Did Joseph Smith steal the temple endowment from Freemasonry? Ep. 57

In this episode, Dave addresses some common concerns about the relationship between the Latter-day Saint (Mormon) temple endowment and Freemasonry.

More info on this subject from our website: https://bit.ly/2YDza4G

From the Church’s website: https://bit.ly/2qMEK87

Fantastic video from past Saint Unscripted guest, Jeff Roundy: https://bit.ly/31L5bI5

Another (longer) video from past guest, Brett McDonald: https://bit.ly/2JoMy6l

Freemasonry and the Origins of Modern Temple Ordinances: https://bit.ly/2N3fXnF

Similarities Between Mormon and Masonic Temple ritual: https://bit.ly/2wXzJaV

Presentation by Greg Kearney: https://bit.ly/32PG2xk

The First Nauvoo Temple (Historical background info): https://bit.ly/32Eu7SS

On the adaptive nature of revelation, from Ben Spackman: https://bit.ly/31JJt75

Circumcision in Egypt before Abraham (more in Spackman article): https://bit.ly/2JC8KKz

Can Temple Ceremonies Change? (More in future episode): https://bit.ly/32DFJp9

A few insightful quotes on this subject: https://bit.ly/2MJRO6B

“Freemasonry and the Temple,” by Kenneth W. Godfrey: https://bit.ly/2ogKUwc

“Was Freemasonry Derived From Mormonism?” by Eugene Seaich: https://bit.ly/2MLWU27

Video from Chris Cunningham outlining more perspectives on this issue: https://bit.ly/2p4Nq9s

I highly recommend this book for a more comprehensive look at this issue: “Exploring the Connection Between Mormons and Masons,” by Matthew B. Brown.

NOTES:

Quotes I wanted to include but didn’t have space for:

From Dr. Mark Rivera: “For over 20 years, Smith had shown a pattern of encountering sacred texts, pondering them prayerfully and then receiving major revelation … It is my belief that the three masonic ceremonies of ritual initiation constituted for Smith another sacred text for him to ponder and meditate upon. In turn, I believe this pondering and contemplation over the weeks following his initiation became a context for Smith to receive a major revelation consistent with the pattern in which Smith had received some major revelations before.”

From Q and A with Scott Gordon: “[Q.] Did Joseph simply copy the temple ceremony from the masons? [A.] No. There is too much in the temple that isn’t related to what goes on in masonry. [Q.] Are there elements in the endowment ceremony that are found in masonry? [A.] Yes. There are a few but they have been completely repurposed. Certainly the temple ceremony contains some of the phrases, wording, and symbols that exist within masonry. But, these things, both masonic and biblical, were part of the world Joseph Smith lived in. Just as we use movie language in our speaking, it is not surprising to have some masonic language in the world of Joseph Smith. … [Q.] Did Joseph Smith simply believe something was ancient that was really modern and copy that into a fake temple ceremony? [A.] No, even if you stripped out all of the elements that overlap with masonry, the temple ceremony is surprisingly in alignment with ancient temples.”

Also from Scott Gordon’s presentation: “Masonry focuses on man’s relationship to man while the temple endowment focuses on man’s relationship to God. While there may be some passing similarities between some Masonic rituals and the temple ritual of the endowment, the teachings, the covenants, and the purposes are completely different. Did Joseph Smith use some words and symbols from Masonry to create the temple ceremony? Probably, but only a very small amount the he repurposed for a different meaning. Did the Masons use words and symbols from Solomon’s temple to create their masonic ceremonies? Or were they purely seventeenth century creations? I don’t think anybody knows that answer for sure. But, it really doesn’t matter. Because the claim Joseph Smith borrowed the endowment ceremony from masonry, whether created in the seventeenth century or not, is clearly false. While there are a few similarities, the entire purpose and intent is different. Instead of believing that Joseph Smith copied the ceremony from the Masons, it makes much more sense to say that Joseph Smith received the promises and covenants of the Temple from God and from the scriptures. But he also adapted and repurposed some things he was exposed to in Freemasonry to assist in that temple ceremony. Whether those few repurposed masonic elements are of ancient or modern origin, I will leave up to you.”

Michael Ash wrote (emphasis added), “...important elements of the endowment include the key words, signs, and tokens. These elements are used to convey absolute truths although they may do so by way of relative truths that are subject to change. Thus, the vehicle by which these important elements are expressed, as well as other components of the endowment … are less essential (relative truths). The significance and purpose of the endowment (an absolute truth) remains unchanged.”