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The relationship between Mormonism and Freemasonry began early in the life Joseph Smith, founder of the Latter Day Saint movement, as his older brother Hyrum and possibly his father were Freemasons while the family lived near Palmyra, New York. Nevertheless, in the late 1820s, the western New York region was swept with anti-Masonic fervor, and the Book of Mormon, a foundational sacred text published by Smith in 1830, describes plots of murder and theft by conspirators acting under an ancient, secret oath. By the 1840s, however, Smith and several prominent Latter Day Saint had become Freemasons and founded a lodge in Nauvoo, Illinois, in March 1842. Soon after joining Freemasonry, Smith introduced a temple endowment ceremony including a number of symbolic elements that were essentially the same as their analogues within Freemasonry. Smith remained a Freemason until his death; however, later leaders in the movement have distanced themselves from Freemasonry. In modern times, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church), the predominant Latter Day Saint sect, holds no position for or against the compatibility of Masonry with LDS Church doctrine. == Historical connections == A significant number of leaders in the early Latter Day Saint movement were Masons prior to their involvement in the movement. Notable examples include Brigham Young, Heber C. Kimball, John C. Bennett, Hyrum Smith and Joseph Smith, Sr. In the early 1840s, a Masonic Lodge was formed by Latter Day Saints who were Freemasons. Joseph Smith and his brother Hyrum became members of the newly formed Nauvoo lodge. It appears that John C. Bennett had a particularly strong influence in the spread of Freemasonry among the Mormons, and soon over 1,500 Mormon men in the city of Nauvoo were practicing Masons. Mormon historian Reed Durham writes:
In 1842 Smith became a Master Mason, as indicated by in the ''History of the Church'':
Smith was raised to the third degree of master mason "on sight" by Grand Master Jonas of the Grand Lodge of Illinois. This was fully within Jonas' right of office, but was a fairly rare procedure.
In ''The Mormon Church and Freemasonry'' (2001), Terry Chateau writes:
Hyrum Smith was not only Joseph's older brother, but succeeded their father as Presiding Patriarch and Oliver Cowdery as Assistant President of the Church. Problems arose concerning the special dispensation granted to the Nauvoo Lodge, brought by Bodley Lodge No. 1, and on August 11, 1842, the special dispensation was suspended by the Grand Master until the annual Communication of the Illinois Grand Lodge.〔.〕 "During the short period covering its activities, this Lodge initiated 286 candidates and raised almost as many. John C. Bennett reports an instance in which sixty-three persons were elected on a single ballot."〔 This suspension was later lifted and the Mormon Lodges resumed work although several irregularities in their practice were noted. The irregularities centered on mass balloting (voting on more than one candidate at a time) and not requiring proficiency in each degree before proceeding to the next degree (in many cases, initiates were being passed to the Fellowcraft degree and raised to the Master Mason degree within two days of being initiated as an Entered Apprentice).〔 In 1844, the Mormon Lodges (of which there were five at that time) were ordered to cease work by the Grand Lodge,〔.〕 although they ignored the order and continued to function as clandestine lodges until Smith's death. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Mormonism and Freemasonry」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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