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Article THAT RELIGION IN WHICH ALL MEN AGREE.* ← Page 2 of 4 →
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That Religion In Which All Men Agree.*
is the jewel worn to this day by Past Masters in all English Lodges . Of course the Tyrian Euclid is also distinguished as a Mason ; but it will be quite sufficient for my purpose to close this list with Ptotomeus , Philadelphia , Archimedes , Augustus , Ccesar , in whose reign was born God ' s Messiah , the great Architect of the Church , * and the great Fitruvius . Enough , the old records of Masons afford large hints of their Lodges from the beginning of the world in the polite nations & c .
, Immediately following this partly traditionary history , are '' the charges both according to the inscription , are to be read at the admission of a new Brother . " It cannot , therefore , be imagined for a moment that they are intended to be contradictory ; and the words of the first clause of the charges ,
namely—But though in ancient times Masons were charged in every country to be of the religion of that country or nation , whatever it was , " must mean That the Masons of Palestine were expected to be worshippers of Jehovah ; in Greece worshippers of Zeus ; in England Roman Catholics . But let us quote the entire first charge , which continues" Yet ' tis now thought more expedient only to oblige them to that
religion in which ALL men agree , leaving their particular opinions to themselves , that is to be good men and true , or men of Honour and Honesty , by whatever Denominations or Persuasions thev may be distinguished . "
And in the Sixth Article it says" No private piques or quarrels must be brought within the Doors of the Lodge , far less any Quarrels about Religion , or Nations , or State Policy ; we being only , as Masons , of the Catholic ^ Religion above-mentioned . We are also of ALL NATIONS , TONGUES , KINDREDSAND LANGUAGES . "
I may well here pause to enquire how any one can assert that the ancient English Brethren meant by these articles of the charges , " only members of the Christian church , " or " of the various sects of Christians . " As some one may nevertheless be desirous of interpreting artistically , or interpolating some such meaning , he may , perhaps , be deterred by the second Book of Constitutions , published fifteen years later , from any such hopeless attempt . Fortunately for my argument , in this second edition of the book , the wording of some of the sentences in the charges , named for the first time OLD charges , are altered from all others , and commence
thus' ¦ 'A Mason is obliged by his Tenure to observe the moral law , as a true dVoachida . " And the peculiarity of these words in italics is cleared up in the History given in this edition ; particularly remarkable that it explains , by the Noachisidic command , the intention to be , freedom of conscience in all matters of religious belief . Thus mentioning " Magians , ( who worshipped the sun ) and the fire made by his ravs , " and proceeds
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
That Religion In Which All Men Agree.*
is the jewel worn to this day by Past Masters in all English Lodges . Of course the Tyrian Euclid is also distinguished as a Mason ; but it will be quite sufficient for my purpose to close this list with Ptotomeus , Philadelphia , Archimedes , Augustus , Ccesar , in whose reign was born God ' s Messiah , the great Architect of the Church , * and the great Fitruvius . Enough , the old records of Masons afford large hints of their Lodges from the beginning of the world in the polite nations & c .
, Immediately following this partly traditionary history , are '' the charges both according to the inscription , are to be read at the admission of a new Brother . " It cannot , therefore , be imagined for a moment that they are intended to be contradictory ; and the words of the first clause of the charges ,
namely—But though in ancient times Masons were charged in every country to be of the religion of that country or nation , whatever it was , " must mean That the Masons of Palestine were expected to be worshippers of Jehovah ; in Greece worshippers of Zeus ; in England Roman Catholics . But let us quote the entire first charge , which continues" Yet ' tis now thought more expedient only to oblige them to that
religion in which ALL men agree , leaving their particular opinions to themselves , that is to be good men and true , or men of Honour and Honesty , by whatever Denominations or Persuasions thev may be distinguished . "
And in the Sixth Article it says" No private piques or quarrels must be brought within the Doors of the Lodge , far less any Quarrels about Religion , or Nations , or State Policy ; we being only , as Masons , of the Catholic ^ Religion above-mentioned . We are also of ALL NATIONS , TONGUES , KINDREDSAND LANGUAGES . "
I may well here pause to enquire how any one can assert that the ancient English Brethren meant by these articles of the charges , " only members of the Christian church , " or " of the various sects of Christians . " As some one may nevertheless be desirous of interpreting artistically , or interpolating some such meaning , he may , perhaps , be deterred by the second Book of Constitutions , published fifteen years later , from any such hopeless attempt . Fortunately for my argument , in this second edition of the book , the wording of some of the sentences in the charges , named for the first time OLD charges , are altered from all others , and commence
thus' ¦ 'A Mason is obliged by his Tenure to observe the moral law , as a true dVoachida . " And the peculiarity of these words in italics is cleared up in the History given in this edition ; particularly remarkable that it explains , by the Noachisidic command , the intention to be , freedom of conscience in all matters of religious belief . Thus mentioning " Magians , ( who worshipped the sun ) and the fire made by his ravs , " and proceeds