I just laugh at people who attempt to excuse their poor behavior over “finding out the truth” about the endowment’s connection to Freemasonry.
What a bunch of maroons. It just tells me exactly where they are at spiritually. This guy gives a sound bite overview of the topic, but it is a good place to start:
"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. Owing to the superior knowledge Joseph had received, the Masons became jealous and cut off the Mormon Lodge." (President Franklin D. Richards, Rudger Clawson Diary, 4 Apr. 1899, Rudger Clawson Papers, Special Collections, Marriott Library, University of Utah)
ReplyDeleteBUT - We now know the Masonic ceremony did not originate until around 2,000 years after Solomon's temple, which was about animal sacrifice and had nothing to do with Masonry anyway.
So, did God lead Joseph Smith astray when he said Free Masons originally had the correct teachings?
"If the Free Masonry of today is a remnant and corruption of the true signs and tokens of the Priesthood revealed in the days of Solomon, when the Temple of Solomon was built, then it is easy for us to understand and believe that the mythology of the north is simply a corruption of the true Jehovah-worship, as Abraham knew it and taught it to his children." (Elder Andrew Jenson, Conference Report April 1913)
No. Solomon didn't have the endowment because the ancient Israelites didn't have the higher law. The Masonic ceremony is descended from early Christians who did have the endowment. When general apostasy set in, the ceremony was corrupted and the masons created their own mythology about Hiram and the Temple of Solomon.
DeleteThe problem isn't the Masons, the problem is the Illuminati (or you might call it the Cabal, or the master secret combination because it doesn't have one name) who infiltrated and took over the Masons mentioned in Ether 8:24-25. John calls this organization MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH in Revelations 17:5.