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The thoughts Joseph Smith that so many LDS read about were common in the late 17th, 18th and 19th century. Did the LDS church evolve into a quasi masonic lodge/temple with a sprinkle of Ephrata community who dated and mated with various protestant sects:

a letter from George Washington to the Ancient York Masons of Pennslyvania dated January 3, 1792:

"I request you will be assured of my best wishes and earnest prayers for your happiness while you remain in this terrestrial mansion and that we may hereafter meet as brethren in the eternal Temple of the Supreme Architect. "

another letter dated December 27, 1792 to the Massachusetts Masons Grand Lodge reads:

" To enlarge the sphere of social happiness is worthy the benevolent design of the Masonic Institution: and it is most fervently to be wished, that the conduct of every member of the fraternity, as well as those publications which discover the principles which actuate them may tend to Mankind that the grand object of Masonry is to promote the happiness of the human race....I sincerely pray that the Great Architect of the Universe may bless you hereafter into his immortal temple."

the masons were an interesting bunch. I know that in the 1800's that regular lodges did not accept blacks but gradually accepted jews and native americans into the craft. if you say the LDS priesthood is the "craft" then surely joseph smith was just following what he witnessed by watching masons. his little thoughts about blacks being the decedents of cain was just a little afterword thought.

So what you are saying is that Joseph Smith was really just following his culture not God. But there were black masons - prince hall.

karl61 wrote:So what you are saying is that Joseph Smith was really just following his culture not God. But there were black masons - prince hall.

The exception that proves the rule?

Did the LDS church evolve into a quasi masonic lodge/temple with a sprinkle of Ephrata community who dated and mated with various protestant sects

No.

bcspace wrote:

Did the LDS church evolve into a quasi masonic lodge/temple with a sprinkle of Ephrata community who dated and mated with various protestant sects

No.

Did the Ephrata community ordain their elders and say something like that they are priest after the order of Melchizedek. Did the Ephrata community baptize for the dead. The community was very close to where Peter Whittmer lived in Pennsylvania. I'm sure he mentioned it to Joseph in Ohio.

Seems doubtful. The Book of Mormon witness, PW Jr., was born in Fayette, NY in 1809. Was PW Sr. a member of the cloister or the subsequent The German Religious Society of Seventh Day Baptists?

I still say no.

Of course that doesn't preclude some true doctrines surviving or being revived by various sects and monastic orders throughout the world.

DaniteDan wrote:the masons were an interesting bunch. I know that in the 1800's that regular lodges did not accept blacks but gradually accepted jews and native americans into the craft. if you say the LDS priesthood is the "craft" then surely joseph smith was just following what he witnessed by watching masons. his little thoughts about blacks being the decedents of cain was just a little afterword thought.

it seems the Masons might have some catching up to do:

from - The secret Temple by Peter Levenda page 180

"One could say that Voltaire signed the Declaration of Independence . And John Locke. And Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Frances Bacon and Thomas Paine. But the ideals that contributed to the formation of the country were also those of the Masonic lodge and temple. The Masonic orders made it possible for like-minded individuals to be "on level" and understand - with the visceral understanding that did not need discussion - that all were created equal, that each person had to right to ascend the three degrees of initiation, the doors of the temple were open to everyone who had the will, and desire, and the humility. That kind of thinking - so common among the best of Americans today - was revolutionary for it's time. While Voltaire and Locke were writing about it in theory, the Freemasons were living it. They were putting into practice an idea of the voluntary guild that transcends any and all occupations. America had become, in the hands of these Masons and their brothers, a universal guild in which every citizen was an equal member, an initiate into the mysteries of Liberty."

" Of course, it did not happen right away. The deeply immoral situation of Slavery kept America from experiencing full brotherhood, and Masonry has been too slow to remedy that situation with it's own ranks and thus has not provided the kind of moral leadership that Enlightenment principles demanded."

bcspace wrote:

Did the LDS church evolve into a quasi masonic lodge/temple with a sprinkle of Ephrata community who dated and mated with various protestant sects

No.

Yea -

here are some thoughts -

http://www.rickgrunder.com/parallels/mp158.pdf

The similarity between Masonic and Mormon culture is unique to these groups.

I only offer my opinion of this because I participate to some extent in both.

From the first moment I stepped into the Blue Lodge I could see the similarities.