LDS Temple Recommend Questions!

[Mullenite]

Temple Recommend Questions: 1991 - 1995

Temple Recommend questions remained unchanged from at least June, 1986 until this list, which was printed in the summer of 1991. This list was still in use as of September, 1992 and has since been modified. Questions 11 and 12 were combined and modified on the current form.

Interviewing Instructions


Exercise great care when interviewing applicants for recommends to enter a temple. Make it clear that you represent the Lord in determining worthiness to enter his holy house. No unworthy applicant should receive a recommend. Be certain that each applicant is worthy as a result of living up to Church standards and principles. Acceptable answers to the recommend interview questions ordinarily will establish worthiness to receive a recommend. Do not assume that worthiness to enter the temple at one time is reason for a casual interview later. Discuss the interview questions with each applicant, and keep each interview private.

Require an applicant who is not living up to Church standards and principles to demonstrate true repentence before receiving a recommend to enter a temple.

When interviewing an applicant for a recommend, do not inquire into personal, intimate matters about marital relations between a husband and his wife.
Generally, do not deviate from the recommend interview questions. If, during an interview, an applicant asks about the propriety of specific conduct, do not pursue the matter. Merely suggest that if the applicant has enough anxiety about the
propriety of the conduct to ask about it, the best course would be to discontinue it. If you are sensitive and wise, you usually can prevent those being interviewed from asking such explicit questions.
Interview Questions for Recommends to Enter a Temple


1. Do you believe in God, the Eternal Father, in his Son, Jesus Christ, and in the Holy Ghost; and do you have a firm testimony of the restored gospel?

2. Do you sustain the President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints as the prophet, seer, and revelator; and do you recognize him as the only person on the earth authorized to exercise all priesthood keys?

3. Do you sustain the other General Authorities and the local authorities of the Church?

4. Do you live the law of chastity?

5. Is there anything in your conduct relating to members of your family that is not in harmony with the teachings of the Church?

6. Do you affiliate with any group or individual whose teachings or practices are contrary to or oppose those accepted by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, or do you sympathize with the precepts of any such group or individual?

7. Do you support, affiliate with, or agree with any group or individual whose teachings or practices are contrary to or oppose those accepted by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints?

8. Are you honest in your dealings with your fellowmen?

9. Are you a full-tithe payer?

10. Do you keep the Word of Wisdom?

11. Have you ever been divorced or are you now separated from your spouse under order of a civil court? If yes, (a) - Are you current in your support payments and other financial obligations for family members, as specified by court order or in other written, binding commitments? (b) Were there any circumstances of transgression in connection
with your divorce or separation that have not been previously resolved with your bishop?

12. If you have received your temple endowment -- (a) Do you keep all the covenants that you made in the temple? (b) Do you wear the authorized garments both day and night?

13. Has there been any sin or misdeed in your life that should have been resolved with priesthood authorities but has not?

14. Do you consider yourself worthy in every way to enter the temple and participate in temple ordinances?

[Levi]

Originally Posted by Mullenite

2. Do you sustain the President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints as the prophet, seer, and revelator; and do you recognize him as the only person on the earth authorized to exercise all priesthood keys?

3. Do you sustain the other General Authorities and the local authorities of the Church?

9. Are you a full-tithe payer? $$$

Perhaps I'm just a cynic, but these 3 questions would raise a huge red flag. Power, control and money.

The other questions seem to be along the same vein but these three are just too obvious.

[brack1969]

Originally Posted by Levi

Perhaps I'm just a cynic, but these 3 questions would raise a huge red flag. Power, control and money.

The other questions seem to be along the same vein but these three are just too obvious.

Ah, spoken like a truly ignorant atheist Levi! Anyone can 'choose' to support the church authorities and pay an honest tithe (most other religions ask for this too BTW) If one doesn't want to, then one can 'choose' not to get a temple recommend, or even be a mormon for that matter...

You wanna get a driver's license? there are requirements for that...

You wanna get married? Usually there are some requirements for that as well (like promising to not cheat and to support your spouse, maybe even financially) but damn if that doesn't smack of money, power and control again...

Better for you not to reproduce I guess...

[temu]

Originally Posted by Levi

Perhaps I'm just a cynic, but these 3 questions would raise a huge red flag. Power, control and money.

The other questions seem to be along the same vein but these three are just too obvious.

You nailed it Levi.

Isa 55:1 Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he that hath no money; come ye, buy, and eat; yea, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price.

[Levi]

Originally Posted by brack1969

Ah, spoken like a truly ignorant atheist Levi! Anyone can 'choose' to support the church authorities and pay an honest tithe (most other religions ask for this too BTW) If one doesn't want to, then one can 'choose' not to get a temple recommend, or even be a mormon for that matter...

You wanna get a driver's license? there are requirements for that...

You wanna get married? Usually there are some requirements for that as well (like promising to not cheat and to support your spouse, maybe even financially) but damn if that doesn't smack of money, power and control again...

Better for you not to reproduce I guess...

How Christ-like of you. Is it not a fair question to ask why they require you to pay a full tithe to them for the privilege of entering God's house? On what grounds do they base this criterion of worthiness?

It seems that the LDS church is in the business of keeping people they deem unworthy away from God. Whether or not this is a moral practice is a matter of debate, but I find it highly suspicious that there is money involved.

[Mullenite]

Originally Posted by Levi

How Christ-like of you. Is it not a fair question to ask why they require you to pay a full tithe to them for the privilege of entering God's house? On what grounds do they base this criterion of worthiness?

It seems that the LDS church is in the business of keeping people they deem unworthy away from God. Whether or not this is a moral practice is a matter of debate, but I find it highly suspicious that there is money involved.

14. Do you consider yourself worthy in every way to enter the temple and participate in temple ordinances?

[ryan35]

Originally Posted by Mullenite

14. Do you consider yourself worthy in every way to enter the temple and participate in temple ordinances?

Thankfully,

No.

[MotherEarth]

Originally Posted by brack1969

Ah, spoken like a truly ignorant atheist Levi! Anyone can 'choose' to support the church authorities and pay an honest tithe (most other religions ask for this too BTW) If one doesn't want to, then one can 'choose' not to get a temple recommend, or even be a mormon for that matter...

You wanna get a driver's license? there are requirements for that...

You wanna get married? Usually there are some requirements for that as well (like promising to not cheat and to support your spouse, maybe even financially) but damn if that doesn't smack of money, power and control again...

Better for you not to reproduce I guess...

Yes, paying a tithe is important ( oh wait, wasn't that paid in FOOD? Where were those scriptures again) ...but every thing else that goes along with the OLD testament is just old...Back then. For the Jews...etc. I believe that's what I heard taught.

New revelation thru Smith and all. The tithe (paid in money) was definitely kept though

Especially since Your eternal salvation depends on it and all.

[War_Eagle]

Originally Posted by brack1969

Ah, spoken like a truly ignorant atheist Levi! Anyone can 'choose' to support the church authorities and pay an honest tithe (most other religions ask for this too BTW) If one doesn't want to, then one can 'choose' not to get a temple recommend, or even be a mormon for that matter...

You wanna get a driver's license? there are requirements for that...

You wanna get married? Usually there are some requirements for that as well (like promising to not cheat and to support your spouse, maybe even financially) but damn if that doesn't smack of money, power and control again...

Better for you not to reproduce I guess...

How about me? I'm a Christian and I find those questions troubling, too.

But then, there are a lot of things about Mormonism I find troubling.

[SurviveIt]

One thing to consider is that if you don’t support a local leader, you can say why. You might be surprised where that gets you. There has been one local leader that I have not supported in some things. When telling them why, I was not held back from getting a temple recommend, or advancing in the priesthood. Isn't it a good thing when the leaders truly want to know what’s going on?

I'm surprised that this point has not been brought up yet in this thread.

It’s important to note that the LDS church is a church of volunteers. The bishop and other local callings are held by people that are not being paid for what they do. So, they must learn from their experiences. Younger bishops, just like younger people, have problems with controlling their temper once in a while, or may not be completely graceful under fire. But like us all, we learn from our experience. I had a bishop once that had a temper problem. He just completely lost it after my divorce. I was patient to a point, and then I told him to put a sock in it. I'm sure he's had plenty of time to repent since then. If you think of all those stake interviews and what people might say, well, that’s a lot of church leadership coming down on a Bishop like that to take a chill pill.

Perhaps that’s why our church has (in my opinion) the absolute best leadership of any organization that I am aware of. If you've ever sat down and actually talked with a General Authority, while performing their duty, you will be amazed at were it takes you. On the opposite side of the coin, I've met some of the raunchiest people that run businesses in the last 30 years of my adult life.

[TexasER]

Thanks SurviveIt,

You accuratly described what I feel to be true myself.

[SurviveIt]

Like I said, I think its only natural for people on the outside to have an opinion, but if you havent experienced it from the inside, all you have to judge the questions with is your own experience from authority - Unfortunatly, a lot of people's experience with authority comes from the government - And I can tell people with all of the honesty I can, there is no comparison.

[4norsemen]

Well, I think I blew all those questions. Whats the deal with temple ordinances anyway?

[War_Eagle]

Originally Posted by 4norsemen

Well, I think I blew all those questions. Whats the deal with temple ordinances anyway?

Who knows? There's no Biblical basis for most of what goes on in the temple. That's why Mormons will always refuse to discuss it with non-Mormons.

Of course, they'll say something like, "Oh, we consider that too sacred to talk about with outsiders" but of course that isn't true, because they consider Jesus (or, at least, their version of Jesus) to be sacred and they consider their scriptures to be sacred, and yet, they talk about them all the time.

I'm always saddened by the heartbreak non-Mormon families must go through because they're shut out of their Mormon family members' weddings.

They go through all of these secret, Unbiblical rituals and yet, they insist, "Oh, we're Christians just like you!" But when are Christians ever instructed to engage in secret rituals? The only reference the Bible makes to secret rituals in in reference to pagan religions. And when are Christians ever instructed to exclude other Christians from such things?

[finallyme78]

Originally Posted by War_Eagle

Who knows? There's no Biblical basis for most of what goes on in the temple. That's why Mormons will always refuse to discuss it with non-Mormons.

Of course, they'll say something like, "Oh, we consider that too sacred to talk about with outsiders" but of course that isn't true, because they consider Jesus (or, at least, their version of Jesus) to be sacred and they consider their scriptures to be sacred, and yet, they talk about them all the time.

I'm always saddened by the heartbreak non-Mormon families must go through because they're shut out of their Mormon family members' weddings.

They go through all of these secret, Unbiblical rituals and yet, they insist, "Oh, we're Christians just like you!" But when are Christians ever instructed to engage in secret rituals? The only reference the Bible makes to secret rituals in in reference to pagan religions. And when are Christians ever instructed to exclude other Christians from such things?

You got to love the biblical basis argument. Let's look at Noah. Did he have biblical basis to build an arc? I doubt the scriptures he had said anything about it. What about Moses? Did the law he wrote have any biblical basis? The bible is full of prophets who do something that wasn't done before. They did what God commanded them and didn't worry too much about what God had said before.

[War_Eagle]

Originally Posted by finallyme78

You got to love the biblical basis argument. Let's look at Noah. Did he have biblical basis to build an arc?

I know this is going to be quite a shock to you, but Noah lived before the scriptures were compiled.

I doubt the scriptures he had said anything about it. What about Moses? Did the law he wrote have any biblical basis?

Yes.

The bible is full of prophets who do something that wasn't done before. They did what God commanded them and didn't worry too much about what God had said before.

Really? Well, that's certainly a different picture than the Bible paints of them. How do you come by your information?

[MotherEarth]

Gen 26:5 Because that Abraham obeyed my voice, and kept my charge, my commandments, my statutes, and my laws.

There were commandments, statutes and laws (Torah) before it was compiled. From the beginning.
Some times I wonder how people can follow such a 'short sighted' god if they think every thing wasn't so from the beginning, and he just ad libbed along the way. Oh and that when he says Everlasting, it means 'for a while'. Until Heaven and Earth pass away and Jesus means 'a couple years'.

[Distorted Humor]

War Eagle, you have to remember that Mormons accept three books in Addition to the bible (which we find as the truth, as much as it was translated correctly.)

Tithing always gets people out of kitter. They just ask that you tithe what you feel is appropriate to tithe. be it gross, net, or so on. And since it not going into some local ministers hand (the church is run and built on people volunteering there time!) I never minded, as the rewards far exceed my little ten percent.

As for someone who is poor, 10% of nothing is still nothing. And Local members get a lot of help though the Fast offering.

[IrishCope]

I like Mormons. I think they're awesome people.

I could care less how "un-biblical" their teachings are. It's none of my business being since I myself am not Mormon.

If all you holier than thou Christians would gives these guys a chance they'd show you BY THEIR ACTIONS who acts more Christian like.

Alls I'm saying.

[MotherEarth]

Originally Posted by IrishCope

I like Mormons. I think they're awesome people.

I could care less how "un-biblical" their teachings are. It's none of my business being since I myself am not Mormon.

If all you holier than thou Christians would gives these guys a chance they'd show you BY THEIR ACTIONS who acts more Christian like.

Alls I'm saying.

I love Mormons too. The problem I have is when they tell me how their doctrine is the correct one and I am 'stiff necked' because I believe the Bible!
The Bible is only useful when it backs up what they teach. Like most all of the churches out there.
Mormon, or Baptist - makes no difference to me.

I use to be one, so it isn't like I am talking out my butt here.