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Article ON FREEMASONRY. ← Page 7 of 9 →
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
On Freemasonry.
Tertullian asserts that the philosophers of his time " had drank from the fountain of the prophets . " But it is scarcely credible that the earliest legislators and hierophants would adopt into their Mysteries the dogmata of a small and despised sect , who themselves evinced little faith in the efficacy of their own religion ; and were continually lusting after
the more licentious superstitions of their Gentile nei ghbours . No : oral tradition was their guide . They flattered themselves that they possessed the true Freemasonry of Heaven ; and the temptation must have been strong indeed which could have induced them to deviate from it . Besides , though they mighthad they been so inclinedhave leaned
, , g facts , they could hardly have extracted from these records the abstruse doctrines of salvation through the vicarious sacrifice of a Mediator , and a future state of rewards and punishments , which it is doubtful whether many of the Jews themselves believed .
Without pausing to make use of the argument that the doctrines and facts of the Creation , the Fall of Man , the Deluge , the Messiah , and a future state , all of which were prominently displayed in Primitive Freemasonry , were incorporated into the Mysteries long before the time of Moses , and consequently before the Jewish records were in
existence ; it is doubtful whether the historical part of the Pentateuch was accessible to the hierophants of these nations at any period anterior to the captivity in Babylon ; and it is historically true that copies of the Holy Writings were difficult to be met with when the edict of Cyrus was issued for rebuilding the Temple at Jerusalem . It is admitted
that , during the theocracy , detached portions of the Law , and particularly of the Decalogue , were multi plied , and worn by the Jews on their forehead and other parts of the body , as phylacteries ; but these sacred books appear to have been little consulted during the monarchy , and were even proscribed b y Manasseh ancl some other kings . In the time of
Josiah an isolated copy was produced and read in his presence by Hilkiah , the high priest ; and the pious monarch , in an agony of grief , rent his clothes , and expressed his sorrovy and apprehension at the sins and judgments there described , with such intensity of feeling , that it is to be presumed he had no previous knowledof these fearful
denunge ciations . In Babylon copies ofthe Law were so exceedingly scarce that Esdras deeply lamented his inability to procure a si ghtof it ; and hence it is barely probable that this invaluable Roll should find its way into the possession of the Gentile
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
On Freemasonry.
Tertullian asserts that the philosophers of his time " had drank from the fountain of the prophets . " But it is scarcely credible that the earliest legislators and hierophants would adopt into their Mysteries the dogmata of a small and despised sect , who themselves evinced little faith in the efficacy of their own religion ; and were continually lusting after
the more licentious superstitions of their Gentile nei ghbours . No : oral tradition was their guide . They flattered themselves that they possessed the true Freemasonry of Heaven ; and the temptation must have been strong indeed which could have induced them to deviate from it . Besides , though they mighthad they been so inclinedhave leaned
, , g facts , they could hardly have extracted from these records the abstruse doctrines of salvation through the vicarious sacrifice of a Mediator , and a future state of rewards and punishments , which it is doubtful whether many of the Jews themselves believed .
Without pausing to make use of the argument that the doctrines and facts of the Creation , the Fall of Man , the Deluge , the Messiah , and a future state , all of which were prominently displayed in Primitive Freemasonry , were incorporated into the Mysteries long before the time of Moses , and consequently before the Jewish records were in
existence ; it is doubtful whether the historical part of the Pentateuch was accessible to the hierophants of these nations at any period anterior to the captivity in Babylon ; and it is historically true that copies of the Holy Writings were difficult to be met with when the edict of Cyrus was issued for rebuilding the Temple at Jerusalem . It is admitted
that , during the theocracy , detached portions of the Law , and particularly of the Decalogue , were multi plied , and worn by the Jews on their forehead and other parts of the body , as phylacteries ; but these sacred books appear to have been little consulted during the monarchy , and were even proscribed b y Manasseh ancl some other kings . In the time of
Josiah an isolated copy was produced and read in his presence by Hilkiah , the high priest ; and the pious monarch , in an agony of grief , rent his clothes , and expressed his sorrovy and apprehension at the sins and judgments there described , with such intensity of feeling , that it is to be presumed he had no previous knowledof these fearful
denunge ciations . In Babylon copies ofthe Law were so exceedingly scarce that Esdras deeply lamented his inability to procure a si ghtof it ; and hence it is barely probable that this invaluable Roll should find its way into the possession of the Gentile