Mormonfanboy

Seeing as how this meeting took place in a "lodge room", you can assume he is speaking of an initiatory society perhaps similar to the masons, or the rosicrucians. I think that Joseph Smith and others were hoping to present the church and priesthood as such an order. All of these secret societies share common traits in that they are all usually based on the qabballah. In particular, masonry relies of a mythological framework built upon old testament lore. The rosicrucians are a mystical type of christianity, and have their roots in a fabricated document from 1604. Joseph Smith has an interest in these things and perhaps shaped the "mormon myth" into something resembling these societies. He hoped to win over many masons, by promising to be in posession of their "lost words". I personally believe he fabricated the book of mormon to serve this agenda... but this is speculation on my part. As for: "that none should be received into the Society but those who were worthy— propos’d that the Society go into a close examination of every candidate" Obviously the church has a long standing history of racism and sexism. Women and non-white people were to be excluded... Echoes of this primitive mentality can still be heard in the modern LDS church.