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Mormonism and Freemasonry
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Mormonism and Freemasonry
Summary: This summary page contains bibliographic references for various electronic and print items that discuss -- or are related to -- the 'Mormonism and Freemasonry' issue. The materials that are listed here represent a variety of opinions that are held by Latter-day Saints on this topic. They also represent differing levels of review and publication processes and divergent degrees of documentation.
Jump to Subtopic:
Improvement Era, "Peculiar Questions Briefly Answered"
Charles W. Penrose, Improvement Era, (September 1912)Question 17: Was Joseph Smith, Jr., a Mason?
Answer: Joseph Smith the Prophet was a Mason. [1]
"It has always been commonly reported, and to a great extent believed, that the mysteries of the Endowment House were only a sort of initiation…of the rites of Masonry; but I need hardly say that this statement when examined by the light of facts, is altogether ungrounded and absurd.”
- — Fanny Stenhouse, Nineteenth Century Anti-Mormon Author[2]
Relationship between Freemasonry and temple ceremonies
Jump to Subtopic:
- Relationship between the Endowment and Freemasonry
- The use of ritual in gospel ordinances
- The ordinance versus the ritual used to present the ordinance
Mormonism and Freemasonry
Joseph Smith's involvement in Freemasonry
Jump to details:
- Question: Were Joseph Smith's final words, "O Lord, my God!" a cry for help or mercy from Freemasons in the mob at the Carthage jail?
- Improvement Era, "Peculiar Questions Briefly Answered"
- Reed C. Durham letter issued after his 1974 talk “Is There No Help for the Widow’s Son?”
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History |
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Critics |
Was Brigham Young a Mason?
Yes. Brigham Young, along with many other men in Nauvoo, joined the Masons at Joseph Smith's encouragement
Photo of Brigham Young. The Masonic symbol of compass and square is clearly visible in the pin he wears. Matthew B. Brown notes that "Brigham may have worn the [Masonic] pin [visible in some photographs] in order to remind other Americans that he was part of a brotherhood that was bound by oath to look after its own (see Wilford Woodruff Journal, 19 August 1860)."[3]
Yes. Brigham Young, along with many other men in Nauvoo, joined the Masons at Joseph Smith's encouragement.
When the Latter-day Saints occupied Nauvoo, Illinois, in the year 1842, there were approximately four thousand residents inside the city limits (twelve thousand by 1844),1 but only thirty people in the general area had membership in the Masonic fraternity. Among this small group were such notable men as Hyrum Smith (the Prophet’s brother), Heber C. Kimball (an Apostle), John Smith (the Prophet’s uncle), Newel K. Whitney (a bishop), and George Miller (another bishop)....
There is no evidence that Joseph Smith played a direct role in trying to get a Masonic lodge established among the Saints, though it must be admitted that the Masons adhered to principles that would have been especially attractive to the leader of a frequently (and recently) persecuted people. "Freemasonry is one of the strongest binding contracts that exists between man and man," said Elder John Taylor of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles.10 And according to Apostle and Master Mason Heber C. Kimball, a member of that society could expect other Masons to step forward in time of need to render assistance. These fraternal brothers were expected to be faithful to each other "in every case and under every circumstance, the commission of crime excepted."....
[On] 7 April 1842 [Joseph attended the] initiation of Brigham Young.
[On] 9 April 1842 [Joseph attended the further] initiation of Samuel Smith, William Smith, Brigham Young, and Willard Richards.[4]
Was Brigham Young a "33rd degree" Mason?
No. Brigham Young was a Mason, but was not a 33rd degree Mason
No. Brigham Young was a Mason, but was not a 33rd degree Mason (technically an auxiliary degree of the Scottish Rite). It would have been impossible for Brigham Young to become such, since that degree was first introduced in Illinois masonic lodges (the only lodges to which Brigham had access prior to the exodus to Utah) in 1857, long after Brigham's departure. (The 33 degree did not become formalized in the Untied States until the early 1850's with the work of Albert Pike and Dr. Albert G. Mackey.)
It is important to understand the nature of the appellate bodies in Masonry. While a 33 degree mason might sound impressive, in fact such a person hold no more authority in Masonry than does the typical Master Mason (3rd degree). The appellate bodies are under the control of the Grand Lodge of a state or territory and a Grand Lodge is made up of all the Master Mason in that state or territory. The highest office any Mason can hold is that of Grand Master of a Grand Lodge and the only requirement to be elected to that office is to be a Master Mason. Therefor the highest degree that any Mason can hold is that of Master Mason (3rd Degree). The appellate degrees are appendages to that degree and not "higher" degrees as they are sometimes presented.[5]
Masonry in Utah
Utah territory had no lodge until 1872. Such a lodge would have been a prerequisite for any Scottish Rite appellate body to be formed.
While there were at least two abortive attempts to form a Grand Lodge in the territory by the Mormons, one by means of an application to the United Grand Lodge of England which seems to have been lost and never reached that body and another made to a Grand Lodge in Mexico which was rejected. Masonry by and large was not practiced by the Mormon population in Utah in Brigham Young's day. Indeed, the Grand Lodge of Utah was not formed until 1874 and it then imposed a ban on Mormons being members. This even precluded Mormon Masons from other jurisdictions from visiting Utah lodges. This would continue in some form until 1984.
Thus, it would have not have been possible for Brigham Young to have received the 33 degree designation while in Utah. Given that the 33 degree is an honorary designation (that is, it is given by the vote of others holding the degree) it would seem unlikely in the extreme that such an honor would have been given to Brigham who, at the time, was generally held in low regard. Likewise, the Mormons in general were viewed with disdain by the general population of Americans, and the above-mentioned hostility of the Grand Lodge of Utah towards Mormons also makes claiming that Young was honored in this way implausible.
Perhaps most telling of all is there is no documentary evidence of Brigham Young ever receiving such a degree either from the Northern Jurisdiction of the Scottish Rite of which the Grand Lodge of Illinois is a member or in the Southern Jurisdiction of which the Grand Lodge of Utah is governed. While in the early years of those rites some record keeping was lost or not well kept by the mid-19th century when Brigham Young would have been able to receive such a degree the records of both jurisdictions are very complete. Those records are silent in this matter.[6]
Symbolism in Latter-day Saint Temples
Jump to Subtopic:
- Question: Does the Nauvoo Temple display symbols that are either occult or Masonic?
- Question: Isn't the inverted five-pointed star on some temples really a symbol of evil?
- Question: Why is the Masonic symbol of the "All Seeing Eye" present on the Salt Lake Temple?
Jump to Subtopic:
- Jesus Christ/Joseph Smith or Search for the Truth DVD
- Response to claims made on MormonThink page "The Temple"
- Response to claims made in One Nation Under Gods, "Chapter 2: Moroni, Magic, and Masonry"
Notes
- ↑ Charles W. Penrose, "Peculiar Questions Briefly Answered," Improvement Era 15 no. 11 (September 1912).
- ↑ Mrs. T.B.H. [Fanny] Stenhouse, "Tell It All": The Story of a Life's Experience in Mormonism (Hartford, Conn.: A.D. Worthington & Company, 1875 [1874]), 354.
- ↑ Matthew B. Brown, Exploring the Connection Between Mormons and Masons (American Fork, UT: Covenant, 2009), Kindle edition, location:2259-2260n109..
- ↑ Matthew B. Brown, Exploring the Connection Between Mormons and Masons (American Fork, UT: Covenant, 2009), Kindle edition, location:896-1013.
- ↑ Greg Kearney, "The Message and the Messenger: Latter-day Saints and Freemasonry," (FAIR conference address, 2005) FAIR link
- ↑ Greg Kearney, "The Message and the Messenger: Latter-day Saints and Freemasonry," (FAIR conference address, 2005) FAIR link