Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
On Freemasonry. Evidences, Doctrines, And Traditions.
highest of hills , " and the consecrated precinct is esteemed holy ; but if the sacred edifice were removed , and every vestige of its divine appropriation annihilated and gone , the site would be used for common purposes , and its original sanctity be forgotten , as is evidenced in every part of England where churches and monasteries were suffered to
dilapidate and decay after tbe reformation . In like manner the mountains of Horeb and Sinai , though honoured with the temporary presence of the Deity , were far inferior in holiness to Sion or Moriah , from which the consecration of our lodges dates its origin ; and appears to have been the chosen seat of the divine presence from the mission
of Abraham , A . A . C . 1985 , till the destruction ofthe Temple by Nebuchadnezzar , when the Shekinah was withdrawn , A . A . c . 586 ; or , perhaps , on account of the re-edification of the Temple by Zerubabel , and the continuation of its services till the reappearance of the Shekinah in the person of Christ , a period of more than 2000 years . Nay , it may be
carried S 60 years further , if the testimony of various Christian and heathen authors , confirmed by Bishop Warburton , may be credited , that the Shekinah displayed itself in fire to frustrate the impious attempt of Julian to rebuild the Temple , in defiance of the voice of prophecy . The above facts , however , which occurred in the earliest
ages , will satisfactorily account for the veneration with which " the highest of hills " were regarded by the faithful followers of the true God , although they do not appear to have been influenced by the above distinction . They were acquainted with the simple , but important fact , that when God vouchsafed to communicate with man , the revelation was usually
made on the summit of a hill ; and Moses had predicted that God ' s house should occupy such a situation ; and they drew from it this evident deduction , that when they were desirous of appealing to Jehovah—if they entertained the expectation of his presence and favour—they must choose such a locality as he , by his example , had induced them to expect would be most propitious .
" As soon as religion began to lose its purity , " says the learned Bryant , " it degenerated very fast ; and , instead of a reverential awe and pleasing sense of duty , there succeeded a fearful gloom and unnatural horror , which were continually augmented as superstition increased . Men repaired in the first ayes either to the lonely summits of mountains , or else to caverns in the rocks , and hollows in the bosom of the earth ;
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
On Freemasonry. Evidences, Doctrines, And Traditions.
highest of hills , " and the consecrated precinct is esteemed holy ; but if the sacred edifice were removed , and every vestige of its divine appropriation annihilated and gone , the site would be used for common purposes , and its original sanctity be forgotten , as is evidenced in every part of England where churches and monasteries were suffered to
dilapidate and decay after tbe reformation . In like manner the mountains of Horeb and Sinai , though honoured with the temporary presence of the Deity , were far inferior in holiness to Sion or Moriah , from which the consecration of our lodges dates its origin ; and appears to have been the chosen seat of the divine presence from the mission
of Abraham , A . A . C . 1985 , till the destruction ofthe Temple by Nebuchadnezzar , when the Shekinah was withdrawn , A . A . c . 586 ; or , perhaps , on account of the re-edification of the Temple by Zerubabel , and the continuation of its services till the reappearance of the Shekinah in the person of Christ , a period of more than 2000 years . Nay , it may be
carried S 60 years further , if the testimony of various Christian and heathen authors , confirmed by Bishop Warburton , may be credited , that the Shekinah displayed itself in fire to frustrate the impious attempt of Julian to rebuild the Temple , in defiance of the voice of prophecy . The above facts , however , which occurred in the earliest
ages , will satisfactorily account for the veneration with which " the highest of hills " were regarded by the faithful followers of the true God , although they do not appear to have been influenced by the above distinction . They were acquainted with the simple , but important fact , that when God vouchsafed to communicate with man , the revelation was usually
made on the summit of a hill ; and Moses had predicted that God ' s house should occupy such a situation ; and they drew from it this evident deduction , that when they were desirous of appealing to Jehovah—if they entertained the expectation of his presence and favour—they must choose such a locality as he , by his example , had induced them to expect would be most propitious .
" As soon as religion began to lose its purity , " says the learned Bryant , " it degenerated very fast ; and , instead of a reverential awe and pleasing sense of duty , there succeeded a fearful gloom and unnatural horror , which were continually augmented as superstition increased . Men repaired in the first ayes either to the lonely summits of mountains , or else to caverns in the rocks , and hollows in the bosom of the earth ;