Master Mahan

Last updated

Master Mahan, in the religious texts of the Latter Day Saint movement, is a title assumed first by Cain and later by his descendant Lamech. The title indicates that Cain and Lamech were each the "master" of a "great secret" in which they covenanted with Satan to kill for personal gain. [1] The term is found in Joseph Smith's translation of the Bible in Genesis 5 (currently published by the Community of Christ) and in the Pearl of Great Price (in Chapter 5 of the Book of Moses), a religious text of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church).

Contents

Critics, who approach the issue from a secular perspective and argue that Smith's translation of the Bible was influenced by his cultural environment, including strong local anti-Masonry, generally suggest that the term is related to "Master Mason," the highest degree of the Blue Lodge of freemasonry. [2] Another suggestion is that the term is related to "Mahoun," a pejorative reference to Muhammad during the Middle Ages that eventually became associated with witchcraft by Smith's era. [3] Apologists, however, generally argue that references to "Master Mahan" were restored by Smith from missing parts of the Bible and that the term thus has Middle Eastern roots. Consequently, the LDS Church's publications suggest that the term "Mahan" can mean "mind," "destroyer," or "great one," [4] and the prominent LDS scholar Hugh Nibley has speculated that the term is related to Arabic and Sanskrit words meaning "keeper of a great secret." [5]

Joseph Smith Translation of Bible

The reference to "Master Mahan" is found in a revision by Joseph Smith of Genesis 5 of the Bible, now published in the Inspired Version of the Bible (I.V.), Genesis 5, and in Chapter 5 the Pearl of Great Price (PGP), Book of Moses. The passage discussing the term begins after the ritual sacrifice by Cain and Abel, when God accepted Abel's sacrifice of a sheep but not Cain's sacrifice of crops. [6] According to the passage, the angry Cain made a secret pact with Satan, who asked Cain:

Swear unto me by thy throat, and if thou tell it thou shalt die; and swear thy bretheren by their heads, and by the living God, that they tell it not; for if they tell it, they shall surely die; and this that thy father may not know it; and this day I will deliver thy brother Abel into thine hands. [7]

After entering the secret pact with Satan, Cain said, "Truly I am Mahan, the master of this great secret, that I may murder to get gain." [8] Then, the passage comments, "Wherefore Cain was called Master Mahan; and he gloried in his wickedness." [8] The arrangement was referred to as a "secret combination". [9]

Later, the passage states that Cain's descendant Lamech had "slain a man to [his] wounding, and a young man to [his] hurt," and Lamech "entered into a covenant with Satan, after the manner of Cain, wherein he became Master Mahan, master of the great secret which was administered unto Cain by Satan." [10] When a man named Irad, one of the sons of Enoch who knew about Lamech's secret pact, revealed the secret to others, the passage states that Lamech killed him to enforce the blood oath of secrecy. [11]

Theories about etymology

A footnote to Moses 5:31 in the LDS Church edition of the Pearl of Great Price states, "'Mind,' 'destroyer,' and 'great one' are possible meanings of the roots evident in 'Mahan,'" [12] but no further explanation is provided. In referring to the footnote, Matthew B. Brown, a Mormon apologist, has stated that he believes that "Mahan" means "destroyer" because "the Hebrew word maha means 'destroy,' and the addition of an n would make the word a noun. Hence, maha(n) = destroy(er)." [13]

Some commentators have suggested that "Master Mahan" is derived or related to "Master Mason," the highest degree of the Blue Lodge of Freemasonry. [14] [15] [16] [17] Brown stated, "Anti-Mormon critics have long claimed that Master Mahan is a thinly veiled variation of Master Mason" and claims "They believe that the presence of this title in LDS scripture clearly demonstrates that Joseph Smith plagiarized Masonic material for his creative ventures." [13]

D. Michael Quinn has suggested that interpretation to "ignore textual and linguistic context" of the passage and, as an alternative, he favors the interpretation of the phrase's derivation from "Mahoun." [18]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Standard works</span> Scriptural canon of the LDS Church

The Standard Works of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints are the four books that currently constitute its open scriptural canon. The four books of the standard works are:

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cain</span> Biblical figure

Cain is a biblical figure in the Book of Genesis within Abrahamic religions. He is the elder brother of Abel, and the firstborn son of Adam and Eve, the first couple within the Bible. He was a farmer who gave an offering of his crops to God. However, God was not pleased and favored Abel's offering over Cain's. Out of jealousy, Cain killed his brother, for which he was punished by God with the curse and mark of Cain. He had several children, starting with Enoch and including Lamech.

In Mormonism, the restoration refers to a return of the authentic priesthood power, spiritual gifts, ordinances, living prophets and revelation of the primitive Church of Christ after a long period of apostasy. While in some contexts the term may also refer to the early history of Mormonism, in other contexts the term is used in a way to include the time that has elapsed from the church's earliest beginnings until the present day. Especially in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints "the restoration" is often used also as a term to encompass the corpus of religious messages from its general leaders down to the present.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Book of Abraham</span> Religious text of some Latter Day Saint churches

The Book of Abraham is a religious text of the Latter Day Saint movement, first published in 1842 by Joseph Smith. Smith said the book was a translation from several Egyptian scrolls discovered in the early 19th century during an archeological expedition by Antonio Lebolo, and purchased by members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from a traveling mummy exhibition on July 3, 1835. According to Smith, the book was "a translation of some ancient records... purporting to be the writings of Abraham, while he was in Egypt, called the Book of Abraham, written by his own hand, upon papyrus". The Book of Abraham is about Abraham's early life, his travels to Canaan and Egypt, and his vision of the cosmos and its creation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Joseph Smith Translation of the Bible</span> Biblical revision by Joseph Smith

The Joseph Smith Translation (JST), also called the Inspired Version of the Holy Scriptures (IV), is a revision of the Bible by Joseph Smith, the founder of the Latter Day Saint movement, who said that the JST/IV was intended to restore what he described as "many important points touching the salvation of men, [that] had been taken from the Bible, or lost before it was compiled". Smith was killed before he deemed it complete, though most of his work on it was performed about a decade beforehand. The work is the King James Version of the Bible (KJV) with some significant additions and revisions. It is considered a sacred text and is part of the canon of Community of Christ (CoC), formerly the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, and other Latter Day Saint churches. Selections from the Joseph Smith Translation are also included in the footnotes and the appendix of the Latter-day Saint edition of the LDS-published King James Version of the Bible. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints' edition of the Bible includes selections from the JST in its footnotes and appendix. It has officially canonized only certain excerpts that appear in the Pearl of Great Price. These excerpts are the Book of Moses and Smith's revision of part of the Gospel of Matthew.

Jerald Dee Tanner and Sandra McGee Tanner are American writers and researchers who publish archival and evidential materials about the history of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The Tanners founded the Utah Lighthouse Ministry (UTLM), whose stated mission is "to document problems with the claims of Mormonism and compare LDS doctrines with Christianity". As of 2022 Sandra Tanner continues to operate the ministry after Jerald's death in 2006.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Book of Moses</span> Part of the scriptural canon of the LDS movement

The Book of Moses, dictated by Joseph Smith, is part of the scriptural canon for some denominations in the Latter Day Saint movement. The book begins with the "Visions of Moses", a prologue to the story of the creation and the fall of man, and continues with material corresponding to the Joseph Smith Translation of the Bible's (JST) first six chapters of the Book of Genesis, interrupted by two chapters of "extracts from the prophecy of Enoch".

The relationship between Mormonism and Freemasonry began early in the life of Joseph Smith, founder of the Latter Day Saint movement. Smith's older brother, Hyrum, and possibly his father, Joseph, Sr. were Freemasons while the family lived near Palmyra, New York. In the late 1820s, the western New York region was swept with anti-Masonic fervor.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Anti-Mormonism</span> Hostility towards the Latter Day Saint movement

Anti-Mormonism includes criticism of and opposition to the adherents, institutions, and beliefs of Mormonism and the Latter Day Saint movement as a whole.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Curse and mark of Cain</span> Phrase originating in the Hebrew Bible

The curse of Cain and the mark of Cain are phrases that originated in the story of Cain and Abel in the Book of Genesis. In the stories, if someone harmed Cain, the damage would come back sevenfold. Some interpretations view this as a physical mark, whereas other interpretations see the "mark" as a sign, and not as a physical mark on Cain himself. The King James Version of the Bible reads "set a mark upon Cain".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Secret combination (Latter Day Saints)</span> Malignant secret society

A secret combination, in the accounts of the Book of Mormon, is a term that describes a malignant secret society of "people bound together by oaths to carry out the evil purposes of the group." Secret combinations were first discussed in the Book of Mormon, which was published in 1830 by Joseph Smith. The most notable example of a secret combination is the Gadianton robbers, a conspiracy throughout much of the narrative of the Book of Mormon. According to the Joseph Smith Translation of the Bible, Cain also entered a secret combination with Satan and became Master Mahan.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pearl of Great Price (Mormonism)</span> Book of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

The Pearl of Great Price is part of the canonical Standard Works of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and some other Latter Day Saint denominations.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Plan of salvation in Mormonism</span> Alleged plan God created to save, redeem and exalt humankind

According to the doctrine of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the largest denomination in the Latter Day Saint movement, the plan of salvation is a plan God created to save, redeem, and exalt humankind, through the atonement of Jesus Christ. The elements of this plan are drawn from various sources, including the Bible, Book of Mormon, Doctrine & Covenants, Pearl of Great Price, and numerous statements made by the leadership of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints teaches that Adam and Eve were the first man and the first woman to live on the earth and that their fall was an essential step in the plan of salvation. Adam in particular is a central figure in Mormon cosmology.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has been subject to criticism and sometimes discrimination since its inception.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Criticism of Mormon sacred texts</span>

The standard works of Mormonism—the largest denomination of which is the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints —have been the subject of various criticisms. Latter-day Saints believe the Book of Mormon is a sacred text with the same divine authority as the Bible; both are considered complementary to each other. Other Mormon sacred texts include the Pearl of Great Price and Doctrine and Covenants, which are also recognized as scripture. Religious and scholarly critics outside Mormonism have disputed Mormonism's unique scriptures, questioning the traditional narrative of how these books came to light and the extent to which they describe actual events. Critics cite research in history, archeology, and other disciplines to support their contentions.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Criticism of the Book of Mormon</span>

Subjects of criticism of the Book of Mormon include its origins, authenticity, and historicity, which have been subject to considerable criticism from scholars and skeptics since it was first published in 1830. The Book of Mormon is a sacred text of the Latter Day Saint movement, which adherents believe contains writings of ancient prophets who lived on the American continent from approximately 2200 BC to AD 421. It was first published in March 1830 by Joseph Smith as The Book of Mormon: An Account Written by the Hand of Mormon upon Plates Taken from the Plates of Nephi, who said that it had been written in otherwise unknown characters referred to as "reformed Egyptian" engraved on golden plates. Contemporary followers of the Latter Day Saint movement typically regard the text primarily as scripture, but also as a historical record of God's dealings with the ancient inhabitants of the Americas.

Reed Connell Durham, Jr. is a historian of the Latter Day Saint movement and former director of the Institute of Religion in Salt Lake City, Utah for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Durham is remembered for a controversial speech given in 1974 about Freemasonry and the Latter Day Saint movement.

References

  1. Pearl of Great Price, Book of Moses 5:29-31, 49; Inspired Version, Genesis 5:14-16, 35.
  2. Arbaugh 1932 , p. 72; Homer 1994 , p. 91; Brown 1997 , p. 147; Quinn 1998 , p. 208; Whalen 1964 , p. 197; Tanner & Tanner 1969 , pp. 156–157.
  3. Brown 1997 , p. 148; Quinn 1998 , ch. 6.
  4. Book of Moses 5:31 footnote d; Brown 1997 , p. 148.
  5. Hugh Nibley, Ancient Documents and the Pearl of Great Price, p. 12. Nibley suggests that the word "Master" is not the English word "master" but derives from the Arabic word "Mustirr" ("keeper of secret") and "Mahan" is related to the Sanskrit word "maha" ("great").
  6. I.V. Genesis 5:6–7; PGP Moses 5:20–21.
  7. I.V. Genesis 5:15; PGP Moses 5:29.
  8. 1 2 I.V. Genesis 5:16; PGP Moses 5:30.
  9. I.V. Genesis 5:37; PGP Moses 5:51.
  10. I.V. Genesis 5:35; PGP Moses 5:49.
  11. I.V. Genesis 5:36; PGP Moses 5:49–50.
  12. Moses 5:31, footnote d.
  13. 1 2 Brown 1997 , p. 147
  14. Arbaugh 1932 , p. 72
  15. Whalen 1964 , p. 197
  16. Tanner & Tanner 1969 , pp. 156–157.
  17. Homer 1994 , p. 91
  18. Quinn 1998 , p. 147–148, 208–210

Sources