On the outside of the Salt Lake Temple is a carving of two people shaking hands, symbolizing the temple as a place where we make sacred covenants with God. But what are those holy promises, and what do they have to do with becoming endowed with spiritual power in our everyday lives?
In The Holy Covenants, religion professor Anthony Sweat helps us better understand the major covenants of the temple endowment as a pattern of divine living. He explains with clarity and perspective how the temple presentation, clothing, garment ordinances, and covenants invite us to become part of a holy order, patterned after the Son of God. As we understand and live our holy temple covenants, we can gain spiritual capacity, become endowed with heavenly power, and progress toward our divine potential as “priests and kings [and queens and priestesses], who have received of his fulness” (D&C 76:56).
Anthony Sweat is an Associate Professor of Church History and Doctrine at Brigham Young University. He received a BFA in painting and drawing from the University of Utah and his MEd and PhD in curriculum and instruction from Utah State University.
Before joining the religion faculty at BYU, he worked for thirteen years with Seminaries and Institutes of Religion. Dr. Sweat is the author of several books and articles related to the teachings and history of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. His research centers on factors that influence effective religious education. As a practicing artist, his paintings center on religious themes, including underrepresented events in Church history. Anthony and his wife, Cindy, are the parents of seven children and reside in Springville, Utah.
A quick, well written book full of good information about the temple and the covenants we make there. I like how he talks about the purpose of covenants and the goes into each one. Also, the purpose of the garment and what it represents. This book pairs with “The Holy Invitation” and will definitely be something I share with my kids as they get older.
This is a great companion to The Holy Invitation. It is a short, easy read with insights into each of the covenants made in the temple and ways we can work to greater receive the endowment (capacity, power, ability). I loved the discussions on consecration, the power and blessings of covenants, and his experience of, like Moses, catching a glimpse of who he really was (“for a moment I had tasted eternity”). I also appreciate the focus on our covenant relationship, both with God and with each other.
-“Sacrifice is to give things up; consecration is to dedicate them to God, but often we retain them. Sacrifice is the release of the unholy; consecration retains to make holy. Where sacrifice is about letting go of our will, consecration is about absorbing God’s will.” p. 95
-Utilize daily prayer as touch points for consecration (dedicate your day to God in your morning prayer and return and report in your nightly prayer) p. 100
-“My wife, thinking of consecration, once said to me, ‘Everyone has needs and everyone has abundance.’” – We should ponder where we’ve been given abundance and how we can offer it to the Lord and His children. p. 101
-D&C 107:18-19 – summary of blessings of covenants p. 106
-D&C 84:20-21 – “the power of godliness” given • “Baptism = The purity and salvation of God • The gift of the Holy Ghost = The mind and heart (or character) of God • Endowment = The knowledge, power, and capacity of God • Sealing = The eternal increase and salvation of God” p. 29
We commit to God by covenant now, knowing that moments of weakness will come that may tempt us. Later, Elder Dale G Renlund and Sister Ruth L Rendon wrote that covenants are pledges or vows that guarantee the future behavior of the participant. When we make covenants of chastity or obedience or consecration in the temple, we aren't covenanting only what we will do that day of the year, but what we will do in future days and years. Our covenants protect us against attempted version of ourselves. As an example, I once felt a prompting that a demanding church calling was soon coming my way. To be honest, I didn't want it. But while my initial reaction was to reject it. My prior covenant commitment of consecration helped rectify and straighten me in my moment of spiritual instability, and I accepted the calling when it was extended. Covenants act as guideposts when vision becomes clouded. Thus, the professional athlete and motivational Christian speaker Tim Tebow says that we shouldn't listen to our emotions but to our convictions. CS Lewis said that once we commit to Christ. There will come a time when our emotions will rise up and carry out a blitz on our belief, so we must learn to teach our moods where they get off if we are even to be a sound Christian.
Covenants equal the restored church Overall, the restoration of the church is all about the restoration of these covenants of salvation and exaltation. There are many churches that teach about Jesus. There are many churches that do good. There are many churches that provide a sense of community. Some of them may even do these things better than us. We love, respect, and work together with them. But humbly we also proclaim. No other church on the earth offers the authorized priest of covenants of salvation and exaltation. This was the message from day one of this work. When the Lord appeared to a 14 year old Joseph Smith, he told him many things, but central to the things Joseph learned was that the everlasting covenant was broken. When the Church was organized in April 1830, the Lord summarized the entire reason for the Church was so that the covenant could be reestablished.
Sometimes we call the covenants of exaltation the Abrahamic Covenant. Abraham is one of the main prophets and patriarchs of the Old Testament, the father of Isaac and Jacob, later renamed Israel. The scriptures teach us that Abraham became a rightful heir, a high priest. An heir of what? An heir of the blessings of exaltation. Sometimes these eternal blessings of exaltation are broken down into 3 P's: 1-Promised land, inherit the celestial Kingdom. 2-Priesthood, receive heavenly authority and power. 3-Posterity, obtain eternal marriage, and increase.
To receive the fullness of the promises, power, and priesthood of God, we must enter into the holy order of God through temple ordinances and covenants. ‘Be a house be built unto my name, that I may reveal mine ordinances therein unto my people.’ And ordinance is an authorized religious ceremony done under the direction and authority of the priesthood Ordinances that are needed for salvation and exaltation are accompanied by a covenant or a promise between the participant and God. In the ordinances of the Temple, we make several covenants to help us learn how to live a holy life patterned after Jesus Christ. Elder Robert D Hales of the Quorum of the 12 Apostles taught that in the Temple we established patterns of Christ like living. These include obedience, making sacrifices to keep the commandments, loving one another, being chased in thought and action. And giving up ourselves to build the Kingdom of God through the Saviors atonement. And by following these basic patterns of faithfulness, we receive power from on high. To face the challenges of life we need this divine power today more than ever. It is power we receive only through temple ordinances.
Keep the commandment to repent, be an obedient sinner.
As we become reborn through repeatedly exercising faith, repenting, recommitting by covenant, and receiving the Spirit of God, our hearts and character are changed and transformed to be more like Christ. We leave behind rebellious, telestial ways. Living progress past good but not so great terrestrial ways of being and move on to celestial patterns that are more saintly and holy. In other words, as we live the covenant to obey the Gospel, we become changed to live the higher celestial teachings of Jesus Christ as taught in the Sermon on the Mount. The Sermon on the Mount is the Lord's handbook for living the higher law. His Gospel. It doesn't encompass everything, but lays out a general value system or a divine and holy pattern for someone seeking to follow Jesus. The Sermon on the Mount is found in Matthew 5 through 7, and an expanded and more complete version is in 3rd Nephi 12 through 14. In the sermon, Jesus seeks to lift his listeners. When elevated way of living, he touches on anger, forgiveness, immorality, honesty, resisting evil, loving our enemies, fasting, praying and seeking first God's Kingdom among many other things. He repeatedly starts a teaching by saying it hath been said by them of old time and then repeats a former lower level teaching. But then supplants it with a but I say unto you, and gives a higher, holier way to live. He says, in essence, this is how a telestial person would handle this. Here's how a terrestrial person may, and here's how a celestial 1 should. For example, a telestial way is to commit adultery, and a terrestrial way would be to not commit adultery. Still indulge in immoral thoughts and ideas. But Jesus says, But I say unto you, that whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her, hath committed adultery already in his heart. Behold, I give unto you a commandment, that ye suffer none of these things to enter into your heart. He does the same thing with violence. Telestial people kill. Terrestrial don't kill but still become enraged. But Celestial people should not let anger linger, instead seeking to reconcile offences with others. Telestial people hate most anyone but themselves. Terrestrial people love their friends but hate their enemies. Celestial people love everyone, even those who despitefully use you and persecute you. The higher teachings of the sermon are marvelous and marvelously challenging. Through them, our gospel character is being tested, not just our gospel knowledge.
It used to confuse me why chastity was included as part of the endowment covenants. Why not obedient sacrifice the gospel and the law of service? Why not covenant to live the law of peace? Blessed are the peacemakers, says Matthew 59. Or something like the law to preach the Gospel. Why is a specific behavior like chastity suddenly sandwiched in the middle of broader? Concepts like sacrifice and consecration. It seems self-evident after all that not fornicating or committing adultery is subsumed in the greater laws of obedience. In the gospel. We don't specifically covenant not to murder or steal, so why covenant to not have sexual relations outside of marriage? There are likely a few good reasons, but a major 1. Is this the law of? Capacity is not just about sex. That's an admitted overstatement to grab attention, but it's helpful to help shift our thinking about this central human desire. The law of chastity is situated between greater principles, because being chased encompasses greater principles itself. The law of chastity is about trust. It is about righteous use of power. It is about care. It is about creation. It is about covenant family.
Be positive about how wonderful and beautiful physical intimacy can be when it happens within the bounds the Lord has set, including temple covenants and commitments of eternal marriage. Elder David A Bednar summarized marital sexual relations as one of the ultimate expressions of our divine nature and potential. Although the innate human desire to create children, form families, and have intimate union with someone symbolized in sexual expression is heaven sent, that divine desire becomes adulterated when it becomes unrestrained, prideful, domineering, manipulative, rude, or selfish. Those uses of the divine desire are the unwanted natural man and woman. We do need to overcome. There is a reason why sex has been compared to fire. Sexual intimacy has the power to warm, to create, to purify, but it also has the power to burn, to destroy and to engulf. Chaste people know how to care for the fire and use it properly, without scorching themselves or another person, or just as important. Putting out a flame. Remember, an overall purpose of the endowment is to help us learn to live like God or to pattern our life after the order of the Son of God. And God is a being who uses power wisely, purposefully, and with temperance or self-control.
Consecration vs. Sacrifice -- Some struggle to see a difference between the law of sacrifice. And the law of consecration. There are areas of overlap, of course, but they have some fundamental differences. Sacrifice is to give things up. Consecration is to dedicate them to God, but often we retain them. Sacrifice is the release of the unholy. Consecration retains to make holy, where sacrifice is about letting go of our will. Consecration is about absorbing god's will sacrifice chastity obedience and the gospel each contribute and prepare us to fully implement the law of consecration
I learned so much more about the covenants I make when entering the temple. Whether you’re a member of the Church of Jesus Christ or not, this book is super informative in a real and accessible way to better explain what happens in the temple, and why. Very short book, too!
Such a great learning tool for anyone who attends the temple and wants to learn more about covenants. I like the way the author teaches. I also appreciated the sources cited in the back. I would recommend this for anyone preparing to enter into covenants in the temple, or for those who have been going for decades.
While I liked Anthony Sweats first book, The Holy Invitation, this one explained the temple covenants in a way I have never before understood. It helped me to see how to live an endowed life. It has left me pondering my own covenants with God and how I can live a more concentrated life.
Highly recommend. I’m excited to read it again and continue pondering.
This was an easy read with a lot of great insight. It's worded in a way that makes sense. This would be a great book to give to someone preparing to go to the temple.
I really appreciate this short but clear outline of the covenants made within the Temples of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. I found it insightful and helpful.
Definitely liked this better than The Holy Invitation. Great deep dive into our covenants, into symbolism, and was rich with analogies to help us understand, like comparing the temple Endowment to a doctor's white coat ceremony, how it doesn't mean they are a doctor yet but are on their way to become one, and make promises then in terms of their conduct as they go along.
I wish this book had been around when I first was endowed in the Mesa, Arizona Temple in 1973. At that point I’m not sure the author was yet even born. In his relatively brief life, he has gained some great perspectives. I’m grateful that I took the brief amount of time required today to finish the book and I am also grateful for the new perspectives I gained. Anyone seriously interested in learning what we actually try to accomplish in the temples of the LDS church would be benefited by reading this concise and very engaging book.
You know when something is taught so simply that you feel like your mind is blown?
Yeah, this book is that, discussing the temple endowment for those who have already experienced it, and in a reverent but understandable way.
The chapter on the Law of Consecration alone—! (hint: the Law of Consecration isn’t an old rule; we live it today every time we use our time or talents to serve God or others).
Definitely my favorite book on the temple thus far, and probably my favorite book by Dr. Sweat, I recommend this to everyone who goes or will go through the temple. Dr. Sweat was arguably my favorite professor, and he has a gift for simplifying what are commonly complicated principles and delivering truths in a concise manner. This book helped me to understand temple covenants more clearly and how they can apply to my life and circumstances. I want to read it again!
What I love about Brother Sweat's books about the temple is that they are easily understood and they invite contemplation. It is going beyond participating in making covenants and actually encouraging us to find meaning and connection to God by walking the covenant path. I highly recommend these books!
Again, me and tertiary sources. There was some stuff that I really appreciated here, but I'm still wary. I also think he left out or missed some interesting connections and went a little too far off topic in others.
This was helpful for me as I continue to strive to learn more about temple covenants. It took me way too long to get through, but it's definitely made me think. I'll be reading this again and would recommend it to anyone wanting to better understand their temple covenants.
No words. This is everything I needed and essential for every single person who has received an endowment from God or has any questions about LDS temples or LDS covenants.
Overall, very approachable book in size, depth, bite-size chapters, and writing style. If anything it might have been a bit long in some sections. Some great lines and concepts in here. Made me want to live better so I guess his purpose was achieved.
Simple and straightforward discussion of temple covenants. I liked how he used analogies, but didn't overexplain them and left it to the reader to interpret them.
A great book that dives deeper into each of the covenants made in the temple that compiles talks, scriptures and other references to help explain what is involved in each one. Worth reading to get more from your temple experience.
Great follow up to his first book, The Holy Invitation. I love Anthony Sweat and his enthusiasm for the gospel. His explanations of the temple covenants are clear and help you understand how to apply the blessings and promises in your own life. Great book.