I have heard many people ask questions about the undergarments worn by many members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The questions have ranged from open mockery to honest and sincere inquiry. Although I will not claim that this post will be a comprehensive coverage of these garments, I do hope that this post can help answer some of the basic questions on this topic and that it will help people both inside and outside of the Church to recognize the sacredness and importance of "the temple garment" or the "garment of the Holy Priesthood."
To truly understand the garment, one must return to the original story and the original garments. Both are found in the account of Adam and Eve and their Fall.
In Genesis 1, God creates the Earth and everything upon it. It is interesting to note that following each creative period, God looks over His works and declares them "good." However, upon creation of His children in His own image, He pronounces the work "very good" (see Genesis 1:31). The purpose of the Creation is only served when God's children are placed upon it (see 1 Nephi 17:36; Moses 1:30-39).
In Genesis 2, God gives an interesting command to Adam:
16 And the Lord God acommanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest bfreely eat:
17 But of the atree of the bknowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the cday that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely ddie.
I believe many Biblical views would say that at this point, if Adam and Eve partake of the fruit, they have thwarted God's entire plan. To these views, I would first point out the following truths:
God is Omniscient. 1 Chronicles 28:9 indicates that "the Lord searcheth all hearts, and understandeth all the imaginations of the thoughts." Psalm 147:5 teaches that the Lord's "understanding is infinite." 1 Nephi 9:6 teaches that "the Lord knoweth all things from the beginning; wherefore, He prepareth a way to accomplish all His works among the children of men; for behold, He hath all power unto the fulfilling of all His words." Finally, Moses 1:6 tells us that "all things are present with [God]" and that He knows "them all."
So the question is: does an Omniscient God, who has all things present before Him place two people on His creation, call it all "very good" only to have them "mess up" His eternal plan? I don't think so. Clarification of the command given to Adam and Eve can be found by studying 2 Nephi 2 in the Book of Mormon and recognizing that God was essentially telling Adam and Eve that if they wanted to stay in the Garden of Eden, they could not partake of the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil. However, they could choose for themselves. In essence, this decision by Adam and Eve "was more like a close judgment call than it was a true sin." (see Bruce C. Hafen, "Beauty for Ashes: The Atonement of Jesus Christ")
In essence, Adam and Eve had to partake of the fruit in order for God's plan to actually move forward. They needed choice and opposition and this command gave them that opportunity (see 2 Nephi 2:11-27).
The next part of the story is where the temple garment, or garment of the Holy Priesthood comes into play.
After Adam and Eve partake of the fruit, they recognize that they are naked (see Genesis 3:7). Their next actions display some of what we might call "natural" human tendencies. Adam and Eve cover their nakedness with fig leaf aprons. There are several problems with fig leaf aprons as coverings for nakedness:
1. They don't cover much
2. Fig leaves will shortly decompose and a new covering will have to be made
3. Comfort and protection are sorely lacking
We could probably name other issues with fig leaf aprons as coverings for nakedness, but I believe what has been said is sufficient.
Why are Adam and Eve trying to cover their nakedness? The entire story is extraordinarily symbolic. First of all we have to see ourselves in Adam and Eve. They are representative of the entire human family. Given this fact, we have to see the nakedness as a symbol of exposure. They are in a condition of separation from God, where they are exposed to the consequences of their action (the world will fall with them - elements of weather and plants... thorns, etc.). They need a covering.
This nakedness is symbolic of a transgression (in Adam and Eve's case) or a sin. A decision to sin leaves us separated from God. We need a covering for that sin/sinful condition. Adam and Eve's effort to cover themselves with fig leaf aprons, and then to hide from God (see Genesis 3:8) were efforts to cover their transgression themselves. Similarly, there is a natural human tendency to try and cover our sins. We don't want anyone to know what we have done. We want to get rid of the guilt or shame we might feel because of our sin. We cover and hide.
Where it gets really interesting is seeing what God does next. He asks where Adam is (see Genesis 3:90. Does God know where Adam is? Of course! However, He is giving Adam the opportunity to come forth and show himself in truth and honest of where he really is. He is giving Adam and Eve the opportunity to be honest with Him.
Adam and Eve make the right decision. They come out and are honest with God about their decisions, despite their obvious fear of the possible consequences.
The garments come in with verse 21: "Unto Adam also and to his wife did the Lord God make coats of skins, and clothed them."
Here God has created a covering for Adam and Eve's nakedness (for our purposes a sinful condition). This covering is much more sufficient than the fig leaf aprons that Adam and Eve tried to make. The differences are obvious.
However, the most important part of these coats of skins (in my opinion), is a recognition of where the coats of skins come from and how they had to have come about.
First: The coat of skins comes from God and they are put on Adam and Eve by Him.
Second: There was an animal that had to have been killed in order to have this skin/covering.
Third: The animal was innocent of any wrongdoing in this matter.
Putting all of this information together, we find the following statement of truth: an innocent had to be killed in order to cover a sinful condition. In other words, here in the episode of the Fall, God was showing to Adam and Eve that He had already prepared a sufficient covering for any sin they would ever commit. They needn't hide their sins or try to cover them. God had already prepared a sacrifice of His Innocent Son in order to cover any sinful condition of any Adam or any Eve.
These coats of skins are the temple garment. The temple garment is the most critical symbol that Church members can put on. In essence, as we put on the temple garment, we are putting on Christ. We are recognizing our need for grace because of our sinful condition. We are recognizing that without putting on this covering, we are subject to the consequences of sin. We are recognizing our need for Christ and His infinite sacrifice. That although He Himself was innocent of any wrongdoing, He gave His life so that we could take His qualities and (Himself) and put Him on us to cover for our sins and inadequacies.
Knowing this, can you see why we should seek diligently to receive the blessings of the Temple? Can you see why we would wear the garment night and day? Why we would not alter the garment to meet modern "fashions"?
The Temple Garment is certainly a symbol of modesty. It is absolutely a symbol of covenants to follow Jesus Christ. But it is so essential to remember that as much as we make commitments to God as part of the covenants we make in the Temple, God's ultimate promise to us is that He gave His Son to cover for our sins so that we could not only have those sins be covered, but that we would be able to become like His Son.
C.S. Lewis said it this way:
“Christ says, "Give me All. I don't want so much of your time and so much of your money and so much of your work: I want You. I have not come to torment your natural self, but to kill it. No half-measures are any good...Hand over the whole natural self, all the desires which you think innocent as well as the ones you think wicked--the whole outfit. I will give you a new self instead. In fact, I will give you Myself: my own will shall become yours.”
“Now the whole offer which Christianity makes is this: that we can, if we let God have His way, come to share in the life of Christ. If we do, we shall then be sharing a life which was begotten, not made, which always existed and always will exist. Christ is the Son of God. If we share in this kind of life we also shall be sons of God. We shall love the Father as He does and the Holy Ghost will arise in us. He came to this world and became a man in order to spread to other men the kind of life He has — by what I call "good infection." Every Christian is to become a little Christ. The whole purpose of becoming a Christian is simply nothing else.”
Additional helpful information can be found on the Gospel Topics page under "Garments"
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