Customer Reviews

The Mysteries of Godliness: A History of Mormon Temple Worship

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Buerger gives an apparently evenhanded historical overview of the sacred temple worship of the Mormon Church. Non-members will find this book revealing, former members will find it reliable, and current members will probably be a bit uncomfortable with the subject discussed. This is not a book about the spiritual aspects of temple worship. It is about the history of temple events and practices, the development of the ceremonies (including the influences of Masonic rituals), as well as ceremonies that are rarely or no longer practiced.

Unlike contemporary texts released by the LDS church, this book does not seem to sugar-coat or sterilize the history of temple worship, and provides a great deal of explicit information that is not easily available, due to the closing the church archives and the sacred nature of temple activities. (Respectfully, the exact ceremony that is used in the temples today is NOT included in this book, however many historical aspects are discussed.) Many diary entries from prominent church members are included, and Buerger makes it clear when he includes entries that may not be entirely reliable.

I found this book to be absolutely fascinating, however, I recommend it to church members only with great caution, as it will surely present some serious and challenging issues to consider.

This is one of the best reads I've had for awhile. Buerger has done an excellent job of researching and presenting the history behind the origins and developing changes to the Mormon temple ceremonies. Every quote cited is referenced and the author's goal "to achieve a balance of scholarly objectivity, reverence for the sacred, regard for the sensitivities of others, and adequate documentation and development of the points to be discussed" is very much achieved admirably in this book. The result is an excellent resource for members and non members alike.

Included in the impressive research taken, this book contains names, dates and frequency of what ceremonies took place when and who was involved, taking the guesswork out of other vague historical accounts on the same topic. It covers the history of what has taken place in the temple from the Kirtland days through to modern day.

Buerger avoids delving into the actual oaths, signs and tokens, which should remove any discomfort from current LDS members reading this - although he does dedicate an Appendix at the back of the book to over a hundred references (only) of published descriptions.

I've been a member now since a child and have been taught at every level (and taught others) much on Church doctrine and history, and I was definitely enlightened from reading this book - I highly recommend it to anyone who desires to learn more on the history of Mormon temple worship, including what has been added, changed or discarded since the first endowment was given, and why.

***** 5 stars

The LDS temple ceremonies have been shrouded in mystery for decades. This well-documented and masterful work covers not only the history and development of these ceremonies but the doctrinal changes that went along with their development. I found the book not only fascinating but extremely well-written, without an axe to grind. Buerger gets to the documented facts and lays them out for the reader to discover and draw their own conclusions. To me, that is the best kind of history - the facts as drawn from circumstances and environment without a specific viewpoint or bias from the author.

This is a book not steeped in difficult to understand doctrines or techobabble of any kind. Anyone even slightly interested in knowing more about the secret/sacred rites of the Utah-based LDS church will benefit from and enjoy this book. It would also make a proud addition to the library of any intelligent, thinking Mormon.

There seem to be a lot of reviews questioning the validity of Buerger's sources, so I feel it needs to be said that Buerger is fairly objective in writing "The Mysteries of Godliness." I am a faithful Mormon and very much enjoyed reading the rich sources provided by Buerger. It is true that a lot of the sources are anti-Mormons, but in a lot of cases, this is because only disaffected Mormons would talk about certain things at that time. Anyhow, equal time is given to Church prophets as to disaffected members and dissenters.

Buerger's only occasionally insensitive in regards to the spiritual worth of Temple ceremonies to the members of the Church. But, this is a history book, and so spiritual manifestations and comfort aren't things that Buerger can gauge without becoming more biased.

Overall, I think this is a great book for those seeking to learn more about the history surrounding Latter-day Saint temple ceremonies.

I recomend this book to all Latter-Day-Saints. Especially those who have gone through the Temple. You will learn many things about the origens of our modern ceremony.

A very interesting history of the first few years of meetings before the completion of the first temples giving a view of how temple ordinances may have developed using Mormon historical records as references. It makes may references to the Masons rituals as comparisons. The author is not a member but tries to maintain respect for Mormon beliefs in presenting the information he has gathered in an informative way. I would not call this a anti Mormon book but nor is it a faith building literary experience. It is more of an interesting piece of investigative journalism pulling some of the pieces of the story together while making insinuations for comparative reasons.

The best and by far the most complete study of Mormon temple ceremonies. Not only does it address the endowment and the chages the church has made in their ceremonies(most recently in 1990) but also lesser known ordinaces such as the second endowment. The book is daring in subject matter and approach cutting right to the facts. This book tells it how it is without any display of personal religious viewpoints, which in and of itself is an accomplishment. Nowhere else will you find such a frank and fair description of Mormon ceremonies.

This book was more interesting and a faster read than many books with its level of historical scholarship. He thoroughly researched the history and each event he describes and statement he quotes is referenced. References are not hidden in the back but are at the bottom of each page, and often include more information about the quote or event, meaning that readers interested in that particular detail can get deeper in it while skipping details that are not so interesting in other footnotes.

The author seems to be faithful LDS, though it is hard to tell because he saves all his opinions for a brief section at the end of the book, keeping most of the book as objectively scholarly as possible. He is respectful of LDS beliefs even to the point of being a little too soft (in my opinion) in attribution of good or neutral motives and etc a couple of times. Contrary to what some (very defensive) reviewers stated, in the end of the book where he describes current practice and his opinions of how policy could improve in the future, he shows a great deal of understanding and respect for the reasons that Mormons practice temple attendance and how sacred it is to them. He describes temple worship as experienced by members at length, using words like "peaceful." He includes descriptions of what members say they get out of temple worship.

His suggestions for the future of the temple (briefly presented at the very end of the book) were a bit odd coming from a historian, however, when one considers that the book moves from the past to the present, it makes sense to have some thoughts on the future. I felt that his suggestions were appropriate in context of the history, especially as he has established that such changes would be policy changes rather than doctrinal changes. It is not inappropriate for a lay member to make suggestions for future church policy, especially considering the research he presents on how current policy affects temple worship and the way members think about it. It would be shocking to me, however, if church leadership actually listened to him and made exactly the changes he recommends- no leader wants to look like they are being led by the people.

I'm giving this four stars for two reasons:
1) I noticed a couple of points describing "modern" practice in which this book is a little out of date. The biggest one I noticed is that he quotes a 1981 publication stating that members may make their own garments under the supervision of the RS president. That policy was reversed either by or before the 2006 Church Handbook of Instructions. His research is good, but in some cases does not reflect current practice any longer, and given that this book was published relatively recently it would be easy for less-informed readers to assume that the information is current. Some "as of this printing" disclaimers would have helped. I hasten to add that these inaccuracies were rare because the vast majority of the book describes past practices, for which he shows a definite start and end date.
2) I noticed two typos while reading. Typos show poor editing and are really distracting.

I also agree with another reviewer that more information on why the 2nd anointing and adoptive sealings were effectively ended would have been really interesting.

In sum, this was a really good, very interesting read. I appreciated his scholarly objectivity and feel like he must have tried hard to stay as objective as he did. The research was done well and footnotes are extensive. I actually read many excerpts of this book out loud to my husband- it's that interesting.

This is a great historical look at the evolution of temple worship in the Mormon church, beginning with the charismatic, possibly wine-induced spiritual free-for-all of the Kirtland ceremony to the very carefully scripted, sanctimonious modern temple experience. Throughout the book, the reader watches as the men in charge change and evolve the temple ceremony, including some of it's most sacred ordinations.

There are some areas that I think beg for more illumination. While considerable time is dedicated to the second anointing or second endowment, still I felt Buerger could have gone further in discussing WHY Heber J. Grant so sharply curtailed those ordinances. I also felt he could have explored in greater detail the parallels between the temple ceremony and Free Masonry. And lastly, I would like to have seen some indepth discussion of the loss of the temple adoption ordinance.

That aside, the view you get of the temple ceremony is that of an evolving work in progress, that bends and shapes either to the divine will or the whims of the men in power...you decide which.

As a former Mormon who has been to the temple many times, I found this book to be a straightforward explaination of how the Mormon temple endowment evolved and how it will continue to evolve. Using the journals of the men who were involved in the founding of the Mormon religion, the author shows how the temple ritual was like a big stew started by Joseph Smith from the rites Masonary and later added upon by Brigham Young (a Mason) and others.

A very well researched book, it will inform all those who really want to know where the temple rituals came from.