Temples & Freemasonry

TEMPLES & FREEMASONRY

A Closer Look

7 Weeks After

CES Letter Core Question

Did Joseph Smith reveal the temple ceremony seven weeks after his Masonic initiation?

Joseph did reveal the ceremony just after becoming a Mason. Though the introduction of Freemasonry in Nauvoo helped prepare the Saints for the temple, many of the most significant elements of temple doctrines and ordinances were revealed to the Prophet a decade or more earlier.

True Masonry

CES Letter Core Question

Did Heber C. Kimball believe Freemasony was corrupted ceremony that originated in Solomon's Temple?

Same Masonic Version

CES Letter Core Question

If Masonry had the original Temple ceremony but became distorted over time, why doesn't the LDS ceremony more closely resemble an earlier form of Masonry?

FairMormon addresses this here:

If one assumes that any part of the ritual is based upon Freemasonry, then Joseph Smith used ritual elements known to him and his followers to teach a uniquely restorationist view.

CES Letter Core Question

If there’s no connection to Solomon’s Temple, what’s so divine about a man-made medieval European secret fraternity and its rituals?

Answer coming

Temple Changes

CES Letter Core Question

Why did the Church remove the blood oath penalties and the 5 Points of Fellowship at the veil from the endowment ceremony in 1990? Both of these were 100% Masonic rituals.

Secret Tokens and Signs

CES Letter Core Question

Is God really going to require individuals to know secret tokens, handshakes, and signs to get into heaven? What is the purpose of them?

The effectiveness of the saving ordinances depends as much on what we become as on what we know. Because earthly ordinances are themselves only models or reflections of heavenly ordinances, hyper-literalism about correspondences between them and Masonry is not as relevant as it appears.

The same reasoning can be applied to any number of spiritual rituals with a physical aspect. "Why would the Lord ask a bunch of people to throw themselves in a bunch of water to get into heaven?" Or "why would God ask a bunch of starving Israelites in a wilderness to sacrifice their best animals?" 1 Corinthians 2:14 describes this way of thinking, "the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him."

 

Separate Families?

CES Letter Core Question

Is God going to separate families who aren't sealed in the Temple?

Keeping the covenants is what leads to salvation, not the actual rituals themselves. The endowment is for us.