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  1. NorthboundZax says

    Curious quote, Greg. Is it the word ‘Masonic’ or the logic behind the statement that piques your interest?

  2. Greg Kearney says

    It’s the word Masonic. This quote comes from a longer piece written for the Oakland (California) Tribune by the First Presidency.

  3. Connor says

    Do you have the rest of the quote? Perhaps the paragraph before and after, which might help provide a little context?

  4. Keller says

    TEMPLES AND TABERNACLES

    As already shown, the Latter-day Saints are a temple-building people. They have erected, up to the present time, six of these edifices, at an aggregate cost of between seven and eight million dollars. The first temple was built at Kirtland, Ohio; the second at Nauvoo, Ill., the third at St. George, Utah; the fourth at Logan, Utah; the fifth at Manti, Utah; and the sixth at Salt Lake City. A temple was projected at Far West and another at Independence, Mo., but they were not erected owing to the mobbings and drivings of the Saints.

    The temples are not open to the public. They are for the performance of sacred ordinances, having in view the salvation of the living and the dead. The principal ceremonies are baptisms, endowments, marriages, sealings and adoptions. Much of this work, that in behalf of the dead, is of a vicarious character. With the Latter-day Saints there is hope of salvation for those who have departed this life without obeying the gospel, if they will yield obedience to its requirements in the other world, the place of departed spirits. The gospel will be preached to them by servants of the Lord who have entered into paradise, and they who manifest faith and repent there can be baptized for here, receiving in like manner other ministrations, to the end that they may be exalted and glorified. All, however, will be rewarded according to their works. The highest glory, according to our view, is attainable only by those who receive the gospel here, and are valiant for it, enduring faithful to the end; or those who would have done these things had they been upon earth when the opportunity was afforded. The Latter-day Saints marry for time and eternity, not merely until death parts husband and wife. Marriages performed under the civic law and by ministers of other denominations are regarded as honorable and effectual so far as relates to this life, but in order to be effectual in the life to come such covenants must be made for eternity, such unions must be formed according to God’s law and under his authority, or they will have no force or effect hereafter. The family is the foundation of eternal glory, the nucleus of a kingdom without end. The husband will have his wife, the wife her husband, parents their children, forever, provided they secure them in the manner prescribed by him whose right it is to regulate all things pertaining to his kingdom.

    THEIR SACRED CEREMONIES

    Because of their Masonic characters the ceremonies of the temple are sacred and not for the public. But there is nothing disloyal in them, as so often asserted, nor in their performance is there the slightest departure from the principles of decorum and propriety. Within the building are halls, corridors, reception rooms, offices, chapels, priesthood assembly rooms, baptismal fonts, separate dressing rooms and bathrooms for women and men, sealing rooms, altars, paintings, statuary, magnificent mirrors, decorations and hangings, with such other furniture and equipment as may be found in the parlors of any palatial mansion.

    Next to the temples in sacredness are the tabernacles, or places of public worship. The largest of these is the Salt Lake tabernacle, where may be seen and heard one of the great pipe organs of the world. This tabernacle, which will hold ten thousand people and is a marvel in its acoustic properties, was completed in October, 1867. The tabernacle choir, at the great choral contest in Chicago during the world’s fair of 1893, bore off the second prize. The choir is now preparing to visit the east, to sing at Madison Square Garden, New York, during the National Irrigation congress.

    In conclusion, let us say, as representing the body of religious worshipers over whom we have the honor to preside: We cherish none but sentiments of good will toward mankind. We regard all men as our brothers, children of the universal Father, and for their benefit and for his honor and glory we and our fellow servants are laboring, and expect to labor to the close of our mortal lives; passing hence to continue, in the world of spirits, the work of salvation inaugurated here. Peace be unto all, in the name of our Lord and Savior! JOSEPH F. SMITH, ANTHON H. LUND, JOHN HENRY SMITH, First Presidency of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

  5. Keller says

    The extended quote is interesting. Times are sure changing. 2nd place for the MoTab in a choir contest would be embarrassing and not something worth mentioning if it were to happen in 2008.

  6. david littlefield says

    There is an old saying that says you should never start believing your own Public Relations.

    That quote was given in the setting of a different day. I suspect that the “Masonic” reference was meant to illustrate that initiations are done. People understood Masonry, and I suspect the Brethren just meant it is that kind of this that is being done in our temples, and like the masons, we don’t openly share them. IMHO.

    -David

  7. Matthew B. Brown says

    The quote in the original source is different than the one published in the Deseret News and then Messages of the First Presidency. Proper context can only be gained from examining the original source.

  8. Bryce Haymond says

    What did the original source say?

    I tend to agree with David. The ceremonies are “Masonic” in nature, or in other words, they are both initiations into an order, and are held sacred by those who participate in them. Webster’s Revised Unabridged 1913 Dictionary defines masonic as “Of or pertaining to Freemasons or to their craft or mysteries.” A craft can be a method or mode of doing things. The craft of the Masons, or the way the Masons do things, is similar in character to the LDS temple. Both are held sacred in similar ways; both have mysteries; the procedures surrounding them are similar. But I believe there is a big difference between saying something comes from the Masons and saying that it has a “Masonic character.” Their similar characters stem from their common sources.

  9. Barnabas says

    Bryce,

    Are you ignorant of or choose to ignore the physical similarities between Freemasonry and the temple? There are direct, physical correlations between the two starting first and foremost with the compass and the square. To say that they are only similar because both are held sacred to their tenants is leaving A LOT unsaid.