Masonic handshakes, symbols, and rituals are all directly practiced in Mormonism.
Posted on 12/11/2009 10:37:55 AM PST by Colofornian
As finals are quickly approaching, students sometimes joke about living in the library. But when author Matthew Brown says he lives in the library, he’s not joking around.
Brown, who recently released the book “Exploring the Connection between Mormons and Masons,” does most of the research for his books in the BYU library.
“I live here in the BYU library and I’m not kidding,” Brown said. “I have done research at other universities around the country but for the most part, when it comes to LDS subjects, this is my primary research library.”
“Mormons and Masons” is Brown’s 10th book, all of which deal with church history and doctrine.
“I didn’t want to write books to begin with,” Brown said. “I actually got shanghaied into it by the publisher. I wanted to give them a presentation on the building of the Salt Lake Temple back when they were celebrating the 200th anniversary of it. They asked me to write a book for them based on the material I gave them and I said no.”
Brown was roped into writing the book and has been going ever since.
“I tried to quit,” he said. “And the publisher said, ‘We want more.’ And my contract happens to be for life basically unless they decide to reject it because of content.”
Brown’s books deal with information and doctrine that go beyond the basic teachings of the gospel and explore the more profound questions that sometimes surface.
His interest in church history and doctrine came when he served a mission in Washington and was exposed to anti-Mormon literature, pamphlets and movies.
“It raised the questions and I went to try and find answers and some of those answers were not forthcoming, so I spent many, many years trying to track them down myself,” he said.
The new book helps separate facts from myths regarding Joseph Smith and Freemasonry, something Brown said was his main purpose in writing the book.
“[The goal of the book is] to deal with mythology versus history and since my focus is history I want to help people understand there is a ton of mythology out there. Most of it’s just not true.
You want to make sure you understand when you are dealing with facts.”
The main myth Brown wants to uncover is that Freemasons do not trace their lineage back to Solomon’s temple.
“The problem is that Freemasonry is based upon mythology and so they have the big myth … [of] ‘We go back to Solomon’s temple.’ Today they understand that is not true,” Brown said. “So the question is: ... Where do they get it? And the answer is the Catholic Church.”
The idea for the book came to Brown from his publishers, who wanted him to write a book dealing with the subject before the release of Dan Brown’s latest novel “The Lost Symbol.”
Rumors were spreading that the book would deal heavily with the LDS church.
“Dan Brown did come to the church archives twice in 2004 and 2006 and he did research ... [Dan Brown] only had two paragraphs in the book that are about the church.”
For Brown, the greatest satisfaction comes from helping people clarify confusion and get answers they are searching for.
“If you write nonfiction in the LDS market the only satisfaction is helping other people because it’s a very small market to begin with and a lot of people don’t seem these days to be interested in non-fiction,” Brown said. “But the satisfaction comes from helping the light go on in somebody’s head and helping them see the rest of the story.”
Brown says his main objective in writing is to correct misconceptions.
“That’s the point of writing for me, for any purpose, and that is clarification. In fact, to clarify your faith, to solidify your faith and to justify your faith. That’s my goal.”
[Perhaps those paragraphs didn't make it past the Daily Universe editor(s), eh?]
From the article: His interest in church history and doctrine came when he served a mission in Washington and was exposed to anti-Mormon literature, pamphlets and movies. “It raised the questions and I went to try and find answers and some of those answers were not forthcoming, so I spent many, many years trying to track them down myself,” he said.
From the article: “The problem is that Freemasonry is based upon mythology and so they have the big myth … [of] ‘We go back to Solomon’s temple.’ Today they understand that is not true,” Brown said. “So the question is: ... Where do they get it? And the answer is the Catholic Church.”
This connection has been long know and documented. So whats new?
Well, I haven't read the book. The article doesn't really shed any light on it. And what would be "new" would be for more Mormon writers (vs. non-Mormon writers) to actually acknowledge Smith stole much of his temple shenanigans after he became a Mason himself. And then to document that historically step-by-step in terms of what he initiated when.
Nothing is new. This stuff is well known, and the Church even addresses it in the Encyclopedia of Mormonism.
http://eom.byu.edu/index.php/Freemasonry_and_the_Temple
“Nothing is new and this stuff is well-known”....so posting it shouldn’t cause any hearburn in the tummies of mormondom. ;)
It doesn’t to me.
You can also find much more info from the LDS community on the connection between Mormons and Masons here.
Masonic Influence:
http://www.fairlds.org/apol/ai181.html
Joey Smith joined the Freemasons and went to the top tier in one day...
he stole many of the Freemason secrets and incorporated them intro his home made religion...
He also told non-freemasons the secrets that he had ben sworn a blood oath not to...
Among the crowd outside the Carthage jail were Freemasons who were mad at Joey...
When he tried to shoot his way out of jail the Freemasons took the oppotunity to kill him...
Even though Joey had called to them for help, by starting the Freemasion distress call, “Is there any help for the widows son?”
Joey Smith would have agreed to his ignoble death...
After all when he started his religion that he called mormonism, he gathered a group of cutthroats around him that he called Danites...
Their job was to kill rob and steal from non-mormons...
and to kill mormons who had left, “apostates” “blood letting”
Joey got the idea of blood oaths from the Freemasons..
(and his “convert or die” at the point of a sword, from the Mohammadatans...)
Under Brigham Young the “blood letting” got worse...
“...Salt Lake Temple back when they were celebrating the 200th anniversary of it.”
200th anniversary? What?
It was a very special Smithmas...
The 200th anniversary of Joey Smith’s birth...
cradle and all...Decemeber 23rd...
You know...Joseph Smith...
The reason for the mormon Smithmas...
mormons worship Joey Smith as their “savior”...
so his birth is heralded and celebrated with birthday parties etc...
Mormons are not Christians...
Christians are clebrating the birth of Jesus right now..
Mormons...not so much...
I was just wondering how they celebrate the 200th anniversary of the temple when it was only built in the nineteenth century. If it were turning 200 years old this year, it would have been built in 1809. Yet I know the Temple wasn’t built until after the migration to Utah. That was decades later! So the 200th anniversay is still decades away.
Is time travel part of Mormonism? ;)
If you can make up an entire civilization...
That would be new..I was hoping that is what it was about. I suppose the apologists will spin, twist and flail.
Oh, tghe “temple” ...
I dont know how they did that...
They did make a big thing of the 200th of Joey’s birth...
Big sacred doings
“praise to the man” and all that...
However our savior is named Jesus and not Joeseph Smith...
and He was not born in a little town in Vermont...
But in the little town of Bethlehem...
O come, all ye faithful
O come, all ye faithful, joyful and triumphant,
O come ye, O come ye, to Bethlehem.
Come and behold Him, born the King of angels;
Refrain
O come, let us adore Him,
O come, let us adore Him,
O come, let us adore Him,
Christ the Lord.
True God of true God, Light from Light Eternal,
Lo, He shuns not the Virgin’s womb;
Son of the Father, begotten, not created;
Refrain
Sing, choirs of angels, sing in exultation;
O sing, all ye citizens of heaven above!
Glory to God, all glory in the highest;
Refrain
See how the shepherds, summoned to His cradle,
Leaving their flocks, draw nigh to gaze;
We too will thither bend our joyful footsteps;
Refrain
Lo! star led chieftains, Magi, Christ adoring,
Offer Him incense, gold, and myrrh;
We to the Christ Child bring our hearts’ oblations.
Refrain
Child, for us sinners poor and in the manger,
We would embrace Thee, with love and awe;
Who would not love Thee, loving us so dearly?
Refrain
Yea, Lord, we greet Thee, born this happy morning;
Jesus, to Thee be glory given;
Word of the Father, now in flesh appearing.
Refrain
Is time travel part of Mormonism? ;)
________________________________________________
Apparantly so...
They have their mormon jesus coming to visit Central America after his resurrection, and out of time sinc...
Masonic handshakes, symbols, and rituals are all directly practiced in Mormonism.
It seems to me that we went to Utah to keep people from shooting us. As a Calvinist observer I think that you are an exemplar of the first "T" in TULIP.
Thanks for posting that beautiful hymn that we also sing from the LDS Hymnal.
Here are some more on the same theme.
Christmas
Angels We Have Heard on High - #203
Away in a Manger - #206
Far, Far Away on Judea’s Plains - #212
Hark! The Herald Angels Sing - #209
I Believe in Christ - #134
I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day - #214
It Came upon the Midnight Clear - #207
Joy to the World - #201
O Little Town of Bethlehem - #208
Oh, Come, All Ye Faithful - #202
Once in Royal David’s City - #205
Silent Night - #204
The First Noel - #213
While Shepherds Watched Their Flocks - #211
With Wondering Awe - #210
http://www.lds.org/cm/topicsearchalpha/1,18284,4789-1-1,00.html
I don’t know of any Mormons who worship JS. We claim him as a prophet and servant to Christ. There is only one Savior of the world, and that is the Lord Jesus Christ.
I think you know this, and are throwing out whatever you can to discredit those who you disagree with. I for one won’t bother to answer these little bait bombs in the future.
my Fathers family have been LDS for more than 170 years
I think you have an agenda.
_________________________________________________
Sorry to heaqr that, kid...
Its high time you got saved and became a Chrsitian...
As for agendsa...
I KNOW that Joey Smith had one against Christians...
and a personnal one...
Joey was for any scam that got him women, money and control over other people...
He got all three with his homemade satanic cult...
and destroyed millions of lives through it...
A syou arte post the titles of songs you claim are sung in your LDS buildings ...
Lets look at the words...
For instance in the well known and loved Hymn, Holy Holy Holy...
Christians sing the original words...
“God in three Persons, blessed Trinity! “
While mormons reject Jesus as the 2nd person of the Trinity by not mentioning the Trinity and changing the words, the meaning and the spirit of the Hymn...
The mormons sing “God in his glory, blessed diety”
I’m not impressed by lists of song titles and singing schedules for December...
Not when the words of the songs havve been wontonly changed in order to water down and deny that jesus is God...
Jesus is God...
And alone is SDavior...
Joey Smith was a paqgan criminal and skirt chaser and has nothing to do with salvation...
Joey Smith rejected jesus and Christianity and worked his whole life against the true gospel of Jesus Christ...
To the extreme that Joey claimed to be greater than Jesus...
Anyone claiming to be greater than Jesus hardly looks to Him for salvation...
But God destroyed Joey Smith fort his boasting and evil...
Joey Smith is busy screaming for help to Lasarus right now...
and wishing he had just once celebrated Christmas...
Rip-
I have to laugh that you cite a wiki as authoritative as well as fairlds. mormon apologists get their tails tied up into a knot whenever this subject comes up. Facts are less than 2 months after becoming a mason, smith produces his temple endowment ceremony. Parallels between masonic and mormon ceremonies show that smith took from the masons and called it his own.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.