FAIR is a non-profit organization dedicated to providing well-documented answers to criticisms of the doctrine, practice, and history of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Relationship between the temple endowment and Freemasonry
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Claim
Some critics of Mormonism see similarities between the rites of Freemasonry and LDS temple ceremonies and assume that since Joseph Smith was initiated as a Freemason shortly before he introduced the Nauvoo-style endowment he must have plagiarized elements of the Masonic rituals. This viewpoint leads them, in turn, to conclude that the LDS endowment is nothing but a variant form of Masonic initiation and therefore not from a divine source.
To see citations to the critical sources for these claims, [[../CriticalSources|click here]]
Response
Joseph Smith was initiated as a Freemason on the 15th and 16th of March 1842. But previously, on the 19th of Janaury 1841, the Lord gave a revelation to Joseph Smith (D&C 124) wherein He stated that He was going to restore through the Prophet the lost ordinances which had once been practiced inside of the Tabernacle built by Moses and the house built in the land of promise, meaning the temple of Solomon. The Lord also provided a list of many ritual elements that would be restored and practiced inside of the Nauvoo Temple. The elements named in this 1841 revelation are the same which Joseph Smith is accused of plagiarizing from the Freemasons.
A detailed look at LDS history before March of 1842 reveals that the Prophet Joseph Smith and some of his collegues were aware of many Nauvoo-style temple items early on - including ideology, vestments, language, forms, architecture and actions. Knowledge of many of these things predated the revelation given on 19 January 1841 (D&C 124). A careful look at the pre-1842 scriptural texts produced through Joseph Smith's instrumentality is also instructive. They reveal a wealth of knowledge about the rites that would be introduced among the Saints on 4 May 1842. The ritual activities associated with the Kirtland, Ohio temple must also be taken into consideration when evaluating the charge that Joseph Smith borrowed things from the Freemasons.
A great weakness in the claim that Joseph Smith 'borrowed' from the Freemasons and 'created' the LDS temple ceremony is that Joseph Smith's version of things can be compared with the rites of ancient Israel and early Christianity in order to see if a restoration of orthodox material has indeed occurred. The Mormon and Masonic patterns can be weighed against what was once practiced among God's covenant peoples and a determination can then be made about whose pattern is closer to the original (i.e., the biblical pattern). A comparison between the LDS rites and modern Christian ordinances (particularly of the Eastern variety) is also most instructive.
Another thing that needs to be taken into consideration about the 'Mormonism/Masonry' issue is that depsite the claims of some people the origin of Masonic patterns (lodge make-up and arrangement) and ritual can be readily determined. Several Masonic historians have pointed out the striking parallels between what they do and what the orthodox Christians have done for a very long time. These correspondences correlate very well with what Joseph Smith and other nineteenth century Mormons said about the origin of Freemasonry.