Relationship between the temple endowment and Freemasonry

Important note: Members of FAIR take their temple covenants seriously. We consider the temple teachings to be sacred, and will not discuss their specifics in a public forum.

Criticism

Critics of the LDS Church often cite similarities between the rituals of Freemasonry and the LDS temple endowment. 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 that the temple endowment was taken from Freemasonry.

It is worthwhile to note that these critics are also often critical of Freemasonry, and thus attempt guilt by association.

Source(s) of the Criticism

Website: josephlied.com

Response

[1]In order to understand this issue, a few facts are needed:

  1. Joseph Smith, Jr. was a Mason, as were his brother Hyrum and his father.
  2. Many of the early leaders of the church were also Masons. These included 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 is used by the Masons, while the LDS endowment uses the story of Adam and Eve
  • some similar hand actions in the course of the rituals.

Two aspects of temple worship

In order to understand the relationship between the temple endowment and Freemasonry it is useful to consider the temple experience. In the temple, participants are confronted with ritual in a form which is unknown in LDS worship outside of that venue. The temple endowment is, in fact, made up of two parts:

  1. The teachings of the endowment, i.e., the doctrines taught and the covenants made with God.
  2. The method of presenting the endowment, or the "ritual" mechanics themselves.

It is in the ritual presentation of the endowment teachings and covenants that the similarities between the LDS temple worship and Freemasonry are the most apparent. The question is, why would this be the case?

Joseph's challenge

In developing the endowment, Joseph faced a problem. He wished to communicate, in a clear and effective manner, some new (and, in some cases, complex) religious ideas. These included such abstract concepts as

  • the nature of creation
  • matter being organized and not created out of nothing
  • humanity's relationship to God and each other
  • eternal marriage

Joseph needed to communicate these ideas to a population with limited educational attainments, many of whom were immigrants with only modest skills in English. And, ideally, people of different levels of intellectual and spiritual maturity needed to be taught by the same ceremony.

Joseph's experience with Freemasonry—including serving as the Chaplain of Rising Sun Lodge in Nauvoo—taught him the power of instruction through ritual and repetition. Many believe that Joseph seized on this insight as a tool for teaching the endowment's doctrines and covenants. By using ritual forms akin to Freemasonry—forms with which many Saints were already acquainted—he insured that their focus would be on the endowment proper, and not on the means chosen to present it.

Differences

It is also worth noting that many of the similarities highlighted by church critics are only superficial. For example, critics focus on the common use of architectural elements on the Salt Lake Temple and in Masonry, even though the endowment makes no references to such elements. In almost every case, shared symbolic forms have different meanings.

The goals of Masonry and the endowment are not the same. Both teach important truths, but the truths they teach are different. Masonry teaches of man's relationship to his fellow men and offers no means of salvation; it is not a religion. The temple endowment teaches of man's relationship to God, and Latter-day Saints consider it essential for exaltation.

Modifications

With time, modern Saints have lost their connection to the institution of Freemasonry. Therefore, the understanding of these ritual forms has been lost by most members. As members no longer require or respond to such rituals elements, some have been modified or removed from the temple's ritual. The ritual of the temple has undergone (and will likely continue to undergo) modification and improvement to meet the needs of the Saints in the coming years.

Conclusion

The temple endowment is made up of two elements: 1) the "endowment proper," or doctrines taught and covenants made; and 2) the ritual presentation of the endowment.

While the ritual has elements that are shared with Freemasonry, the presentation is not the endowment. Joseph used these ritual elements because of the Saints' familiarity with them. Ritual drama provided a teaching tool which permitted the prophet to communicate the endowment to a population of limited education.

The presentation of the endowment has been (and likely will continue to be) changed under priesthood direction to meet the changing needs of Latter-day Saints around the world. Many of the Masonic elements once found in the presentation of the endowment are no longer in use. Symbolic elements in the endowment, whatever their source, are present only to aid members in a religious purpose: understanding doctrine and keeping covenants.

We live in a world of symbols. No man or woman can come out of the temple endowed as he should be, unless he has seen, beyond the symbol, the mighty realities for which the symbols stand.[2]

Endnotes

  1. [note] This article was created by Greg Kearney, Franklin Lodge #123 A.F. & A.M. of Maine, and includes edits by other FAIRwiki editors.
  2. [note]  John A. Widtsoe, "Temple Worship," Utah Genealogical and Historical Magazine (April 1921): 62 (italics added).

Further reading

FAIR web site

External links

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