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Article ON FREEMASONRY. Page 1 of 6 →
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On Freemasonry.
ON FREEMASONRY .
THE RREAT PLAN OF HUMAN SALVATION TRACED IN FREEMASONRY , BY THE LIGHT OF ONE 01 < - ITS MOST PROMINENT SYMBOLS . Respectfully submitted to the consideration of those clergymen who doubt the propriety of allowing the use of their churches for Masonic celebrations .
BY THE REV . GEORGE OLIVER ,, D . I ) . [ Continued from p . 1 G 3 . ) THE meaning attached to light and darkness in the system of Freemasonry is not included amongst its ineffable secrets . The former does not imply a material or elementary substance , but is purely intellectual . It is explained by St . John the Evangelist when he says , " the darkness is past ancl the true liht shineth . He that saith he is in the lihtand hateth
g g , his brother , is in darkness , even until now . He that loveth his brother abideth in the light , and there is none occasion of stumbling in him ; but he that hateth his brother is in darkness . " ' In the foreign degrees of Teutonic Masonry , the explanation is conveyed cabalistically . One of their lectures says , " there are two sorts of fire and two sorts of light , viz . according to the dark impression , a cold fire and a false light , originating in the stern miht and imaginationdesiring a self-will
g , dominion . The second fire is a hot fire and true light , originating in the Eternal , in the substance of divine geniture ; and that light shineth in the darkness , and illustrateth it ; standing in a perceptible life . The life of man is in it , ancl he is the light of the world . " This intellectual light , which is one of the characteristics of ancient Masonry , is frequently identified with Christ ; and , to adapt the
metaphor to every capacity , he condescended , even in Ins human form , to clothe himself with lig ht as with a garment at his transfiguration ; and in other places is represented as the source and essence of light . Hence Freemasonry , as dedicated to this ancient Being , in his character of the Great Architect of the Universe , has been denominated a system of Light , invested with the sun , moon and stars , as symbols of his handy work , and referring to his universal appearance as aflame of fire , whenever he was leased to communicate his will to man ba personal
revep y lation . 'J'he patriarch Noah taught this pure system to his descendants , as including the worship of God through a divine Mediator , verified and made perfect by the practice of moral duty . Ancl hence the primitive Masons were called Noaehidte , and professed to entertain a high respect for the seven precepts of that patriarch . The circumstances attending the preservation of Noah and his familare preserved in a degree called
y " the Royal Ark Mariners , " in some of the systems of which the deluge is said to have been produced by a Blazing star . There is another Masonic degree , which records a transaction that took p lace at the same period , called " the Ark ancl Dove . " It also forms a portion of a third , which is termed " the Grancl Patriarch , or Prince of Libanus . " And
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
On Freemasonry.
ON FREEMASONRY .
THE RREAT PLAN OF HUMAN SALVATION TRACED IN FREEMASONRY , BY THE LIGHT OF ONE 01 < - ITS MOST PROMINENT SYMBOLS . Respectfully submitted to the consideration of those clergymen who doubt the propriety of allowing the use of their churches for Masonic celebrations .
BY THE REV . GEORGE OLIVER ,, D . I ) . [ Continued from p . 1 G 3 . ) THE meaning attached to light and darkness in the system of Freemasonry is not included amongst its ineffable secrets . The former does not imply a material or elementary substance , but is purely intellectual . It is explained by St . John the Evangelist when he says , " the darkness is past ancl the true liht shineth . He that saith he is in the lihtand hateth
g g , his brother , is in darkness , even until now . He that loveth his brother abideth in the light , and there is none occasion of stumbling in him ; but he that hateth his brother is in darkness . " ' In the foreign degrees of Teutonic Masonry , the explanation is conveyed cabalistically . One of their lectures says , " there are two sorts of fire and two sorts of light , viz . according to the dark impression , a cold fire and a false light , originating in the stern miht and imaginationdesiring a self-will
g , dominion . The second fire is a hot fire and true light , originating in the Eternal , in the substance of divine geniture ; and that light shineth in the darkness , and illustrateth it ; standing in a perceptible life . The life of man is in it , ancl he is the light of the world . " This intellectual light , which is one of the characteristics of ancient Masonry , is frequently identified with Christ ; and , to adapt the
metaphor to every capacity , he condescended , even in Ins human form , to clothe himself with lig ht as with a garment at his transfiguration ; and in other places is represented as the source and essence of light . Hence Freemasonry , as dedicated to this ancient Being , in his character of the Great Architect of the Universe , has been denominated a system of Light , invested with the sun , moon and stars , as symbols of his handy work , and referring to his universal appearance as aflame of fire , whenever he was leased to communicate his will to man ba personal
revep y lation . 'J'he patriarch Noah taught this pure system to his descendants , as including the worship of God through a divine Mediator , verified and made perfect by the practice of moral duty . Ancl hence the primitive Masons were called Noaehidte , and professed to entertain a high respect for the seven precepts of that patriarch . The circumstances attending the preservation of Noah and his familare preserved in a degree called
y " the Royal Ark Mariners , " in some of the systems of which the deluge is said to have been produced by a Blazing star . There is another Masonic degree , which records a transaction that took p lace at the same period , called " the Ark ancl Dove . " It also forms a portion of a third , which is termed " the Grancl Patriarch , or Prince of Libanus . " And