Difference between revisions of "Question: Why is the Masonic symbol of the "All Seeing Eye" present on the Salt Lake Temple?"

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==Question==
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==Question: Why is the Masonic symbol of the "All Seeing Eye" present on the Salt Lake Temple?==
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===The All-Seeing Eye of God was not a symbol created by the Masonic fraternity and, in fact, was utilized as an emblem in Christian architecture long before Speculative Freemasonry became an organization===
  
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The Masonic symbol of the "All Seeing Eye" was at one time displayed by the character of Satan during the LDS endowment, along with the Masonic square and compass. Does this suggest that Joseph Smith or Brigham Young was trying to teach that Masonry was evil, or was imitating Masonic ritual?
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The claim is sometimes made by critics that since the All-Seeing Eye of God is displayed on the exterior and interior of the Salt Lake Temple<ref>The All-Seeing Eye of God can be seen on east and west center
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towers of the Salt Lake City temple and also in the interior in the Garden Room (see ''Ensign'', October 1990, 39; March 1993, 33).</ref> and the All-Seeing Eye is an emblem utilized by the Freemasons then the Mormon usage must be an indication of a connection between Mormon temples and Freemasonry.  
  
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==Answer==
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The All-Seeing Eye of God was not a symbol created by the Masonic fraternity and, in fact, was utilized as an emblem in Christian architecture long before Speculative Freemasonry became an organization.  
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[[Image:All_seeing_eye_USD.jpg|right|frame|Detail of US dollar bill, showing the All Seeing Eye.]]
 
  
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The All Seeing Eye, as well as the Square and Compasses and many other similar symbols, were displayed by the Satan character during the endowment's ritual drama.{{ref|gk1}}
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Latter-Day Saints as a group became involved in Freemasonry in early 1842 but, as noted in the timeline below, the All-Seeing Eye of God was a well-established symbol among the Mormons long before this affiliation.  
  
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These same symbols can be found both on the exterior of the Salt Lake Temple as well as in the interior paintings.
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'''1828–29''' – “I pray the God of my salvation that He view me
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with His all-searching eye” (2 Ne. 9:44).
  
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Why would these images be used to represent Satan's "power and priesthoods"?  FAIR is aware of no writing which addresses this matter, but it seems logical to conclude that the symbols were used to show how Satan can usurp the symbols of good.  In this instance, these symbols are used by the Mason to teach a variety of principles:
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'''1828–29''' – “under the glance of the piercing eye of the Almighty
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* the All Seeing Eye (of God) represents God's omniscience
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God” (Jacob 2:10).
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* the Square represents virtue or rectitude
 
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* the Compasses circumscribe our passions{{ref|interpret1}}
 
  
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Satan's appropriation of these symbols demonstrates his tendency to be the great counterfeiter; he seizes on good or even holy things, adopts them, and twists them to his own purposes.  In doing so, he ultimately inverts and perverts their meaning.
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'''1828–29''' – “the glance of [God’s] all-searching eye” (Mosiah
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27:31).
  
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The lesson here was that just because someone has the appearance of Godliness, just because he comes before you with the symbols of good does not make him Godly or good. One should, as the endowment teaches, look for true messengers from God, having genuine authority and not merely the outer trappings of such.
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'''December 1830''' – “I can stretch forth mine hands and hold all
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the creations which I have made; and mine eye can pierce them
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also” (Moses 7:36).
  
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In the end simply having the symbols is not enough.
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'''2 January 1831''' – “Thus saith the Lord your God, even Jesus
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Christ, the Great I AM, Alpha and Omega, the beginning and
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the end, the same which looked upon the wide expanse of eternity,
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and all the seraphic hosts of heaven, before the world was
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made; The same which knoweth all things, for all things are
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present before mine eyes. . . . mine eyes are upon you. I am in
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your midst and ye cannot see me” (D&C 38:1–2, 7).
  
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Rather one seeks those who have, as the Masonic ritual says, "squared [their] lives and circumscribe[d] [their] passions.
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'''13 August 1831''' – “mine eyes are upon those who have not as
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yet gone up unto the land of Zion” (D&C 62:2).
  
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Furthermore, the All-Seeing Eye was a symbol which also had powerful ''positive'' associations for the Saints, and they used it frequently:
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'''1 November 1831''' – “Hearken, O ye people of my church, saith
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the voice of Him who dwells on high, and whose eyes are upon
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all men” (D&C 1:1).
  
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:Because the all-seeing eye depicts certain aspects of God's character, as well as an actual part of His physical person, the symbol proved useful to the Mormons.  LDS symbolists created imposing eyes on early ZCMI signs, gold pieces, Nauvoo Legion flags, The Mormon and The Seer (newspapers), diplomas and certificates, Salt Lake Temple platters, plaques on the Manti, St.  George and Ogden tabernacles, and the Washington Monument Stone.  Mason W. H. Cunningham has described the eye as "sovereign inspection whom Sun, Moon and Stars obey, and under whose watchful care even comets perform their stupendous revolutions, pervades the inmost recesses of the human heart, and will reward us according to our merits."{{ref|roberts3}}
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'''November 1831''' – “Behold and lo, mine eyes are upon you”
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(D&C 67:2).
  
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===Attitude of Joseph Smith and Brigham Young to such symbols===
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'''31 July 1832''' – “my heart is naked before [God’s] eyes continually.”<ref>Letter by Joseph Smith Jr. in Dean C. Jessee, ed., ''Personal Writings of Joseph Smith'', rev. ed. (Salt Lake City and Provo, UT:
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Deseret Book and BYU Press, 2002), 269; hereafter cited as''PWJS''.</ref>
  
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How did Joseph Smith approach these matters?  One author remarked:
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'''4 January 1833''' – “the eyes of my Maker are upon me.”<ref>Letter by Joseph Smith Jr. in ibid., 298.</ref>
  
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:Although Joseph Smith freely admitted relating Masonry and Mormonism, to assert that Joseph's Mormonism was simply the direct product of borrowed Masonry is too naive and incomplete a conclusion by itself.  Joseph's Masonry was not a conventional one. He attempted to restore it in much the same way the gospel was restored. That is, he saw Masonry, like Christendom, as possessing some important truths which could be beneficially extracted from what was otherwise an apostate institution.  Mormons, with the restored priesthood, had the "true Masonry,' even 'Celestial Masonry." Joseph claimed to have received some of the "lost keys" which would permit him to purify Masonry and return it to its state of ancient perfection.  His free use of Masonic symbols, then, reflects Smith's feeling that he had a legitimate right to employ these divine emblems of antiquity.{{ref|roberts1}}
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'''May 1835''' – “the scrutinizing eye of ‘Him with whom we have
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to do.’”<ref>Statement by Oliver Cowdery in ''Messenger and Advocate'', vol. 1, no. 8, May 1835, 121; hereafter cited as ''M&A''.</ref>
  
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And Brigham:
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'''29 January 1836''' – “[the] Lord had [His] eye upon thee.” <ref>Joseph Smith Sr. statement in Dean C. Jessee, Mark Ashurst-McGee, and Richard L. Jensen, eds., ''The Joseph Smith Papers: Journals Volume 1, 1832–1839'' (Salt Lake City: The Church Historian’s Press, 2008), 176.</ref>
  
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:Symbolism continued in Utah through the efforts of Brigham Young who caused its usage to expand-both as to variety and frequency. While Young had been a Mason and personally owned Masonic handbooks, after Nauvoo troubles with Gentile Masons (including their probable participation in the martyrdom and subsequent persecution and expulsion of the Saints), he had no love for the group. Yet the ornamental trappings planned for the Salt Lake Temple (originally extensive but much diluted after his death in 1877) demonstrated a continuing implementation of Joseph's selected Masonic symbols...Even more dramatic was Young's extensive use of the all-seeing eye motif on signs of ZCMI stores during and after 1868. Though the parallel with Masonry is obvious, some say Brigham could have obtained his ideas from the Egyptian Book of Breathings.  Orson Pratt and W. W. Phelps have also been considered possible sources for symbolism of the astrological type. Whatever the actual source, Young, like Joseph, was open in his use of symbols and did not feel that he was borrowing from Masonry (which did not exist in Utah for several years after 1847) but was rather employing metaphors belonging to the universal body of truth.{{ref|brigham1}}
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'''9 May 1836''' – “they stand naked and exposed to the piercing
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eye of Jehovah.” <ref>Letter by Parley P. Pratt dated 9 May 1836 in ''M&A'', vol. 2, no. 8, May 1836, 318.</ref>
  
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As the Saints drifted further from an intensive use of symbols, the presence of symbols on the Salt Lake Temple (planned in Brigham Young's day) caused some concern and confusion near the end of the 19th century:
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'''May 1836''' – “God is not mocked with impunity. His all seeing
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eye beholds you at all times. . . . His all-seeing eye surveys the
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whole of His vast creation.” <ref>{{nc}}</ref>
  
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:Truman O. Angell, in response to an inquiry by Franklin D. Richards as to why the Salt Lake Temple had Masonic symbols on it, wrote that they had nothing to do with the Masons but were derived by President Brigham Young after an intensive study of scripture, particularly the Old Testament...That year as the temple was being pushed to completion, Elder Richards observed two things which disturbed him.  Firstly, basic architectural changes had been made apparently without authorization, i.e. leaving out windows which appeared in the original design.  More bothersome were certain symbols seemingly of Masonic design.  Richards took the matter up with Truman O. Angell, Sr., the original architect, who by then was an old man in failing health. Angell defensively responded that all changes had been authorized by Brigham Young (who had died in 1877.)...He did not explain why certain symbols were left off entirely and denied that Freemasonry had anything to do with the designs.  In a letter to John Taylor, Angell then denied even discussing Masonry with Richards, "I made no reference to Free Masonry when conversing with Brother Richards on the subject."  Richards, however, mentions in a letter to President Taylor that part of Angell's reason for omitting certain windows was 'that is was not Masonic for light to be received from the North."  Taylor, upon receiving that remark, clearly expressed his view that Masonic considerations should have no part in the temple's design: "It may be true, as he (Angell) says, that in Free Masonry the light comes from the East, but we can scarcely recognize that as a reason why our Temple built for the administration of the Ordinances of the Most High God should be erected according to its rules."  Taylor instructed Richards to instruct Angell to follow faithfully the design in the 1850s steel engraving and not to make changes without prior approval. It was, however, too late to return to the earlier design.  Ironically, such a reversion would have resulted in more, not less, Masonic symbolism (compass and square, saturn stones, etc. were planned) and consequently greater confusion as to origins.{{ref|roberts2}}
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'''April 1837''' – “the scrutinizing eye of Jehovah is ever upon
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them.” <ref>Statement by William Marks in ibid., vol. 3, no. 7, April 1837, 493.</ref>
  
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===Decline of the symbols in the twentieth century Church===
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'''June 1837''' – “In vain do they attempt to hide from the scrutinizing
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Today, of course, there is no reference to the All Seeing Eye and the other symbols. We no longer live in a world steeped in symbols, as was the case when the endowment was first developed. The decline of Masonry as a social institution means that (as this question demonstrates) such symbols confuse rather than enlighten the modern member of the Church. Therefore, these symbols are not used in the present endowment&mdash;as we have seen, the symbol is not the key, but rather the underlying message or truth being taught.  If the symbol does not help teach the truth, it is of no real purpose.
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eye of Jehovah.” <ref>Comment by William Marks in ibid., vol. 3, no. 9, June 1837, 525.</ref>
  
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==Endnotes==
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'''20 March 1839''' – “Behold, mine eye seeth and knoweth all
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their works.” <ref>Letter by Joseph Smith Jr. in ''PWJS'', 435.</ref>
  
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#{{note|gk1}}This article was created by Greg Kearney, Franklin Lodge #123 A.F. & A.M. of Maine, and includes edits by other FAIRwiki editors.
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'''3 July 1839''' – “the God of Jacob has His eye upon you.” <ref>Epistle of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles signed by Brigham Young, Heber C. Kimball, John E. Page, Wilford Woodruff, John Taylor, and George A. Smith in Brigham H. Roberts, ed., ''History of the Church'' (Salt Lake City: Deseret News Press, 1930), 3:394; hereafter cited as ''HC''.</ref>
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#{{note|interpret1}} "The tools also point allegorically to God, "The One Great Architect of the Universe," to the act of creation, and the building principles of geometry and architecture.  To Masons, the square and compass as describers of lines and implements of proof also stand for morality and judgment.  The square teaches Masons to, square our actions and to keep them within bounds.' The compass, which draws a perfect circle, also serves to remind that the passions should be bound. The circle, long a symbol of divinity, also suggests eternity without beginning or end, and the infinite, perfect, limitless mind." -  {{Sunstone1|author=Allen D. Roberts|article=Where are the All-Seeing Eyes?|vol=4|num=3(Issue #15)|date=May 1979|start=31}} {{link|url=http://www.sunstoneonline.com/magazine/searchable/mag-text.asp?MagID=15}}
 
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#{{note|roberts3}} {{Sunstone1|author=Allen D. Roberts|article=Where are the All-Seeing Eyes?|vol=4|num=3(Issue #15)|date=May 1979|start=32}} {{link|url=http://www.sunstoneonline.com/magazine/searchable/mag-text.asp?MagID=15}}
 
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#{{note|roberts1}} {{Sunstone1|author=Allen D. Roberts|article=Where are the All-Seeing Eyes?|vol=4|num=3(Issue #15)|date=May 1979|start=25}} {{link|url=http://www.sunstoneonline.com/magazine/searchable/mag-text.asp?MagID=15}}
 
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#{{note|brigham1}} {{Sunstone1|author=Allen D. Roberts|article=Where are the All-Seeing Eyes?|vol=4|num=3(Issue #15)|date=May 1979|start=26}} {{link|url=http://www.sunstoneonline.com/magazine/searchable/mag-text.asp?MagID=15}}
 
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#{{note|roberts2}} {{Sunstone|author=Allen D. Roberts|article=Where are the All-Seeing Eyes?|vol=4|num=3(Issue #15)|date=May 1979|start=26|end=27}} {{link|url=http://www.sunstoneonline.com/magazine/searchable/mag-text.asp?MagID=15}}
 
  
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'''September 1840''' – “the all-searching eye of an Omnipresent
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God.” <ref>Orson Pratt, ''An Interesting Account of Several Remarkable Visions'' (Edinburgh: Ballantyne and Hughes, 1840), 27.</ref>
  
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'''January1841''' – “God that sheweth mercy; having His eye at the
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same time directed towards His covenant people.” <ref>Article by Brigham Young and Willard Richards in ''Millennial Star'', vol. 1, no. 9, January 1841, 223.</ref>
  
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==Further Reading==
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'''13 December 1841''' – “Let it not be supposed that the sick and
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the destitute are to be denied the blessings of the Lord’s house;
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God forbid; His eye is ever upon them for good.” <ref>Epistle of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles signed by Brigham Young, Heber C. Kimball, Orson Pratt, William Smith, Lyman Wight, Wilford Woodruff, John Taylor, George A. Smith, and Willard Richards in ''Times and Seasons'', vol. 3, no. 4, 15 December 1841, 626. Notice that the all-seeing eye is being indirectly connected with the temple.</ref>
  
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===FAIR wiki articles===
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</onlyinclude>
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{{MasonryWiki}}
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{{endnotes sources}}
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<!-- PLEASE DO NOT REMOVE ANYTHING BELOW THIS LINE -->
  
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===FAIR web site===
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[[de:Frage: Warum ist das freimaurerische Symbol des allsehenden Auges am Salt Lake Tempel?]]
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{{MasonryFAIR}}
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[[es:Pregunta: ¿Por qué está presente el símbolo masónico del "Todo Ojo que Ve" en el Templo de Salt Lake?]]
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[[pt:Pergunta: Por que o símbolo maçônico do "Olho Todo Vendo" está presente no Templo de Salt Lake?]]
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===DVD/MP3===
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[[Category:Questions]]
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{{MasonryDVD}}
 
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===External links===
 
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{{MasonryLinks}}
 
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===Printed material===
 
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{{MasonryPrint}}
 
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===Related papers===
 
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{{MasonryRelated}}
 

Latest revision as of 21:51, 12 April 2024

  1. REDIRECTTemplate:Test3

Question: Why is the Masonic symbol of the "All Seeing Eye" present on the Salt Lake Temple?

The All-Seeing Eye of God was not a symbol created by the Masonic fraternity and, in fact, was utilized as an emblem in Christian architecture long before Speculative Freemasonry became an organization

The claim is sometimes made by critics that since the All-Seeing Eye of God is displayed on the exterior and interior of the Salt Lake Temple[1] and the All-Seeing Eye is an emblem utilized by the Freemasons then the Mormon usage must be an indication of a connection between Mormon temples and Freemasonry.

The All-Seeing Eye of God was not a symbol created by the Masonic fraternity and, in fact, was utilized as an emblem in Christian architecture long before Speculative Freemasonry became an organization.

Latter-Day Saints as a group became involved in Freemasonry in early 1842 but, as noted in the timeline below, the All-Seeing Eye of God was a well-established symbol among the Mormons long before this affiliation.

1828–29 – “I pray the God of my salvation that He view me with His all-searching eye” (2 Ne. 9:44).

1828–29 – “under the glance of the piercing eye of the Almighty God” (Jacob 2:10).

1828–29 – “the glance of [God’s] all-searching eye” (Mosiah 27:31).

December 1830 – “I can stretch forth mine hands and hold all the creations which I have made; and mine eye can pierce them also” (Moses 7:36).

2 January 1831 – “Thus saith the Lord your God, even Jesus Christ, the Great I AM, Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the same which looked upon the wide expanse of eternity, and all the seraphic hosts of heaven, before the world was made; The same which knoweth all things, for all things are present before mine eyes. . . . mine eyes are upon you. I am in your midst and ye cannot see me” (D&C 38:1–2, 7).

13 August 1831 – “mine eyes are upon those who have not as yet gone up unto the land of Zion” (D&C 62:2).

1 November 1831 – “Hearken, O ye people of my church, saith the voice of Him who dwells on high, and whose eyes are upon all men” (D&C 1:1).

November 1831 – “Behold and lo, mine eyes are upon you” (D&C 67:2).

31 July 1832 – “my heart is naked before [God’s] eyes continually.”[2]

4 January 1833 – “the eyes of my Maker are upon me.”[3]

May 1835 – “the scrutinizing eye of ‘Him with whom we have to do.’”[4]

29 January 1836 – “[the] Lord had [His] eye upon thee.” [5]

9 May 1836 – “they stand naked and exposed to the piercing eye of Jehovah.” [6]

May 1836 – “God is not mocked with impunity. His all seeing eye beholds you at all times. . . . His all-seeing eye surveys the whole of His vast creation.” [7]

April 1837 – “the scrutinizing eye of Jehovah is ever upon them.” [8]

June 1837 – “In vain do they attempt to hide from the scrutinizing eye of Jehovah.” [9]

20 March 1839 – “Behold, mine eye seeth and knoweth all their works.” [10]

3 July 1839 – “the God of Jacob has His eye upon you.” [11]

September 1840 – “the all-searching eye of an Omnipresent God.” [12]

January1841 – “God that sheweth mercy; having His eye at the same time directed towards His covenant people.” [13]

13 December 1841 – “Let it not be supposed that the sick and the destitute are to be denied the blessings of the Lord’s house; God forbid; His eye is ever upon them for good.” [14]


Notes

  1. ↑ The All-Seeing Eye of God can be seen on east and west center towers of the Salt Lake City temple and also in the interior in the Garden Room (see Ensign, October 1990, 39; March 1993, 33).
  2. ↑ Letter by Joseph Smith Jr. in Dean C. Jessee, ed., Personal Writings of Joseph Smith, rev. ed. (Salt Lake City and Provo, UT: Deseret Book and BYU Press, 2002), 269; hereafter cited asPWJS.
  3. ↑ Letter by Joseph Smith Jr. in ibid., 298.
  4. ↑ Statement by Oliver Cowdery in Messenger and Advocate, vol. 1, no. 8, May 1835, 121; hereafter cited as M&A.
  5. ↑ Joseph Smith Sr. statement in Dean C. Jessee, Mark Ashurst-McGee, and Richard L. Jensen, eds., The Joseph Smith Papers: Journals Volume 1, 1832–1839 (Salt Lake City: The Church Historian’s Press, 2008), 176.
  6. ↑ Letter by Parley P. Pratt dated 9 May 1836 in M&A, vol. 2, no. 8, May 1836, 318.
  7. ↑ [citation needed]
  8. ↑ Statement by William Marks in ibid., vol. 3, no. 7, April 1837, 493.
  9. ↑ Comment by William Marks in ibid., vol. 3, no. 9, June 1837, 525.
  10. ↑ Letter by Joseph Smith Jr. in PWJS, 435.
  11. ↑ Epistle of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles signed by Brigham Young, Heber C. Kimball, John E. Page, Wilford Woodruff, John Taylor, and George A. Smith in Brigham H. Roberts, ed., History of the Church (Salt Lake City: Deseret News Press, 1930), 3:394; hereafter cited as HC.
  12. ↑ Orson Pratt, An Interesting Account of Several Remarkable Visions (Edinburgh: Ballantyne and Hughes, 1840), 27.
  13. ↑ Article by Brigham Young and Willard Richards in Millennial Star, vol. 1, no. 9, January 1841, 223.
  14. ↑ Epistle of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles signed by Brigham Young, Heber C. Kimball, Orson Pratt, William Smith, Lyman Wight, Wilford Woodruff, John Taylor, George A. Smith, and Willard Richards in Times and Seasons, vol. 3, no. 4, 15 December 1841, 626. Notice that the all-seeing eye is being indirectly connected with the temple.
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