The temple ceremony is one of the most important things instituted by Joseph Smith when he restored the gospel. Going through the temple ceremony and taking out endowments is a necessary ordinance for exaltation.

Some LDS have heard that the LDS temple ceremony may have some similarities with Masonry and the reason is that the Masons originally had the temple ceremony from Bible times, which has since been corrupted. President Heber C. Kimball stated “We have the true Masonry” (see complete quote in following section). Many LDS know that Joseph Smith, Brigham Young and many other early leaders of the Church were Masons.

Many LDS believe that the temple ceremony has been preserved since the days of Solomon (and perhaps even from Adam) and has essentially remained the same since Joseph restored the temple ordinances.

WEBSITE EDITOR COMMENT: Due to the sacred nature of the temple ceremony, we initially tried to be sensitive and not use any specific references to temple ordinances. However, we found it impossible to really discuss the issues that trouble many Latter-day Saints without being somewhat open and specific about the activities in the temple. It shouldn’t come to anyone’s surprise that the complete, accurate temple ceremony is available many places on the Internet with just a click of the mouse, so there really isn’t anything new revealed on this website that can’t be found in many other websites and books. However we give our own opinions in response to the critic’s arguments as well as faithful member responses.

Also to quote from Richard Packam’s site http://home.teleport.com/~packham/temples.htm

Even non-Mormons sometimes object to articles such as the one you are now reading, since such articles reveal Mormons' religious secrets to a curious - and perhaps unworthy and even mocking - world. Many people, not only devout Mormons, feel that it is wrong to do this. Usually two reasons for the objection are given: 1) things that anyone holds sacred should not be profaned, mocked or ridiculed by anyone else, even by one who does not consider them sacred; and 2) the person who is revealing the secrets usually is someone who obtained the secrets only by swearing an oath of secrecy, and thus is breaking an oath.

As to the first objection, this article does not "mock" or "ridicule" the secrets of the Mormon temple; it merely reveals them. Also, it seems rather odd to refuse to discuss objectively and openly any subject just because someone else feels that subject is taboo. I doubt that many Mormons would refuse to discuss the sacred initiation rituals of some primitive African tribe or some Satanist cult on the grounds that the tribe or cult considered those rites sacred.

As to the second objection, the validity and binding nature of an oath or any promise depends, both legally and morally, upon the validity of the mutually accepted facts underlying the demanding and the giving of the oath. The oath of secrecy given by a Mormon in the temple is based on the assurance and sacred promise by the church that the oath is required by God, and that the secrets one will receive are given by God. If those assurances are in fact false, then one cannot be bound either legally or morally by any such oath, since it was obtained by a lie. (For further discussion of this issue, click here.)

________________________________________________________________________

Significant details & problems that most Latter-day Saints are not aware of.

The temple ceremony appears to be copied from the Masons.

Heber C. Kimball, a Mason himself said, “We have the true Masonry. The Masonry of today is received from the apostasy which took place in the days of Solomon, and David. They have now and then a thing that is correct, but we have the real thing.” (Manuscript History of Brigham Young, 13 November, 1858, 1085, LDS archives; see also Stanley B. Kimball, “Heber C. Kimball and Family, The Nauvoo Years, BrighamYoung University Studies 15 (Summer 1975): 458. See also David John Buerger, The Mysteries of Godliness: A History of Mormon Temple Worship, Smith Research Associates, San Francisco, 1994, 56.)

To anyone that has knowledge of both the LDS Temple Ceremony (especially the pre-1990 temple ceremony) and Mason Rites it is very apparent that they have many similarities. Many things are exactly the same. Even knowledgeable Mormons admit that the endowment ceremony (especially in its earlier versions) contains many details that are similar to the Masonic initiation rites of Joseph Smith's day. The symbols, oaths, handclasps, and terminology resemble the Masonic ritual in hundreds of ways.

"The clearest evidence of Masonic influence on the Nauvoo temple ceremony is a comparison of texts. Three elements of the Nauvoo endowment and its contemporary Masonic ritual resemble each other so closely that they are sometimes identical. These are the tokens, signs, and penalties." (David Buerger, Mysteries of Godliness: A History of Mormon Temple Worship, Chapter 3: Joseph Smith's Ritual)

“Because of their Masonic characters the ceremonies of the temple are sacred and not for the public.”

October 15, 1911; Messages of First Presidency, 4: 250

Even today the 'Masonic emblems' such as the compass, square, level, pentagram, all-seeing eye, sun, moon, stars are displayed on the walls of the LDS Temples. The temple ceremonies were actually performed in the local Masonic Halls in the early days of the Church.

Many of the early LDS leaders were Masons.

Joseph Smith and many of the most prominent members of the Mormon Church were also members of the Masonic Lodge. There is no doubt that Joseph Smith knew the Masonic Rituals before he introduced the Temple Ceremony. Joseph was initiated as an entered apprentice Mason on March 15, 1842, and received the fellow craft and master degrees the following day. He introduced the full endowment ceremony which included the secret signs, tokens, passwords, and penalties, just seven weeks later on May 4, 1842 (see History of the Church, Vol. 5, pp. 1-2).

There was no effort in the early history of the church to conceal any similarities between Masonic rituals and the Mormon Temple Endowment. Indeed, men like Heber C. Kimball said that:

"Bro Joseph Ses Masonary was taken from preasthood but has become degen[e]rated. But menny things are perfect." (Letter from Heber C. Kimball to Parley P. Pratt, June 17, 1842)

As Mervin Hogan, a Mormon Mason, explained in 1991:

"[L]ittle room for doubt can exist in the mind of an informed, objective analyst that the Mormon Temple Endowment and the rituals of ancient Craft Masonry are seemingly intimately and definitely involved." (Mervin B. Hogan, Freemasonry and Mormon Ritual (Salt Lake City: author, 1991), p. 22)

The Mormon Temple endowment ceremony is without a doubt taken from the Masonic ceremonies Joseph Smith participated in just weeks before he introduced the temple endowment. The grips, tokens, covenants, secret words, keys, etc. were word for word the same when first introduced. Members who were Masons previous to Joseph joining the fraternal order unashamedly referred to the Mormon endowment as "celestial masonry." Fawn Brodie, No Man Knows My History, pp. 279-283

How do the Masons feel about this?

By the 1840s, many Mormon leaders in Nauvoo, including Smith and apostles Brigham Young and Heber C. Kimball, became Masons and organized a lodge there under the auspices of the Grand Lodge of Illinois. It wasn't long before nearly every male member of the church in the area had joined. At the same time, Smith introduced LDS temple rituals that included secret handshakes, signs and symbols like the all-seeing eye, the compass and square (tools of the mason's trade) and the sun, moon and stars that echoed Masonry.

Soon, though, other Masons felt that the Mormons were dominating the fraternity. In 1842, the Nauvoo Lodge was suspended. Many Mormons believed that Masons contributed to the murder of their prophet.

Antagonisms built up between the two groups. In Utah in 1860, Masonic lodges were established but they prohibited Mormons from joining. At the same time, Young forbade Mormons from joining and refused to allow any Mason to hold priesthood leadership positions in the church, Literski says.

It wasn't until 1984 that LDS President Spencer W. Kimball removed the prohibition against Latter-day Saints becoming Freemasons. Later that year, the Grand Lodge of Utah removed its own ban on Mormon membership so that, in the ensuing years, many Latter-day Saint men have returned to this part of their heritage.

All the aspects of the Masonic ceremony that Joseph needed for his Endowment ceremony were pretty much known through exposes that had been published. The most famous one was done by William Morgan (available online), who was killed in 1826 for divulging the Masonry rituals. Interestingly his widow, Lucinda, ended up becoming one of Joseph Smith's early plural wives.

References

http://www.utlm.org/onlinebooks/captmorgansfreemasonrycontents.htm

http://www.mormonismi.info/jamesdavid/masendow.htm

http://www.masonicmoroni.com/

http://www.mormonismi.net/pdf/homer1994.pdf

http://trialsofascension.net/mormon/plagiarism.html

http://www.algonet.se/~daba/lds/endowmen.htm

http://www.usd.edu/~theaton/mormon/mason.html

http://www.utlm.org/topicalindexb.htm#Masonry

Masonry details in the LDS temple ceremony.

A detailed comparison between the endowment and Masonry shows beyond any doubt a strong connection between Masonry and the LDS temple ceremony.

The following comes from this website http://www.mormonismi.info/jamesdavid/masendow.htm

and offers explicit details of exactly what is common to both Masonry and the LDS Temple Ceremony. (note: some elements of the temple ceremony are taken from versions of the temple ceremony that existed prior to 1990).

Note that the endowment conducted in the Kirtland Temple prior to Joseph's induction into Masonry apparently didn't contain any of these elements. It was only after his induction that the Masonic rituals found their way into the endowment conducted in the Nauvoo Temple. These Masonic signs and tokens are considered critical by the LDS church, as the individual is believed to be required to present them before being allowed into the Celestial Kingdom.

Joseph's introduction of the endowment ceremony came two months after he had been initiated into Freemasonry.

LDS ENDOWMENT AND MASONIC INITIATION

This article will quote transcripts from both the LDS endowment ceremony and the Masonic initiation. Also, a very detailed description of the endowment ceremony, including drawings of the temple garments, can be found at the Mormon Temple Endowment Homepage www.lds-mormon.com/veilworker/endowment.shtml

The description of the Masonic initiation and the figures were taken from "Illustrations of Masonry by One of the Fraternity", by Captain William Morgan, Batavia, New York, 1827. This expose on Masonry can be obtained from Utah Lighthouse Ministry, P.O. Box 1884, Salt Lake City, Utah, 84110, (801) 485-8894 for around five dollars. Also, extracts from the "Monitor of Free-Masonry", by Jabez Richardson, Chicago;(n.d). illustrates some of the higher degrees not mentioned in Morgan's book. The statements for Richardson's book were taken directly from Jerald and Sandra Tanner's book "The Evolution of the Mormon Temple Ceremony: 1842-1990" and will be identified with asterisks "***". Although I present the "higher" degrees along with the degrees described from William Morgan's book, please note that they are from two different Masonic rituals. You can contact the Utah Lighthouse Ministry on the internet by visiting their web page at www.utlm.org

If you do not choose to know about these two ceremonies or think that you may be offended by reading them DO NOT READ ON! If you are a Mormon who has not been through the LDS temple some of the temple rites are disclosed, likewise for Masons. This article was not meant to offend the reader, only to educate them on the similarities between the two ceremonies. In keeping with this purpose, I have purposefully only included areas of where there are similarities between the two rites. My inclusion of some similarities does not exclude others. Also, note that the similarities were reduced after the 1990 Temple Ceremony revisions. Mormons that only participated in post 1990 ceremonies may not recognize the five points of fellowship and penalty signs.

NOTE: Most of the following is from the earlier versions of the temple ceremony that were used in the early and mid 1800s. The point here is to show that the temple ceremony first established by Joseph was taken from Masonry. So many members may not recognize some of the LDS ceremony, as they experienced later versions of the ceremony which had since been altered somewhat.

SIMILARITIES

MASONIC PREPARATION ROOM
"He is ushered into the "preparation room" where he meets the Junior Deacon and Stewards who divest him of all his clothing except his shirt. He is then handed an old pair of drawers which he puts on; ..."

MORMON DRESSING ROOM
"The candidate, being directed to these washing and dressing rooms and having divested himself of all his clothing, awaits his time in bath with his special inner garments over his shoulder."

MASONIC COMPASS
"The candidate then enters, the Senior Deacon at the same time pressing his naked left breast with the point of the compass,..."

MORMON COMPASS
"... on the garments -- the compass on the left [breast]..."

MASONIC SQUARE
"As he enters, the angle of the square is pressed hard against his naked right breast,..."

MORMON SQUARE
"...the square on the right side [of the garment]..."

MASONS WASHING CEREMONY
"Master orders the basin of the perfumed water and a clean napkin to be brought to him, and directs candidate to wash his hands, which he does...Master takes a box of perfumed ointment and anoints candidate on his head, eyes, mouth, heart, the tip of his right ear, hand, foot, and says -- You are now, my dear brother, received a member of our society;..." ***

MORMON WASHING CEREMONY
"As the candidate is washed, the official hurries through the lustration ritual .... the candidate is passed on to another attendant and is anointed with oil. The oil is very definitely applied to various organs of his body."

MASONS PRESENTING NEW NAME TO CANDIDATE
"I also present you with a new name; it is CAUTION"

MORMON TEMPLE WORKER PRESENTS NEW NAME TO CANDIDATE "With these garments I give you a new name which is never to be divulged to anyone ... The name I shall give you is ________."

MAN REPRESENTING ADAM IN MASONIC CEREMONY
"Thrice Puissant Grand Master, representing Father Adam, is stationed in the east." *** (This occurs in the Knight of the Sun Degree.)

MAN REPRESENTING ADAM IN MORMON CEREMONY
"Elohim -- (Turning to the audience) -- 'This man who is now being operated upon is Michael who helped form the world. When he awakes ... he will be known as Adam"

MAN REPRESENTING DEITY IN MASONIC CEREMONY
"One of the members now personates the Deity, behind the bush, and calls out Moses! Moses!" *** (This occurs in the Royal Arch Degree.)

MAN REPRESENTING GOD IN MORMON CEREMONY
"When all is quiet, a man dressed in white flannels, representing Elohim, comes from behind the curtain..."

MASONS USE A MALLET
"...he gives a rap with the common gavel or mallet, ..."

MORMONS USE A MALLET
"...one of the temple workers, ... gives three raps with a mallet..."

MASONIC ENTERED APPRENTICE VS. FIRST TOKEN OF THE AARONIC PRIESTHOOD

MASONIC PENALTY SIGN
"Made from the due-guard by dropping the left hand carelessly; at the same time raise the right arm and draw the hand, still open, across the throat, thumb next [to] the throat, and drop the hand perpendicular by the side."

MORMON PENALTY SIGN
"In executing the sign of the penalty, the right hand, palm downward, is drawn sharply across the throat, then dropped from the square to the side"

MASONIC GRIP
"The right hands are joined together as in shaking hands and each sticks his thumb nail into the third joint or upper end of the fore finger."

MORMON GRIP
"The Grip -- Hands clasped, pressing the knuckle of the index finger with the thumb"

MASONIC WORDING CONCERNING THE GRIP
"The Master and candidate holding each other by the grip, as before described, the Master says. 'What is this?'
"Ans. 'A grip.'
"A grip of what?'
"Ans. 'The grip of an Entered Apprentice Mason.'
"'Has it a name?'
"Ans. 'It has.'
"Will you give it to me?'
"Ans. 'I did not so receive it, neither can I so impart it.'

MORMON WORDING CONCERNING THE GRIP
"Peter -- 'What is that?'
"Adam -- 'The first token of the Aaronic Priesthood.'
"Peter -- 'Has it a name?'
"Adam -- 'It has.'
"Peter -- 'Will you give it to me?'
"Adam -- 'I can not, for it is connected with my new name, but this is the sign.'

MASONIC OATH
"... binding myself under no less penalty than to have my throat cut across, my tongue torn out by the roots ..."

MORMON OATH
"We and each of us, covenant and promise that we will not reveal any secrets of this... Should we do so, we agree that our throats be cut from ear to ear and our tongues torn out by their roots."

MASONIC FELLOW CRAFT VS. SECOND TOKEN OF THE AARONIC PRIESTHOOD

MASONIC OATH
"...binding myself under no less penalty than to have my left breast torn open and my heart and vitals taken from thence and thrown over my left shoulder."

MORMON OATH
"We and each of us do covenant and promise that we will not reveal the secrets of this ... Should we do so, we agree to have our breasts cut open and our hearts and vitals torn from our bodies "

MASONIC PENALTY SIGN
"The sign is given by drawing your right hand flat, with the palm of it next to your breast from the left to the right side with some quickness, and dropping it down by your side"

MORMON PENALTY SIGN
"The Sign is made by placing the left arm on the square at the level of the shoulder, placing the right hand across the chest with the thumb extended and the drawing it rapidly from the left to right and dropping it"

MASONIC GRIP
"Take each other's hands as in ordinary hand-shaking and press the top of your thumb hard against the space between the first and second knuckles of the right hand."

MORMON GRIP
"The Grip is given by clasping the hand and pressing the thumb in the hollow between the first and second knuckle of the hand."

MASONIC NAME GIVEN
"Brother, I now present you with my right hand, in token of brotherly love and confidence, and with it the pass-grip and word of a Fellow Craft Mason .... the name of it is Shibboleth."

MORMON NAME GIVEN
"The Name is the given name of the candidate."

MASONIC MASTER MASON VS. FIRST AND SECOND TOKEN OF THE MELCHIZEDECH PRIESTHOOD

MASONIC SIGN
"The sign is given by raising both hands and arms to the elbows, perpendicular, one each side of the head, the elbows forming a square."

MORMON SIGN
"The sign is made by bringing both hands to the square, palms to the front

MASONIC PENALTY SIGN
"The Penal Sign is given by putting the right hand to the left side of the bowels, the hand open, with the thumb next to the belly, and letting it fall; this is done tolerably quick."

MORMON PENALTY SIGN
"As the last words are spoken the hands are dropped till the thumbs are in the center of the stomach and drawn swiftly across the stomach to the hips, and then dropped to the sides."

MASONIC OATH
"binding myself under no less penalty than to have my body severed in two in the midst..."

MORMON OATH
"We and each one of us do covenant and promise that we will not reveal any of the secrets of this... Should we do so, we agree that our bodies be cut asunder in the midst and all our bowels gush out."

MASONIC GRIP
"Grasp each other's right hands very firmly, the spaces between the thumb and first finger being in interlocked and the tops of the fingers being pressed hard against each other's wrist where it joins the hand, the fingers of each being somewhat spread."

MORMON GRIP (Slightly Different Method of Grip)
"The Grip is made by grasping the hand, the forefinger on center of the wrist and little fingers locked"

MASONIC GRAND HAILING SIGN AND DUE GUARD
"The sign is given by raising both hands and arms to the elbows, perpendicularly, one on each side of the head, the elbows forming a square."

"The due guard is made by holding both hands in front, palms down..."

MORMON PAY, LAY, ALE
"The sign is made by elevating both the arms above the head ... the arms dropped to the square,... and then to the sides."

MASONIC APRON
"While the Wardens are examining the candidate, the Master returns to the east and gets an apron, and as he returns to the candidate... The Master then says to the candidate, "Brother, I now have the honor to present you with a lamb-skin or white apron..."

MORMON APRON
"Adam-- (Turning to the audience)-- 'In your bundles brethren and sisters, you will each find an apron, you will now put it on."

MASONIC RAISING OF HIRAM ABIFF vs. MORMON VEIL

MASONIC FIVE-POINTS OF FELLOWSHIP AS HIRAM ABIFF's DEAD BODY IS RAISED
"He (the candidate) is raised on what is called the five points of fellowship, which are foot to foot, knee to knee, breast to breast, hand to back and mouth to ear."

MORMON FIVE-POINTS OF FELLOWSHIP AT THE VEIL
"The five points of fellowship are given by putting the inside of the right foot to the inside of the Lord's, the inside of your knee to his, laying your breast close to his, your left hands on each other's backs, and each one putting his mouth to the other's ear...."

MASTER MASON RAISING CANDIDATE
"The Master, in raising him, is assisted by some of the brethren, who take hold of the candidate by the arms and shoulders; as soon as he is raised to his feet, they step back, and the Master whispers the word ###### in his ear, and causes the candidate to repeat it, telling him that he must never give it in any manner other than that in which he receives it. He is told that ###### signifies marrow in the bone. They then separate ..."

MORMON PASSING THROUGH THE VEIL
At the five points of fellowship "... one putting his mouth to the other's ear, in which position the Lord whispers: Lord--'This is the sign of the token: 'Health to the navel, marrow in the bones, strength in the loins and sinews, and power in the priesthood be upon me and my posterity through all generations of time and throughout all eternity."

Our Thoughts: The similarities are explainable only if the original Masons working at Solomon’s temple had learned temple ceremony secrets and kept them long after Solomon’s temple was destroyed as many LDS believe.

Additional references

http://www.ephesians5-11.org/handshakes.htm

http://www.usd.edu/~theaton/mormon/mason.html

http://www.utlm.org/onlineresources/mormonkingdomvol1ch13masonicinfluence.htm

http://www.algonet.se/~daba/lds/endowmen.htm

Did the Masons originally have the temple ceremony?

Faithful LDS that are aware of the undeniable similarities between the LDS Temple Ceremony and the Masonry Rituals usually reconcile that issue by echoing what the early prophets have said. Essentially the stance is that the Masons originally had the true temple ordinances from the original true church that existed in Old Testament times. These rituals are believed to have been practiced by the members of God’s true church in Solomon’s Temple.

Some Latter-day Saints feel obliged to hold to the view that Masonry derived from King Solomon's Temple, because it is theologically less complicated to do so than accept the historical roots of Masonry. As one Masonic writer recently noted:

"with books such as McGavin's Mormonism and Masonry still in circulation, and perpetuation of the tradition of antiquity in the Encyclopedia of Mormonism, it is hard to overcome the Latter-day Saint belief that Masonry is derived from King Solomon's Temple. As long as LDS believe in the origination of Masonic ceremonies with Solomon, resentment of this 'apostate' ceremony will continue on the part of many Mormons.

Some change is occurring, as seen in Michael Homer's Dialogue essay, and a February 4, 1995 Salt Lake Tribune article which discussed the relationship between the two groups. However, Dialogue is not as widely read among Latter-day Saints as other publications.... [Furthermore,] the Tribune article did not explain that most Masons no longer claim antiquity for the ritual, a facet of the misunderstanding which this author believes is critical"

Why do members believe that Masonry was used in Solomon’s time?

Many members believe this for two primary reasons. The first reason is that prophets such as Heber C. Kimball said as such as quoted in the first section above. The second reason is that in the early 1800s it was commonly believed by many Masons, particularly the less educated members, that the origins of Masonry are thousands of years old and came from Solomon’s time.

What do the Masons say?

The knowledgeable current members of Masonry are very convinced that Masonry has its origins much more recently and they are certain that the Mason ceremonies do not date back to Solomon’s time (around 1000 B.C.) from the Old Testament. The Mason rituals date at least two thousand years after Solomon. In the last 100 years most Masons now know this but it may have been widely believed in 1800s that they actually descended from Solomon’s temple.

Despite claims that Masonry extends back to Solomon's Temple, in fact the rites of Masonry emerged around the thirteenth century. It originated in Britain as a trade guild, though it incorporated symbols dating back to various cults in antiquity. Masonry thus comes from an era that LDS doctrine associates with the great apostasy. For Mormonism to copy its crowning ordinances from rites that emerged during the dark ages presents a problem.

Even more disturbing is that the Masonry rituals that most closely resemble the LDS temple ceremony have their origins much more recently – only the 1700s and nowhere near the thousands of years old that would be from Solomon’s time.

LDS historians confirm the Masonry ceremonies do not come from Bible Times.

LDS historian David John Buerger

LDS historian David John Buerger conceded that there is no validity to Joseph
Smith's claim that Masonic rituals were of ancient origin:

"The traditional origin of Freemasonry (which 'enlightened' Masons view as mythological or legendary) is the construction of Solomon's temple by Master Mason Hiram Abiff. Actually Freemasonry was a development of the craft guilds during the construction of the great European cathedrals during the tenth to seventeenth centuries.

After the Middle Ages, lodges in Scotland and Great Britain began to accept honorary members and worked out rudimentary ceremonies to distinguish members of trade organizations. In 1717 four fraternal lodges, perhaps actual masons' lodges, united as the Grand Lodge of England, considered the beginning of organized Freemasonry or 'speculative Masonry.' The order spread quickly to other countries and included such prominent adherents as Mozart, Voltaire, George Washington, and Benjamin Franklin. Some historians believe that Masons staged the Boston Tea Party.

Latter-day Saints may feel that Masonry constitutes a biblical-times source of uncorrupted knowledge from which the temple ceremony could be drawn. However, historians of Freemasonry generally agree that the trigradal system of Entered Apprentice, Fellow Craft, and Master Mason, as practiced in Nauvoo, cannot be traced further back than the eighteenth century. According to Douglas Knoop and G. P. Jones, two knowledgeable twentieth-century historians, it is 'highly probable' that the system of Masonry practiced at the organization of the Grand Lodge in London 'did not consist of three distinct degrees.' They warn, 'It would probably not be safe to fix a date earlier than 1723 or 1725 for the origin' of the trigradal system. 'Accepted Masonry underwent gradual changes throughout a period of years stretching from well before 1717 to well after that date.... The earliest speculative phase of Freemasonry may be regarded as beginning about 1730.... Though some symbolism had doubtless crept into Masonry by that date, it would not appear to have reached its full development for another forty or fifty years.' "

(The Mysteries of Godliness: A History of Mormon Temple Worship, pp. 45-46.)

FAIR’s Website

The Foundation for Apologetic Information and Research (FAIR) is the largest pro-LDS apologetic group. They are some of the most active defenders of the LDS Church. They defend the Church from what they consider unfair attacks by critics, the media and ‘anti-Mormons’.

We were somewhat startled to find that FAIR admits that Masonry does not date back to Bible Times. They openly state that the Masonry Rituals that resemble the LDS Temple Ceremony date from the 1700s and definitely were not used in Solomon’s temple.

If you go to FAIR’s official site and search for ‘Masonry’ you will find many articles and quotes that support the fact that the Masonry rituals clearly do not date from Solomon’s time. Here’s a few:

“Unfortunately, there is no historical evidence to support a continuous functioning line from Solomon's Temple to the present. We know what went on in Solomon's Temple; it's the ritualistic slaughter of animals.”

“The Message and the Messenger: Latter-day Saints and Freemasonry” by Greg Kearney

http://www.fairlds.org/FAIR_Conferences/2005_Latter-day_Saints_and_Freemasonry.html (scroll to the last page)

“Masonry, while claiming a root in antiquity, can only be reliably traced to mediaeval stone tradesmen.”

“It is clear that Freemasonry and its traditions played a role in the development of the endowment ritual…”

http://www.fairlds.org/Misc/Similarities_between_Masonic_and_Mormon_Temple_Ritual.html

John Lynch, LDS Chairman of FAIR

John Lynch, head of FAIR confirms in a podcast on mormonstories.org that the Masons did not have the temple ceremony from Solomon’s time. To listen, go to http://mormonstories.org/?page_id=102 - I’m not sure which of the three parts it’s on, but Brother Lynch admits to John Dehlin that many commonly-held beliefs of the members are untrue – specifically mentioned are that there were NOT more women than men in the Church when they practiced polygamy and that the Masons did not really have the temple ceremony from Solomon’s time. He even jokes that ‘anti-Mormons’ will use what he said against him.

Greg Kearney

Greg Kearney is a lifelong, multi-generational Mormon and Master Mason. Per FAIR’s website: ‘Greg Kearney is an active temple-attending Latter-day Saint as well as a life member of Franklin Lodge #123 A.F. & A.M. as well as several lodges of research. He gives Masonic education lectures at lodges on the history and relationship of Freemasonry to the development of the Latter-day Saint temples.’

Brother Kearney has written many article for FAIR. He was interviewed by John Dehlin of Mormonstories.org. We found it to be a very interesting podcast. He is a devout Mormon and defends the LDS Church. As a perhaps 10^th generation Mason he is very knowledge about Masonry.

In the mormonstories.org podcast Brother Kearney is quite candid in stating that the Masonry Rituals do not come from Solomon’s time or anywhere even close to that. He completely refutes the commonly-held defense among many Latter-day Saints that believe that the LDS temple Ceremony is similar to Masonry Rituals because the original Masons working at Solomon’s temple had learned temple ceremony secrets and kept them long after Solomon’s temple was destroyed.

Per mormonstories.org: ‘In this podcast he discusses the history of Masonry, how it became associated with the LDS Church, and why he feels like this association is a positive, and not a negative one. We go into surprising depth not just on the respective temple ceremonies (without being disrespectful, or violating covenants of course), but also on Joseph Smith’s involvement during the Nauvoo years. You will be amazed at his knowledge on these topics. The podcast is available here:

Mormon Stories Podcast # 005: Masonry and Mormonism, an Interview with Greg Kearney

Our comment: We respect Brother Kearney’s candor in refuting the idea that the LDS Temple Ceremony similarities with Masonry could be simply explained by the notion that the Masons originally had the knowledge of the Temple Ceremony from Solomon’s time - even though many LDS believe it and many prophets have taught it.

In trying to explain that problem, Brother Kearney’s approach is that in the development of the ritual of the temple endowment, Joseph Smith used Masonic ritual elements, symbols and wording and infused them with clearly restorationist theology. He separates the presentation of the endowment, the ritual from the endowment proper, what is taught.

Additional support against the Masons origins from Solomon’s times.

Solomon’s Temple

The Bible does not support anything from the LDS Temple Ceremony being in Solomon’s temple. Solomon’s temple dealt with things very foreign to the LDS endowment ceremony such as animal sacrifices. None of the ordinances performed in LDS temples, such as endowments, baptism for the dead, and eternal marriage, were performed in the Biblical temple; its function was making atonement for sins as a precondition to worshipping the true and living God.

Leviticus 16:2-34 spells out pretty clearly what happened in the Old Testament temple. Also, here is an article (written from a Christian perspective) that talks about the LDS claim that modern temples are an extension or continuation of Old Testament temples.
http://www.irr.org/mit/temple.html

New Testament Temple

Try this link for a walk-through of a day in the life of the priests of the Second Temple (the one that Jesus knew): http://www.templeinstitute.org/day_in_life/foreword.htm

It's based entirely on the detailed Jewish records that have been handed down long after the temple itself was destroyed by the Romans in 70 CE. There is plenty of ancient contemporary evidence to back up this account. There appear to be very few points of resemblance with LDS practice today, which is far more closely linked to Freemasonry.

The version of the Masonry rituals.

If the Temple ceremony came from Masonry, and the Masons originally had the original temple ceremony back in Solomon's day, and it slowly degenerated over the centuries to its present state, then why doesn't the Mason's ceremony prior to the 1800s more closely resemble the true temple ceremony that the LDS church practices?

Logically the further you go back, the closer the Mason's ceremony should get to The LDS restored temple ceremony. Instead the temple ceremony matches the Mason's ceremony as it existed in the 1830s which is the one Joseph was exposed to.

Elements in the LDS ceremony that didn’t exist in Solomon’s time.

The LDS Temple Ceremony prominently features items which were unknown in ancient Israel, such as Jesus, Peter, James, and John, the Protestant minister, and other New Testament/Christian era stuff.

Additional References

The Origins of Free Masonry, Thomas Paine

Further Research

PBS aired a two-hour documentary in 2007 called ‘Secrets of the Freemasons’. They discussed the origins of freemasonry in great detail. They described the popular theory about masonry originating from Solomon’s time. In the end they made it quite clear that the Mason’s rituals did not come from Solomon’s time or have anything to do with King Solomon’s temple. They candidly stated that freemasonry came from the stone cutter trade guilds of Europe in the Middle Ages.

The Temple and Polygamy.

The temple ceremony coincided with plural marriage as practiced by the early saints. As Joseph did not want to let the masses know about polygamy, he may have introduced the temple ceremony as a way of keeping polygamy a secret while introducing select members into the practice of plural marriage. As an important element of the temple ceremony is to never reveal what happens in the temple, even under penalty of death (before 1990), this would help keep the polygamous marriages a secret by the people that knew about them.

The following website provides some interesting speculation on this:

http://www.i4m.com/think/temples/temple_legacy.htm

The new and everlasting covenant

The "new and everlasting covenant" revealed in the temple ceremony is generally considered by most modern LDS members as pertaining to celestial marriage. However in the early days of the Church, it clearly meant polygamy. LDS apologists do not dispute the original meaning of the term as referring to polygamy.

References

http://www.mormonfundamentalism.com/questions_concerning_the_1887.htm

Secret or Sacred?

Critics often say that the temple ceremony is secret, whereas the faithful LDS members say it isn’t secret, it is sacred. In reality it is both. Obviously it is considered sacred by those participating in the ceremony, but it is also very secret.

In fact the word ‘secrecy’ is mentioned five times in the temple ceremony. The first four times were removed in 1990 but the fifth mention of ‘secrecy’ remains. They are:

“They are most sacred, and are guarded by solemn covenants and obligations of secrecy to the effect that made in the presence of God, Angels and these witnesses to hold them sacred and under no condition, even at the peril of your life, will you ever divulge them, except at a certain place in the temple that will be shown you hereafter.”

“I will now explain the covenant and obligation of secrecy which are associated with this token, its name, and sign and penalty, and which you will be required to take upon yourselves.”

“I will now explain the covenant and obligation of secrecy which are associated with this token, its name, and sign, and penalty, and which you will be required to take upon yourselves.”

“I will now explain the covenant and obligation of secrecy which are associated with this token, its name, and sign and penalty, and which you will be required to take upon yourselves. “

“This token has a name and a sign, you will be under the same sacred obligation of secrecy in connection with this token and sign as you are with the other tokens and signs of the Holy Priesthood which you have received in the temple this day.”

Also

“You have had a New Name given unto you, which you were told never to divulge…”

The penalties, which were part of the ceremony before being removed in 1990, all relate to revealing parts of the temple ceremony to others. Anyone that reveals what they learned in the temple is subject to the penalties. So how can anyone say that the ceremony is not secretive in nature? It may be sacred, but it is certainly secret as well.

Why the secrecy?

Perhaps in the 1800s the secrecy of the temple was so outsiders (as well as the bulk of the LDS membership) would not find out about the practice of plural marriage. However, why is it secret now? God may have commanded it to be secret of course, or maybe there are more practical, earthly answers.

The temple ceremony can seem very strange to many people. We’ve heard even many faithful members refer to the experience as not at all what they expected and even bizarre. It definitely is very different than the worship services in the LDS chapels every Sunday.

Simply put, people outside the Church wouldn’t understand it. How many people would join the Church if the temple ceremony was explained to them in detail by the missionaries?

However, making it a ‘sin’ to discuss the temple ceremony outside the temple causes people to simply accept the bizarreness of the ceremony. If it wasn’t for this, members would likely talk amongst themselves about the ceremony and probably in not flattering ways. Perhaps with open discussion, members would come to the conclusion that the ceremony isn’t something they are comfortably believing in.

Generally when people or organizations have secrets, it is usually for nefarious reasons. Even the Book of Mormon condemns ‘secret combinations’. You would think that God’s true church would be the most open and honest of any organization, but this is far from true. If God commanded it to be this way then that’s fine, but if it is done by man, then the reasons are suspect.

Is the temple ceremony actually secret now?

In the 1800s it was possible to keep the details of the LDS Temple Ceremony relatively secret from the vast majority of the world. However now with the Internet, there are no secrets anymore. Simply google ‘Mormon Temple Ceremony’ to see for yourself.

Also if signs and tokens which are needed for entrance into the celestial kingdom are meant to be secret except for loyal, temple-going Latter-day Saints, then it has failed. The Masons, former LDS and anyone that has access to the Internet knows or can easily find out the details of the signs and tokens.

Temple Prep Classes

Although members are constantly encouraged to go to the temple, the endowment ceremony itself is never discussed in any detail whatsoever in church or amongst the members. Children and unendowed adults never learn any of the details through the church itself, and virtually all of the members find out about it only when they actually go through the temple for the first time to take out their endowments (unless of course they look it up on the Internet or some radical LDS member violates the covenants and tells them about it).

Since going through the endowment ceremony for the first time can be a shocking experience for many people, the Church has temple prep classes available for people preparing to go to the temple. This is a great idea; however the classes in no way prepare you for what really happens in the temple.

I personally attended all the temple prep classes twice before I went and in none of those classes or temple prep books was it mentioned that I would be learning secret handshakes and passwords that I’ll need in order to get into heaven. I was also not told that I would be making promises to have my throat, chest, and abdomen slit if I revealed the temple ceremony to anyone (the penalties were removed in 1990). I also was never told I would have to symbolically act out slicing my own throat and stomach along with everyone else. Also, I had no knowledge I would be making covenants to essentially give all my time, talents, and everything with which the Lord blesses me to the Church.

Can you back out before committing?

Although the temple ceremony says you can leave before you make the covenants, in reality it is very hard to do so. You are very confused, the peer pressure is enormous with everyone there doing the same thing so you naturally go along with it even though you don’t fully understand what you’re committing to, or may not really want to commit to it at all, but you feel you have no choice. Also you naturally trust the Church and don’t think that they would ever do anything wrong. We don’t know of anyone that actually backed out in the middle of the ceremony. The curiosity to see how the thing ends is also too tempting to pass up.

Is it morally right to have everything be such a secret?

It is unfair to ask people to "sign a contract that they aren't allowed to read in advance". Because the rites are secret, you have to agree to everything blindly, then discover what you've agreed to. Is this how God works?

We believe that members should know the details of the ceremony before going through it. Of course, we believe that investigators should be told about it also. Note: new members aren’t even allowed to enter the temple before they’ve been a member for one year. The reason for this is obvious.

Our comments

A good friend of mine took all the missionary discussions and was thinking about getting baptized. He asked the missionaries about what went on in the temple as he really didn’t know anything about it, but always heard it being mentioned in talks in Sacrament Meeting. The missionaries gave him a generic answer. He asked for details. They said that he couldn’t be told that until he was a member for a year, and then actually went through the ceremony. My friend asked why he couldn’t know now before he committed to being baptized? The missionaries could not give him a satisfactory answer, only to say he had to have faith.

He was shocked and said that in the church he currently belonged to, they would not keep secrets from prospective members and could not figure out why God’s supposedly true church would do this. He said he would not get baptized if they would not tell him what he wanted to know about the church he was considering joining. The missionaries would not violate their covenants, so my friend never got baptized.

When my friend asked me about it, I had not yet been through the temple either, and just said that I thought it was reasonable that he had a right to know what he was getting into before he joined. This was before the Internet. Now I’m sure he would just have looked up the ceremony with Google or another search engine to find out for himself.

The secrecy of the temple covenants keeps people from talking about it and perhaps leaving the Church over it, but it also prevents some people from joining. With the Internet today, there are no secrets from inquiring minds, so it will be interesting to see how this issue gets treated by inquisitive investigators and converts in the future.

Ceremony prior to 1990.

My parents are true-believing members, and they told me the changes weren't that big of a deal. Decide for yourself by reading the actual pre and post 1990 versions right here:

http://lds-mormon.com/compare.shtml

Ask a Bishop, or other members. Many of us have asked an Elders QP, a Bishop and other members that have gone through the temple before 1990, and all have said that there were changes, but they claim that the changes aren't that essential.

1984 Version

http://nowscape.com/mormon/mormcr4.htm

1931 Version

http://nowscape.com/mormon/mormcr3.htm

The significant changes made in 1990 include:

1) Elimination of the penalties associated with the signs and tokens. After 1990, patrons were no longer required to pantomime their own deaths by slashing their throats or disemboweling themselves by slicing a knife across their stomachs.

2) The protestant ministers were no longer referred to as agents of Satan.

3) Changing of words from the Adamic Language to English.

4) The elimination of the Five Points of Fellowship.

Some of us have spent