By Richard Packham
The following is excerpted with permission from the original page at:
http://packham.n4m.org/mason-endow.htm
[Note]: The list of similarities below is given in no particular order, since the order of presentation in both ceremonies differs slightly. The information on 19th century Masonry is based on William Morgan’s Illustrations of Freemasonry, 1827.1
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Many writers who are familiar with both the Masonic rituals and the Mormon temple rituals (the “endowment”) have remarked on their similarities as well as their differences. Many early Mormons were also Masons, and acknowledged the similarities, usually asserting that the endowment was the purer, uncorrupted form, restored to its original purity, sometimes referring to the endowment as “celestial Masonry.”
. . .
Conclusion
Even Masonic scholars and historians admit that the Masonic rituals did not originate in Solomon’s Temple in Jerusalem (as the Masonic legend relates), but were an outgrowth of the European builders’ guilds of the late Middle Ages. This weakens the Mormon belief that the endowment ritual was given to Adam in the Garden of Eden. It seems much more obvious that Joseph Smith used basic elements from the 19th century Masonic ritual, and the Mormon endowment ritual is not ancient at all. The fact that the endowment has changed so much since its introduction in Nauvoo in 1842 also belies the Mormon claim that Joseph Smith was restoring the purity of the original (Adamic) ceremony.
Footnotes:
- William Morgan’s Illustrations of Freemasonry is also available here. ↩︎
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