Gospel Doctrine or Cultural Myth: Temple Married Members Don’t Make Love Naked

You may have heard the stories. I’ve heard several.

 For example, the brother who claims that there is never a reason to take off the temple garment and all of his children were conceived while wearing them. The sister who was so unsure about when it was appropriate to take off the garment that she never took them off and even bathed in them. I also heard one story of a temple matron who was teaching that the garment must be touching the skin at all times and nothing should be worn underneath the garment.

The Lord Jesus Christ taught us that we should be living by the spirit of the law and not do as the Pharisees do with the doctrine by looking for a letter of the law in every little detail, while ignoring the purpose of the doctrine. (Matthew 23:23-24 )

I believe this also applies to the wearing of our sacred garments. When it comes to making love to our spouse, I have found nothing that supports the belief that we should never take them off. What I have found is instruction that there are times when it can be considered inappropriate to wear them and in following the "spirit of the law" is between the wearer and the Lord.

“Wearing and Caring for the Garment

Church members who have received the endowment have made a covenant to wear the garment according to the instructions given in the temple. When issuing temple recommends, priesthood leaders should read aloud the First Presidency statement on wearing the garment. [Basically, the statement below. see https://newsroom.churchofjesuschrist.org/multimedia/file/first-presidency-temple-recommend-letter.pdf]

It is a sacred privilege to wear the temple garment. Doing so is an outward expression of an inner commitment to follow the Savior Jesus Christ.

The garment is a reminder of covenants made in the temple. When worn properly throughout life, it will serve as a protection against temptation and evil.

The garment should be worn beneath the outer clothing. It is a matter of personal preference whether other undergarments are worn beneath the temple garment.

The garment should not be removed for activities that can reasonably be done while wearing the garment. It should not be modified to accommodate different styles of clothing.

The garment is sacred and should be treated with respect. Endowed members should seek the guidance of the Holy Spirit to answer personal questions about wearing the garment.”

(General Handbook:Temple Ordinances For The Living, 2020  27.3.5)

I was unable to see anything in this that suggests it is inappropriate to take the garment off while being sexually intimate with our spouse. For the full connected experience and bonding chemical releases of sexual intimacy to take place, there must be skin to skin contact.[1] This allows ions to be exchanged and chemical receptors to be activated. Always having something between you, I believe, allows a physical and psychological barrier that impedes complete mental, emotional, physical and spiritual connection. In this, I would consider sexual intimacy classified as an "inappropriate" time to wear the garment.

 

In addition, it is a sacred privilege to wear the garment, but the garment serves as a reminder of the covenant that we make. Therefore, the power is not in the garment, but in the covenant. The garment serves as a reminder of that covenant. (Deut. 10:16; Romans 2:25-29) 

 

Also, within that spirit of the law, by being sexually intimate with our spouse, are we not fulfilling the sacred temple covenants reserved for the highest ordinances in the temple? Sexuality in marriage is holy, it is sacred and marriage is the sacred place for that most holy rite to be exercised.

For this purpose, I have to put “myth” on the belief that we as married Saints are not allowed to take the garment off while having sex with our spouse. The only caveat with this I see is that the garment should be put back on as soon as possible. Because circumstances vary, a spirit - of - the - law provision is built in. We have some flexibility to decide when to put it back on, but also should keep in mind that it has nothing to do with the material garment itself. The garment is only a reminder of the deeper covenant we have made with the Lord.

We wear it and keep it on because we love the Lord and respect the promises contained in our covenants. We keep in mind that those covenants also help enable us to keep the spouse we proclaim to love and want to keep for eternity. It would do our marriage a disservice to focus it all on sexually pleasing our spouse while at the same time ignoring our covenants with God. But, as we say "let the Holy Spirit guide." After a lovemaking session, He's our best gauge of when it's time to put them back on.

To help quell any concerns about the appropriateness of discussing this sacred topic regarding the garment, I hope those with concerns will note that the directions for how the temple garment should be worn is posted by the church online for all to read: (https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/handbook/handbook-2-administering-the-church/selected-church-policies?lang=eng#21.1.42 )

The Church has also posted this video that openly discusses and shows the sacred temple garment in an effort to also help dispel any myths or concerns outsiders have about our faith. It is also done in the hopes of dispelling prejudice toward our faith through education. The video can be seen below or on YouTube.

I will accept any honest questions, but ask that all be respectful with addressing this sacred topic. Disrespectful comments will be deleted.

References:

[1] Uvnas-Moberg, Handlin, Petersson, Self-soothing behaviors with particular reference to oxytocin release induced by non-noxious sensory stimulation, NCBI (Jan. 12,2014) https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4290532/