Nauvoo Masonic Hall
MASONIC RITUAL &
THE NAUVOO TEMPLE ENDOWMENT
Is there a connection between Mormonism and Masonry? Yes, though it's been both over and understated by many, the history of the Mormon temple endowment ceremony is inextricably bound up with Joseph Smith's membership in the Nauvoo Masonic Lodge in Illinois.
Nauvoo Masonic Hall
Masonry/Endowment Chronology | |
| 6 April 1830 | The Mormon church, originally named "Church of Christ," was founded by Joseph Smith, Jr., and his followers in Manchester, New York. (Later they would sometimes say it was founded in Fayette.) |
| 30 December 1841 | Joseph Smith, Jr., petitioned for membership in the Nauvoo, Illinois, Masonic Lodge. |
| 3 February 1842 | The Lodge's investigation into Smith's petition was favorable. |
| 15 March 1842 | Smith entered as an Apprenticed Mason. |
| 16 March 1842 | Smith received Fellow Craft and Master Mason degrees. |
| March-May 1842 | Smith witnessed the Entered Apprentice degree five times, Fellow Craft degree three times, and Master Mason degree five times. |
| 4-5 May 1842 | Joseph Smith, Jr., introduced the new endowment ceremony in the upper story of his red brick store. |
| 17 June 1842 | Heber C. Kimball wrote to Parley P. Pratt: "we have received some pressious things through the Prophet on the preasthood that could caus your Soul to rejoice I can not give them to you on paper fore they are not to be riten. So you must come and get them fore your Self. -We have organised a Lodge here of Masons since we obtained a Charter. that was in March since that thare has near two hundred been made Masons Br Joseph and Sidny was the first that was Recieved in to the Lodg. all of the twelve have become members Except Orson P. he hangs back. he will wake up soon, thare is a similarity of preast Hood in masonary. Bro Joseph Ses Masonary was taken from preasthood but has become degenrated. but menny things are perfect. we have a procession on the 24th of June. which is cold by Masons St Johns day in the country. I think it will result in good. the Lord is with us and we are prosperd." |
| 1844 | Joseph Fielding journal entry: "Many have joined the Masonic Institution this seems to have been a Stepping Stone or Preparation for something else, the true Origin of Masonry." |
| 13 November 1858 | Heber C. Kimball's statement in "Manuscript History of Brigham young": "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." |
| 7 February 1877 | Brigham Young recorded his recollections of the first ritual: "[W]e were washed and anointed, and had our garments placed upon us and received our New Name. After he [Joseph Smith] had performed these ceremonies, he gave the Key Words signs, tokens and penalties. Then after this we went into the large room over the store in Nauvoo. Joseph divided upon the room the best that he could, hung up the veil, marked it, gave us our instructions as we passed along from department to another, giving us signs, tokens, penalties with the key words pertaining to those signs." Afterwards, Smith told Young to "organize and systematize all these ceremonies with signs, tokens, penalties, and key words." |
| early 1900s | Elder Franklin D. Richards explained to the Quorum of Twelve Apostles: "A Masonic Lodge... was established in Nauvoo and Joseph smith, Brigham young, Willard Richards, John Taylor, Lorenzo Snow, Orson Hyde, F.D. Richards, and about 1000 others in all became Masons. Joseph, the Prophet, was aware that there were some things about Masonry which had come down from the beginning and he desired to know what they were, hence the lodge. The Masons admitted some keys of knowledge appertaining to Masonry were lost. Joseph enquired of the Lord concerning the matter and He revealed to the Prophet true Masonry, as we have it in our temples." |
| Source: David John Buerger's The Mysteries of Godliness: A History of Mormon Temple Worship (San Francisco: Smith Research Associates; 1994), 35-73. | |
Significant Masonic Population Increase | |
| Total Masons, 1840 | Mormon Masons, 1846-1847 |
| 147 total in Illinois 2072 total in U.S. | ~1366 in Illinois [# in U.S. not given] |
| Source: David John Buerger's The Mysteries of Godliness: A History of Mormon Temple Worship (San Francisco: Smith Research Associates; 1994), 58. | |
IRONY
There is a certain irony in early Mormon Masonic membership that may not be obvious to people who have never read the Book of Mormon. The Book of Mormon consistently condemns secret societies and oath-taking, sign-making "secret combinations." Here are some sample passages:
Ether 8:18-20, 23 And it came to pass that they formed a secret combination, even as they of old; which combination is most abominable and wicked above all, in the sight of God; For the Lord worketh not in secret combinations, neither doth he will that man should shed blood, but in all things hath forbidden it, from the beginning of man. And now I, Moroni, do not write the manner of their oaths and combinations, for it hath been made known unto me that they are had among all people.... suffer not that these murderous combinations shall get above you, which are built up to get power and gain... the sword of the justice of the Eternal God shall fall upon you, to your overthrow and destruction if ye shall suffer these things to be.Ultimately, the secret societies and oath-taking "combinations" lead to the complete destruction of the "Jaredites," whose story is recorded in Ether. Later tribes have similar problems. Here are some excerpts:Ether 10:33, 11:7 & 22 there began to be robbers in the land; and they adopted the old plans, and administered oaths after the manner of the ancients, and sought again to destroy the kingdom.... And they hearkened not unto the voice of the Lord, because of their wicked combinations.... And they did reject all the words of the prophets, because of their secret society and wicked abominations.
2Nephi 9:9 the father of lies... that being who beguiled our first parents, who transformeth himself nigh unto an angel of light, and stirreth up the children of men unto secret combinations of murder and all manner of secret works of darkness.Secret societies in the "last days" are also condemned:Helaman 6:21-26, 30 But behold, Satan did stir up the hearts of the more part of the Nephites, insomuch as they did unite with those bands of robbers, and did enter into their covenants and their oaths, that they would protect and preserve one another in whatsoever difficult circumstances that they should be placed, that they should not suffer for their murders, and their plunderings, and their stealings. And it came to pass that they did have their signs, yea, their secret signs, and their secret words; and this that they might distinguish a brother who had entered into the covenant, that whatsoever wickedness his brother should do he should not be injured by his brother, nor by those who belong to his band, who had taken this covenant. And whosoever of those who belonged to their band should reveal unto the world of their wickedness and their abominations, should be tried, not according to the laws of their country, but according to the laws of their wickedness.... Now behold, those secret oaths and covenants... were put into the heart of Gadianton by that same being who did entice our first parents to partake of the forbidden fruit.... And behold, it is he who is the author of all sin.
2Nephi 26:20-23 And the Gentiles are lifted up in the pride of their eyes, and have stumbled... they have built up many churches; nevertheless, they put down the power and miracles of God, and preach up unto themselves their own wisdom and their own learning, that they may get gain and grind upon the face of the poor. And there are many churches built up which cause envyings, and strifes, and malice. And there are also secret combinations, even as in the times of old, according to the combinations of the devil, for he is the founder of all these things....So it would seem that "Latter-Day Saints," according to the warnings of their own scriptures, should never have joined the Masons, a society with oaths of secrecy, secret signs, and secret words.
In the early 1830s, the Mormons projected an anti-Masonic image. On the 15th of March, 1831, Painesville Ohio's Geauga Gazette quoted Book of Mormon "witness" Martin Harris as saying the Book of Mormon is an "Anti-Masonick Bible." Exactly eleven years later, on the 15th of March, 1842, Joseph Smith officially joined the Masons.
Smith's final words, before he was shot and killed on the 27th of June, 1844, were: "Oh, Lord, my God, is there no help for the widow's son?" (c.f. Mormon author E. Cecil Gavin's Mormonism and Masonry [1956], 16-17; verified in the Life of Heber C. Kimball). According to William Morgan, the Masonic "sign of distress" is given thus: "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 words accompanying this sign, in case of distress, are, 'O Lord, my God! is there no help for the widow's son?'" (Freemasonry Exposed, 76). This is one of the very things Helaman warned about in the Book of Mormon: "they did have their signs, yea, their secret signs, and their secret words; and this that they might distinguish a brother who had entered into the covenant, that whatsoever wickedness his brother should do he should not be injured by his brother, nor by those who belong to his band." Strange but true.
Resources Relevant to the Mormon/Mason Connection: