Red Brick Store

Mm-hmm.

Um, but then eventually they did, and I love that there was a branch of the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ in Nauvoo that met in the upper rooms of the Red Brick Store, and it was called the Olive Branch.

[laughs]

The Olive Branch.

When we look at Scripture, God's character, His promises, and His way of redeeming humanity, those things don't shift with cultural tides or human discomfort.

Yet, when we look at the LDS Temple Ceremony from May 4, 1842, in the upper room of Joseph Smith's Red Brick Store in Nauvoo, Illinois, right down to the modern LDS Temple revisions in 1990, 2005, 2019, and 2023, we see a drama of continuous modification.

Just look it up for yourself if you don't believe me.

Today, we're going to get into the history, the ritual changes, and the theological implications of this evolution.

So, what actually happened in 1842? What was removed since then? And what does the Bible say about how we enter the presence of a holy God? If Mormonism isn't true, well, then what is? What does the Bible teach? To understand the shift in the LDS temple ceremony, we have to start with the historical connection between the 1842 Nauvoo endowment and 19th century Freemasonry.

On March 15, 1842, Joseph Smith was initiated into the Nauvoo Masonic Lodge, and he achieved the rank of Master Mason the very next day.

Less than two months later, on May 4, 1842, Smith introduced the full LDS temple endowment ceremony to a tiny elite group of seven men on the second floor of his red brick store.

Historians, both LDS and non-LDS, unanimously acknowledged that the physical mechanics of this ceremony were heavily borrowed from Masonic rituals.

But one of the experiences that made it clear Brigham was the, the man to lead the saints is at their first endowment ceremony.

So in May of 1842, Joseph Smith brings 11 people up to the Red Brick Store, right? This is where the first modern Nauvoo-era endowment was performed, right? Which include the drama, the garments, all those things we associate with it.

And at the end of it, he turns to Brigham Young and says, um, "We have it almost correct, but it's gonna be up for you to perfect it." Brigham Young, in that conversation, during Joseph Smith's life, is made, like, a leader over temple ordinances.

Yeah.