The Serpent and the Dove

The Mormon temple endowment is sacred to faithful members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Its members are forbidden by church leaders to reveal it or discuss it even within the sacred precincts of the temples themselves. Over the decades, this silence has resulted in misunderstandings regarding the ceremony, which is now often regarded as a reward for righteousness or as an elite status conferred on the LDS Church's most loyal members. This book reclaims the Mormon temple endowment as a Messianic sacrament. Its author is Paul Toscano, one of the September Six who were excommunicated from the LDS Church in 1993 for his criticism of church leaders for their subordination of Jesus Christ, their misunderstanding of the restored gospel, and their intolerant authoritarianism. In Part I: The Gods of the Temple, Toscano interprets the endowment as the final expression of Joseph Smith's innovative godhead teachings. In Part II: The Mysteries of Godliness, he provides a detailed analysis of the symbols of the ceremony. In Part III: The Holy Order of God, he lays out a blueprint for LDS Church organization and administration consonant with the temple's revelation and with its conferral of Messianic priesthood on both men and women. This work is not an exposé, but a plea for a new direction-a temple-centered Messianic Mormonism for the Third Millennium.