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Article FREEMASONRY'S RELIGION. ← Page 2 of 2 Article TRIPLE TRUTHS OF FREEMASONRY. Page 1 of 1 Article TRIPLE TRUTHS OF FREEMASONRY. Page 1 of 1
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Freemasonry's Religion.
things , working in each blade of grass , swelling bud and opening flower , and looks upon all the sciences as so many divine methods through which the Infinite Artist reveals his mysteries to man .
Should any Masonic brother , or any other , think that we are claiming too much for Freemasonry in this respect , we have only to ask him to turn to the " Charges " and " Lectures / ' published in our books , to find abundant proofs of what we assert . Thero we read : " The universe
is the temple of the Deity whom we serve ; Wisdom , Strength and Beauty are around Hia throne , as pillars of His work ; for His wisdom is infinite . His strength is omnipotence , and His beauty shines forth through all His
creation . " Ancient Freemasonry invariably united all the sciences to the religious sentiment . Of arithmetic , it says : "All the works of the Almighty are made in number , weight , and measure ; and , therefore , to understand them
rightly , we ought to understand arithmetical calculations , * * * and be thereby led to a more comprehensive knowledge of onr great Creator . " " Astronomy , " it says , " is that sublime science which inspires the contemplative to aiorc tne wisaom oi
xmna soar ana reaa ana oeauty -ue Creator in the heavens . How nobly eloquent of God is the celestial hemisphere , spangled with the most magnificent symbols of His infinite glory ! " And , discoursing of geometry , it says : ' * By it we discover the power , wisdom
and goodness of the Grand Artificer , and view with delight the order and beauty of His works , and the proportions which connect all parts of His immense universe . "
Freemasonry , therefore , in the spirit of true reverence , consecrates all to God ; the worlds with the sublime mysteries , and the human mind with its mighty powers ,
and the sciences it has discovered and Explained .
THE MASONIC IDEAL OF HUMAN DESTINY AND THE IMMORTAL LIFE . This is revealed in the " Ritual" as well as the " Charges " of the Order . All the initiatory dramas are progressive , and indicate that humanity and man are created for continual advancement . The funeral dirge of the Brotherhood breathes a spirit of profound faith in immortality , and the everlasting progress of the soul .
" Here another gnest we bring Seraphs of celestial wing ; To onr fnn'ral altar come ; Waft this friend and brother home .
There , enlarged , thy son ] shall see What was veiled in mystery ; Heavenly glories of the place , Show his Mater face to face . " It is on this account that Masonry insists on a liberal
culture of the soul . It teaches that the treasures of the intellect and heart are the only possessions inaccessible to change and decay . These alone will last . All else will
pass away ! Riches , glory—the pomp and splendour of time—the world ' s vanity—all will vanish like a wreath of smoke . But the soul will live , and will be ever and ever
ascending , as by a sublime initiation , through the degrees of perfection which will never end ! Its progress in this world is the prophecy of a progress that is everlasting .
iljvery step taken m the road or science and virtue is an upward progress in that star-paved path where angels walk . These are the grand thoughts that underlie our ritual ;
and they are surely worthy of the most serious consideration on the part of every Mason . Imbued with these ideas , the earnest and intelligent brother will labour constantly to discharge every duty with fidelity , " divesting
his heart and conscience of all the vices and superfluities of life , thereby fitting his mind as a living stone for that spiritual building—that honse not mado with hands , eternal in the heavens . —American Quarterly Masonic Review
Triple Truths Of Freemasonry.
TRIPLE TRUTHS OF FREEMASONRY .
ONE of the Brahminical Scriptures is entitled the " Bhagavad Gita , " and assumes to convey the " right knowledge of the royal mystery , " to be the
exponent of the sacred lore , the . divine wisdom . It refers to " the seven great Sages and the ancient Manus four , of whom this world is the offspring . " The seven Sages were
the primeval teachers of man , and the archetype of all subsequent teachers ; while the ancient Manus were the
Triple Truths Of Freemasonry.
primitive governors of man , the four sons of Brahma , the archetype of kings , or mundane rulers . The Mami , one of the sacred books of India , contains
this remarkable statement : " man is not man except as he is triple , that is man , woman , child . " The Brahmins
also made their Divinity triple : the all-Father , the all-Mother , and the blessed Son . The ancient Egyptians , who , if their civilization was not native and primitive , must have derived it from Meroe , or from Babylonia , Chaldea or India , also set forth the same doctrine ; their gods were Osiris the father , Isia the mother , and Horus the son . The Great Sphinx of Egypt was sacred to Horus , and
before it is an altar , now covered with sand , on which sacrifices were anciently offered to Horus . In Freemasonry we have a relic of this ancient symbolism in the numerous
triads of the Fraternity , especially in the the three Lesser Lights , the Snn , the Moon , and the W . M . ( in a certain sense representing Father , Mother and Son ) , and the three Great Lights , the Holy Bible , the Square , and the Compasses . Freemasonry is not Freemasonry unless it he triple . It could not be less , and it cannot be more . Three , and only three degrees are ancient , and whatever is more than these is an excrescence , a super-addition , and ultimately and surely a seed of conflict and evil . The great poet-philosopher , who was Pope and Bolingbroke rolled into one , wrote :
" Enow then thyself , presume not God to scan ; The proper study of mankind is man . " One of our own essayists , Chapin , has said : " Man was sent into the world to be a growing and exhaustless force . "
This is the doctrine of Freemasonry . It says to its initiates : brethren know yourselves aud respect yourselves , for you are immortal . Know your brethren and love your brethren , for they are mystically united with
you ; they are your other selves . And it also says to all who have been brought from Darkness to Light : Study
the Light—which is another term for Freemasonry ; le & rn its triple character and at the same time its complete unity . Wherein is Freemasonry a unit ? In that it is one
" secret , " one " art and mystery . " Its three degrees are a threefold presentation of one truth . Supreme truth is and can be but one . There cannot be three or more snch truths , but there may be , there are , three aspects of the same truth .
The three degrees of Ancient Craft Masonry symbolize the three aspects of the one Masonic truth . To this one , and these three in one , Freemasons cannot devote too much attention and thought . The more you ponder them the
better you apprehend and comprehend them , the greater pleasure you derive from witnessing the rites incident to them , the more fully you are persuaded that you aro members of a fraternity which not only , like a club , enables yon
to while away a vacant hour , but like a school of human and divine philosophy , qualifies you to understand the beauty of charity , the utility and value of human comradeship , the divine perfection of the Grand Architect of the Universe ,
and the dignity of man , who is " greater than a world . " Freemasons respect themselves and their kind . No man is beneath them , for they think , if they do not say , in Shakespearean phrase , " God made him , and therefore let him pass . "
Can Freemasons do better than frequently think npo the threefold presentation of truth objectively taught so continually in the Craft ? Faith , Hope , Love ; Wisdom ,
Strength , Beauty ; Secrecy , Obedience , Fraternity ; the three degrees ; the three steps ; the three preparations ; the three officers ; the three lights ; the three circumambnlations : the
threefold linguistic presentations of obligation in the phraseology adopted for the creation of the mystic tie between Brother and Brother and the Craft .
Has the reader been heretofore satisfied with exercising merely his senses of seeing and bearing in the Lodge ? If so , let him now bring into action his divine sense of thinking . Mules hear ; men think . Freemasonry is a science and an
art—the queen of sciences , the royal art . Be a Freemason in the truest and fullest sense of the term . See , hear , be silent—and while silent , think !—Keystone .
Sometimes unpleasant news has to be given , becanse members and officers of the Fraternity make it necessary . When such is the fact it should be remembered that not the editors , bnt the ening brethren
are the parties acconntable for it , and , if censure is merited , that they shonld receive it . We rejoice in printing pleasant news , and always regret the unpleasant , but mast obey duty .
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Freemasonry's Religion.
things , working in each blade of grass , swelling bud and opening flower , and looks upon all the sciences as so many divine methods through which the Infinite Artist reveals his mysteries to man .
Should any Masonic brother , or any other , think that we are claiming too much for Freemasonry in this respect , we have only to ask him to turn to the " Charges " and " Lectures / ' published in our books , to find abundant proofs of what we assert . Thero we read : " The universe
is the temple of the Deity whom we serve ; Wisdom , Strength and Beauty are around Hia throne , as pillars of His work ; for His wisdom is infinite . His strength is omnipotence , and His beauty shines forth through all His
creation . " Ancient Freemasonry invariably united all the sciences to the religious sentiment . Of arithmetic , it says : "All the works of the Almighty are made in number , weight , and measure ; and , therefore , to understand them
rightly , we ought to understand arithmetical calculations , * * * and be thereby led to a more comprehensive knowledge of onr great Creator . " " Astronomy , " it says , " is that sublime science which inspires the contemplative to aiorc tne wisaom oi
xmna soar ana reaa ana oeauty -ue Creator in the heavens . How nobly eloquent of God is the celestial hemisphere , spangled with the most magnificent symbols of His infinite glory ! " And , discoursing of geometry , it says : ' * By it we discover the power , wisdom
and goodness of the Grand Artificer , and view with delight the order and beauty of His works , and the proportions which connect all parts of His immense universe . "
Freemasonry , therefore , in the spirit of true reverence , consecrates all to God ; the worlds with the sublime mysteries , and the human mind with its mighty powers ,
and the sciences it has discovered and Explained .
THE MASONIC IDEAL OF HUMAN DESTINY AND THE IMMORTAL LIFE . This is revealed in the " Ritual" as well as the " Charges " of the Order . All the initiatory dramas are progressive , and indicate that humanity and man are created for continual advancement . The funeral dirge of the Brotherhood breathes a spirit of profound faith in immortality , and the everlasting progress of the soul .
" Here another gnest we bring Seraphs of celestial wing ; To onr fnn'ral altar come ; Waft this friend and brother home .
There , enlarged , thy son ] shall see What was veiled in mystery ; Heavenly glories of the place , Show his Mater face to face . " It is on this account that Masonry insists on a liberal
culture of the soul . It teaches that the treasures of the intellect and heart are the only possessions inaccessible to change and decay . These alone will last . All else will
pass away ! Riches , glory—the pomp and splendour of time—the world ' s vanity—all will vanish like a wreath of smoke . But the soul will live , and will be ever and ever
ascending , as by a sublime initiation , through the degrees of perfection which will never end ! Its progress in this world is the prophecy of a progress that is everlasting .
iljvery step taken m the road or science and virtue is an upward progress in that star-paved path where angels walk . These are the grand thoughts that underlie our ritual ;
and they are surely worthy of the most serious consideration on the part of every Mason . Imbued with these ideas , the earnest and intelligent brother will labour constantly to discharge every duty with fidelity , " divesting
his heart and conscience of all the vices and superfluities of life , thereby fitting his mind as a living stone for that spiritual building—that honse not mado with hands , eternal in the heavens . —American Quarterly Masonic Review
Triple Truths Of Freemasonry.
TRIPLE TRUTHS OF FREEMASONRY .
ONE of the Brahminical Scriptures is entitled the " Bhagavad Gita , " and assumes to convey the " right knowledge of the royal mystery , " to be the
exponent of the sacred lore , the . divine wisdom . It refers to " the seven great Sages and the ancient Manus four , of whom this world is the offspring . " The seven Sages were
the primeval teachers of man , and the archetype of all subsequent teachers ; while the ancient Manus were the
Triple Truths Of Freemasonry.
primitive governors of man , the four sons of Brahma , the archetype of kings , or mundane rulers . The Mami , one of the sacred books of India , contains
this remarkable statement : " man is not man except as he is triple , that is man , woman , child . " The Brahmins
also made their Divinity triple : the all-Father , the all-Mother , and the blessed Son . The ancient Egyptians , who , if their civilization was not native and primitive , must have derived it from Meroe , or from Babylonia , Chaldea or India , also set forth the same doctrine ; their gods were Osiris the father , Isia the mother , and Horus the son . The Great Sphinx of Egypt was sacred to Horus , and
before it is an altar , now covered with sand , on which sacrifices were anciently offered to Horus . In Freemasonry we have a relic of this ancient symbolism in the numerous
triads of the Fraternity , especially in the the three Lesser Lights , the Snn , the Moon , and the W . M . ( in a certain sense representing Father , Mother and Son ) , and the three Great Lights , the Holy Bible , the Square , and the Compasses . Freemasonry is not Freemasonry unless it he triple . It could not be less , and it cannot be more . Three , and only three degrees are ancient , and whatever is more than these is an excrescence , a super-addition , and ultimately and surely a seed of conflict and evil . The great poet-philosopher , who was Pope and Bolingbroke rolled into one , wrote :
" Enow then thyself , presume not God to scan ; The proper study of mankind is man . " One of our own essayists , Chapin , has said : " Man was sent into the world to be a growing and exhaustless force . "
This is the doctrine of Freemasonry . It says to its initiates : brethren know yourselves aud respect yourselves , for you are immortal . Know your brethren and love your brethren , for they are mystically united with
you ; they are your other selves . And it also says to all who have been brought from Darkness to Light : Study
the Light—which is another term for Freemasonry ; le & rn its triple character and at the same time its complete unity . Wherein is Freemasonry a unit ? In that it is one
" secret , " one " art and mystery . " Its three degrees are a threefold presentation of one truth . Supreme truth is and can be but one . There cannot be three or more snch truths , but there may be , there are , three aspects of the same truth .
The three degrees of Ancient Craft Masonry symbolize the three aspects of the one Masonic truth . To this one , and these three in one , Freemasons cannot devote too much attention and thought . The more you ponder them the
better you apprehend and comprehend them , the greater pleasure you derive from witnessing the rites incident to them , the more fully you are persuaded that you aro members of a fraternity which not only , like a club , enables yon
to while away a vacant hour , but like a school of human and divine philosophy , qualifies you to understand the beauty of charity , the utility and value of human comradeship , the divine perfection of the Grand Architect of the Universe ,
and the dignity of man , who is " greater than a world . " Freemasons respect themselves and their kind . No man is beneath them , for they think , if they do not say , in Shakespearean phrase , " God made him , and therefore let him pass . "
Can Freemasons do better than frequently think npo the threefold presentation of truth objectively taught so continually in the Craft ? Faith , Hope , Love ; Wisdom ,
Strength , Beauty ; Secrecy , Obedience , Fraternity ; the three degrees ; the three steps ; the three preparations ; the three officers ; the three lights ; the three circumambnlations : the
threefold linguistic presentations of obligation in the phraseology adopted for the creation of the mystic tie between Brother and Brother and the Craft .
Has the reader been heretofore satisfied with exercising merely his senses of seeing and bearing in the Lodge ? If so , let him now bring into action his divine sense of thinking . Mules hear ; men think . Freemasonry is a science and an
art—the queen of sciences , the royal art . Be a Freemason in the truest and fullest sense of the term . See , hear , be silent—and while silent , think !—Keystone .
Sometimes unpleasant news has to be given , becanse members and officers of the Fraternity make it necessary . When such is the fact it should be remembered that not the editors , bnt the ening brethren
are the parties acconntable for it , and , if censure is merited , that they shonld receive it . We rejoice in printing pleasant news , and always regret the unpleasant , but mast obey duty .