During sweeping social change of the 1820s, Americans became increasingly disenchanted with Freemasonry as a kind of secular priesthood. The William Morgan affair (1826) led to an anti-Masonic movement fueled by fears that a free society could not thrive in the presence of secret organizations. Anti-masons argued that masons formed a secret combination bound by …
Tag: Freemasonry
The Making of the Nauvoo Sunstones
The Making of the Nauvoo Sunstones Like human genealogy, the ancestry of the Nauvoo sunstones is complex and its sources in history are ramified. The sunstones’ character as a religious icon depended much on the universality of its imagery. But its authors also relied on known sources which they hoped would reverberate in the minds …
Anti-Masonry In The Book Of Mormon Revisited
Anti-Masonry In The Book Of Mormon Revisited Does the Book of Mormon description of ancient Gadianton bands and its warning about latter- day “secret combinations” reflect 19th-century concerns about Freemasonry? Many in Joseph Smith’s day, including Martin Harris, thought so. So, on what grounds do Mormon apologists resist this early interpretive consensus? In particular, this …