Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Remarks On Henry O'Brien's Essay On The Round Towers Of Ireland.
masonry , I protest against such a doctrine being imputed to the Order as that of " a primeval or antediluvian crucifixion" of the Redeemer . It must be my object , first , to consider this position of Mr . O'Brien as connected with the tenets of Freemasonry ; after which , I will examine some of the chief arguments by which he endeavours to establish it . In p . 343 , Mr . O'Brien says , " I terminate my proofs of the primeval crucifixion by the united testimonies of the Budhists and the and incon
Freemasons . " Now , whether the absurd , contradictory , - sistent fables of Budhist and Brahminical mythology ( for it is almost impossible to separate those of one sect from those of the other ) , are deserving of being placed in opposition to the clear , straight-forward narratives and declarations of Holy Scripture , I leave any one to judge ¦ who will compare them , taking even Mr . O'Brien ' s own samples of the Budhist tales as , perhaps , the best specimens which could be chosen . which he has is
The testimony , however , of the Freemasons , quoted , contained in one solitary sentence ; after simply quoting which , he digresses into a disquisition touching Irish etymology , leaving " the testimony of the Freemasons" as if it was quite conclusive in Ms favour . " Christianity , " says Oliver , " or the system of salvation through the atonement of a crucified Mediator , was the main pillar" of Freemasonry since the fall" This is quoted from . 11 of Dr . Oliver's
ever . passage p , Antiquities of Freemasonry ; and that by this expression the author did not intend to assert or to imply anything approaching to the doctrine of a former crucifixion , as stated by Mr . O'Brien , will appear , I think , from the following passages in the same work . " One grand principle of ancient Masonry , " says Dr . Oliver , Antiq . p . 44 , immediately after
the account of the fall of Adam , " was to preserve alive in men s minds the true knowledge of God , and the great idea of an atonement for sin by animal sacrifices , typical of the one sacrifice of the Lamb without spot , as a propitiation for the sins of the whole world . This was the animating idea which increased men ' s faith , wheresoever Masonry was practised . " And again , in more remarkable terms , after the account of the offering of Isaac , p . 175 , he says , " Masonry , to the inhabitants of this creationbut the be said of
globe , was indeed coeval with its ; same may Christianity , if the Scriptures are to be believed ; for they ascribe the salvation of mankind , both under the Patriarchal and the Mosaic dispensation , to faith in Jesus Christ . It was through faith in the . promised Messias" ( the italics are Dr . Oliver ' s ) " that Enoch was translated . By the exercise of the same faith Noah was saved amidst the general destruction of the world . By the same faith , Abraham , Isaac , Jacob , in the Old Testament
Moses , and all others celebrated for their piety , were approved and obtained a good report though they received not the promises , which rested in Jesus the author and finisher of our faith . See Hebr . xi . " I have quoted from Dr . Oliver so largely , to show that the fair and natural deduction from his expressions is , that " the main pillar of Freemasonry ever since the fall , " was a trust in , and an expectation of promised Messias" a Mediator bwhose death an
atone" a , y ment was to be made , which atonement was typically represented and prefigured by animal sacrifices ; until the necessity for the types was done away , by the actual sacrifice of the antitype , in the person of Jesus Christ . This is indeed the doctrine of the sacred volume ; and is also , I am persuaded , the pervading idea of all the higher degrees of Freemasonry . But that any such fact as an incarnation of the Messiah previous to his incarnation of the Virgin Mary in the reign of Augustus ,
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Remarks On Henry O'Brien's Essay On The Round Towers Of Ireland.
masonry , I protest against such a doctrine being imputed to the Order as that of " a primeval or antediluvian crucifixion" of the Redeemer . It must be my object , first , to consider this position of Mr . O'Brien as connected with the tenets of Freemasonry ; after which , I will examine some of the chief arguments by which he endeavours to establish it . In p . 343 , Mr . O'Brien says , " I terminate my proofs of the primeval crucifixion by the united testimonies of the Budhists and the and incon
Freemasons . " Now , whether the absurd , contradictory , - sistent fables of Budhist and Brahminical mythology ( for it is almost impossible to separate those of one sect from those of the other ) , are deserving of being placed in opposition to the clear , straight-forward narratives and declarations of Holy Scripture , I leave any one to judge ¦ who will compare them , taking even Mr . O'Brien ' s own samples of the Budhist tales as , perhaps , the best specimens which could be chosen . which he has is
The testimony , however , of the Freemasons , quoted , contained in one solitary sentence ; after simply quoting which , he digresses into a disquisition touching Irish etymology , leaving " the testimony of the Freemasons" as if it was quite conclusive in Ms favour . " Christianity , " says Oliver , " or the system of salvation through the atonement of a crucified Mediator , was the main pillar" of Freemasonry since the fall" This is quoted from . 11 of Dr . Oliver's
ever . passage p , Antiquities of Freemasonry ; and that by this expression the author did not intend to assert or to imply anything approaching to the doctrine of a former crucifixion , as stated by Mr . O'Brien , will appear , I think , from the following passages in the same work . " One grand principle of ancient Masonry , " says Dr . Oliver , Antiq . p . 44 , immediately after
the account of the fall of Adam , " was to preserve alive in men s minds the true knowledge of God , and the great idea of an atonement for sin by animal sacrifices , typical of the one sacrifice of the Lamb without spot , as a propitiation for the sins of the whole world . This was the animating idea which increased men ' s faith , wheresoever Masonry was practised . " And again , in more remarkable terms , after the account of the offering of Isaac , p . 175 , he says , " Masonry , to the inhabitants of this creationbut the be said of
globe , was indeed coeval with its ; same may Christianity , if the Scriptures are to be believed ; for they ascribe the salvation of mankind , both under the Patriarchal and the Mosaic dispensation , to faith in Jesus Christ . It was through faith in the . promised Messias" ( the italics are Dr . Oliver ' s ) " that Enoch was translated . By the exercise of the same faith Noah was saved amidst the general destruction of the world . By the same faith , Abraham , Isaac , Jacob , in the Old Testament
Moses , and all others celebrated for their piety , were approved and obtained a good report though they received not the promises , which rested in Jesus the author and finisher of our faith . See Hebr . xi . " I have quoted from Dr . Oliver so largely , to show that the fair and natural deduction from his expressions is , that " the main pillar of Freemasonry ever since the fall , " was a trust in , and an expectation of promised Messias" a Mediator bwhose death an
atone" a , y ment was to be made , which atonement was typically represented and prefigured by animal sacrifices ; until the necessity for the types was done away , by the actual sacrifice of the antitype , in the person of Jesus Christ . This is indeed the doctrine of the sacred volume ; and is also , I am persuaded , the pervading idea of all the higher degrees of Freemasonry . But that any such fact as an incarnation of the Messiah previous to his incarnation of the Virgin Mary in the reign of Augustus ,