WEB CLIPS: Dan Vogel, "Mormonism's 'Anti-Masonic Bible'"
POSTER'S NOTES
The links between Mormonism and Masonry are now so well documented that they are openly discussed by knowledgeable Mormons, Mormon Scholars and Anti-Mormons alike (see Bonus Links section for links to substantiating documentation). For example, every time a Mormon engages in a Mormon Temple rite they are knowingly or unknowingly engaging in a plagiarized Masonic Temple ceremony. Yet, strangely and ironically early Mormonism contains strong Anti-Masonic rhetoric, stances and attitudes. Why the contradiction?

The Smith family's Vermont origins were influenced by Freemasonry and its lore. For instance, the newspaper in nearby Randolph was operated by Serano Wright, a prominent local Mason who filled his paper with Masonic articles and poetry. Recent research has shown that while Joseph Smith Sr. was unable to join the fraternity in Vermont, at least two of his brothers and one brother-in-law became Masons in Randolph?s Federal Lodge #15. In particular, Masonic legends of a lost sacred word, once engraved upon a triangular plate of pure gold, profoundly affected the Smith family, leading directly to treasure hunting and other activities for which they would later become known.

After relocating to Palmyra, New York, in 1816, the Smith family developed close relationships with local Freemasons, and Joseph Sr. was initiated in Ontario Lodge #23 at Canandaigua. Several years later, Hyrum Smith received Masonic degrees in Palmyra?s Mount Moriah Lodge #112. But later, as David John Buerger notes in "The Mysteries of Godliness: A History of Mormon Temple Worship":

"This early enthusiasm, however, may have been temporarily checked by widespread anti-Mason feelings which pervaded upstate New York during the late 1820s. This wave of public sentiment was precipitated by the announced publication of William Morgan's expos? of Masonic ceremonies and by his mysterious disappearance and presumed murder in September 1826. A public outcry against Masons who were thought to put themselves above the law followed. For a few years, American Masonic lodges were, for all practical purposes, inactive. Many lodges closed. Renouncements of affiliation were widespread. A number of newspapers dedicated to exposing Masonry were established in New York and other states. The anti-Masonic movement led to the creation of an independent political party where its energies were ultimately diffused. It was disbanded in 1832.

Some scholars feel that anti-Masonry may be seen in the Book of Mormon and interpret some passages (for example, Alma 37:21-32; Hel. 6:21-22; Ether 8:18-26) as anti-Masonic. These passages condemn secret combinations, secret signs, and secret words in a manner which may be interpreted as reminiscent of anti-Masonic rhetoric prevalent during this period."
(LINK TO SOURCE)

The Web Clips that follow expand on this unique and oddly incongruous period of Mormon History.


The 1830 Book of Mormon

From the 1989 Salt Lake City Sunstone Symposium
AUDIO: "Mormonism's 'Anti-Masonic Bible'"
Dan Vogel and Daniel Peterson discuss U.S and New England Masonic influences during the late 1820s, and explore Masonic and Anti-Masonic themes within the Book of Mormon. Dan Vogel presents the assertion that the Book of Mormon reflected the times as an Anti-Masonic, Anti-Jacksonian tract. Peterson (of FARMS) presents the contrarian arguments.
AUDIO DOWNLOAD


About Dan Vogel
Dan Vogel is the author of a number of books related to early Mormon history. He is a former member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, an atheist and a skeptic.

Vogel was awarded the "Best Book" award in September 2004 by the John Whitmer Historical Association and the "Turner-Bergera Best Biography" award by the Mormon History Association in May 2005 for his biography Joseph Smith: The Making of a Prophet.

In this Smith biography, Vogel argues that Joseph Smith was a pious fraud--that he essentially invented his religious claims for what he believed were noble, faith-promoting purposes. Vogel identifies the roots of the pious fraud in the conflict between members of the Smith family, who were divided between the sometimes skepticism and universalism of Joseph Smith, Sr. and the more mainstream Protestant faith of Lucy Mack Smith. Vogel interweaves the history of Joseph Smith, Jr. with interpretation of the Book of Mormon, which is read as springing from the young man's psychology and experiences.

Vogel's scholarship on the topic has come under fire by Mormon apologists on the grounds that he is biased and critical of Mormon faith claims. He is sometimes also criticised by Exmormons and anti-Mormons for not being sufficiently critical of Joseph Smith. There is wide appreciation, however, for his contribution of the multi-volume Early Mormon Documents, which placed an unprecedented number of important documents within the reach of the average researcher.

Vogel has also edited volumes that attack the possibility of receiving the future through the word of God. In 1991, Mormon apologist Stephen E. Robinson suggested that Vogel's arguments closely resemble those of Korihor from the Book of Mormon.
(LINK TO SOURCE)


About Daniel Peterson
Daniel C. Peterson is professor of Islamic Studies and Arabic in the Department of Asian and Near Eastern Languages at Brigham Young University and currently serves as editor-in-chief of BYU's Middle Eastern Texts Initiative. He is a member of the executive council of the Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship at Brigham Young University. He received a bachelor's degree in Greek and philosophy from BYU and, after several years of study in Jerusalem and Cairo, earned his Ph.D. in Near Eastern Languages and Cultures from the University of California at Los Angeles.
(LINK TO SOURCE)


eBOOK: Equal Rites: The Book of Mormon, Masonry, Gender, and American Culture
by Clyde R. Forsberg
Published by Columbia University Press, 2004
ISBN 0231126409, 9780231126403
326 pages
GoogleBooks Link
Link to Book on Publisher's Web Site
Link to Book on Amazon Web Site

About This Book
Both the Prophet Joseph Smith and his Book of Mormon have been characterized as ardently, indeed evangelically, anti-Masonic. Yet in this sweeping social, cultural, and religious history of nineteenth-century Mormonism and its milieu, Clyde Forsberg argues that masonry, like evangelical Christianity, was an essential component of Smith's vision. Smith's ability to imaginatively conjoin the two into a powerful and evocative defense of Christian, or Primitive, Freemasonry was, Forsberg shows, more than anything else responsible for the meteoric rise of Mormonism in the nineteenth century.

This was to have significant repercussions for the development of Mormonism, particularly in the articulation of specifically Mormon gender roles. Mormonism's unique contribution to the Masonic tradition was its inclusion of women as active and equal participants in Masonic rituals. Early Mormon dreams of empire in the Book of Mormon were motivated by a strong desire to end social and racial discord, lest the country fall into the grips of civil war.

Forsberg demonstrates that by seeking to bring women into previously male-exclusive ceremonies, Mormonism offered an alternative to the male-dominated sphere of the Master Mason. By taking a median and mediating position between Masonry and Evangelicalism, Mormonism positioned itself as a religion of the people, going on to become a world religion.

But the original intent of the Book of Mormon gave way as Mormonism moved west, and the temple and polygamy (indeed, the quest for empire) became more prevalent. The murder of Smith by Masonic vigilantes and the move to Utah coincided with a new imperialism -- and a new polygamy.

Forsberg argues that Masonic artifacts from Smith's life reveal important clues to the precise nature of his early Masonic thought that include no less than a vision of redemption and racial concord.

About the Author
Clyde R. Forsberg, Jr. holds a Ph.D. in American social and cultural history from Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario, is presently an adjunct assistant professor at Queen's University and Trent University in Peterborough and teaches American history (strangely enough). He is a published scholar in the specialized field of Mormon history, known in such circles for his iconoclasm and controversial scholarship regarding its most sacred religious text, the Book of Mormon. He has an abiding interest in outsiders and the role they play in the making of "Americans," the evolution of the Mormon religion from social counterculture (polygamy) to a bastion of conservatism (strict monogamy) case in point.
(LINK TO SOURCE)

BONUS LINKS
Mormon Stories #005: Masonry and Mormonism
An interview with Greg Kearney, a lifelong, multi-generational Mormon and Master Mason

The Mason/Mormon connection consistently ranks as a top 10 issues for those who are struggling with, or who have left the LDS Church. Greg Kearney, a lifelong, multi-generational Mormon and Master Mason, discusses the history of Masonry, how it became associated with the LDS Church, and why this association is a positive, and not a negative one.
LINK TO DOCUMENT LIBARY ARTICLE

Signature Books: "An Introduction to Mormonism and Freemasonry"

"The Strange Connection Between William Morgan (An Anti-Mason) and Joseph Smith (A Mormon)"

"The Mormon Baptism of William Morgan"

WikiPedia: "William Morgan" article

"Joseph Smith America's Hermetic Prophet"

"Joseph Smith and Kabbalah - The Occult Connection"

The Masonic Moroni: A Web Site Exploring the Historical Relationship Between Early Mormonism & Freemasonry




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