal chamber, he will receive the light. If anyone does not receive it while he is in these places, he will not be able to receive it in the other place."¹⁵⁶ Note that the result of this mystic marriage was believed to be children! "The heavenly man has many more sons than the earthly man. If the sons of Adam are many, although they die, how much more the sons of the perfect man, they who do not die but are always begotten."¹⁵⁷

Although no proof has been presented here that eternal marriage was the original Christian practice, it cannot be denied that this belief was held in one form or another by a significant number of early Christians.

But whether or not eternal marriage was the original doctrine, it can be shown that significant changes in the ideal of Christian marriage took place over the first few centuries after Christ. Confusion started early, and the reason for the misunderstanding can be traced to some enigmatic and seemingly contradictory statements of Paul in his first letter to the Corinthians. As we mentioned above, Paul told the Corinthians that "neither is the man with out the woman, neither the woman without the man, in the Lord." (1 Corinthians 11:11) On the other hand, while answering certain unknown questions the Corinthians had posed to Paul, he advised against marriage:

Now concerning the things whereof ye wrote unto me: It is good for a man not to touch a woman . . . . I say therefore to the unmarried and widows, It is good for them if they abide even as I. But if they cannot contain, let them marry: for it is better to marry than to burn. (1 Corinthians 7:1, 9)

And yet, later in the chapter Paul made clear that this was not a general principle, but special counsel in unusual circumstances: "I suppose therefore that this is good for the present distress, I say, that it is good for a man so to be." (1 Corinthians 7:26) Paul never let us know what the "present distress" was, but clearly there are circumstances in which it is better not to marry, and indeed there are many in the Restored Church who live celibate lives for various reasons.

In some quarters, however, Paul's general counsel about marriage was forgotten, and neither marriage nor celibacy was considered a superior state. For example, both Clement of Rome and Ignatius, around the turn of the second century, apparently considered celibacy to be a viable alternative to marriage, and advised celibate Christians not to boast about their strength: "Let him that is pure in the flesh not grow proud of it, and boast, knowing that it was another who bestowed on him the gift of continence."¹⁵⁸

If any one can continue in a state of purity, to the honour of Him who is Lord of the flesh, let him so remain without boasting. If he begins to boast, he is undone; and if he reckon himself greater than the bishop, he is ruined.¹⁵⁹

Apparently some had adopted the ideals of the pagan ascetics, who considered celibacy a higher way of life, and they were so proud of their "purity" that some of them considered themselves outside their bishops' jurisdiction. (Alternatively, it should be noted that Clement and Ignatius may have advised celibacy for the same reason Paul did, or because of some other special circumstance. This cannot be known with certainty, however.)

Others retained the knowledge that the sexes are not without each other "in the Lord." For example, Clement of Alexandria felt that marriage "was good practice for life as a god."¹⁶⁰ D.G. Hunter summarizes Clement's thought:

Clement insists that marriage and procreation are an intrinsic and positive part of God's plan for the human race. He frequently cites Gen. 1:28 ("Increase and multiply") and regards human procreation as an act of co-creation with God: "In this way the human being becomes the image of God, by cooperating in the creation of another human being" . . . . Indeed, Clement is even capable of regarding marriage as, in some respects, superior to celibacy. The celibate who is concerned only for his salvation is "in most respects untried." By contrast, the married man who must devote himself to the administration of a household is a more faithful reflection of God's own providential care.¹⁶¹

By the third century, mainstream writers such as Methodius and Lactantius could claim that while marriage was proper, celibacy was a higher way of life.¹⁶² This attitude has persisted in the Catholic tradition to this day.

Undoubtedly the Latter-day Saint practice that has generated the most publicity is plural marriage. Some Mormons practiced this during the nineteenth century until it was forbidden by order of the First Presidency. This has often been construed as a change in doctrine by outsiders, but to Latter-day Saints it has always been viewed rather as a change in policy consistent with principles found in both the Bible and the Book of Mormon. For instance, it is well known that many Old Testament figures practiced plural marriage, but later Paul directed that bishops and deacons, at least, should be the "husbands of one wife." (1 Tim 3:2, 12) Similarly, the Book of Mormon prophet Jacob gave a stinging rebuke to those who were practicing plural marriage, because it had been forbidden to them at that time, but then gave a caveat: "For if I will, saith the Lord of Hosts, raise up seed unto me, I will command my people; otherwise they shall hearken unto these things." (Jacob 2:30) Therefore, the doctrine of the LDS Church has been from the beginning that usually the Lord commands monogamy, but sometimes He commands polygamy to "raise up seed" to Himself.

It is interesting to note that when the Christian world was confronted with LDS practice of plural marriage, they reacted with the utmost abhorrence in spite of the many Biblical figures who practiced it as well. Biblical polygamy has normally been characterized as something which God simply overlooked for a while until Jesus came to set things straight. However, some very prominent early Christian writers held views on this issue that were strikingly similar to the LDS perspective. For example, Tertullian claimed that monogamy was preferable, but the Lord had allowed polygamy at certain times to "replenish the world":

As I think, moreover, each pronouncement and arrangement is (the act) of one and the same God; who did then indeed, in the beginning, send forth a sowing of the race by an indulgent laxity granted to the reins of connubial alliances, until the world should be replenished, until the material of the new discipline should attain to forwardness: now, however, at the extreme boundaries of the times, has checked (the command) which He had sent out, and recalled the indulgence which He had granted; not without a reasonable ground for the extension (of that indulgence) in the beginning, and the limitation of it in the end.¹⁶³

And Augustine wrote that polygamy was only forbidden at that time because of the laws and customs of the time:

Again, Jacob the son of Isaac is charged with having committed a great crime because he had four wives. But here there is no ground for a criminal accusation: for a plurality of wives was no crime when it was the custom; and it is a crime now, because it is no longer the custom. There are sins against nature, and sins against custom, and sins against the laws. In which, then, of these senses did Jacob sin in having a plurality of wives? As regards nature, he used the women not for sensual gratification, but for the procreation of children. For custom, this was the common practice at that time in those countries. And for the laws, no prohibition existed. The only reason of its being a crime now to do this, is because custom and the laws forbid it.¹⁶⁴

We discussed above the fact that Christian marriage was referred to by Paul as "a great mystery" in itself, which also symbolized the union of Christ and the Church. Accordingly, Justin Martyr not only defended the polygamy of Old Testament figures, but referred to it as a "mystery" as well:

"And this one fall of David, in the matter of Uriah's wife, proves, sirs," I said, "that the patriarchs had many wives, not to commit fornication, but that a certain dispens