by Ed Decker

"Tax time" brought more than the usual amount of stress to tax devout Temple Mormons in 1990. It was about the middle of April that reports began filtering out of the LDS community that the highly sacred (and secretive) temple endowment ceremonies were changed substantially without any evident explanation.

The LDS church, officially silent on the changes at first, has just issued an official statement confirming that the changes had been made. It is important to remember that these rituals, performed word perfect, which are secret to all but the elite few Mormons worthy enough to enter the temple, are believed to be essential to the Mormon attaining godhood.

Interestingly enough, the changes are primarily in areas where books like THE GOD MAKERS by Ed Decker and Dave Hunt, WHAT'S GOING ON IN THERE by Chuck Sackett and MORMONISM'S TEMPLE OF DOOM by William Schnoebelen and James Spencer have recently been exposing the occult or Freemasonic content in the rites.

In 1982, THE GOD MAKERS film presented actual enactments of some of the most occult elements in the endowment. The later film, THE TEMPLE OF THE GOD MAKERS went even deeper! Ironically, many of the scenes shown are the very ones now inexplicably missing.

7) The use of female Veil Workers at the veil, representing mother goddesses, to embrace the women temple patrons and bring them through to the Celestial Room.

Imagine the intense shock which would come from walking into the quiet, solemn confines of the temple and discovering that rites which you had been told were the highest, holiest, most spiritually important ceremonies you could do on this earth had abruptly been changed. These were supposedly the restored pure temple rituals that Christ himself did exactly to the letter of the law! If these ordinances were divinely revealed, what possible justification could there be for changing them?

Some radically different things have been happening in the LDS church since the coming forth of THE GOD MAKERS film. All of a sudden, the Church which claimed to have the "one, the only true truthì was backing down on many of the issues Christian apologists were crying out against.

The Mormon church has been building temples at an ever growing rate, yet ever since the public revelation of the heretical acts within those temples, fewer and fewer Mormons have been anxious to go back a second time. The church had to do something to stop the quiet discontent growing among its members. The image of holy purification and dedication had become over-shadowed by images of eerie occult rites. Empty temples were the result.

A further question which the Mormons need to ask themselves is: Why were the changes made? If Joseph Smith taught that all Protestant ministers were corrupt (and he did), then why take something perfectly correct and true by LDS standards out of the temple rite? If Pay Lay Ale really means "O God hear the words of my mouth," then what could possible need changing about such a nice, pious prayer?

The disturbing reality is that the only sane reason to change these vital ceremonies is because the accusations of Christian critics are true! If the endowment was perfect before for getting Mormons their godhood, then why change it? If it wasn't perfect before, then the changes become understandableóbut that means that 150 years of Mormons went to their graves trusting in a broken endowment full of occult and Masonic eccentricities and a broken "plan of salvation."

We need to rejoice in the ground gained by the Lord here, and to pray that these changes will cause some Mormons to actually step back a moment and think these issues through. If they do, they will discover that the entire LDS church falls like a house of cards before the clear light of reason and the Bible.

We mentioned stress in the first paragraph. It is obvious that the Mormon church does not want to wear the label of a cult, but the very word, cult, describes a group at stress with the mainstream. Our work has been to turn up that stress volume and break people away, back into mainstream Christianity. The LDS church has been unable to shoo us away. They had to do that only logical thing left and remove those heresies that enable us to continue the stress factor that isolates them.

I personally believe that they will do all in their power to attempt to step into mainstream ecumenical Christianity during the nineties and will remove every stress factor they must to do it. Remember, however, that no matter how hard these Mormon leaders work to clean up their act, it is still an act, a counterfeit faith and the Mormon people victims of spiritual darkness.

Mormons may have a true zeal for God, but not according to knowledge. Seeking their own exaltation and glory, not being satisfied with the complete glory of the Father and the Son.