Quote:
Are Mormons heretics, infidels, pagans or heathens?
Why or why not?
Mormonism is a modern re-appraisal of the Hermetic Christian tradition, refracted through the lens of the European Enlightenment via the quintessential Enlightenment religion of Freemasonry. As such, Mormonism is a combination of paganism and heresy, but is not strictly delimited to either. (Mormons cannot be infidels, since they were never baptized in a proper Christian church, and the non-Christian elements are Egyptian, not Norse).
Hermetic Christianity identified Christ with the Greek god Hermes, who was further understood as a manifestation of the Egyptian god Thoth. Egyptian ritual practice centered around the idea of becoming an immortal god. Hermes/Thoth was also identified with quicksilver or Mercury (his name in Latin) and the practice of alchemy, with the stated goal of transmuting base metal--equivalently, our own base instincts--into the most highly refined form of metal, i.e. gold--equivalently, our own eternal innermost perfection.
Around the start of the 18th century, a group that we now call the Freemasons revived the study and practice of Hermetic magical rituals, wedded to the so-called "Enlightenment" ideology of rationalism and individual liberation. They claimed that their secret knowledge had always existed and that their practices were a direct continuation of Egyptian ritual practices. Personally, I am inclined to accept the idea that there is a literal link between the Masons and Egyptian death magic; the Masons claim to have received their esoteric knowledge from the Knights Templar, who encountered hidden traditions along the way the Crusades. Whether or not this is factual, though, it is indisputable that Freemasons understand their own ritual practice as an extension of Egyptian forms (the stuff about Solomon's Temple is deliberately misleading; Masonic magic is Egyptian magic, hence all the hieroglyphics in Masonic temples).
Joseph Smith was a Master Mason. His writings are full of overt references to Masonic ideas and symbolism, for those with eyes to see them. The idea of "becoming your own god" with your own planet is, essentially, the symbolism of the pyramid, and (once you've been introduced into the higher circles) the explicit goal of Masonic ritual practice. Why do you think there is such an Egyptophilic fetish among Mormons, particularly regarding the so-called "Book of Abraham," even to this day? And why do you think Amway and similar pyramid schemes thrive among Mormons? The pyramidal structure is deeply ingrained in Mormon culture. Essentially, he re-adapted the Masonic interpretation of Egyptian immortality rituals within a supposedly Christian framework.
This is why it cannot be said that Mormons are simply pagans: they can also be understood as heretics, in the sense that they consider themselves Christian, but
choose to turn away from Christian orthodoxy. Mormonism must be understood with reference to Christianity; it is not
simply or
exclusively a form of Egyptian religion, but combines elements of both paganism and heresy. In effect, their pagan ritual practice informs their heretical theology, as for instance when they
choose to reject the Trinity or
choose to assert that God the Father has a physical body. In the latter case, the commitment to the Masonic/Egyptian schema of the pyramid--there is a god at the top, who is not
THE god but received his divinity from
A prior god, and if you follow him you too can become a god at the top of your very own pyramid--necessitates the construction of a decidedly heretical theology wherein God the Father is understood to have more or less exactly the same properties as Zeus or Hermes or Thoth.
