“One ordinance received in the temple is called the endowment. The word endowment means "gift," and the temple endowment truly is a gift from God.”
Now, I have heard this a million times before but I have come to know that Mormons like to make up their own meaning to words so I decided to actually check to see what the real definition of endowment was and here is what I found.
Webster defines it as…
Endowment:
1: the act or process of endowing
2: something that is endowed ; specifically : the part of an institution's income derived from donations
3: natural capacity, power, or ability (a person of great intellectual endowment)
Endow or Endowing:
1: to furnish with an income ; especially : to make a grant of money providing for the continuing support or maintenance of (endow a hospital)
2: to furnish with a dower
3: to provide with something freely or naturally
The thesaurus gave me this information…
a special and usually inborn ability (it's a sin to waste one's God-given endowments)— see TALENT
Dictonary.com gave me the following…
Endowment
Assets, funds, or property donated to an institution, individual, or group as a source of income.
I looked at 3 other sources and they all said the same things. The only time an endowment was referred to anything even close to a gift it had to do with either in-born talents or monetary gifts given to an organization such as a charity, hospital or church.
So, Mormons refer to the endowment as a “gift” but who is giving to whom? In order to be found worthy to enter the temple, you must be a full tithe payer meaning that you have to give 10% of your gross income to the church. That sounds like an endowment to me but the church is on the receiving end and not the members.
Now, the LDS church is not the only church to promote paying tithes but it is one of the only ones I know of that has it as a requirement for salvation. Salvation can not be achieved in the Mormon church unless you have been to the temple to receive your endowment and be married/sealed.
No tithing = No temple = No salvation
I wonder if there are definitions to other words they just make up to suit their own needs and give members warm, fuzzy, feelings.
Wonderful post!
ReplyDelete~K
Well I think that mormonism is basically a con game created by joseph smith et al.
ReplyDeleteI think that con artists like smith leave little signs of their craft that reveal that it is a con job. I don't know if this is intentional or just part of the con artist mentality.
But fleecing the sheep and making them think they are the ones who are benefitting is certainly one of those signs. As you so ably set forth soy yo, endowments have to do with money and the money is going the other way in these transactions.
What I meant to say here is that calling the mormon endowed when it is the temple that is actually endowed is a little sign that the mormon is the victim of a con game.
ReplyDeleteAs the saying goes, "Follow the money."
It is not just a money thing, it is a control thing. The mormon church teaches that they, and they alone, hold the keys to the temple and that if you don't toe the line you are going to find yourself excommunicated. I would say the money is secondary, it is the control that they are really after.
ReplyDelete