May Books

The Holy Invitation

The Holy Covenant

By: Anthony Sweat

The Holy Covenant: On the outside of the Salt Lake Temple is a carving of two people shaking hands, symbolizing the temple as a place where we make sacred covenants with God. But what are those holy promises, and what do they have to do with becoming endowed with spiritual power in our everyday lives? In The Holy Covenants, religion professor Anthony Sweat helps us better understand the major covenants of the temple endowment as a pattern of divine living. He explains with clarity and perspective how the temple presentation, clothing, garment, ordinances, and covenants invite us to become part of a holy order, patterned after the Son of God. As we understand and live our holy temple covenants, we can gain spiritual capacity, become endowed with heavenly power, and progress toward our divine potential as “priests and kings [and queens and priestesses], who have received of his fulness” (D&C 76:56).  The Holy Invitation: The Holy Invitation offers an insightful introduction to the temple, helping young adults and new converts better comprehend the eternal truths taught in the Lord's house. This short book explores the temple experience from three different vantage points: the why, drawing upon a fictional metaphor with parallels to the temple; the what, exploring the history of the endowment; and the how, applying the metaphor, Church history, and the endowment to us. This three-part approach allows readers to learn in a way that relates best to them individually and helps those who are new to the temple have a richer, deeper temple experience with room for continued growth. As illustrated by metaphor, history, and application, the Lord extends to each one of us a holy invitation: an invitation to enter His temple, to learn of Him and His ways, and to prepare to come back into His presence.