Hey guys. So Latter-day Saints are known for a lot of strange things. We've got
extra scriptures, we have secret temple rituals, there's the whole Kolob thing, oh
yeah, and we have magic underwear. "What now?" I don't know why people are so
interested in our underwear but people obviously have questions about it so in
this episode, we're gonna talk about what they are, what they're for, and if they're
really as magical as everyone, except the Latter-day Saints, say they are.
After a man or woman participates in the endowment temple ceremony, they wear what
we call the temple garment throughout their lives as an outward reminder of
the promises they made with God within the temple. These undergarments are meant
to be a spiritual protection for us in as much as they recall to our minds our
temple commitments and fortify our resolve to keep them. To help us remember
the Savior and those covenants, there are a few different symbols placed on
different parts of the garment. Temple garments are meant to symbolically
mirror the coats or garments of skins the Lord made and gave Adam and Eve to
cover their nakedness after being expelled from the Garden of Eden. We see
similar sacred clothing worn by Levite priests in ancient Israel for the same
reason, "And thou shalt make them linen breeches to cover their nakedness; from
the loins even unto the thighs they shall reach: And they shall be upon Aaron,
and upon his sons, when they come in unto the tabernacle of the congregation..." The
temple garment is sacred to Latter-day Saints just as other religious clothing
is sacred to other faiths. In the Jewish faith, men wear the small tallit under
their clothes every day and the large tallit outside their clothes. On the
Sabbath or in synagogue in the Roman Catholic faith, there's the scapular
along with several different articles of clothing worn by the clergy. The
Buddhists kasaya, the Sikh turban, the Muslim hijab, etc. I guess people just
think we're extra weird because we wear the garment under our normal clothes
instead of outside them and that makes it secret or scandalous or something, I
don't know. Anyway, people have a lot of practical questions about the temple
garment so I'm gonna rapid-fire answer some of the most common ones. Do your
regular clothes have to cover your garments? Well, it's encouraged, yes. This
isn't doctrine but in our culture the temple garment acts as sort of a rough
standard of modesty. We don't alter the garment to fit different clothing styles.
That said, sometimes the edges around the neck or the sleeves poke out a bit, it's
not a huge deal. Do Latter-day Saints have to wear garments? No. Only those who
have gone through the temple endowment ordinance are encouraged to wear them
both day and night. If you take those covenants seriously, you wear them but
even if you don't, you're not gonna get kicked out. Do Latter-day Saints wear
garments at all times? Well obviously not all the time, it's
very practical if you're going swimming, you're probably not gonna wear
them or when you shower in the morning.
There's also this rumor that if you and your spouse are spending some alone time
together, you have to wear them and no, of course not, look now we're all
uncomfortable. There's another rumor that's been going around for almost 200
years now, some people have been under the impression that we believe the
temple garment is meant to provide some kind of magical physical protection that
it'll stop bullets and such.
Unfortunately, as awesome as that would be, it's simply not true.
This rumor probably started in 1844 when Joseph Smith, Hyrum Smith, Willard
Richards, and John Taylor were attacked by a mob while in Carthage Jail. Joseph
and Hyrum were killed and John was shot up pretty bad. John later said that he,
Joseph, and Hyrum had removed the garment prior to traveling to Carthage because
of the hot weather so at the time of the attack, only Willard Richards was wearing
the temple garment and only Willard Richards escaped virtually unscathed.
This led many people, including members, to believe his garments physically
protected him from harm and it didn't help when Hubert Howe Bancroft
perpetuated this idea by writing in history of Utah, "This garment protects
from disease and even death for the bullet of an enemy will not penetrate it.
The Prophet Joseph carelessly left off his garment on the day of his death and
had he not done so he would have escaped unharmed." This may reflect Mr. Bancroft's
opinion but not the doctrine of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day
Saints. Now is it possible the garments can physically protect people? Sure, God
can do whatever he wants. Heck, he can heal blindness with mud. But temple
garments are meant for spiritual protection, not physical protection. When
worn properly, the garment provides protection against temptation and evil.
Wearing the garment is an outward expression of an inward commitment to
follow the Savior. That's quick overview of what the
Latter-day Saint temple garment is. If you have questions, check out the links
in the description, leave a comment and have great day.