Relationship between the temple endowment and Freemasonry

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Criticism

Critics of the LDC Church often cite similarities between the rituals of Freemasonry and that of the temple endowment ritual found in LDS Temple worship. It is pointed out that the development of the endowment parallels Joseph Smith Jr.'s introduction to Masonry in Nauvoo. Critics often imply, or state outright, that the temple endowment was taken from Freemasonry.

Source(s) of the Criticism

http://www.josephlied.com/masonry.html

Response

In order to answer this issue we need to establish a few facts:

1. Joseph Smith Jr. was a Mason as was his father and brother Hyrum.

2. Many of the early leaders of the church were also Masons. These include Brigham Young, Heber C. Kimball, John Taylor, Wilfred Woodruff and other leading members.

3. Masonry was a common social institution in mid-19th century America.

4. There are similarities between the rituals of Freemasonry and those of the LDS Temple endowment. These similarities center around the use of a ritual drama, the story of Hiram Abiff for the Masons and the story of Adam and Eve for the endowment as well as some similar hand actions.

In order to understand the relationship between the temple and Freemasonry it is useful to consider the temple experience. In the temple we are confronted with ritual in a form which is unknown in LDS worship outside of that venue. The temple is in fact made up of two parts. The endowment proper which is what we are taught and the covernence we make make before the Lord. And the presentation of the endowment, or the ritual.

Conclusion

A summary of the argument against the criticism.

Further reading

FAIR wiki articles

• Links to related articles in the wiki

FAIR web site

• FAIR Topical Guide: Masonic influence

External links

• FARMS Freemasonry Resources

Printed material

• Printed resources whose text is not available online