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Article ON THE HISTORY OF INITIATION. ← Page 2 of 5 →
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On The History Of Initiation.
tatious and consist , perhaps , like that of admission into Christianity of a simple lustration , conferred alike on all , in the hope that they would practice the social duties of benevolence and good will to man , and unsophisticated devotion to God . '
Ihe divine Enoch conferred on these ceremonies a decisive character , and added to the practice of divine worship the study and application of human science . Enoch was the first who invented books and different sorts of writing . The ancient Greeks declare that Enoch is the same as Mercury Trismegistus , and that he taught the sons of men the art of building cities , and enacted some admirable laws . In his days one hundred and eighty cities were built ; of these , that which was the least was Jidessa . He discovered the knowled ge of the zodiac and the course of the planets ; and he pointed out to the sons of men , that thev should
woisnip uoci that they should fast , that they should pray , that they should give alms votive offerings and tenths . He reprobated abominable foods and drunkenness , and appointed festivals for sacrifices to the sun at each of the zodaical signs , & c . It should appear then that the sons of Seth introduced into their system a knowled ge of the celestial bodies , as being most consistent with the pursuits of piety and devotion to the Creator , by which thev were distinguished while the Cainites
; were addicted to agriculture architecture , sculpture , working in brass and metals , and other arts and sciences , which were more sordid and connected with worldly possessions According to the Bechinath Happerushim , the doctrine of the patriarchs ' before the flood consisted of traditions of the creation , paradise , the seventh day , the fall of man , the serpent , Cain ' s fratricide , & c . And we are assured that the studof astronomy favourite
y was a pursuit with our antediluvian brethren , and would be one of the sciences inculcated on the initiated . V . hether it led to the practice of the Sabean superstition is matter ot conjecture ; but we have no certain evidence that it produced any surreptitious rites , bearing a character similar to the polluted mysteries of the postdiluvians . 3
Such was initiation in these primeval ages , and thus it passed through the hands of the antediluvian patriarchs , who preserved their integrity unalloyed by any innovations , which mi ght tend to vitiate its benefits or circumscribe its blessings . After the flood the evidence of the mysterious institutions of idolatry are more certain and decisive ; and from the doctrines which were promulgated in their secret adytavisthe creation and fallthe
, . , deluge , the divine unity and a future state of rewards and punishments ; together f j ^ Mge of the sacred name of God , from a striking and undoubted evidence that they were modelled on some system of truth previousl y existing amongst the Noachidte , and known to manv of the puuclersi of Babel ; whence an institution was constructed which , while it served to regulate the different classes of the workmen , was anAl . Vrl f „
a purpose of still greater importance , as connected with the services of their spurious reli gion . It is quite clear that this mysterious system , whatever it might be was known to all the leaders of tribes , and principal persons located upon he extensive plain of Shinar ; because , in ever / country which was colomzed after the dispersion , the same rites and the same doctrine ™ 7 ? 7 u ere 1 S a ? umformlty of practice in this respect , which could not be accounted for on any principle , if the hypothesis of a common origination were to be rejected .
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
On The History Of Initiation.
tatious and consist , perhaps , like that of admission into Christianity of a simple lustration , conferred alike on all , in the hope that they would practice the social duties of benevolence and good will to man , and unsophisticated devotion to God . '
Ihe divine Enoch conferred on these ceremonies a decisive character , and added to the practice of divine worship the study and application of human science . Enoch was the first who invented books and different sorts of writing . The ancient Greeks declare that Enoch is the same as Mercury Trismegistus , and that he taught the sons of men the art of building cities , and enacted some admirable laws . In his days one hundred and eighty cities were built ; of these , that which was the least was Jidessa . He discovered the knowled ge of the zodiac and the course of the planets ; and he pointed out to the sons of men , that thev should
woisnip uoci that they should fast , that they should pray , that they should give alms votive offerings and tenths . He reprobated abominable foods and drunkenness , and appointed festivals for sacrifices to the sun at each of the zodaical signs , & c . It should appear then that the sons of Seth introduced into their system a knowled ge of the celestial bodies , as being most consistent with the pursuits of piety and devotion to the Creator , by which thev were distinguished while the Cainites
; were addicted to agriculture architecture , sculpture , working in brass and metals , and other arts and sciences , which were more sordid and connected with worldly possessions According to the Bechinath Happerushim , the doctrine of the patriarchs ' before the flood consisted of traditions of the creation , paradise , the seventh day , the fall of man , the serpent , Cain ' s fratricide , & c . And we are assured that the studof astronomy favourite
y was a pursuit with our antediluvian brethren , and would be one of the sciences inculcated on the initiated . V . hether it led to the practice of the Sabean superstition is matter ot conjecture ; but we have no certain evidence that it produced any surreptitious rites , bearing a character similar to the polluted mysteries of the postdiluvians . 3
Such was initiation in these primeval ages , and thus it passed through the hands of the antediluvian patriarchs , who preserved their integrity unalloyed by any innovations , which mi ght tend to vitiate its benefits or circumscribe its blessings . After the flood the evidence of the mysterious institutions of idolatry are more certain and decisive ; and from the doctrines which were promulgated in their secret adytavisthe creation and fallthe
, . , deluge , the divine unity and a future state of rewards and punishments ; together f j ^ Mge of the sacred name of God , from a striking and undoubted evidence that they were modelled on some system of truth previousl y existing amongst the Noachidte , and known to manv of the puuclersi of Babel ; whence an institution was constructed which , while it served to regulate the different classes of the workmen , was anAl . Vrl f „
a purpose of still greater importance , as connected with the services of their spurious reli gion . It is quite clear that this mysterious system , whatever it might be was known to all the leaders of tribes , and principal persons located upon he extensive plain of Shinar ; because , in ever / country which was colomzed after the dispersion , the same rites and the same doctrine ™ 7 ? 7 u ere 1 S a ? umformlty of practice in this respect , which could not be accounted for on any principle , if the hypothesis of a common origination were to be rejected .