Do any former Mormons recall being taught that the Mormon church was a restoration of Jesus' original church? It was very eye opening to me to discover that from the very start there were very many different forms of Christianities with some very diverse concepts. At this point, I'm no longer convinced that a Jesus that may have exisred ever intended to create a new religion but only to reform the beliefs of the Jews. But like all ideas and movements, it took on a life of its own - and in this case many lives.
The Youtube video is an early Christianity scholar who appears to have somes very good information on the formation of Christianity.
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Feel free to reply to any comment by clicking the "Reply" button.Yes I was taught that, but if anything the way the church is run and much of the "restored" revelation is actually variations on Gnostic teaching, half remembered and expediently altered plus a large does of restored Scottish rite Free masonry
LenHazell53
Level 9
July 10, 2020
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I don't doubt what you say. What I'd read was that Smith came up with the temple endowment ceremony after being inducted into the higher order of the Masons, and that Smith's ceremony was remarkably similar (unmistakenly so) to the Mason's ceremony.
@RussRAB Smith whole family were involved in York rite Freemasonry in Palmyra but it was John C. Bennett was the one who sold Smith the Reformed Scottish rite ceremonies first used in the Nauvoo temple