25194

34

181

Book

English

Homer, Michael W.

Joseph's Temples : The Dynamic Relationship Between Freemasonry and Mormonism

Salt Lake City, UT

University of Utah Press

2014

448

The apparent parallels between Mormon ritual and doctrine and those of Freemasonry have long been recognized. That Joseph Smith, Brigham Young, and other early church leaders were, at least for a time, Masons, is common knowledge. Yet while early historians of the LDS Church openly acknowledged this connection, the question of influence was later dismissed and almost became taboo among faithful church members. Just as Mormons have tried to downplay any ties to Freemasonry, Masons have sought to distance themselves from Mormonism. In Joseph's Temples , Michael Homer reveals how deeply the currents of Freemasonry and Mormonism entwined in the early nineteenth century. He goes on to lay out the later declining course of relations between the two movements, until a détente in recent years.

There are indications that Freemasonry was a pervasive foundational element in Mormonism and that its rituals and origin legends influenced not just the secret ceremonies of the LDS temples but also such important matters as the organization of the Mormon priesthood, the foundation of the women's Relief Society, the introduction and concealment of polygamy, and the church's position on African Americans' full membership. Freemasonry was also an important facet of Mormons' relations with broader American society.

The two movements intertwined within a historical context of early American intellectual, social, and religious ferment, which influenced each of them and in varying times and situations placed them either in the current or against the flow of mainstream American culture and politics. Joseph's Temples provides a comprehensive examination of a dynamic relationship and makes a significant contribution to the history of Mormonism, Freemasonry, and their places in American history.

Temple ritual
Freemasonry
Smith, Joseph, Jr., Nauvoo Temple
Temples
Historiography
Symbolism

Americanist Approaches to the Book of Mormon
Brigham Young and the Expansion of the Mormon Faith
Congruence and Concatenation in Jewish Mystical Literature, American Freemasonry, and Mormon Enoch Writings
DNA Mormon: Perspectives on the Legacy of Historian D. Michael Quinn
Feeding the Flock : The Foundations of Mormon Thought : Church and Praxis
Foundations of the Restoration : Fulfillment of the Covenant Purposes : the 45th Annual Brigham Young University Sidney B. Sperry Symposium
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Freemasonry and the Origins of Modern Temple Ordinances
"How Thankful We Should Be to Know the Truth" : Zebedee Coltrin's Witness of the Heavenly Origins of Temple Ordinances
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Jan Shipps : A Social and Intellectual Portrait
John C. Bennett and Joseph Smith's Polygamy : Addressing the Question of Reliability
Kingdom of Nauvoo : The Rise and Fall of a Religious Empire on the American Frontier
Leonard Arrington and the Writing of Mormon History
Let's Talk about Temples and Ritual
Looking Back, Looking Forward : "Mormonism's Negro Doctrine" Forty-Five Years Later
Machines for Making Gods: Mormonism, Transhumanism, and Worlds Without End
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Producing Ancient Scripture: Joseph Smith's Translation Projects in the Development of Mormon Christianity
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The Last Called Mormon Colonization: Polygamy, Kinship, and Wealth in Wyoming’s Bighorn Basin
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William Law : Biographical Essay, Nauvoo Diary, Correspondence, Interview
William Law, Nauvoo Dissenter
Women, Family, and Utopia : Communal Experiments of the Shakers, the Oneida Community, and the Mormons
Women of Covenant : The Story of Relief Society