Mark Koltko-Rivera

A one-hour presentation invited by the Worldwide Exemplification of Freemasonry, August 2011. I wrote, produced, directed, and narrated this entire presentation.

Full-title: Of Masons and Mormons: The Relationship Between Freemasonry's Rituals of Initiation and the Latter-day Saint Temple Ceremonies.

From the text of the presentation:

"Specifically, I’ll be discussing the allegation that the first prophet of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, named Joseph Smith, essentially took the Masonic rituals of initiation to create the LDS temple ceremonies. The Latter-day Saints, of course, are more popularly known as Mormons. Did the Mormons steal from the Masons? That is my topic today.

"I’ll start off by describing my qualifications to discuss this matter. I’ll explain why this matter is an issue of some importance for both Freemasons and Latter-day Saints. After a short orientation to both Freemasonry and Mormonism, I shall lay out the basic historical facts of the matter, share some important context with you, and give you my interpretation of what actually happened. I shall also compare the two bodies of ritual in general terms. I shall conclude by sharing with you some implications of my interpretation of this matter, implications for the Masons, for the Mormons, and for the academic disciplines of history and religious studies."