Did LDS Masons Suspect Plagiarism by Joseph in the Mormon Temple?
Based on the quotes given immediately above, Heber C. Kimball’s experience in Masonry seems to have helped him to appreciate the temple ceremony rather than raise doubts about Joseph’s inspiration and integrity. He did not see the temple as something that the Joseph the novice had stolen from Masonry, but as a divine restoration from God. Charles Charvatt, who was acquainted with Joseph in Nauvoo, is quoted as saying that “there were some signs and tokens with their meanings and significance which we [Freemasons] did not have. Joseph restored them and explained them to us” (Manuscripts of Samuel C. Young, LDS Church Archives, Salt Lake City, as cited by Matthew B. Brown, FARMS Review of Books, Vol. 10, No. 1, 1998, p. 130). Likewise, James Cummings, a Mason who was present when Joseph was initiated, is quoted as saying that “the Prophet explained many things about the rites that even Masons do not pretend to understand but which he made most clear and beautiful” (Horace H. Cummings, “T
