Mormonism: Its True History, Signs and Symbols (Part #3)

A Truth is Light Q and A Session with an Official Mormon Representative


Author: J.E. Buchanan, III
CEO/Information Architect 

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This is the last part of our three part series; of the Church of  Jesus Christ of  Latter-Day Saints. We have labored heavily, here at Truth is Light, to bring clarity, honesty, brevity and illumination on the core origins, true belief system and mind-control methodologies of the leaders within the Mormon faith. 

We pray and trust that you have been enamored with these truths, if you were not knowledgeable before; and, much more, encouraged if you were already aware of the demonic influence that this church denomination has exercised within North America for well over 150 years. 

At the End of the Age, it is our most sincere mission, at Truth is Light, to continue speaking the truth in love; and also to continue, forcefully, speaking truth to the evil,  powers that lurk within the hidden realms of the blackness of darkness. 

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The following exchange is from a conversation that one of our staffers had with an official representative of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints: 

ATTN: L.D.S. Staff

I am in the process of doing extremely invasive research for a series of articles about the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.

My 3 part question for you is this:

A. It is a well established fact that Joseph Smith and Brigham Young were Freemasons. Is this fact addressed within any of the official L.D.S. media outlets or official memoirs?

B. The god of Freemasonry is not the GOD of the Holy Bible. Understanding this fact, why were Joseph Smith and Brigham Young raised as Freemasons in the first place?

C. Does the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints teach that Jesus the Christ is the brother of Lucifer/Satan? 

Thanks in advance for your expeditious reply.

JB3

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Response Team Member (R.K.):

You sent us several questions about a month ago - we apologize for being so slow in responding.  Sometimes we just get swamped and fall behind, especially in and around General Conference time.  I will try and answer your questions:

1)  Here are several sources from official Church publications that mention Joseph Smith's Masonic involvement:

https://www.lds.org/manual/church-history-in-the-fulness-of-times-student-manual/chapter-twenty-one-growing-conflict-in-illinois?lang=eng

The History of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints - 6 vols (1970 edition).  You will find mentions of Joseph Smith and masonry in Vol 4 (pgs 550-552, 565-566) and Vol 5 (pgs 41, 370)

http://josephsmithpapers.org/   

[The Joseph Smith Papers site is in progress, we are only starting to put much of the material from the 1840's online, more is forthcoming.  Here is just one example of what to expect:  

http://josephsmithpapers.org/person?name=Abraham+Jonas      

Joseph Smith's journal from Dec 1841-Dec 1842 appears to be in the process of being published, and will have more citations concerning Masonry]

2)  Joseph Smith was not "raised as a Freemason".  Joseph did not become a mason until the 1840's in Nauvoo.  The Church makes no claims or statements about the "God" that freemasonry mentions or "believes" in.  The Church has no official connection or association with freemasonry.  If members choose to become Freemasons for the fraternal and social benefits, that is their choice.

3)  The Church teaches that in the Pre-Existence there were many, countless many, Spirit Children of our Heavenly Father.  These included Jesus, you and me, and Lucifer.  Then, when Heavenly Father brought forth his great Plan of Salvation, many of his Spirit Children, led by Lucifer, rebelled, rejected the Father's Plan, and fell from grace and glory, and were expelled from Heaven.  Lucifer is just as much your Spirit brother as he is Jesus’.  

Good luck on your "invasive" research and articles.  Please take advantage of the material and content we publish here on LDS.org.

Response Team Volunteer - RK

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RK,

Thanks so much for replying to my research questions; it is greatly appreciated. 

RK, I do have some comments and follow-up questions for you to respond to: 


1) Joseph Smith and Brigham Young were, in fact, raised as Freemasons. The only difference between Joseph Smith's entry into the fraternity and Brigham Young's entry is the fact that Joseph Smith was made a, "Mason at Sight", which done very seldom within The Craft. 

2) RK, you stated that, "The Church has no official connection or association with freemasonry." Taking this at face value, R.K., there is documented evidence that many of the pass-grips, tokens, penalties and rituals that are used within the Freemason Lodge, presently, are also used within the LDS Temple. 

3) RK, could you please expand, much further, on the Church's teaching on Pre-Existence?

Thanks in advance for your response.

JB3

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Hi again.  I'll try once more to respond to your questions.

1) Joseph Smith "raised" a Freemason.  This kind of question is typical of arguments by people on the Internet blogs.  First of all, what do you mean "raised" a Freemason?  I know almost nothing about Freemasonry, but it is my understanding they don't initiate someone into freemasonry until they are adults. I too have read that Hyrum Smith was a Freemason long before Joseph was, and perhaps (I do not know) Joseph's father, Joseph Sr., was also a Freemason. Do you mean that Joseph was "raised" in a family environment that accepted Freemasonry as something valuable or sociable, etc...?  At any point, the real issue is "when did Joseph Smith Jr. become a Freemason?"  I am not an historian, and the issue of Freemasonry is about 345th on my list of interesting things about Joseph Smith, but I recall in the past reading that he joined freemasonry in the 1840's in Nauvoo. 

You, on the other hand, may have read something somewhere that states Joseph was "raised"a Freemason (whatever that means) or that he also joined Freemasonry long before Nauvoo.  So, the real question is, what sources are you using, and what sources I am using?  And then, how do you rate those sources as "reliable", "possibly reliable", or "unreliable"...?  Even that doesn't always solve the problem - you and I could look at the same source, and based on our knowledge, background, beliefs, and biases, you would call this source "reliable" and I might call it "unreliable", or vice versa this is, of course, valuable, and I strongly suggest that if this subject interests you that you make an exhaustive search of the statements and accounts, both by non-Mormon and Mormon sources, and then come to some reasonable method of judging the reliability of these sources (I mean, be able to defend your choices), and so on.  I only make two suggestions:  

1) that you make a thorough check of ALL reports and their sources, including those published by faithful LDS scholars and historians, and not just those you read in some anti-Mormon book or website, and... 2) that you exercise a little patience, and come back to LDS.org over and over again to familiarize yourself with the materials we are slowly but steadily publishing in our Joseph Smith Papers project.  

2) Freemasonry and our Temples.  If you know anything about our Church you know that our Temples, and the ordinances we perform within them, are sacred to us, and they are not subjects of open discussion outside the Temples.  Period.
Having said that, I will speak personally.  I am not that interested in 19th Century American history myself, though I have read much on the subject.  I have read two "histories" of Masonry, purporting to discuss the origins of freemasonry going back to Solomon's Temple (I am aware that most Masons no longer even believe in this themselves...)   My own personal interests run more to Ancient civilizations, Ancient peoples and histories, and Ancient religious beliefs and practices. I am not an expert, or even trained in these subjects - I am a complete amateur.  But I have read extensively on these subjects for over 30 years now, and I have regularly attended the Temple dozens and dozens of times, and I have now a stronger conviction and surety of opinion about the sacred and eternal nature of the Temple ordinances, and of their ancient origins, patterns, and sanctity, then ever before in those 30 years of study and Temple attendance.  For what that is worth to you.

3) Pre-existence.  Most of what we know about this comes directly from Joseph Smith's teachings, which are not extensive.  There are scriptural references which make sense to us, though they are interpreted differently by other Christians and Jews.  Hebrews 12:9 reminds us that God is the "Father of our Spirits".  We take this to be a far different thing than being the one who "created us out of nothing".  God asked Job (Job 38:4-7) "where were you" when "the morning stars sang together and all the sons of God shouted for joy"?  Who are these "sons of God" (in Hebrew these are the "Elohim", the "gods" or "sons of god"), who were there at the time of creation?  And God's question to Job is always interpreted by other Christians and Jews as meaning "you weren't even around yet - I hadn't even created you!", while we Latter-day Saints understand this to be God saying "remember, you were there too, and you were happy and looked forward to the creation, along with all the other 'sons of God!."

Probably the best short description of our beliefs can be found in our Gospel Topic subject, The Plan of Salvation, here:    https://www.lds.org/topics/plan-of-salvation?lang=eng 

And you can also start at our Topical guide on the entry for "Preexistence" here:
https://www.lds.org/scriptures/tg/preexistence

and our Guide to the Scriptures gives more scriptural references we find compelling here:
https://www.lds.org/scriptures/gs/premortal-life

And, of course, the best scriptural reference of all is in our Book of Abraham, Ch 3.

I hope you find all this helpful.  Thank you again,

Response Team Volunteer - RK

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R.K.,

I would like to thank you again for your most expeditious response.

1) As to my questions concerning Joseph Smith, Jr. being "raised" and made a "Freemason at Sight" and how it pertains to the Mormon faith... 

R.K., being raised around The Craft myself for decades, it is the understood practice, throughout all of Freemasonry, that a candidate, of their own free-will and accord, is, "raised", during secret initiation ceremonies. It is also my further understanding that Joseph was made a, "Freemason at Sight", in Nauvoo, IL; after being made a Mason at Sight, he also founded the Nauvoo Masonic Lodge and served as its Worshipful Master.  

R.K., it was not my intention to try and confuse you with meaningless jargon from various Mormon or Anti-Mormon sources. During my research process, I am using a plethora of resources; and weighing out the evidence decently and in order. It is my quest to find the core exhaustive truth for myself; wherever that road may lead me to. 

2) Concerning the Church's sacred Temple ordinances, I do understand that they are reserved for and shared only by members of the Latter Day Saint faith. 

Having extensive knowledge of The Craft and also the close relationship of the many pass-grips, tokens, passwords, signs, phrases etc., found within the Mormon faith, it is not secret, by any account to me, the eternal, spiritual relationship that the Mormon faith shares with the religion of Freemasonry. Similar to you, in limited respects, I am a student of world religions; and their individual and collective effects on the Novus Ordo Seclorum in which the world now lives. 

3) Thank you very much for your further information about the dogma of Pre-existence. I am going to put in a lot of research on that. 

Thanks So Much,

JB3

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JB3,

No problem at all!  You've been very kind, and I hope I haven't offended you in any way by anything I wrote.

RK

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It is our undying prayer and hope, at Truth is Light, that you have enjoyed our 3-part series on the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. Regardless of your religious belief, denomination, affiliation or lack thereof, please research the information and evidence that we have presented and make your own, personal conclusion; always ensuring that you perform the proper due diligence for yourself. 

The truth is the light... as long as you make the conscious choice to walk and dwell within the light. 

A Mormon Temple

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