Mormonism and Freemasonry/Relationship between Freemasonry and temple ceremonies

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Relationship between Freemasonry and temple ceremonies

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• Relationship between the Endowment and Freemasonry
• The use of ritual in gospel ordinances
• The ordinance versus the ritual used to present the ordinance

Relationship between the Endowment and Freemasonry

Summary: 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. 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.

Video published by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Jump to Subtopic:

• "Masonry," Church History Topics: "There are different ways of understanding the relationship between Masonry and the temple"
• Question: What criticisms are associated with the temple ritual and its relationship to Freemasonry?
• Question: When did Joseph Smith demonstrate knowledge of the elements of the endowment ritual?
• Question: Why would Joseph Smith incorporate Masonic elements into the temple ritual?
• Question: Why is confidentiality associated with the temple ordinances?
• Question: How do the goals of Freemasonry compare to those of the Latter-day Saint endowment?
• Question: Where did 19th-Century Latter-day Saints believe that Freemasonry came from?
• Question: Why is the Masonic symbol of the "All Seeing Eye" present on the Salt Lake Temple?
• Question: Did Joseph Smith copy Masonic material in order to create the Mormon temple rites?
• Question: Did Joseph Smith make up the temple ordinance or borrow them from an earthly source?
• Question: Do the temple endowment's similarities to Masonic rites have ancient roots?
• Question: Why isn't the temple ceremony based upon an earlier version of Freemasonry rather than what existed in Joseph Smith's time?

The use of ritual in gospel ordinances

Jump to Subtopic:

• Question: Why would Joseph Smith use a non-religious vehicle for presenting a temple ordinance?
• Question: What is the value of a ritual presentation?
• Question: Why do we continue to use such a participatory style of teaching in the 21st century?
• Question: Will God really deny us eternal salvation simply because we do not practice a set of, as some critics put it, "archaic medieval Masonic rituals" in Mormon temples?

1. REDIRECTChanges to the temple endowment