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Article ON FREEMASONRY, ← Page 4 of 5 →
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On Freemasonry,
and believe me , I would not say a word against them , mere I not . conscious ofthe danger your soul is in . Satan blinds the heart lest the glorious gospel of Christ should shine in , and he does not mind what it is blinded by , whether by the false delusive glitter of Freemasonry , or anything else , so long as Christ , the true light , is shut out . " * Why , if this simple logician could see but one inch beyond his nose , he would find the apostles of our Saviour condescending to patronize institutions bearing a great resemblance to
Freemasonry , without any apprehension that " their souls would be endangered by it , " or that " the true light of the gospel would be thus shut out . " The two St . Johns were Essenian Freemasons ; and there is every reason to believe that St . Paul was a member of a philosophical society at Ephesus ; f which I conceive to have heen a kind of debating club , where the superiority of the several sects of heathen philosophy were publicly discussed . The letter-writer ' s mind unfortunately appears to be in a strange state of confusion , and suggests a series of phrases which appear to me to savour
very strongly of blasphemy ; such as , "the heart bowing to God's Christ , " " spiritually dead , " " ruined thing , " " crowning sin , " " put on the name of Christ , " " a judged world , " " glimpse of Jesus , " " ark a preparing , " & c . & c . ; to each of which he attaches some mysterious signification , which the apostles never contemplated ; and by this means confounds Freemasonry with idolatry , and I know not what other offensive practices ; forgetting that we have the gospel before us as well as himself , and are perhaps able to make as beneficial an use of it . Our souls are in danger ( proh pudor !) because
we are ignorant that we are " ruined creatures , " because we do not know that we are " lost without Jesus , " & c . These are heavy charges , if they were true . But how can he imagine that we are ignorant of these great truths , which are familiar to all other Christians , and so plainly laid down in the book of life , that "lie who runsmay read ? "f How can he suppose that we , being Masons , do not make as good use of the means of grace as he or any of his sect , who have not had the inestimable advantage of initiation ? How did he learn that "
Freemasonry has failed to discover , and Freemasons to see , that man is a ruined thing ; " or that its " efforts have all been confined to the outside of the platter , which is all it has attempted to cleanse , while the inside has remained wholly untouched ? " § Does Masonry exclude us from hearing the word of God read and preached ? Does it banish us from public worship , or from the altar of the Lord ? Away , then , with such anti-christian accusations , and send them " to the moles and the hats , and to the dark caverns from whence they sprang , " || and let us hear no more about the practice of
Freemasonry excluding a man from heaven I Freemasonry , the personation of that godlike charity , which we are told by an inspired apostle is of more importance than faith and hope , and more conducive to our everlasting interests ! Freemasonry , the precious pearl—the diamond of the desert—the blazing star—the keystone of the arch of heaven ! Is this the " rock a-head , " to destroy the salvation of man ? " When I forget thee , may my right hand forget her cunning ! " * S The letter of Mr . E . C . Pryer is worse than a papal denunciation , hecause " it cries peace when there is no peace , " and displays in every line the bitter hostility which rankles in the writer's heart against Freemasonry : —
" Mel m ore , Verba lactis , Fel in corde . Fraus in factis . " But it is the besetting sin of sectarists and evangelicals , that while they laud the right of private judgment with their lips , in practice they condemn all who venture to differ from their own views and conclusions . They preach toleration , and practice persecution . With the Bible in their hands , and a
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
On Freemasonry,
and believe me , I would not say a word against them , mere I not . conscious ofthe danger your soul is in . Satan blinds the heart lest the glorious gospel of Christ should shine in , and he does not mind what it is blinded by , whether by the false delusive glitter of Freemasonry , or anything else , so long as Christ , the true light , is shut out . " * Why , if this simple logician could see but one inch beyond his nose , he would find the apostles of our Saviour condescending to patronize institutions bearing a great resemblance to
Freemasonry , without any apprehension that " their souls would be endangered by it , " or that " the true light of the gospel would be thus shut out . " The two St . Johns were Essenian Freemasons ; and there is every reason to believe that St . Paul was a member of a philosophical society at Ephesus ; f which I conceive to have heen a kind of debating club , where the superiority of the several sects of heathen philosophy were publicly discussed . The letter-writer ' s mind unfortunately appears to be in a strange state of confusion , and suggests a series of phrases which appear to me to savour
very strongly of blasphemy ; such as , "the heart bowing to God's Christ , " " spiritually dead , " " ruined thing , " " crowning sin , " " put on the name of Christ , " " a judged world , " " glimpse of Jesus , " " ark a preparing , " & c . & c . ; to each of which he attaches some mysterious signification , which the apostles never contemplated ; and by this means confounds Freemasonry with idolatry , and I know not what other offensive practices ; forgetting that we have the gospel before us as well as himself , and are perhaps able to make as beneficial an use of it . Our souls are in danger ( proh pudor !) because
we are ignorant that we are " ruined creatures , " because we do not know that we are " lost without Jesus , " & c . These are heavy charges , if they were true . But how can he imagine that we are ignorant of these great truths , which are familiar to all other Christians , and so plainly laid down in the book of life , that "lie who runsmay read ? "f How can he suppose that we , being Masons , do not make as good use of the means of grace as he or any of his sect , who have not had the inestimable advantage of initiation ? How did he learn that "
Freemasonry has failed to discover , and Freemasons to see , that man is a ruined thing ; " or that its " efforts have all been confined to the outside of the platter , which is all it has attempted to cleanse , while the inside has remained wholly untouched ? " § Does Masonry exclude us from hearing the word of God read and preached ? Does it banish us from public worship , or from the altar of the Lord ? Away , then , with such anti-christian accusations , and send them " to the moles and the hats , and to the dark caverns from whence they sprang , " || and let us hear no more about the practice of
Freemasonry excluding a man from heaven I Freemasonry , the personation of that godlike charity , which we are told by an inspired apostle is of more importance than faith and hope , and more conducive to our everlasting interests ! Freemasonry , the precious pearl—the diamond of the desert—the blazing star—the keystone of the arch of heaven ! Is this the " rock a-head , " to destroy the salvation of man ? " When I forget thee , may my right hand forget her cunning ! " * S The letter of Mr . E . C . Pryer is worse than a papal denunciation , hecause " it cries peace when there is no peace , " and displays in every line the bitter hostility which rankles in the writer's heart against Freemasonry : —
" Mel m ore , Verba lactis , Fel in corde . Fraus in factis . " But it is the besetting sin of sectarists and evangelicals , that while they laud the right of private judgment with their lips , in practice they condemn all who venture to differ from their own views and conclusions . They preach toleration , and practice persecution . With the Bible in their hands , and a