The Mormon priesthoods

[Cow Poke]

What evidence outside the Mormon church is there for these "priesthoods" being held by anyone other than the king of Jerusalem (Melchizedek), or the Levites (The Levitical - which is misnamed the Aaronic in Mormonism)?

Anybody?

[Cow Poke]

From FairMormon.Org

Source: FairMormon.Org

We should establish several facts here. Joseph Smith was a Freemason as was his father and older brother. Masonry was common in New England and upstate New York at the time. Mr. Norton however seems to have come to, what I believe, is a false connection between the ritual of the endowment and the endowment itself. Some aspects of the endowment ritual may well have come from Masonic traditions. That said, the endowment’s teachings, which are the real heart of the endowment are uniquely restorationist in nature.

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Here, FairMormon is dealing with an article that lays out the similarities between the Masonic rituals and Mormon rituals. To say that "some aspects of the endowment ritual" may have come from Masonic traditions is, of course, an understatement. In previous discussions with Tweb Mormons, the case was frequently made that Smith's Mormon rituals came as God's "restoration" of the Temple rituals, hence the "restorationist" claim.

[Cow Poke]

Freemasonry.

[Bill the Cat]

What evidence outside the Mormon church is there for these "priesthoods" being held by anyone other than the king of Jerusalem (Melchizedek), or the Levites (The Levitical - which is misnamed the Aaronic in Mormonism)?