17134

Journal Article

English

Bennett, Richard E.

Line upon Line, Precept upon Precept : Reflections on the 1877 Commencement of the Performance of Endowments and Sealings of the Dead

BYU Studies

2005

44

no.3

2005

38-77

This article gives a substantial treatment of the institution of endowments for the dead. Although vicarious endowments were not performed until 1877, the principle was taught much earlier. While Joseph Smith did not mention endowments specifically in his teachings on salvation for the dead, the ordinance was certainly implied. Likely due the Saints' hurry to leave Nauvoo, endowments performed in the Nauvoo Temple were for the living only, even though baptisms were simultaneously performed for the dead. During the next three decades without a temple, Church leaders in Salt Lake City performed endowments for the living on Ensign Peak, in the Council House, and in the Endowment House. Brigham Young continued to emphasize throughout this time, however, the importance of building a temple for the performance of vicarious ordinances; early in the Salt Lake period, Brigham was clearly mindful of the endowment by proxy for deceased relatives, an ordinance that could be performed only in dedicated temples. Endowments for the dead were introduced as soon as the St. George Temple was dedicated. These first such ordinances, as well as the first sealings of deceased women to deceased men, were performed on January 11, 1877. Wilford Woodruff subsequently played an important role in temple work as he labored with Brigham Young over the next few weeks to reorganize and revise the temple endowment. He was also called to be the temple's first president. Wilford soon established through revelation that temple patrons could participate as proxy even for those to whom they were not related. He also organized the baptismal and endowment work for many notable historical figures after his August 1877 vision of the signers of the Declaration of Independence. Wilford Woodruff's revelations later as President of the Church continued to shape temple worship as he ended the practices of plural marriage and the law of adoption.

https://byustudies.byu.edu/content/line-upon-line-precept-upon-precept-reflections-1877-commencement-performance-endowments-and

Council House (Salt Lake City)
Doctrinal history, baptism for the dead
Doctrinal history, law of adoption
Doctrinal history, ordinances
Doctrinal history, salvation for the dead
Nauvoo Temple
Salt Lake City, Utah, Endowment House
Salt Lake City, Utah, Ensign Peak
Smith, Joseph, Jr., teachings
St. George Temple
Temple ritual
Temples, dedications
Woodruff, Wilford
Young, Brigham, teachings

15

22

"A Subject That Can Bear Investigation" : Anguish, Faith, and Joseph Smith's Youngest Plural Wife
"I Cannot Refrain from Testifying" : Edith Mary Turpin's Observations about Mormonism and Plural Marriage
"Saviors on Mount Zion" : Mormon Sacramentalism, Mortality, and the Baptism for the Dead
A Genealogical Turn: Possibilities for Mormon Studies and Genealogical Scholarship
Adoptive Sealing Ritual in Mormonism
Brigham Young : Pioneer Prophet
Joseph Bates Noble : Polygamy and the Temple Lot Case
Joseph Smith's Polygamy
Temples Rising : A Heritage of Sacrifice
The Fascinating Life of Vienna Jaques
The General Conference Rhetoric of Wilford Woodruff
The Latter-day Saint Reimaging of "the Breath of Life" (Genesis 2:7)
The Power of Godliness : Mormon Liturgy and Cosmology
What Jane James Saw
Which Is the Wisest Course? : The Transformation in Mormon Temple Consciousness, 1870-1898

William Clayton's Journal : A Daily Record of the Journal of the Original Company of 'Mormon' Pioneers from Nauvoo, Illinois, to the Valley of the Great Salt Lake
A Comprehensive History of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
Brigham Young : The American Moses
Building the City of God : Community and Cooperation among the Mormons
Church Chronology
Great Basin Kingdom : An Economic History of the Latter-day Saints, 1830-1900
Hearts Turned to the Fathers : A History of the Genealogical Society of Utah, 1894-1994
History of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Period II : From the Manuscript History of Brigham Young and Other Original Documents
History of the St. George Temple
Latter-day Saint Doctrine of Baptism for the Dead
Letters of a Missionary Apostle to His Wife : Brigham Young to Mary Ann Angell Young, 1839-1841
Mormons at the Missouri, 1846-52 : 'And Should We Die'
Nauvoo : A Place of Peace, a People of Promise
Solemn Covenant : The Mormon Polygamous Passage
Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith
The Diary of Charles Lowell Walker
The Law of Adoption : One Phase of the Development of the Mormon Concept of Salvation, 1830-1900
The Mormon Reformation
The Practice of Baptism for the Dead Outside of Temples
The St. George Temple : First 100 Years
Wilford Woodruff's Journals
Wilford Woodruff, Fourth President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints : History of His Life and Labors As Recorded in His Daily Journals