(Episode 3) The Nauvoo Endowment, Plural Marriage, Godhead, and The Nauvoo Expositor. #mormon

Hello everybody and welcome back to Esoteric Atlanta the podcast. Just a quick note before we get into this episode today. [music] A bit of a disclaimer. I want to take a moment to explain something about myself [music] because I think it's important that you understand where I am coming from before I get into this subject. I am not a Mormon. I have never been a Mormon. I was not raised Mormon. I didn't leave the Mormon church. I don't have a personal history with Mormonism that I'm trying to work through. [music] And guess what? I actually don't have a dog in this fight. I'm not here because I was hurt by the church. I'm not here because I'm trying to necessarily get anybody to leave the church. I'm not here because I want to replace Mormonism with any other religion. And I'm certainly not here because I want to attack [music] Mormon people. I'm here because I am simply interested in the truth. And if I have any religion at all, it is simply this. I want to know God. [music] That's it. God is my religion. And that is the foundation underneath my interest [music] in all of this. Now, you're going to hear us compare Mormon theology with what is generally considered mainstream or traditional Christian theology throughout this series. [music] And I want to explain why because I in some of the comments I don't think people actually understand why I'm doing that. We are not doing that because I think mainstream Christianity is automatically correct. [music] We are not doing that because I'm trying to defend Christianity or any other Christian traditions. [music] And we're certainly not doing it because I believe mainstream Christianity has everything figured out. If you guys have been here since the beginning, you know I have a lot of problems with mainstream Christianity. And mainstream Christianity [music] absolutely does not have everything figured out. The reason why we're making that comparison is very simple. This is an academic look, a comparison because Mormonism itself identifies as a Christian denomination. [music] That is the reason. If Mormonism did not claim a Christian identity, [music] we wouldn't have the same reason to constantly compare the two theological systems. But Mormonism [music] places Jesus Christ at the center of its theology. And yet when you begin examining the details of Mormon theology, [music] you encounter some very significant differences from the traditional streamline Christian understanding of God, of Jesus, [music] of creation, of humanity, of salvation, of the nature of [music] the Trinity, and the ultimate destiny of human beings. And there is a particularly fascinating relationship between the Mormon concept of Jesus and the traditional Christian concept of Jesus. [music] They use the same name. They use many of the same biblical stories. They both identify Jesus as the savior. And [music] yet their theological framework can be profoundly different. That is why we are comparing them. Not because one side automatically gets a gold star. We're comparing them because the Mormons themselves claim to be Christian and therefore the comparison is historically and theologically relevant. [music] My interest in Mormonism actually comes from Mormonism itself. specifically its history, its [music] theological changes, its secrecy, its temple traditions, its esoteric and occult adjacent symbolism, its complicated relationship with 19th century America, [music] its extraordinary stories surrounding Joseph Smith, its own development of [music] plural marriage, of Freemasonry, the Nauvoo Temple, the Book of Abraham, the evolution of the Mormon concept of God, and the enormous amount of historical drama surrounding the movement. Because when you start digging into Mormon history, you discover something that is incredibly complicated. [music] It doesn't simply find that Joseph Smith founded a church. We find an entire American historical story involving revelation, [music] prophecy, new scripture, angels, visions, politics, secret societies, temples, rituals, plural marriage, political power, violent conflict, expulsion, assassination, and the evolving theology of God and humanity. And eventually you find a religion that looks remarkably different than mainstream Christianity. And that's fascinating to [music] me and that's why I'm here. And I want to establish one more principle for the series. Again, we are looking for the truth. Not the Mormon version of the truth. [music] Not the anti- Mormon version of the truth. Not the evangelical version of the truth. Not my version of the truth. Not your version of the truth, just [music] the truth. [snorts] And sometimes the truth is beautiful. Sometimes [music] the truth is boring. Sometimes the truth is complicated. [music] And sometimes the truth completely destroys the narrative you thought you understood. And sometimes the truth is downright [music] belligerent. But here's something I've learned. The truth doesn't need to be managed. The truth doesn't need a public relations department. It doesn't need somebody standing over it saying, "Don't look at that. Don't read that. Don't ask that question. Don't talk about that." If something is true, it is true. And if our evidence is wrong, show us. That's what we're asking you to do. If you think we're wrong, then bring us the receipts. If you believe that we have presented an historical document that you believe we've misunderstood, then show us. If we quote a Mormon [music] leader and you believe we're taking that quotation out of context, show us the full quotation. If we present a doctrine and you believe that doctrine was later rejected or corrected, then show us when and where and why that happened. [music] Give us the current sources. If our interpretation is wrong, explain why factually with evidence. We actually welcome that. Because here's the thing, we want to be wrong when we're wrong. [music] Why? Because we're not trying to win an argument. We're trying to find out what is true. And if you bring us evidence that contradicts our evidence, that's not an attack. That's research. [music] That's how history works. And that's how investigation works. That's how you get closer to the [music] truth. And if you're a practicing Mormon watching this today, you are absolutely welcomed here. [music] Seriously, we welcome you. We welcome your perspective. We welcome your knowledge. We welcome your [music] experiences. We welcome your corrections. We welcome your historical sources. We welcome your theological arguments. Bring them. But here is one condition. You have to respect our humanity [music] just as we are respecting yours. You don't have to argue with us. We're not interested in argument. You don't have to like our conclusions. You don't even have to like us. But what you do have to do if you're on this channel is you have to engage in respectful debate. There's an old saying that says, "Don't shoot the messenger." And I think that applies here. If something we present makes you angry, don't attack us. Don't attack Lorine. [music] Don't attack any other person in the comments. Don't start calling people names. Don't harass somebody just because they present evidence that makes you uncomfortable. Instead, go look at the evidence. If we've shown you something that you didn't know about, investigate [music] it. Find the original sources. Talk to someone you trust and ask [music] questions. If you are a practicing Mormon and we've presented something that [music] you were completely unaware of, ask your bishop or another trusted church leader about it. Ask for historical context. Ask where the information came from. Ask what the church's current position [music] is on the matter and whether the teachings have changed. And when changed, ask why it changed. Ask for the primary sources. [music] That's a much more productive response than attacking the person who's [music] just simply shown you a document. And I want to say something else because this is important to any investigation of religion. [music] Something making you uncomfortable does not mean it [music] is a lie. Sometimes discomfort is a signal that you've [music] encountered something you didn't previously know. Sometimes the information turns out to be wrong. Sometimes [music] the source is misleading. Sometimes the context completely changes what you thought you were looking at. [music] And sometimes you discover something you genuinely did not know. The answer isn't immediately to accept it. [music] The answer isn't to immediately reject it. Investigate it. [music] That's what we're doing here. So here is our policy on the comment section. [music] Respectful debate is allowed. Absolutely. Disagreement is allowed. Correction with the sources [music] is allowed. However, name calling is not allowed. [music] Harassment is not allowed. Personal attacks is not allowed. And gaslighting is not allowed. We encourage respectful debate in the comments. We encourage disagreement. We encourage people bringing us the evidence [music] that contradicts our research. But what will not be tolerated is name calling, harassment, personal attacks, or gaslighting [music] of people in the comment section. If you attack somebody personally, you will be blocked. Period. [music] Not because we're afraid of criticism. Quite the opposite, we want criticism. [music] We just want criticism of the evidence and the argument, not attacks or abuse of human beings. [music] It's called a boundary. Abuse is never accepted. We're putting a boundary up with that. [music] And just because someone doesn't want to accept your abuse does not mean they are not able to accept criticism. [music] So Mormons, listen to me when I say that there is a huge difference between [music] abusing someone because your feelings are hurt and criticizing someone's [music] evidence and research because you have other evidence and research that [music] might change their perspective on their own evidence and research. Abuse and criticism of research are two totally different things. Please understand that. [music] However, one last thing. If you already know the subject is going to be deeply triggering for you, then you don't have to watch. Seriously, [music] you are allowed to walk away. You are responsible for your own emotional responses, [music] your own triggers, and your own behavior. You don't owe this video your attention. [music] You don't have to convince us of anything. And you certainly don't need to sit through something that you know is going to make you angry. [music] Skip it. There will always be another video and this video will always be here for you when you're [music] ready to watch it later on in the future. So, what are we actually doing here? We're not challenging the existence of God. We're not asking you to stop believing in God. We're not telling you that you shouldn't have faith. [music] We're not trying to tell you what religion you should practice. We're examining a religious narrative about God. Specifically, we're examining the historical development of Mormonism's narrative about God, Jesus, humanity, salvation, exaltation, the temple priesthood, marriages, [music] revelation, and the authority of the people who claim to speak for God. [music] That is it. And if the evidence supports the Mormon narrative, we'll say so. If the evidence contradicts something the Godmakers claim, [music] we'll say so. If the Godmakers got something right, we'll say that, too. [music] If Mormon critics have misrepresented something, we'll follow the receipts. [music] If Mormon apologists have misrepresented something, will also follow the receipts on that, too, because [music] our loyalty isn't to either side. Our loyalty is to [music] the evidence. Specifically, Nauvoo in 1842. Joseph Smith [music] has just become a Freemason. 6 weeks later, he introduced a new temple endowment. The first participants are [music] Masons. The ceremony contains recognizable ritual parallels. [music] And while all of this is happening, Joseph Smith is also [music] developing a radically expanding theology of marriage, priesthood, ceilings, and [music] exaltation. Within 2 years, some of his closest associates will [music] turn against him. They will publish a newspaper accusing him of serious religious [music] and political abuses. Joseph Smith, acting [music] as a mayor of Nauvoo, will order the newspapers press destroyed. He will be arrested. [music] He will be charged with treason. And on June 27th of 1844, [music] Joseph Smith will be assassinated at the Carthage jail. Today isn't simply about a temple ceremony. Oh no, it's about an extraordinary collision of religion, secrecy, [music] power, sex, politics, Freemasonry, and [music] the changing concept of God during the final years of Joseph Smith's life. and we're going to take it apart receipt [music] by receipt. But before we get into it today, guys, you know what to do. Please hit that subscribe button and give us a [music] like if you want to help promote this video, get this video out into the algorithms cuz you guys know that we get shadowbanned a lot because [music] we are looking for the truth, the uncomfortable truth in all things. You can hit the hype button. You can also leave us a comment. The comments help the algorithms. We encourage the comments. 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Also, if you want to keep up with what we're doing here on YouTube, a good way to do that is by following our Substack. [music] Substack itself is free. You don't have to pay any money for Substack, [music] but Substack does have us a way for you to donate each month month if you want to. So, that's why we thank our Substack donors, but you absolutely [music] can join Substack for free. Sometimes you guys claim that you're not getting your notifications [music] when new videos drop. Um, unfortunately when it comes to the YouTube platform, that's out of my control. I have no way of of controlling that. [music] So, um, nor does any other creator on this on this platform. So, [music] if you join us on Substack, if you follow me on Substack, the free the free follow, you will be notified through your email, I'll [music] send you an email every time a new video drops or every time we're about to go live. So, that is a way for me to be able to personally that I do I do have control over that. [music] So, that is a way for me to be able to personally notify you when we've dropped a new video either here on YouTube or over on Rumble. And yes, we are looking into putting up a Spotify channel. [music] We haven't opened one yet, but we're looking at doing that. So, even if I go on Spotify, too, [music] I can notify you through Substack. So, that's down in the description box [music] below. Also, just a note as well before we get into this, this is a very these are very long form episodes [music] there. There's a lot of research we're going through. So, to make it easier for you guys, there are chapter markers down in the description box below. And as always, all of our receipts, [music] all of our evidence, all of the websites we've used and sources we've used are also down in the description box [music] below. We're not just showing you the receipts on screen. We're also including them for you to be able to link over to yourself. [music] Okay, you guys, with that being said, let's get into the episode. [music] >> [music] >> Let me show you the sky. Love [music] you. So close to heaven. [bell] If you're new to this series here on Essoteric Land to the podcast, we have two previous episodes that will give you some important background information for what we're about to discuss. In the first, we went through the controversial documentary, The God Makers, and started asking a very simple question. Where did the filmmakers get their information? Instead of arguing over whether the documentary was offensive, anti- Mormon, accurate, inaccurate, or somewhere in between, we started following the original sources. The original sources for the Godmakers documentary were Mormon scripture, statements from Mormon leaders, historical documents, and Bruce Armaconi's Mormon doctrine. Then in our second investigation, we followed Joseph Smith into Freemasonry. We looked at his initiation into the Nauvoo Lodge in March of 1842. We looked at the astonishingly short amount of time between Joseph Smith becoming a master mason and introducing the Nauvoo Temple Endowment. And we began asking whether Freemasonry influenced the ritual structure Joseph introduced. If you haven't watched those episodes yet, the links to both of those are in the description box below. You don't have to watch them first, but they will give you the receipts that brought us here because today we're going inside the Nauvoo Endowment itself. And this time, the story does not end with temples ceremonies because while Joseph Smith was introducing new endowments, he was also secretly practicing plural marriage. He was developing increasingly expansive teachings about exaltation and the true nature of God. Former insiders were turning against him. A newspaper was created specifically to expose what they believed was happening inside Nauvoo. Joseph Smith acting as mayor ordered the newspapers printing press destroyed. That decision ignited a political crisis. Joseph was arrested. He was charged with treason because he was attacking people's right to the press, freedom of speech. That's why he was arrested for treason. It had nothing to do with religious persecution, my Mormon friends. It was because he was attacking the First Amendment right, freedom of the press, and freedom of speech. That is treason. So, he was arrested for it. And 17 days after the press was destroyed, Joseph Smith was dead. So, this isn't just a story about Freemasonry. It isn't just a story about Mormon temple ritual. It's a story of the final extraordinary years of Joseph Smith's life and how religion, secrecy, marriage, political power, revelation, and dissent all collided into one small Illinois city. Today, we're going to follow that collision receipt by receipt. First, we need to correct one misconception. Joseph Smith did not invent the idea of endowment after becoming a Freemason. The word endowment was already a part of early Mormon religious language. During the Kirkland period, Joseph had spoken about believers being endowed with a power from on high and temple practices already included things such as washing and anointings. [music] So, our first receipt is important. Receipt number one, the concept of a Mormon endowment existed before Joseph Smith became a Mason. That [music] is true, but the Nauvoo version of the endowment became something considerably more elaborate [music] and that development happened at a very particular moment. So, let's again go through the timeline that we spoke about in our last episode. This is literally a 6-w weekek window. [music] We start with March 15th of 1842. [music] Joseph Smith is initiated into Freemasonry as a beginner, as like a baby mason. And [snorts] then 24 hours later on March [music] 16th, 1842, Joseph is raised to the 33rd degree of a master mason. That is unbelievable. [music] In 24 hours, he went from a beginner, a baby mason, to a master mason. This typically, if we have any Freemasons watching this, leave your comments in the comment section below because this typically takes years, decades, lifetimes. Sometimes people never make it to the 33rd degree. So, I'd love to hear your [music] explanation or what you think of it down below if you are a practicing Freemason, cuz that's unbelievable. In only 24 hours, [music] he was made a master mason. Then we get to May 4th of 1842 where Joseph introduces the Nauvoo Endowment. That's 6 weeks. [music] That's the window we're investigating. Just 6 weeks. The initiation itself is documented in the surviving Masonic records. This isn't a rumor. This is not speculation. This is not anti- Mormon. This is not this is not anything that's supposed to be provocative. Like, this is literally in the Masonic records, my friends. It's not a rumor. >> [music] >> Joseph Smith became a mason and advanced quickly through the first degrees. [music] Then less than two months later, he introduced a substantially expanded temple ceremony. [music] And that's where the historical debate begins. The first Nauvoo endowment didn't happen inside the Nauvoo Temple simply because the temple wasn't finished yet. [music] Instead, Joseph Smith prepared the upper floors of his red brick store. [music] Curtains divided the room. The space was arranged symbolically. And then on May 4th of 1842, Joseph introduced nine men, 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9ine [music] men into what became the Nauvoo Endowment. And here's the fascinating part. All nine were [music] Freemasons. That's right. All nine of them were also Freemasons, too. They were Freemasons and taking an endowment from Joseph Smith, who had bumped been bumped up to Master Mason in a 24-hour period. [music] Wild. That is wild. I hope you guys understand, maybe you probably do, just how freaking crazy that is. And as we asked in the other episode, the answer is why? Why? Why was Joseph Smith given the title of master mason in only 24 hours? Why? And why were the first men who were given the endowment also Freemasons? See, the mystery of this, the speculation of this is what's so fascinating. So before people who are Mormons start freaking out, look at this. >> [music] >> The church's own history acknowledges both the timing and the masonic affiliations of these early participants. The link is on the screen right now. Mormons, it's in your it's on your own church's website. The church acknowledges what I'm saying. Your church actually is acknowledging that what I'm saying is correct. So, if you have an issue with what I'm saying, take it up with your church because we're pulling the sources from your own your own church's website. So although having similarities in rituals doesn't actually prove copying, what it certainly gives us is a reason to compare the ceremonies. So let's look at masonry versus the Nauvoo endowment. And just to be clear, we're going to compare the forms. We're not mocking sacred language. The overlap in these two ceremonies that historians have most often focused on include signs, tokens, hand grips, special words, ritual clothing, progressive ceremonial instructions, and a certain dramatic or symbolic form. And this distinction is critical. Some similarities are broad, others are considerably more specific. [music] an altar. That's pretty broad. A lot of religions, a lot of fraternal orders and societies have altars. Sacred clothing, that's also broad. A lot of religions use sacred clothing. A lot of fraternal orders outside of Freemasonry use sacred clothing. Hell, militaries have sacred clothing. Right? That's broad. Ritual drama also [music] broad. But what we're looking at deeply is the distinctive recognition signs, hand grips, and secret words. That comparison becomes considerably more interesting. And early Mormon [music] participants noticed it, too. So again, for the Mormons who are listening to this, I hope you clocked that we're getting a lot of these similarities not just from secular historians, but also from the journals and the notes taken by early Mormon participants. [music] So let's talk about that. Let's talk about Heber C. Kimbell. [music] He cimeble is extremely important here. He wasn't an outside critic. [music] He wasn't writing decades later. He was a Mormon apostle and [music] he was a Freemason and he was one of the men initiated into Joseph Smith's new temple system. Kimble wrote that there was a similarity of priesthood [music] in masonry in his findings. And again, Mormons, check this out. Clock this. The church's own historical essays discusses this and explains that early saints [music] understood masonic ritual as possibly containing corrupt remnants of something much older. Your church acknowledges this Mormons. They acknowledge [music] that there's masonic ritual within the temple endowments. It's right here. They acknowledge it. And that changes the conversation because sometimes modern debates are framed like this. Critics will say [music] there are similarities and believers, Mormons, will say no, there aren't. But historically, that isn't quite what happened. Some of Joseph Smith's closest associates apparently recognized the similarities themselves. So, your apostles from around that time would agree with outside critics, not with Mormons. So the original, the OG Mormons agree with the critics that there are similarities. So you need to look at your own church's website to see this. The critics aren't lying to you. They're not wrong. [music] And your own apostles, your own founders of your church would agree with the outside critics. And why do they agree? Why did your founders agree that there were masonic rights within [music] Mormon temple endowment ceremonies? because they believed masonry may have preserved fragments of an ancient priesthood tradition that Joseph was restoring properly. And that is the theological claim, not a historical fact. [music] Remember, that's not a historical fact. That's the theological claim. But it's important because it tells us how they understood what was happening. [music] Now again, if you want to get more into that, that whole theological claim that the original founding Mormons believed that the reason why Joseph Smith brought masonry rights into the endowment ceremonies was because he told them that he thought that there were remnants of Christian-like rituals in the original [music] Freemason practices. Now, again, we get deeply into that into in the second video we did that you can go back and watch. I get so [music] deeply into that and why that happened. So, go back and watch that if you're interested in that. Now, here's where I don't want this episode to become lazy. Because if we simply say Mormon endowment equals Freemasonry, we create another problem. [music] There are substantial portions of Mormon temple theology that aren't adequately explained by [music] masonry. for example, the creation, Adam and Eve, the fall, the priesthood restoration, salvation, exaltation, covenant theology, and Mormon cosmology. All of those ideas come from a much larger theological world. [music] So, one of the strongest conclusions we can reach is masonry may have helped explain parts of the ritual form, but it does not explain the entire theological context. And that's actually what's more interesting, right? [music] It's a hodgepodge of Freemasonry, some of Joseph Smith's own ideas, and something we're going to talk about much later in a different video, the copy and paste [music] beliefs around Satanism. And I know that's going to be very triggering for Mormons, but I just wanted to go ahead and put that out there because I think we need to be careful about saying Joseph [music] Smith just made it up. There are some aspects of Mormon theology that I think Joseph Smith did make up. He added kind of a flare to it. That was his own creative input. However, [music] and I know this is going to be really, really hard for Mormons to hear, and I hate to be the one to have to break this to you, [music] but again, the truth is belligerent. I'm not saying that this theology is correct either way, but believing that you're going to be your own god one day, [music] believing that you're going to have your own planet one day, that is literally copy paste [music] from the satanic belief system, from the Luciferian belief system. [music] It's copy paste. And the reason why I'm saying that is because if you guys heard me in my past episode, I have been studying Joseph Smith for a very long time. And what I'm trying to do is connect the dots. I think that [music] it's being way too simplistic and I think it's being way too historically inaccurate for people [music] just to think that Joseph Smith was a showman with charisma who just kind of invented his own religion and invented his own cosmology. [music] That's not my belief. I think there's some there's a deeper story here. If you take the time to read No Man Knows My History by Fawn Brody, she does an incredible job showing her receipts, showing her sources. [music] And Joseph Smith and the Smith family were already heavily involved in things like necromancy, which is what we see later on in the >> [music] >> um temple ceremonies that are baptisms for the dead, which we have talked about before, which I'll I'll tag that video down below as well with Lorraine. So they were heavily involved in the occult in um in divination in and tons of like you know looking for treasure and [music] they were really really into like sorcery and just because you're into sorcery or divination does not obviously mean you're a Satanist. There's a lot I mean we divinate. I divinate with my boyfriend all the time. We're not Satanist. You can do occult things [music] to do things in secret and it not be bad. That that's not the problem. The secrecy is not what's bad. That's not the bad. You're allowed to have privacy. You are allowed to do religious things in private. That's not the problem. No one's saying that's the problem. What we're looking at is what is actually being done in [music] private. That's the problem. Okay. So there's this significant evidence to show that Joseph Smith was already a practicing Satanist [music] and was already his family was already a part of the beast system [music] the the you know establishment which would explain why he became a mason so quickly why it only took 24 hours for him to come up become a master mason. He was already already practicing [music] this stuff. That's why he knew how to set the temple up in his store. He already he was already an advanced [music] sorcerer and his cosmology was rooted from what it looks like in Luciferianism. Especially [music] especially the idea that a man can become a god of his own planet. Again, that is copy and paste [music] straight from Satanism. And Joseph knew that. I also [music] think Brighgam Young knew that. Again, if you've been following our Fritz Spring Meer >> [music] >> um deep dive into the 13 families, he talks about the Brigham Young. Young's his family, his bloodline a lot when it comes to the priority of Scion, when it comes to the [music] satanic bloodlines. And so, I would just beg you Mormons, I know that's going to be very triggering, but remember, the truth is belligerent and the truth does not need to be managed. [music] So, just look at that. Why is Mormon God so different from any other religion's gods? All other religions [music] do not believe that God is in a human body. They believe God is a consciousness. Even mainstream Christianity [music] teaches that God is an omnipresent consciousness that took the form of a human [music] in Jesus one time. That's it. Even Hinduism believes that God, [music] even Hinduism, let's back up. Hinduism is actually a monotheistic religion. It doesn't have multiple gods. That's a misconception. Hinduism is a lot like Christianity in the sense that [music] it believes that God is an omnipresent consciousness that comes to earth in the [music] form of deities in the form whereas Christians believe God came to earth one time. Hindus believe that God has come to earth many many times. But their [music] belief is that God is a omnipresent consciousness. So we see Muslims even believe that God is an omnipresent consciousness. [music] Mormonism from all of my research is the only religion that believes that God is in a man's body permanently. Okay? This comes from Satanism. [music] So, please, please, please do that research. Save yourself. If you [music] are feeling very depressed in the Mormon faith, if you're feeling like you can't get it right in Mormonism, you'll never be good enough, there's a reason for that. It's [music] because what you're practicing is founded in Satanism. And in Satanism, you can never be good enough. [music] You're always having to prove yourself. You're always having to to to prove to Satan [music] and to do rituals and to harness the energy and all that kind of stuff. Whereas in other religions, that's not the [music] case. That's not the case. So, just please look into that. I wanted to give that disclaimer because [music] believing that you're going to be a god one day and that you're going to have your own planet a ain't nothing but luciferianism. [music] It's Luciferianism. That's facts. Okay. Anyway, let's get back to Joseph [music] Smith. So, again, masonry may help explain parts of the ritual form, [music] but it does not explain the entire theological content. And that's actually again more interesting because it suggests that Joseph Smith may have been using ritual structures available in his 19th century environment to communicate a religious system he understood as revelation. [music] Whether you believe that revelation was divine is an entirely separate question. [music] But here's where the story gets more complicated because while Joseph Smith was introducing these temple ceremonies, another practice was developing inside Nauvoo [music] and that is plural marriage. And this wasn't something being openly advertised to the general Mormon population. It operated largely within trusted circles. Over time, Joseph entered into numerous [music] plural relationships, and the theology of marriage became increasingly tied to ceilings, eternity, and exaltation. [music] Then, in July of 1843, Joseph dictated the revelation now canonized as doctrine [music] and covenant section 132. That revelation addressed eternal marriages and plural [music] marriages. So by the early 1840s, we're no longer looking at isolated developments. We're looking at a network, [music] endowments, ceilings, eternal marriage, plural marriage, priesthood authority, [music] and exaltation. And these things are being developed inside a relatively small inner circle. That secrecy is going to matter enormously because eventually [music] some insiders break ranks. Now, let's meet William Law. [music] This is a name that you need to remember because William Law wasn't some distant anti- Mormon preacher. He was one of Joseph Smith's senior associates. He also served as a counselor in the First Presidency. [music] In other words, this man was inside the leadership. But law became increasingly opposed to Joseph [music] Smith. Among the major issues were plural marriage and what law believed was [music] Joseph's increasing concentration of religious and civic authority. So what does that mean? Law was not happy about the whole plural marriage thing and he was noticing that Joseph Smith was becoming what we would call today a cult leader. [music] And so eventually law broke away from Joseph. He was removed from the first presidency then [music] excommunicated and he wasn't alone. Other denters joined him and they decided they were going to expose what they believed was actually happening inside Nauvoo. [music] They became whistleblowers. What we would we would call whistleblowers today. However, their weapon of choice wasn't violence. [music] It was simply a newspaper. This takes us to June 7th of [music] 1844. The first issue of a newspaper called the Nauvoo Expositor appears [music] and it is explosive. The publishers included William Law, his brother Wilson Law, Charles [music] Ivans, Charles and Robert Foster, Francis Higgby, and [music] Chanty Higgby. Several were former members or leaders who had [music] fallen into conflict with Joseph Smith. And according to the church's own historical account, [music] the newspaper attacked Joseph Smith over several subjects. Among them were plural marriage. [music] Joseph's recent teachings about the nature of God and the mixing of religious and civic authority in Nauvoo. Remember you guys, remember we had just fought the American Revolution. We had just established freedom of the press, freedom [music] of speech, freedom of religion and the separation of church and state. [music] So this matters especially in a new country, the separation of church and state. Basically what they were complaining about was that [music] ultimately Joseph Smith was trying to create a theocracy and a theocracy goes against [music] the American Constitution and freedom in order to ensure that all people are free. Our founding fathers agreed that they would have freedom of religion and because of that there would be a separation of church and state. [music] Meaning the state cannot use religion to control you because the state has no religion. So the fact that Joseph Smith was the mayor of Nauvoo and using his civic power to also control people's religious practices is in direct competition and direct conflict with the American [music] Constitution. So that's what they were pointing out. This is a problem. First of all, they can give [music] their opinions. They're allowed to give their opinions that they don't like Joseph's theology around God. They thought the idea that God was once a man and that man can be God and God lives on a planet called Collab was absolutely [music] A lot of people did. It was very shocking to a lot. That theology did not exist in [music] upstate New York. That theology came later. All right? And people were shocked and gobsmacked by it. It was offensive to people. [music] They also did not like plural marriage. We know that Jesus specifically speaks out about plural marriage in the New Testament. It's not good. It's not okay. [music] It's archaic. Plural marriage is barbaric. It is a form of sex trafficking. [music] And then of course the big kicker was the fact that he was going totally Joseph Smith was going totally against the constitution which [music] in is in itself since Joseph Smith was the acting mayor is in itself [music] treason. So do you see why this belongs in our episode? Because everything we've been investigating suddenly appears in a newspaper [music] controversy that brings everything to a head. And that means the private religious developments of Nauvoo are becoming a public political crisis and are [music] being put on the American historical records. The expositor accused Joseph Smith and other leaders of secretly participating in plural marriage while publicly presenting [music] a very different image. It criticized the developing theology surrounding marriage. It criticized Joseph's [music] power. It criticized his teachings and it challenged Joseph Smith's authority as both a prophet [music] and a political leader. And this is where we need some nuance. [music] The Expositor was obviously not a neutral newspaper. But because we have freedom of speech and freedom of the press, [music] it is considered a legitimate newspaper. There were many angry dissenters. [music] They definitely had an agenda as most whistleblowers do. They wanted Joseph Smith removed from power because they believed Joseph Smith was dangerous not just to the Mormons, but to the Americans as a whole. And here's the thing, some of the religious practices [music] they were exposing, particularly plural marriage were in fact occurring. All of this stuff was occurring. And that's why this episode gets complicated. So even though they're dissenters, they're angry. They're giving their opinions, [music] it doesn't mean that the facts surrounding their opinions were wrong. They were right in what their facts were about what was going on. Okay, that's complicated because even though they're angry, [music] their anger is a side effect of their opinion, but what they're angry about is true. It's true. Joseph Smith was not merely the religious leader of Nauvoo. Again, he was also the city's mayor. [music] This is bad. This is really bad. If he was just a religious leader and not a civic authority figure, we wouldn't have a problem. But the fact that he's a mayor, this is where there's a problem. and Nauvu possessed unusually expansive municipal authority under its city chapter. So when the expositor appeared, Joseph Smith and the Nauvoo City Council had to decide what to do. The city council met on June 8th, [music] then again on June 10th. They spent hours discussing the paper and ultimately [music] they declared the Nauvoo Expositor a public nuisance. Joseph Smith, acting as mayor, issued an order. [music] The city marshall was instructed to destroy the press. Scatter the type and destroy copies of the newspaper that were found in the office. [music] The order was carried out on June 10th. Stop right there because this is the moment the story changes. This is the moment where Joseph Smith truly and utterly up. If he had not done this, my friends, [music] he would have never been arrested. We would have a totally different Mormon story. And if he had not been arrested, he probably would have not have been assassinated at that point. Who knows if he would have been assassinated later on, but not at that [music] point. So this is this decision, this decision is what changed the Mormon trajectory. [music] This decision in my opinion is what pushed Mormonism into you. If he had just left it alone and allowed them to have their newspaper, [music] who knows what would have happened. Maybe it would have pushed people out of Mormonism. Maybe it wouldn't have. [music] Maybe it would have kept Joseph Smith alive. Maybe Mormonism would have been centered continue to been centered around Nauvoo. I don't know. But this one decision to destroy [music] this newspaper changed everything. So until this point we have a religious controversy, internal disscent, plural marriage, temple secrecy [music] and theological disagreement. But destroying a printing press creates a much bigger problem because now this becomes a question of law, government and the freedom of [music] the press. And this question was controversial even in 1844. The Nauvoo City Council mistakenly [music] believed that it had legal authority to declare the newspaper a nuisance. Joseph defended the action. The owners of the expositor saw the destruction as unlawful. And outside Nauvoo, the episode was explosive. [music] The surviving city records show that Joseph ordered city marshal John P. agreed to destroy the printing equipment, [music] scatter the type, burn copies and other allegedly libalist materials, [music] and even demolish the office if resistance occurred. And afterward, Joseph told the men involved that they had carried out his orders correctly. [music] The Joseph Smith papers preserved documents of that response. Relationships between the Mormons and their neighbors had already deteriorated [music] badly. Joseph Smith wasn't merely a prophet of a rapidly growing church. [music] He was the mayor of Nauvoo, the lieutenant general of the Nauvoo Legion, [music] a presidential candidate, a religious leader, and the leader of an unusually political cohesive population. Critics saw the concentration of power as dangerous. Mormons saw themselves surrounded by enemies who had already driven them from Missouri. Those two realities collided, [music] and now the destruction of the expositor gave Joseph's opponent something tangible to rally around. [music] Charges followed. Joseph Smith and others were charged with riot over the destruction of the press. [music] Threats escalated. Joseph declared martial law in Nauvoo and the Illinois governor, Thomas Ford, became directly involved. the situation was [music] spiraling. And just a side note, my friends, because this is where things get also interesting for me, too, because Mormons today are oftent times more on the conservative side of politics. [music] Most Mormons are very Republican. Um, they Republicans believe [music] in like less government. I myself, little caveat, am also a registered Republican. I believe in less government. I don't want the government in my business. I believe in less taxes. I believe in more states rights, less federal government. But what's interesting is historically if we if we look at the practice of Mormonism [music] is especially around Joseph Smith's control, we see something very communistic. We see something very much what would be considered a democrat [music] platform of of of more control, more federal government. So, I just wanted to put that out there. Maybe Loren and I can do an episode on that later because I I know Loren and I have spoken about that. I don't know if we've spoken about it on camera. Sometimes I forget what we speak about on camera and what we speak about privately, but how fascinating it is that historically [music] Mormons follow more of a communistic manifesto um not a Republican one which is in direct competition with Republican belief. Um and so we could do an episode on that if you guys want to like where did that shift happen? Why did it happen? because somewhere along the lines [music] their political beliefs in the Mormon community for the vast majority changed. So that's fascinating. Anyway, let's get back to Nauvoo. [music] Joseph initially crossed the Mississippi River toward Iowa. He appears to have considered escaping the immediate crisis [music] like a coward. He eventually took the coward's way out, but he eventually did return and he agreed to go to Carthage, Illinois to face the legal proceedings. And this is where knowing the sequence matters. He didn't go to Carthage because he was arrested for being a Mormon. Mormons. [music] He was not arrested because of his religious beliefs. He was arrested because he committed treason. He went up against the American Constitution. [music] He took away the freedom of the of speech and the freedom of press in a very violent way. That [music] is treason. That is why he was arrested. So, let's correct that right here. Joseph Smith was not arrested for being Mormon. [music] He was arrested for committing treason. So the immediate legal chain involved the destruction of the expositor press and [music] the escalating governmental crisis that followed. Joseph and the others went to Carthage to answer the riot charges. And then things became way more serious. While in Carthage, Joseph Smith and his brother Hyram were arrested. [music] Treason against the state of Illinois. So again, that is the official arrest. [music] Treason against the state of Illinois. And you guys remember, we've talked about this before. What's the punishment for treason? If you're found guilty of treason, [music] what's the punishment? It's not life in prison. Okay? So, this is serious. [music] Being arrested for treason back then, as of now, is very, very serious. There are only two offenses in this country [music] that can get you the death penalty. One is homicide. The [music] other is treason. This is serious. The treason allegations arose in the context of [music] Joseph using the Navajo Legion in proclamation of martial law during the crisis because he burned down the expositor. [music] All right. Because treason was not ordinarily available offense, Joseph and Hyram remained confined [music] in the Carthridge jail. By the evening of June 25th, both brothers were prisoners there. And outside the jail, the political temperatures were becoming [music] deadly. Yes, Loren and I have spoken about this. If you if you watch a lot of like Mormon propaganda videos, which I have done in my research, I've watched a lot of LDS [music] videos, they make it seem like the Mormons were just these sweet innocent people just [music] trying to live their religious life and the town folk thought they were weird and they were be persecuted [music] for their religions. That was not at all. That's a bunch of Did the town's people think they were weird? Yes. [music] Were the town's people mad at them for practicing Mormonism? No. They were mad because of the Navaju Legion [music] because they were trying to court their wives into this cult. They were mad because Joseph was trying to control the city with his religion. [music] They were mad for other reasons, not because you're simply a Mormon. If the Mormons had moved into this to this town and just minded their [music] own business and just did their thing privately without involving the city council and the city people, the city might have gossiped about them and thought they were a little weird, but they wouldn't [music] have been so hostile towards them. Look at what's happening now with Shria Law. Look at how many people are becoming hostile towards [music] Muslims because they're trying to push Shria law. Before that, people didn't care if you were a Muslim. But when you start pushing Shria law on people who aren't Muslim, that's when they get hostile. Same thing is happening here. There's actually a lot of similarities between Mormonism and Islam a lot. [music] Um, but that's the same thing that's happening here. The town's folk are getting pissed off that [music] this new religion is being pushed on them through government councils. Okay. So, [music] let's go to June 27th, 1844. Joseph Smith, he's 38 years old. Hyram Smith is 44. They're both at the Carthridge jail. [music] On the afternoon of June 27th, an armed mob approaches the jail. [music] Accounts preserved in the Joseph Smith papers document threats against Joseph Smith and warning earlier that day that violence was coming. The mob stormed the jail. Hyram was shot and killed. [music] Joseph Smith allegedly attempted to defend himself and the men in the room. Then Joseph moved towards the window. [music] He was struck. He fell from the second story wind window. He called out for his Freemason brothers to help him and then he was unalived. The Joseph Smith papers described the event plainly. [music] They say an armed mob invaded the Hancock City jail at Carthage and assassinated Joseph and Hyram Smith on June 27th of 1844. 17 days had passed since the destruction of the Navaju Expositor Press. Okay, so let's go through the timeline again. So let's start again with March of 1842, Joseph becomes a mason. [music] Then in May of 1842, the Nauvoo endowment is introduced. And then for [music] the next 2 years, we have temple theology expanding, plural marriage continues, and ceiling theology develops. [music] July of 1843, Revelation is canonized as DNC 132. In April of 1844, the King Flet discourse happened where Joseph teaches an expansive theology of God and human potential. Basically, that man can become a god. That's where he introduces the satanic belief system into Mormonism. And then June 7th of 1844, the Navo Expositor is published. June 10th, the press is destroyed by order of the Nauvoo authorities. [music] June of 1844, there are riot charges, martial law, Carthage crisis, [music] and treason charges. All accumulating to June 27th of 1844 when Joseph Smith is now dead. And when we put it on a timeline, we begin to understand why Nauvoo is so difficult to untangle. [music] Everything is happening simultaneously and in a very short amount of time. So now we have to ask, was the expositor really just about polygamy? Well, yes, but not only polygamy. This is another place where oversimplification hurts the story. [music] The expositor absolutely did criticize, rightfully so, plural marriage. But according to the church's own historical summary, it also attacked Joseph's recent teachings about the nature of God and his mixture again of civil and religious power. That means that three of the biggest subjects in our entire series are covered [music] inside this one newspaper. Plural marriage, theological authority, and political authority. [music] Those aren't three disconnected controversies. They're all questions about again authority. [music] And I think that's the central theme of Nauvoo. Think about what Joseph Smith was claiming. He wasn't simply offering Bible commentary. He claimed prophetic authority. Authority to reveal new scripture. Authority to restore priesthood. Authority [music] to create temple ordinances. Authority to seal marriages for eternity. Authority to introduce plural marriages. Authority to reveal new understandings [music] about God. And his followers believe those revelations could supersede older understandings. But then people inside the system rejected Joseph's authority. [music] You got William Law and eventually you got the Nauvoo Expositor. And that's why I think the newspaper belongs directly in this story because the expositor wasn't merely gossip. It represented [music] an internal rebellion over the question, has Joseph Smith gone too far? [music] His followers said he's a prophet restoring ancient truths. His dissenter said he's abusing [music] prophetic authority. and the entire city became caught between those two competing narratives. And now let's turn to the endowment because secrecy matters here [music] too. Temple rituals were restricted to selected participants. Plural marriage was restricted to trusted [music] circles. Certain theological teachings were being shared privately before becoming widely understood. That created a profound [music] information imbalance because people outside Joseph's inner circle could hear rumors without having access [music] to what was actually happening. Meanwhile, insiders who defected suddenly possess extraordinary sensitive information. And that's exactly why someone like William Law was dangerous to Joseph Smith. He wasn't guessing from outside. He had been inside the leadership structure. [music] Once people like law became opponents, the secrets of Nauvoo became political ammunition. [music] And here's perhaps the strangest part of the story. Joseph Smith spent these final years developing [music] a temple system around a temple he would never complete. The Navo temple was still under construction when [music] he died. The full temple endowment would later be administered to thousands of saints before the Mormon Exodus West, [music] but Joseph wasn't there. other leaders would have to preserve the ceremony, interpret it, standardize it, expand [music] it, and eventually carry it west. Which means the Mormon temple ceremony continued developing after the [music] death of the man who introduced it. And this is where we need to remember something we talked about throughout this series. [music] Mormon theology doesn't freeze in 1844. It keeps moving. Imagine watching the God makers without knowing any of his history. You see secret ceremonies, signs, tokens, basonic [music] parallels, plural marriage, exaltation, man becoming gods, and it can look like something simply assembled. And it can look [music] like someone simply assembled a collection of bizarre claims. But once you go backwards, the picture becomes more complicated because there really was a Masonic Joseph Smith, [music] a Nauvoo endowment, ritual similarities, plural marriage, a private sealing system, a radical developing theology about God. internal dissident, [music] a newspaper exposing those disagreements, the destruction of that newspaper's press, [music] an arrest, a treason charge, and finally a dead prophet. The question isn't whether these things happened. [music] They did. The question is how should they be interpreted? And that's where believers, critics, and historians [music] diverge. This started as an investigation into the God makers, [music] and now it has taken us somewhere much deeper. Because we've gone from a documentary produced in 1982 back to Bruce R. Makoni, back to Mormon doctrine, [music] back to Joseph Smith, back to Freemasonry, back to the Nauvoo Endowment, back to plural marriage, back [music] to the Nauvoo Expositor, and finally to the Carthage Jail. And we're still not finished [music] because Joseph Smith dies in 1844. But the theology doesn't die with him. The endowment doesn't disappear. Plural marriage doesn't disappear. The temple doesn't disappear. And the idea that human beings [music] can become like God doesn't disappear. Instead, those ideas traveled west under Brigham Young. And some of them are going to become even more elaborate. So, next time we'll follow the movement out of Nauvoo, and we [music] ask, what happens to Joseph Smith's secret Nauvoo theology after Joseph Smith is gone? Because once again, you don't have to take my word for any of this because the sources for the claims made in this episode are [music] in the description box below. Read them, check them, disagree with me if you want, but [music] follow the receipts.