AboutCindy Beggs Expertise Although I am not a member of the LDS Church, I can answer most of your general questions re: the LDS faith. Please no LDS bashing. I have a love for the Church's history.
Experience Although I am not a member of the LDS faith, I have been facinated with the Church's history for over 30 years.
Organizations Mount St. Mary's Alumni
Publications Master's Thesis in Mount St. Mary's Library in Los Angeles, CA.
Education/Credentials Bachelor's degree in Liberal Arts. Minors: Religious Studies and psychology. Master's degree in the Humanities/Cultural Studies.
Question I recently asked another professional or posted this for people to respond to it and see their views. What can you tell me of this?
My Question was:
"I have been inspecting the darkness in Joseph Smith's past and found some really disturbing things about him and the founding of the Mormon church. I have found that in the early days of the Mormon church, that Mormonism was founded on teachings of Masonic rituals and symbols. Even the Mormon temple in Utah is wrought with Masonic symbols. I also know that Masonic beliefs discount Jesus Christ as the man who came to redeem us of all our sins. In fact they discount that he even existed. Is there any possibility that the Mormon religion was founded on false beliefs?
Is it true that Mormons today are following a false prophet."
These are the teachings of the Knights Templar, which 'was' a masonic group who loved and revered God.
Man's first duty is to love and revere God,
Implore His aid in all laudable undertakings,
Seek His guidance through prayer,
Embrace and practice the tenets of religion,
Extend charity and sympathy to all mankind,
Shield and support the widow and orphan,
Defend virtue,
Respect the aged,
Honor the bonds of friendship,
Protect the helpless,
Lift up the oppressed,
Comfort the downcast,
Restore dignity to the rejected,
Respect the laws of government,
Promote morality, and
Add to the common stock of humanity's knowledge
and understanding.
Answer Hello, thank-you for your questions and comments. First, I do not believe that the LDS Church was founded upon Masonic principles. Joseph Smith did not become a Mason until around 1840, in Nauvoo, IL, although his brother Hyrum had been a Mason since around 1820. You can use this as a reference for my above statement: ("Is There No Help for the Widow's Son?" by Dr. Reed C. Durham, Jr., as printed in Joseph Smith and Masonry: No Help for the Widow's Son, Martin Pub. Co., Nauvoo, Ill., 1980, p. 17.)
It is obvious to me that the architecture of the LDS temple in Nauvoo IL was influenced by Masonic symbols. There are sun, moon and star stones. If you want to see a picture of a sunstone at the LDS temple in Nauvoo, you can pick up a copy of Fawn Brodie's, "No Man Knows My History." Many of these symbols were carried over into the Salt Lake Temple; the all-seeing eye, sun, moon and star stones, to name a few.
With regard to your second question and comment, I believe you are alluding to the belief (rumor) that in the upper eshelon of Masonry the highest level teaches that Jesus is not what He is cracked up to be. Whether or not one believes that - in my opinion, has nothing to do with the reasons Joseph Smith founded the LDS Church. With all due respect, I think you are comparing apples with oranges. "Was the Mormon Church founded on false beliefs," is your last question. If you are making the assumption that Joseph Smith founded the LDS Church on Masonic principles, and therefore the LDS Church was founded on false beliefs - no, I do not see the correlation there.
