Nick Literski, Review of Clyde Forsberg’s Equal Rites: The Book of Mormon, Masonry, Gender, and American Culture. FRB 17:1 (2005):1-10

Greg Kearney, “How does one explain the similarities between Masonic rites and the Temple rites?” FAIR paper.

Same comments apply here as to his Mormon Stories podcast above.

An anonymous LDS historian’s response to Gerald and Sandra Tanner’s Mormonism- Shadow or Reality? This paper was widely circulated when it first appeared in 1977. For the comments on Masonry, see p. 21.

Elder John A. Widtsoe “Whence Came the Temple Endowments?” In Evidences and Reconciliations (Salt Lake City, UT: Bookcraft, 1960): 111-113.

• Reproduced here.
• Gospelink (subscription required)

Ben McGuire’s chapter on the temple in Mormonism 201 (responding to an antimormon book) from FAIR. The whole article is good, but requires scrolling.

President Anthony W. Ivins. The Relationship between Mormonism and Masonry.

• Similar caveats as above. Available in .PDF format. (If that link doesn’t work, go here and hunt for it by title or author.)

E. Cecil McGavin, Mormonism and Masonry

• Older and very outdated source, previous to any of the scholarship listed on this page, in .PDF format. (If that doesn’t work, go here.)

Nick Literski, an LDS Mason (who used to have an excellent temple site), has a forthcoming book Method Infinite: Freemasonry and the Mormon Restoration on “the role of Freemasonry in the restoration of the gospel. This will begin back in early Vermont days, on up through the late 19th century” (email from Nick to me.) As such, it will touch on the restoration of the temple as a side issue. Further info on his publisher’s site.

Jeff Lindsay’s FAQ on the subject is probably the best internet resource. It’s really quite good (and I’m not just saying that because he links to me, either.) I don’t recommend searching for others on the internet. You’ll find more than you’re looking for.

The Mysteries of Godliness: A History of Mormon Temple Worship reviewed by FAIR, here.

The Mysteries of Godliness: A History of Mormon Temple Worship. Reviewed by Danel W. Bachman and Kenneth W. Godfrey, in BYUS 36:2 (1996-1997): 245-249.

The Mysteries of Godliness: A History of Mormon Temple Worship. Reviewed by Matthew Brown in FARMS Review of Books, 10:1 (1998):97-131. A thorough treatment.

Kenneth W. Godfrey. “Freemasonry in Nauvoo.”  EM: 527-28.

• Gospelink (subscription required)

Kenneth W. Godfrey. “Freemasonry and the Temple.” -  EM: 528-529.

• Gospelink (subscription required)

Greg Kearney, a 3rd generation LDS Mason and FAIR member, also did a podcast, an audio interview about Masonry and Mormonism,  with Mormon Stories on this topic.

It’s available via Itunes podcasts  or directly from Mormon Stories.(Link includes summary, comments by listeners, and a direct link to the audio file.) Podcast instructions from Mormon Stories.

Bro. Kearney certainly qualifies as an expert on Masonic topics, but less so in terms of temple-related scripture and ancient ritual. Though I have some disagreements, this is useful to listen to.

“A Temple Dressed in White: The Saint George Temple.” Documentary by Dennis Lyman. Available here.

“History at Temple Hill The Manti Temple.” Documentary on the Manti Temple by Dennis Lyman. Available here.

“Sacred Stone: Temple on the Mississippi” Documetary shown on PBS and directed by Lee Groberg, detailing the building of the original Nauvoo Temple. Available here.

“Mountain of the Lord.” Film produced in 1993 by the Church detailing the construction of the Salt Lake Temple. This is no longer available except from Church Distribution on VHS and DVD ($4.50). Fuller description here.

Hugh Nibley presentation, “Abraham’s Creation Drama.”  Available in Quicktime, Windows Media, or streaming audio.

Susan Easton Black, “The Nauvoo Temple: Then and Now.” mp3 format.

From BYU Broadcasting, it’s also available to stream.

The Temple in the Book Of Mormon. Audiotape by John Welch. I found this tape at the Orem Public Library. They had a large collection of such tapes, at least when I was there several years ago. FARMS doesn’t sell it. I have an MP3 copy, but it’s 70 MB.

Donald Parry. “He That Hath Clean Hands and a Pure Heart: Three Temple Entrance Hymns.” Temple conference at BYU, Nov. 1999. Available in Quicktime, Windows Media, or streaming audio.

Elder Hugh Pinnock. “Temples: Then, Now, and Forever.”  Temple conference at BYU, Nov. 1999. Available in Quicktime, Windows Media, or streaming audio.

Revelation 8:3-4

(This will be most instructive when read with “The Hand as a Cup in Ancient Temple Worship” and the associated Anchor Bible Dictionary article on incense censers, listed under Ritual.)

And another angel came and stood at the altar, having a golden censer; and there was given unto him much incense, that he should offer it with the prayers of all saints upon the golden altar which was before the throne.⁴ And the smoke of the incense, with the prayers of the saints, ascended up before God out of the angel’s hand.

Incense is put in a censer, but the smoke from the burning incense rises out of the angel’s hand. Taking the text literally, there are two possibilities.

1) A censer holds burning coals. The angel didn’t have a censer, since, having a celestial body, he could hold the coals in his hand.

2) The angel had a censer shaped like a hand (see article listed above), and thus the censer is being referred to as the hand of the angel.

In either case, we have an angel at an altar, with incense rising from a hand before God with the prayers of the saints.

The Old Testament associates incense with prayer, asin Psalms 141:1-2, which, like many of the psalms, is a prayer. ” I call upon you, O LORD; come quickly to me; give ear to my voice when I call to you. ² Let my prayer be counted as incense before you, and the lifting up of my hands as an evening sacrifice.”

On the lifting up of hands, which is a posture of prayer, see the references under Prayer.

D&C 129:4-9, revealed perhaps as early as 1839-

“When a messenger comes saying he has a message from God, offer him your hand and request him to shake hands with you.⁵ If he be an angel he will do so, and you will feel his hand.⁶ If he be the spirit of a just man made perfect he will come in his glory; for that is the only way he can appear–⁷ Ask him to shake hands with you, but he will not move, because it is contrary to the order of heaven for a just man to deceive; but he will still deliver his message.⁸ If it be the devil as an angel of light, when you ask him to shake hands he will offer you his hand, and you will not feel anything; you may therefore detect him.⁹ These are three grand keys whereby you may know whether any administration is from God.”

See here for some commentary on these verses. Cf. Todd Compton, “The Handclasp and Embrace as Tokens of Recognition” under Ritual, and the story here.

2 Corinthians 4:4 NIV

“…the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.”

This scripture has two interesting aspects.First, it explicitly refers to Lucifer/Satan as “the god of this world.” Similarly, John 12:31, 14:30, and 16:11 all refer to him as the “ruler (Gr. archon) of this world.”
Second, “world” in 2 Co. 4:4 is a translation of Greek aiōn, meaning a time period or age. (Cf. other translations- NIV, NAB, NET “god of this age.” The NLT, which is more of a paraphrase than a translation, reads “Satan, the god of this evil world…”) Lucifer is thus the god of this period of fallen time, this wicked age.
This coincides well with Joseph Smith’s interpretation of Matthew 24:4, which reads “what is the sign of [Jesus’ second] coming, and of the end of the world, [which is] the destruction of the wicked?” Joseph’s interpretation thus equates the end of the “world”, (aiōn or time period) with the destruction of the wicked. The destruction of the wicked will end that aiōn.

Hugh Nibley discusses Lucifer’s claim of ownership of the world, as well as his (temporarily) usurped control of it in several of his articles.

2 Nephi 9:41-42.

“…Behold, the way for man is narrow, but it lieth in a straight course before him, and the keeper of the gate is the Holy One of Israel; and he employeth no servant there; and there is none other way save it be by the gate; for he cannot be deceived, for the Lord God is his name.⁴² And whoso knocketh, to him will he open; and the wise, and the learned, and they that are rich, who are puffed up because of their learning, and their wisdom, and their riches–yea, they are they whom he despiseth; and save they shall cast these things away, and consider themselves fools before God, and come down in the depths of humility, he will not open unto them.”

Cf. “The Keeper of the Gate” and “Temple Motifs in Jewish Mysticism” under Temple and Other Religions as well as Brown, Symbols in Stone, 130-131.

There is much more to be said about this. A longish essay will be added to the Temple Preparation section about it.

Isaiah 56:4-6 (particularly v. 5) NRSV

“For thus says the LORD: To the eunuchs who keep my sabbaths, who choose the things that please me and hold fast my covenant, 5 I will give, in my house and within my walls, a monument and a name better than sons and daughters; I will give them an everlasting name that shall not be cut off. 6 And the foreigners who join themselves to the LORD, to minister to him, to love the name of the LORD, and to be his servants, all who keep the sabbath, and do not profane it, and hold fast my covenant…”

Verse 5 literally reads in Hebrew, “and I will give to them in my house, within my walls a hand and a name, (which is) better than (having) sons or daughters. I will give them an eternal name, that shall not be cut off.” Emphasis mine. Modern translations tend to follow something like the NRSV (“a monument and a name” instead of “a hand and a name”) on the basis of 1 Samuel 15:12 and 2 Sam. 18:18.

However, the idea of receiving a hand and an eternal name is quite familiar and comfortable to LDS. Several LDS commentators have made mention of this- Donald Parry, Victor Ludlow, and Avraham Gileadi, who gives a heavily-LDS translation “I will give a handclasp and a name within the walls of my house that is better than sons and daughters; I will endow them with an everlasting name that shall not be cut off.”

See also “The Handclasp and Embrace as a Token of Recognition” under Ritual and the story I’ve reprinted here. For scholarly analysis of Isaiah 56:5, see

1. Shemaryahu Talmon “‘Yad wasem’, an Idiomatic Phrase in Biblical Literature and its Variations,” Hebrew Studies 25 (1984) 8-17;
2. Robinson, G. “The meaning of yd in in Isaiah 56, 5.” Zeitschrift für die Alttestamentliche Wissenschaft 88 (1976): 282-284;
3. Japhet, Sara. “yd wsm (Isa 56:5)–A Different Proposal.” Maarav 8 (1992): 69-80;
4. Van Winkle, D. W. “The Meaning of yadwašem in Isaiah LVI 5.” Vetus Testamentum 47 (1997): 378-385.

For anyone with a little Hebrew under their belt (it’s not hard, really!), Daily Hebrew offers a short reading each day with lexical and grammatical help. Seems like a good way to practice. Having formally studied 10 languages, I can tell you that you lose what you don’t use. Daily practice helps things stick much more than cramming.

This goes for other things as well- studying for tests, reading scriptures, exercising. 30 minutes a day for 12 days has a much stronger effect than 6 hours for one day.

If you’d like to get a little Hebrew, Hebrew for Christians is a useful place to start, even if you’re not Christian. It has the alphabet (the most intimidating part), grammar, audio files, etc. Even if you can only learn the alphabet and perhaps the verbal stems (different semantics, as illustrated on p.2 of this chart), you can make use of the standard lexica (ie. dictionaries), a strong beginning.