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Article ON FREEMASONRY. THE NUMBER THREE. ← Page 8 of 10 →
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On Freemasonry. The Number Three.
solar and the arkite superstitions were connected , he became Apollo , ancl soon branched off into a number of collateral deities which peopled the imaginary heaven , and tended to mystify the system of reli g ion , and p lace it entirely out of the reach of ordinary comprehension . * To wade further through this disgusting mass of
absurdity and error will be unnecessary . Enough has been said to evince the fact that THREE was a number venerated by all nations ; emanating , as it is not improbable , from the notion of a divine triad , which prevailed throughout the heathen world , with striking marks of uniformity amongst tribes which were separatee ! from each other by such
impassible barriers as to render it clear that the idea must have been derived from some remote tradition of a similar doctrine , which was prevalent and well understood when mankind dwelt together as one family . Ancl this could be nothing but the doctrine of a trinity in unity . In process of time , the most absurd fancies respecting its use and
application became engrafted on the naked doctrine , until it puzzled the wisest p hilosophers ,- ) - who confounded the properties ascribed to the various persons , attributing them indiscriminatel y to either of the three forms of the sacred triad ; and the true meaning was lost amidst the darkness
and difficulty which surrounded the interpretation . The notion , however , of a triad resolving itself into a monad , how obscure soever it mi g ht be , was undoubtedly propagated ; that being familiarized to the mind by the direction of an overruling Providence , mankind might be prepared to receive the true doctrine , when it should be propounded to
them by authority , in that g lorious dispensation , which , in God ' s good time , will constitute the universal reli g ion ofthe whole habitable globe . Hence we deduce the wisdom and utility of suffering this sublime doctrine , —vague and unsatisfactory as it appears to have been , in the degenerate form which it subsequently
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
On Freemasonry. The Number Three.
solar and the arkite superstitions were connected , he became Apollo , ancl soon branched off into a number of collateral deities which peopled the imaginary heaven , and tended to mystify the system of reli g ion , and p lace it entirely out of the reach of ordinary comprehension . * To wade further through this disgusting mass of
absurdity and error will be unnecessary . Enough has been said to evince the fact that THREE was a number venerated by all nations ; emanating , as it is not improbable , from the notion of a divine triad , which prevailed throughout the heathen world , with striking marks of uniformity amongst tribes which were separatee ! from each other by such
impassible barriers as to render it clear that the idea must have been derived from some remote tradition of a similar doctrine , which was prevalent and well understood when mankind dwelt together as one family . Ancl this could be nothing but the doctrine of a trinity in unity . In process of time , the most absurd fancies respecting its use and
application became engrafted on the naked doctrine , until it puzzled the wisest p hilosophers ,- ) - who confounded the properties ascribed to the various persons , attributing them indiscriminatel y to either of the three forms of the sacred triad ; and the true meaning was lost amidst the darkness
and difficulty which surrounded the interpretation . The notion , however , of a triad resolving itself into a monad , how obscure soever it mi g ht be , was undoubtedly propagated ; that being familiarized to the mind by the direction of an overruling Providence , mankind might be prepared to receive the true doctrine , when it should be propounded to
them by authority , in that g lorious dispensation , which , in God ' s good time , will constitute the universal reli g ion ofthe whole habitable globe . Hence we deduce the wisdom and utility of suffering this sublime doctrine , —vague and unsatisfactory as it appears to have been , in the degenerate form which it subsequently