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Article TABLE OF CONTENTS. Page 1 of 1 Article THE CHARACTER of the BIBLE. Page 1 of 1 Article THE CHARACTER of the BIBLE. Page 1 of 1 Article ANCIENT AND MODERN MYSTERIES. Page 1 of 2 Article ANCIENT AND MODERN MYSTERIES. Page 1 of 2 →
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Table Of Contents.
TABLE OF CONTENTS .
PAGE THE CHARACTER OF THE BIBLE 85 ANCIENT AND MODERN MYSTERIES ... 85 and 86 LEAVES FROM MY LIBRARY 86 INSTALLATION OF THE PROV . G . M . OF
LEICESTERSHIRE AND RUTLAND 86 ancl 87 THE CRAFTMetropolitan 87 and SS Provincial and Foreign ... ... ... ... SS ROYAL
ARCHMetropolitan 88 MARK MASONRY 89 ORDERS OF CHIVALRYRed Cross of Rome and Constantine ... ... 89 Knights Templar 89
ANCIENT AND ACCEPTED RITE 89 LODGE OF BENEVOLENCE ... 89 MASONIC MEETINGS FOR NEXT WEEK 89
MODERN PHILOSOPHY 90 MULTUM IN PARVO 91 and 92 ORIGINAL CORRESPONDENCE 92 and 93 THE BRETT TESTIMONIAL DINNER ... 93 and 94
The Character Of The Bible.
THE CHARACTER of the BIBLE .
The volume which is by universal consent called the Bible—the Book—by way of distinction and pre-eminence , must be admitted to be a marvellous volume , if regarded only in the light in which what are strangely called " Christian Deists " place it that is , as an uninspired
production , or rather a number of productions , the several portions of which were written by various persons , at various times , and under diverse circumstances , and which have been preserved from a very remote period down to our own day . The diversified character and intrinsic value
of the Book , even thus looked at , are such as belong to no other book or collection of writings in the world . There are some extraordinary books indigenous to Hindostan and China ; and there are a few fragments of what one might reasonably think were extraordinary books , the
productions of Egypt and Babylon . Of the latter we know but little ; and the little we do know shows that no reliance can be placed upon their strange mixture of fact and fable . Of the former , it can only be said that while they exhibit
the mystical and marvellous theology of very ancient dupes , and the alleged records of histories that stretch far back into antiquity , the history is so inconsistent with itself , and demonstrably blends so much of fiction with whatever of fact
it comprises , as to be altogether unreliable and untrustworthy , while the theology is vitiated by such monstrous figments , and unworthy and degrading representations of the Supreme Being , of His works and His government , as to make it revolting , not less to the mind of the intelligent
deist than to that of the devout believer . Tlie Bible , on the contrary , though comprising almost every variety of composition and of style—as cosmogony , history , theology , ethics , law , prophecy , psalmody , and ceremonial prescriptionsome parts oi it being in prose and some parts
of it in poetry , some written in a style which affords proof of its primitive character , some in a style which testifies to the advanced condition of the people among whom it was written—some in pure Hebrew , some in Hebrew corrupted by Chaldaic , some in Greek largely partaking of the
Arambaic style and language , and evidently thc production not of Greeks but of Hebrews writing in the Greek language —I say , that although there is this great diversity of subject and of style , and these lengthened periods of time interposing between the periods in which the
various parts of the Bible were written , there is not found anything inconsistent with itself in any one portion of the volume , nor anything inconsistent in any one portion when brought into critical comparison with any other portion , consistent , progressive , rational , credible , and in
every way in harmony with whatever of authentic history we have that is synchronous with any part of it . And then , what shall be said of its theology ? of its divine teachings ? of its revelations of God , and of His relation to His creatures ? of His moral government , and provi-
The Character Of The Bible.
dential dispensations ? Upon this I must not expatiate . Suffice it to say , that the view which it affords us of man ' s origin and nature , of his wants and his destiny , and of God's being and attributes—of His works and His ways—are every way worthy of the great themes
themselves , and m thorough harmony with the views that have been entertained by the most enlightened and highly-cultivated minds in ancient and modern times , though far in advance of anything that the mere reason or intellect of man has been able to evolve out of the profoundest
investigations of which it has been found capable . The very fact that it requires great labour and much ingenuity to make it appear to any reflecting and reasoning man that there are historical inconsistencies , scientific errors , or questionable doctrines propounded in the Bible is one of the
many secondary proofs we have of its freedom from such alleged imperfections and blemishes . We do not need the profound investigations of the scholar , nor the acute penetration and lucid reasonings of the philosopher , to make manifest the fables , and extravagancies and frivolities of
the Shaster or the Paranas , or other books which assume a high antiquity and a divine origin . These all lie upon their surface . You cannot look into any one of them without stumbling upon fictions or extravagancies . In truth , no intelligent man could for a moment regard the books as being what they pretend to be . Herein
they are the very opposite of the Bible , which is from beginning to end , intelligible , consistent , credible , and in every respect worthy of what we should look for in a book which purports to enlighten mankind upon the highest and most important subjects relating to this world and the future . It is , indeed , a marvellous book , and stands by itself in the world . WILLIAM CARPENTER .
Ancient And Modern Mysteries.
ANCIENT AND MODERN MYSTERIES .
BY BRO . ROBERT WENTWORTH LITTLE , Provincial Grand Secretary , Middlesex ; President of ihe London Literary Union ; Editor of" The Rosicrncian" < 5--Y . ( Continued from page 74 . ) " Druidism was at that time the prevailing religion of the ancient Britains . But the toleration
of paganism soon led to an harmonious admixture of the religious ideas of the Roman builders with those of the Druid priests . Long anterior to this , Christianity had dawned upon the British islands , for to use the emphatic language of Tertullian , "Britain , inaccessible to the Romans , was subdued by Christ . "
The influences of the new faith were not long in being felt by the Colleges , and the next phase in their history is the record of their assumption of thc Christian life and doctrine . " But the incursions of the northern barbarians into Italy , demanded thc entire force of the Roman
armies to defend the integrity of thc Empire at home . Britain was abandoned , and the natives , with the Roman colonists who had settled among them were left to defend themselves . These were soon driven , first by Picts , their savage neighbours , and then by the Saxon sea robbers , whom the
English had incautiously summoned to their aid , into the mountains of Wales and the islands of the Irish Sea . The architects who were converted to Christianity , and who had remained when the Roman legions left the country , went with them , and having lost their connection with the mother
institution , they became thenceforth simply corporations or societies of builders , the organization which had always worked so well being still retained . "Subsequently , when the whole of England was taken possession of by the Saxon invaders , thc Britons , headed by the monks and priests and
accompanied by their architects , fled into Ireland and Scotland , which countries they civilised and converted , and whose inhabitants were instructed in the art of building by the corporations of architects . "Wheneverwe read of the extension in barbarous
or pagan countries of Christianity and thc conversion of their inhabitants to thc true faith , wc also hear of the propagation of thc art of building in thc same places by the corporations of architects , thc immediate successors of the legionary Colleges , for the new religion required churches , and in time
cathedrals and monasteries , and the ecclesiastical architecture speedily suggested improvements in the civil . " In time all the religious knowledge and all thc parts of Europe , were concentrated in the remote regions of Ireland and Scotland , whose mission-
Ancient And Modern Mysteries.
aries were sent back to England to convert the pagan Saxons . Thus the venerable Bede , tells us , ( Eccl . Hist . lib . iii . cap . 4 , 7 , ) that West Saxony was converted by Algebert , an Irish bishop ; . and East Anglia , by Fursey , a Scotch : missionary . From England these energetic missionaries
accompanied by their pious architects passed over into Europe , and effectually labored for the conversion of the Scandinavian nations , introducing into Germany , Sweden , Norway and even Ireland , the blessings of Christianity and the refinements of civilized life .
It is worthy of note that m all the early records of the word Scotland is very generally used as a generic term , to indicate both Scotland and Ireland . This error arose most probably from the very intimate geographical and social connexions of the Scotch and the northern Irish , and perhaps , also
from the general inaccuracy of the historians of that period . Thus has arisen the very common opinion , that Scotland was the germ whence sprang all the Christianity of the northern nations , and that the same country was the cradle of ecclesiastical architecture and operative masonry .
" This historical error by which the glory of Ireland has been merged in that of her sister country , Scotland , has been preserved in much of the language , and many of the traditions of modern Freemasonry . Hence the story of the Abbey of Kilwinning , as the birthplace of Masonry , a story
which is still the favourite of the Freemasons of Scotland . Hence the tradition of the apocryphal mountain of Heroden , situated in the north-west of Scotland , where the first or metropolitan Lodge of Europe was held ; hence the high degrees of Ecossais , or Scottish Master , which play so
important a part in modern philosophical Masonry ; and hence thc title of " Scottish Masonry , " applied to one of the leading rites of Freemasonry , which has , however , no other connection with Scotland than that historical one through the corporations of builders , which is common to the whole institution .
" It is not worth while to trace the religious contests between the original Christians of Britian and the Papal power , which after years of controversy terminated in the submission of the British Bishops to the Pope . As soon as the Papal authority was firmly established over Europe , the Roman Catholic
hierarchy secured the services of the Builders corporations , and these under the patronage of the Pope and the Bishops were everywhere engaged as " travelling Freemasons , " in the construction of ecclesiastical and regal edifices . " Henceforth we find these corporations of builders exercising their art in all countries , everywhere
proving , as Mr . Hope says , by the identity of their designs that they were controlled by universally accepted principles , and showing in every other way thc characteristics of a corporation or guild . So far thc chain of connection between them and the Collegia Artificum at Rome has not been broken .
" In the year 926 a general assembly of these builders was held at the city of York , in England . Thence sprang thc document , well-known as the York constitutions , and the York rite of Masonry , now practised by the English Lodges . " Four years after , in 930 , according to Rebold ,
Henry the Fowler brought these builders , now called Masons , from England , into Qcrmany , and employed them in the construction of various edifices , such as thc Cathedrals of Magdeburg , Meissen and Merseburg . But Krausc , who is better and more accurate as a historian than Rebold ,
says , that as respects Germany , the first account that we find of these corporations of builders , is at thc epoch when , under the direction of Edwin of Stcinbach , thc most distinguished architects had congregated ^ from all parts of Strasburg for the construction of the Cathedral of that city . There
they held their general assembly , like that of their English brethren at York , enacted constitutions , and established at length a Grand Lodge , to whose decisions numerous lodges or hut / en subsequently organised in Germany , Bohemia , Hungary , France and other countries yielded obedience . George
Kloss , in his exhaustive work entitled Die Freimaurerei in Hirer wahren Ikdcutung , has supplied us with a full collation of the statutes and regulations adopted by these Strasburg Masons . "We have now got upon recent historical ground , and can readily trace these Associations of builders
to the establishment of the Grand Lodge of England , at London , in 1717 , when thc Lodges abandoned their operative charters and became exclusively speculative . The record of the continued existence of Lodges of Free and Accepted Masons from that day to this , in every civilized country of the world , is in thc hands of every
Masonic student . To repeat it be would a tedious work of supererogation . " Such is the history , and now what is the necessary deduction ? It cannot be doubted that Krausc is correct in his theory , that the incunabula—thc cradle or birth-place—of thc modern Masonic Lodges , is to be found in thc
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Table Of Contents.
TABLE OF CONTENTS .
PAGE THE CHARACTER OF THE BIBLE 85 ANCIENT AND MODERN MYSTERIES ... 85 and 86 LEAVES FROM MY LIBRARY 86 INSTALLATION OF THE PROV . G . M . OF
LEICESTERSHIRE AND RUTLAND 86 ancl 87 THE CRAFTMetropolitan 87 and SS Provincial and Foreign ... ... ... ... SS ROYAL
ARCHMetropolitan 88 MARK MASONRY 89 ORDERS OF CHIVALRYRed Cross of Rome and Constantine ... ... 89 Knights Templar 89
ANCIENT AND ACCEPTED RITE 89 LODGE OF BENEVOLENCE ... 89 MASONIC MEETINGS FOR NEXT WEEK 89
MODERN PHILOSOPHY 90 MULTUM IN PARVO 91 and 92 ORIGINAL CORRESPONDENCE 92 and 93 THE BRETT TESTIMONIAL DINNER ... 93 and 94
The Character Of The Bible.
THE CHARACTER of the BIBLE .
The volume which is by universal consent called the Bible—the Book—by way of distinction and pre-eminence , must be admitted to be a marvellous volume , if regarded only in the light in which what are strangely called " Christian Deists " place it that is , as an uninspired
production , or rather a number of productions , the several portions of which were written by various persons , at various times , and under diverse circumstances , and which have been preserved from a very remote period down to our own day . The diversified character and intrinsic value
of the Book , even thus looked at , are such as belong to no other book or collection of writings in the world . There are some extraordinary books indigenous to Hindostan and China ; and there are a few fragments of what one might reasonably think were extraordinary books , the
productions of Egypt and Babylon . Of the latter we know but little ; and the little we do know shows that no reliance can be placed upon their strange mixture of fact and fable . Of the former , it can only be said that while they exhibit
the mystical and marvellous theology of very ancient dupes , and the alleged records of histories that stretch far back into antiquity , the history is so inconsistent with itself , and demonstrably blends so much of fiction with whatever of fact
it comprises , as to be altogether unreliable and untrustworthy , while the theology is vitiated by such monstrous figments , and unworthy and degrading representations of the Supreme Being , of His works and His government , as to make it revolting , not less to the mind of the intelligent
deist than to that of the devout believer . Tlie Bible , on the contrary , though comprising almost every variety of composition and of style—as cosmogony , history , theology , ethics , law , prophecy , psalmody , and ceremonial prescriptionsome parts oi it being in prose and some parts
of it in poetry , some written in a style which affords proof of its primitive character , some in a style which testifies to the advanced condition of the people among whom it was written—some in pure Hebrew , some in Hebrew corrupted by Chaldaic , some in Greek largely partaking of the
Arambaic style and language , and evidently thc production not of Greeks but of Hebrews writing in the Greek language —I say , that although there is this great diversity of subject and of style , and these lengthened periods of time interposing between the periods in which the
various parts of the Bible were written , there is not found anything inconsistent with itself in any one portion of the volume , nor anything inconsistent in any one portion when brought into critical comparison with any other portion , consistent , progressive , rational , credible , and in
every way in harmony with whatever of authentic history we have that is synchronous with any part of it . And then , what shall be said of its theology ? of its divine teachings ? of its revelations of God , and of His relation to His creatures ? of His moral government , and provi-
The Character Of The Bible.
dential dispensations ? Upon this I must not expatiate . Suffice it to say , that the view which it affords us of man ' s origin and nature , of his wants and his destiny , and of God's being and attributes—of His works and His ways—are every way worthy of the great themes
themselves , and m thorough harmony with the views that have been entertained by the most enlightened and highly-cultivated minds in ancient and modern times , though far in advance of anything that the mere reason or intellect of man has been able to evolve out of the profoundest
investigations of which it has been found capable . The very fact that it requires great labour and much ingenuity to make it appear to any reflecting and reasoning man that there are historical inconsistencies , scientific errors , or questionable doctrines propounded in the Bible is one of the
many secondary proofs we have of its freedom from such alleged imperfections and blemishes . We do not need the profound investigations of the scholar , nor the acute penetration and lucid reasonings of the philosopher , to make manifest the fables , and extravagancies and frivolities of
the Shaster or the Paranas , or other books which assume a high antiquity and a divine origin . These all lie upon their surface . You cannot look into any one of them without stumbling upon fictions or extravagancies . In truth , no intelligent man could for a moment regard the books as being what they pretend to be . Herein
they are the very opposite of the Bible , which is from beginning to end , intelligible , consistent , credible , and in every respect worthy of what we should look for in a book which purports to enlighten mankind upon the highest and most important subjects relating to this world and the future . It is , indeed , a marvellous book , and stands by itself in the world . WILLIAM CARPENTER .
Ancient And Modern Mysteries.
ANCIENT AND MODERN MYSTERIES .
BY BRO . ROBERT WENTWORTH LITTLE , Provincial Grand Secretary , Middlesex ; President of ihe London Literary Union ; Editor of" The Rosicrncian" < 5--Y . ( Continued from page 74 . ) " Druidism was at that time the prevailing religion of the ancient Britains . But the toleration
of paganism soon led to an harmonious admixture of the religious ideas of the Roman builders with those of the Druid priests . Long anterior to this , Christianity had dawned upon the British islands , for to use the emphatic language of Tertullian , "Britain , inaccessible to the Romans , was subdued by Christ . "
The influences of the new faith were not long in being felt by the Colleges , and the next phase in their history is the record of their assumption of thc Christian life and doctrine . " But the incursions of the northern barbarians into Italy , demanded thc entire force of the Roman
armies to defend the integrity of thc Empire at home . Britain was abandoned , and the natives , with the Roman colonists who had settled among them were left to defend themselves . These were soon driven , first by Picts , their savage neighbours , and then by the Saxon sea robbers , whom the
English had incautiously summoned to their aid , into the mountains of Wales and the islands of the Irish Sea . The architects who were converted to Christianity , and who had remained when the Roman legions left the country , went with them , and having lost their connection with the mother
institution , they became thenceforth simply corporations or societies of builders , the organization which had always worked so well being still retained . "Subsequently , when the whole of England was taken possession of by the Saxon invaders , thc Britons , headed by the monks and priests and
accompanied by their architects , fled into Ireland and Scotland , which countries they civilised and converted , and whose inhabitants were instructed in the art of building by the corporations of architects . "Wheneverwe read of the extension in barbarous
or pagan countries of Christianity and thc conversion of their inhabitants to thc true faith , wc also hear of the propagation of thc art of building in thc same places by the corporations of architects , thc immediate successors of the legionary Colleges , for the new religion required churches , and in time
cathedrals and monasteries , and the ecclesiastical architecture speedily suggested improvements in the civil . " In time all the religious knowledge and all thc parts of Europe , were concentrated in the remote regions of Ireland and Scotland , whose mission-
Ancient And Modern Mysteries.
aries were sent back to England to convert the pagan Saxons . Thus the venerable Bede , tells us , ( Eccl . Hist . lib . iii . cap . 4 , 7 , ) that West Saxony was converted by Algebert , an Irish bishop ; . and East Anglia , by Fursey , a Scotch : missionary . From England these energetic missionaries
accompanied by their pious architects passed over into Europe , and effectually labored for the conversion of the Scandinavian nations , introducing into Germany , Sweden , Norway and even Ireland , the blessings of Christianity and the refinements of civilized life .
It is worthy of note that m all the early records of the word Scotland is very generally used as a generic term , to indicate both Scotland and Ireland . This error arose most probably from the very intimate geographical and social connexions of the Scotch and the northern Irish , and perhaps , also
from the general inaccuracy of the historians of that period . Thus has arisen the very common opinion , that Scotland was the germ whence sprang all the Christianity of the northern nations , and that the same country was the cradle of ecclesiastical architecture and operative masonry .
" This historical error by which the glory of Ireland has been merged in that of her sister country , Scotland , has been preserved in much of the language , and many of the traditions of modern Freemasonry . Hence the story of the Abbey of Kilwinning , as the birthplace of Masonry , a story
which is still the favourite of the Freemasons of Scotland . Hence the tradition of the apocryphal mountain of Heroden , situated in the north-west of Scotland , where the first or metropolitan Lodge of Europe was held ; hence the high degrees of Ecossais , or Scottish Master , which play so
important a part in modern philosophical Masonry ; and hence thc title of " Scottish Masonry , " applied to one of the leading rites of Freemasonry , which has , however , no other connection with Scotland than that historical one through the corporations of builders , which is common to the whole institution .
" It is not worth while to trace the religious contests between the original Christians of Britian and the Papal power , which after years of controversy terminated in the submission of the British Bishops to the Pope . As soon as the Papal authority was firmly established over Europe , the Roman Catholic
hierarchy secured the services of the Builders corporations , and these under the patronage of the Pope and the Bishops were everywhere engaged as " travelling Freemasons , " in the construction of ecclesiastical and regal edifices . " Henceforth we find these corporations of builders exercising their art in all countries , everywhere
proving , as Mr . Hope says , by the identity of their designs that they were controlled by universally accepted principles , and showing in every other way thc characteristics of a corporation or guild . So far thc chain of connection between them and the Collegia Artificum at Rome has not been broken .
" In the year 926 a general assembly of these builders was held at the city of York , in England . Thence sprang thc document , well-known as the York constitutions , and the York rite of Masonry , now practised by the English Lodges . " Four years after , in 930 , according to Rebold ,
Henry the Fowler brought these builders , now called Masons , from England , into Qcrmany , and employed them in the construction of various edifices , such as thc Cathedrals of Magdeburg , Meissen and Merseburg . But Krausc , who is better and more accurate as a historian than Rebold ,
says , that as respects Germany , the first account that we find of these corporations of builders , is at thc epoch when , under the direction of Edwin of Stcinbach , thc most distinguished architects had congregated ^ from all parts of Strasburg for the construction of the Cathedral of that city . There
they held their general assembly , like that of their English brethren at York , enacted constitutions , and established at length a Grand Lodge , to whose decisions numerous lodges or hut / en subsequently organised in Germany , Bohemia , Hungary , France and other countries yielded obedience . George
Kloss , in his exhaustive work entitled Die Freimaurerei in Hirer wahren Ikdcutung , has supplied us with a full collation of the statutes and regulations adopted by these Strasburg Masons . "We have now got upon recent historical ground , and can readily trace these Associations of builders
to the establishment of the Grand Lodge of England , at London , in 1717 , when thc Lodges abandoned their operative charters and became exclusively speculative . The record of the continued existence of Lodges of Free and Accepted Masons from that day to this , in every civilized country of the world , is in thc hands of every
Masonic student . To repeat it be would a tedious work of supererogation . " Such is the history , and now what is the necessary deduction ? It cannot be doubted that Krausc is correct in his theory , that the incunabula—thc cradle or birth-place—of thc modern Masonic Lodges , is to be found in thc