Are temple vows another forbidden fruit?
Are some temple vows another forbidden fruit? Can violating temple covenants be transgression, rather than sin?
When I received the temple endowment one of the covenants was no sexual intercourse outside of legal marriage. In today’s “simplified endowment” this is changed to no sexual relations outside of legal marriage, a significantly tougher challenge, unless Bill Clinton is the one defining “sexual relations”. In any case, both the old and new versions are a stiff (no pun intended) challenge to a young single with high libido who on the spot went with the flow and made the covenant which is presented w/o advanced warning and no three day attorney review clause.
Personally, as someone who fell off the LofC wagon post mission, I know how hard it is to stay on that wagon, particularly when you’re not feeling good about how your mission ended and a voluptuous young BYU coed is begging you to please and enjoy her. I threw in the LofC towel, as have many others. What followed was a string of superficial relationships and a son I only learned about a few years ago. In my mind back then there was no place in the church for a person like me, so I ex’ed myself so to speak.
But eventually that sorry path lead to a relationship with my active LDS wife-to-be who replaced a live-in gf, reentry into the church, marriage to my soulmate of 27 years and five great kids. We’ve been blessed.
Eve and Adam made a choice to defy G-d and partake of the forbidden fruit which in turn brings on the human race on earth, growth through earthly struggles and the need for a redeemer who can make us right again with G-d, something we can’t do for ourselves. It is said that Adam and Eve transgressed for a greater good, not sinned. Does G-d set up forbidden fruit for each of us, knowing and expecting we will do the opposite for possibly a greater good?
Steve EM
Excellent question and prompted writing! I stumbled on your blog today and have an instant need to write. I always make the example of us parents as mini-models of Him as The Parent. We tell our kids, “Don’t ___,” knowing full well they probably will disobey that order, either fully or in part. Does that mean it’s all over? No. Was there a greater good? Not always, and not evidently to me at the moment. And His grace and forgiveness far surpasses mine. Some things are left to our decisions to define and specify as we act out this life. The reason we are given these hard lessons in this life, from what I can tell, is that we are to decide and do our best to follow guidance and, as parents say, “Listen to me.” My point is, He knows we’ll fall just as I know my 13-year old WILL eat all the brownies I said not to eat. By “forbidden fruit”, do we think of everything that is “forbidden”? And is it all specifically listed? Did the attorney you mentioned find any loopholes? Depending on the person, the fruit could be a sexual relationship, a brownie, the R-rated movie we’re not to watch - the list is endless. It’s put there as a choice for a reason - to work and exercise this life. The lesson comes after the stumble, and the hope is that redirection can show the error and we learn. I call it my V-8 moment - a slap on the forehead where I say, “I should’ve listened to you all along!” While I haven’t had relations or intercourse or anything “big” like that out of my Temple Covenants, I have stumbled in other ways, and fully expect to learn more and more from those experiences. That’s a difficult struggle, though, because those Covenants are so much more than a simple request or suggestion. Greater good? I don’t know if the forbidden fruit is set up by God, but it is certainly expected in this life. He did equip us with the desire and knowledge to learn from it if we will as an after-effect. We’re given the tools to overcome the results of eating too much forbidden fruit, and those tools are up to US to use. That’s the part put in place by Him.
Comment by Betsy Wyatt — June 11, 2008 @ 8:35 am
If the chastity covenant presented to you in the temple came as a surprise, I guess the temple preparation classes in your ward/branch/stake leave something to be desired.
Comment by Mark N. — July 25, 2008 @ 1:33 am
Mark,
You bring up a good point that got me thinking. I vaguely recall temple prep classes circa 1976-77, and I believe attendance was by invitation of the Bishop only? In any event, I was skipped. Most people went with no prep. A common comment of young people after receiving endowments back then was: “wow, I was in the Catholic Church my whole life and never knew it”. Many people never went back, hence the simplified endowment later. But even now, the whole thing needs an overhaul and a half. All symbols that have no meaning to modern saints need to go. Any vows should be of an eternal nature, not changing with each generation. How could polygamous saints have taken a legal marriage vow? How come my vow allowed sex short of intercourse but the current one is pretty much a recipe for much sexual incompatibility in marriage? Face it, it’s not normal to be a twenty something virgin, and many are being set-up with a forbidden fruit.
Comment by Steve EM — July 27, 2008 @ 11:56 am