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  • BRO. HUGHAN AND THE BIBLE QUESTION.
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Bro. Hughan And The Bible Question.

are synonymous with Christianity ; but if the same stranger had taken up a Hallam , Macaulay , or even an ecclesiastical historian , and learned that the most goodly divines , both Protestant and Catholic , of the 16 th and 17 th centuries , zealously advocated persecution , and even the

burning of heretics , as a Christian duty , the stranger , after having read all this , might be excused for not being able to reconcile Christian pretension with Christian practice . It is needless here to go into details of the wholesale slaughter of Protestants by Catholics , and vice

versa in Holland , France , and other places on the Continent , or of similar tragedies enacted in England and in Scotland by Episcopalians , Presbyterians , & c , even in the latter half of the last century . Now , in 1717 there happened to live in London two very remarkable men—both

were Calvinists and Doctors of Divinity . One of whom , being a Scotch Presbyterian , doubtless heard , even when a child , horrible stories related of Claverhouse and lambs and others against his co-religionists . The other , being a son of a French Huguenot , who , with his father ,

were driven out of France at the time of the revocation of the edict of Nantes , doubtless had similar tales instilled into his mind of the suffering of his forefathers for conscience sake . Being both educated men , they no doubt were aware that the fault did not altogether rest with the

persecutors , because they knew that if their ancestors had had the power they would have persecuted their opponents with the same zeal . Such reflections must undoubtedly have sickened them of all kind of religious persecution , and these two men , Bros . Anderson and Desaguliers ,

happening to be initiated into the Society of Masons , conceived the design of so improving the society as to make it the means of obliterating all hatred on account of religious differences . From that timedatesc-wFreemasonry . The charges and constitutions drawn up by those brethren

were then received with applause , and the charges are still printed in our constitutions and form the corner-stone of our Masonry . And to show how significant the principle of Masonic universality was deemed by the founders of our Masonry—in the very first charge given in their

publication , they go on to say . * " Masonry being found in all nations , even of divers religions , they are now only charged to adhere to that religion in which all agree . " Mark , only charged to adhere to that \ religion in which all

agree ; and continue : " Thus Masonry is the centre of union , and the means of conciliating persons that might otherwise have remained at a perpetual distance ; " and in the sixtli charge , the idea of the universal religion is again alluded to .

I shall not at present attempt to enter into an examination of the Masonic ritual at or before Anderson ' s time ; suffice it to say , that from the catechisms given by Bros . Findell and Steinbrenner , and from the hints scattered in homeopathic doses in Oliver ' s " Symbol of Glory , " and

other works , I am warranted in saying that there was a time when Christianity was distinctively alluded to in the lodge ; but at the same time the Bible was not even used for obligating candidates . The three lights were also variously explained—thus : " The three windows in a

cathedral , " " the sun , Master , and square , " and the " Father , Son , and Holy Ghost . " About or before 1730 the Bible , square , and compasses were alluded to ; but the " great lights" were entirely omitted ( Steinbrenner , p . 148-9 ) . According to Oliver , Martin Clare ,

about 1732 , revised the ritual , and first introduced quotations from the Old and New Testament . The old rituals were no doubt in conflict with thc broad principles of universality laid down in the charges . The substitution of the Bible as the "Great Light "for that of the Trinity was not exactly " the universal religion , "

but was at least " the religion in which all ( at that time ) agreed . " "The Bible , " was neither offensive to the conscience of the Jew or Christian , to Trinitarians or Unitarians , but dove-tailed alike with the opinions of all . There are some , however , who , " if you give them an inch will take an ell ; " and they have repeatedly been trying to make the presence of the Bible

Bro. Hughan And The Bible Question.

an excuse for Christianizing Masonry . Nor was the Bible the only cause of sectarian inroads into Masonry , the Grand Lodge in 1717 was organised on the Baptist ' s Day . Zealots afterwards made it obligatory on Masons to observe as Masonic festivals the days of both the

Baptist and the Evangelist , the two saints which are not mentioned in any of the old charters , and which even Anderson , though he made every prominent man from Adam down to Herod , Rabis , Shammai , and Hillel , & c , into

Grand Masters and Grand AVardens , never mentioned the Saints J ohn as Grand Patrons , Grand Masters or even as Masons . Later scribblers , however , turned the two saints into full-pledged Masons with all the Masonic honours attached .

The simple truth probably is : the Masons met on the Baptist's Day , because the custom in the middle ages was for the working people to enjoy themselves on that day . In Hone ' s "Year

Book ( p . 9 85-6 ) , Bro . Hughan may find an account of a turn-out in procession by " The brethren and sisters" on Saint John ' s Day . In Hone's " Every Day Book" ( vol . ii ., page 870 ) , an article headed " Cow Mass" describes a

similar scene to have taken place in 1789 in Dunkirk . It was the custom , not of Masons only , to walk in procession on the 24 th of June , but of the guilds in general ; and even now the Sheriff of ' •London is elected by the Livery on Midsummer ' s Day . This simple

coincidencethis meeting on St . John ' s Day—afterwards gave rise to the wildest speculations . Ramsay discovered through that the connection of Masons with Knight Templars , which caused Christian degrees to be manipulated by the thousand . Bro . Mackey , of Charleston , South Carolina ,

attributes the Masonic observance of that day to the Masonic philosophers of antiquity observing the soltices . So first with the introduction of saints , and next of the Bible , not only Masonic history became corrupted , but the ritual also kept pace with the corruption . Hutchinson's

imagination ran wild with the idea that the third degree was Christian ; Dunckerly introduced thc saints as Masonic parallels ; Oliver almost swore that he believed in the Saint John's legend . Bro . Paton pins his faith on Oliver ' s authority , and writes an article to THE FREEMASON on the

connection of St . John the Evangelist with Masonry •and even the clear-sighted Bro . Hughan is led astray by supposing that because the bricklayers of old had to be Christians , we therefore must also somehow acknowledge Christianity in our lodges . I shall not enter

into the corruptions of the Masonic idea prevailing in Prussia , Sweden , and Denmark , nor will I enlarge on the double-dealing practice of Scotland and America ; but most state that in 1813 the Grand Lodge of England saw the labyrinth of inconsistency into which Masonry

was then plunged , and wisely made necessary alterations . Saints ceased to be Masonic patrons , & c , and other improvements were made . The Bible was however left in the lodge for the very same reason that it was first introduced , viz ., because no one objected to it :

quotations from or allusions to the Bible were permitted , because no one objected to them . Be it remembered that in 1813 the " Encyclopaedia Britannica" of that day denounced as infidels those who believed the world to be older than 6000 years . Professors in Oxford taught the

same thing then . Now , however , both the " Encyclopaedia " and the Oxford professors deny the Biblical account of the creation . This part of the Bible ceased to be the universal belief even in England , The long lecture of the " Six Days , " with the Miltonian poetry of " Grace in

her step and heaven in her eye , " was very suitable for 1813 , but is not suitable for the ideas of 1871 ; and if the Grand Lodge of England does not wish to drive the best educated and scientific professors from active participation in the Masonic work , that part ought better to be omitted .

But I beg to remind our brother of another fact . Tlie Duke of Sussex initiateda Mahommedan , and for obvious reasons the Bible was removed and the Koran substituted . Here , then , for three successive lodge meetings the lodge was without t a Bible ; but will any one deny that the lodge

Bro. Hughan And The Bible Question.

then was just , perfect , and regular ? Now , if the lodge could then be perfect without a Bible , why can it not always be so ? Ah ! but the Koran was there . But is not the Book of Constitutions of more importance to Bro . Hughan than the Koran ? On the same occasion , the Duke could not have exhorted the candidate

to put his faith in the Bible , nor could he have alluded in similar strains to the Koran , hence the ceremony must have been altered , so as to give no offence to either Christian or Mahommedan . But we will now suppose that the said Mahommedan brother was afterwards elected

Master of the lodge , would any one insist when initiating a Christian Candidate for the Mahommedan W . M . to exhort the said candidate to believe in the Bible ? Most assuredly not . Now , we will go still further , and suppose that one or more Mahommedan brethren object to the

Bible being in the lodge—such a case may really occur in those Provincial Grand Lodges under the Grand Lodge of England existing in Turkey and East Indies—the Christians , on the other hand , would for similar raasons object to the Koran . Now , is it not better to remove

both than to break up the harmony of the lodge ? And if Masons are faithful to their own professions and their own charges , they need no more be accused of disbelief in the Bible , because they consent to its removal , than Anderson and Desaguliers could be charged

with anti-Trimtarianism because they allowed the Trinity to be ignored in the lodge . And now comes the question : If we admit disbelievers in the inspiration of the Bible , why should we favour the conscience of a Mahommedan and despise that of a Deist ? Must a Deist

naturally be a bad man ? Can he not be admitted into Masonry ; or does our ' •' charity to all mankind " stop with the believer with God with Mahomet , and reject the believer in God without Mahomet ? These are my ideas of universality . If Anderson ' s charges mean

anything , they mean just what they say : Masonry is " the religion in which all agree , " and when they cease to agree concession must be made to the progressive change of religious ideas , which takes place whether we like it or not . In

that sense only the metaphor can be realised . " Our lodge is as long as from east to west , as broad as from north to south , " & c , and the Masonic teaching of charity to all mankind attains its true significance and become a reality instead of a sham .

In conclusion , I beg to state that I believe that if we are guided by the moral precepts contained in the Bible , we cannot materially err , and have no conscientious objection to the presence of the Bible in the lodge ; but the moral precepts taught in the Bible would make me feel

ashamed at sanctioning or even tolerating the Jesuitism practiced in Scotch and American lodges , and would induce me to sanction and even advocate the removal of the Bible if its presence is made an excuse for violating justice , " even in its most minute point . " I have

therefore a right to caution and inform those who are constantly clamoring for the Bible , that whereas the Bible can only remain in the lodge as long as it continues to be " the religion in which all agree , " and whereas opinions are gradually changing , even among the highest dignitaries of

the Church , regarding the inspiration of this or that part of the Bible . It is therefore the duty of every just-minded brother to abstain in the lodge or in Masonic assemblies from ventilating ' certain doctrines or details drawn from the Bible /// which all do not agree . And if these men

should persist in their unmasonic conduct , it must eventually terminate either in a disrupture or in an entire change in the whole Masonic system . We must cither expunge from the charges and ritual all allusions to Masonic universality , or the very firm believers in the Bible , but who also believe that God is more pleased with those

who practice the moral teaching thereof than with thc mere clamorers who violate them . Yea , even these—even Bro . Hughan himself—may yet be driven to advocate the removal of the Bible ; and they could no more be blamed or accused of what is called infidelitythan Messrs , Anderson and Desaguliers could be charged

“The Freemason: 1871-02-25, Page 3” Masonic Periodicals Online, Library and Museum of Freemasonry, 2 June 2025, django:8000/periodicals/fvl/issues/fvl_25021871/page/3/.
  • List
  • Grid
Title Category Page
TABLE OF CONTENTS. Article 1
ROYAL MASONIC INSTITUTION FOR GIRLS. Article 1
FREEMASONRY in IRELAND. Article 1
THE FAIR SEX AND ADOPTIVE MASONRY. Article 2
BRO. HUGHAN AND THE BIBLE QUESTION. Article 2
Reports of Masonic Meetings. Article 4
ROYAL ARCH. Article 5
MARK MASONRY. Article 5
ROYAL ARK MASONRY. Article 5
ORDERS OF CHIVALRY. Article 5
ANCIENT AND ACCEPTED RITE. Article 5
HOLY ORDER of K.H. and GRAND ELECTED KNIGHTS, or NE PLUS ULTRA. Article 5
Masonic Miscellanea. Article 5
Untitled Ad 6
Untitled Article 6
Births, Marriages, and Deaths. Article 6
Untitled Article 6
Untitled Article 6
Untitled Article 6
BUSINESS to be TRANSACTED in GRAND LODGE. Article 6
Multum in Parbo, or Masonic Notes and Queries. Article 7
Original Correspondence. Article 8
MASONIC FESTLVITTES. Article 8
THE ATRICAL. Article 9
MASONIC CURIOSITIES.—VIll. Article 9
A MASONIC TOUR. Article 10
AN APPEAL TO THE CRAFT. Article 10
SCOTLAND. Article 10
NORTH-EASTERN MASONIC CHARITABLE ASSOCIATION. Article 11
Poetry. Article 11
METROPOLITAN MASONIC MEETINGS Article 11
Untitled Ad 12
Untitled Ad 12
Untitled Ad 12
Untitled Ad 12
Untitled Ad 12
Untitled Ad 12
Untitled Ad 12
Untitled Ad 12
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Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.

Bro. Hughan And The Bible Question.

are synonymous with Christianity ; but if the same stranger had taken up a Hallam , Macaulay , or even an ecclesiastical historian , and learned that the most goodly divines , both Protestant and Catholic , of the 16 th and 17 th centuries , zealously advocated persecution , and even the

burning of heretics , as a Christian duty , the stranger , after having read all this , might be excused for not being able to reconcile Christian pretension with Christian practice . It is needless here to go into details of the wholesale slaughter of Protestants by Catholics , and vice

versa in Holland , France , and other places on the Continent , or of similar tragedies enacted in England and in Scotland by Episcopalians , Presbyterians , & c , even in the latter half of the last century . Now , in 1717 there happened to live in London two very remarkable men—both

were Calvinists and Doctors of Divinity . One of whom , being a Scotch Presbyterian , doubtless heard , even when a child , horrible stories related of Claverhouse and lambs and others against his co-religionists . The other , being a son of a French Huguenot , who , with his father ,

were driven out of France at the time of the revocation of the edict of Nantes , doubtless had similar tales instilled into his mind of the suffering of his forefathers for conscience sake . Being both educated men , they no doubt were aware that the fault did not altogether rest with the

persecutors , because they knew that if their ancestors had had the power they would have persecuted their opponents with the same zeal . Such reflections must undoubtedly have sickened them of all kind of religious persecution , and these two men , Bros . Anderson and Desaguliers ,

happening to be initiated into the Society of Masons , conceived the design of so improving the society as to make it the means of obliterating all hatred on account of religious differences . From that timedatesc-wFreemasonry . The charges and constitutions drawn up by those brethren

were then received with applause , and the charges are still printed in our constitutions and form the corner-stone of our Masonry . And to show how significant the principle of Masonic universality was deemed by the founders of our Masonry—in the very first charge given in their

publication , they go on to say . * " Masonry being found in all nations , even of divers religions , they are now only charged to adhere to that religion in which all agree . " Mark , only charged to adhere to that \ religion in which all

agree ; and continue : " Thus Masonry is the centre of union , and the means of conciliating persons that might otherwise have remained at a perpetual distance ; " and in the sixtli charge , the idea of the universal religion is again alluded to .

I shall not at present attempt to enter into an examination of the Masonic ritual at or before Anderson ' s time ; suffice it to say , that from the catechisms given by Bros . Findell and Steinbrenner , and from the hints scattered in homeopathic doses in Oliver ' s " Symbol of Glory , " and

other works , I am warranted in saying that there was a time when Christianity was distinctively alluded to in the lodge ; but at the same time the Bible was not even used for obligating candidates . The three lights were also variously explained—thus : " The three windows in a

cathedral , " " the sun , Master , and square , " and the " Father , Son , and Holy Ghost . " About or before 1730 the Bible , square , and compasses were alluded to ; but the " great lights" were entirely omitted ( Steinbrenner , p . 148-9 ) . According to Oliver , Martin Clare ,

about 1732 , revised the ritual , and first introduced quotations from the Old and New Testament . The old rituals were no doubt in conflict with thc broad principles of universality laid down in the charges . The substitution of the Bible as the "Great Light "for that of the Trinity was not exactly " the universal religion , "

but was at least " the religion in which all ( at that time ) agreed . " "The Bible , " was neither offensive to the conscience of the Jew or Christian , to Trinitarians or Unitarians , but dove-tailed alike with the opinions of all . There are some , however , who , " if you give them an inch will take an ell ; " and they have repeatedly been trying to make the presence of the Bible

Bro. Hughan And The Bible Question.

an excuse for Christianizing Masonry . Nor was the Bible the only cause of sectarian inroads into Masonry , the Grand Lodge in 1717 was organised on the Baptist ' s Day . Zealots afterwards made it obligatory on Masons to observe as Masonic festivals the days of both the

Baptist and the Evangelist , the two saints which are not mentioned in any of the old charters , and which even Anderson , though he made every prominent man from Adam down to Herod , Rabis , Shammai , and Hillel , & c , into

Grand Masters and Grand AVardens , never mentioned the Saints J ohn as Grand Patrons , Grand Masters or even as Masons . Later scribblers , however , turned the two saints into full-pledged Masons with all the Masonic honours attached .

The simple truth probably is : the Masons met on the Baptist's Day , because the custom in the middle ages was for the working people to enjoy themselves on that day . In Hone ' s "Year

Book ( p . 9 85-6 ) , Bro . Hughan may find an account of a turn-out in procession by " The brethren and sisters" on Saint John ' s Day . In Hone's " Every Day Book" ( vol . ii ., page 870 ) , an article headed " Cow Mass" describes a

similar scene to have taken place in 1789 in Dunkirk . It was the custom , not of Masons only , to walk in procession on the 24 th of June , but of the guilds in general ; and even now the Sheriff of ' •London is elected by the Livery on Midsummer ' s Day . This simple

coincidencethis meeting on St . John ' s Day—afterwards gave rise to the wildest speculations . Ramsay discovered through that the connection of Masons with Knight Templars , which caused Christian degrees to be manipulated by the thousand . Bro . Mackey , of Charleston , South Carolina ,

attributes the Masonic observance of that day to the Masonic philosophers of antiquity observing the soltices . So first with the introduction of saints , and next of the Bible , not only Masonic history became corrupted , but the ritual also kept pace with the corruption . Hutchinson's

imagination ran wild with the idea that the third degree was Christian ; Dunckerly introduced thc saints as Masonic parallels ; Oliver almost swore that he believed in the Saint John's legend . Bro . Paton pins his faith on Oliver ' s authority , and writes an article to THE FREEMASON on the

connection of St . John the Evangelist with Masonry •and even the clear-sighted Bro . Hughan is led astray by supposing that because the bricklayers of old had to be Christians , we therefore must also somehow acknowledge Christianity in our lodges . I shall not enter

into the corruptions of the Masonic idea prevailing in Prussia , Sweden , and Denmark , nor will I enlarge on the double-dealing practice of Scotland and America ; but most state that in 1813 the Grand Lodge of England saw the labyrinth of inconsistency into which Masonry

was then plunged , and wisely made necessary alterations . Saints ceased to be Masonic patrons , & c , and other improvements were made . The Bible was however left in the lodge for the very same reason that it was first introduced , viz ., because no one objected to it :

quotations from or allusions to the Bible were permitted , because no one objected to them . Be it remembered that in 1813 the " Encyclopaedia Britannica" of that day denounced as infidels those who believed the world to be older than 6000 years . Professors in Oxford taught the

same thing then . Now , however , both the " Encyclopaedia " and the Oxford professors deny the Biblical account of the creation . This part of the Bible ceased to be the universal belief even in England , The long lecture of the " Six Days , " with the Miltonian poetry of " Grace in

her step and heaven in her eye , " was very suitable for 1813 , but is not suitable for the ideas of 1871 ; and if the Grand Lodge of England does not wish to drive the best educated and scientific professors from active participation in the Masonic work , that part ought better to be omitted .

But I beg to remind our brother of another fact . Tlie Duke of Sussex initiateda Mahommedan , and for obvious reasons the Bible was removed and the Koran substituted . Here , then , for three successive lodge meetings the lodge was without t a Bible ; but will any one deny that the lodge

Bro. Hughan And The Bible Question.

then was just , perfect , and regular ? Now , if the lodge could then be perfect without a Bible , why can it not always be so ? Ah ! but the Koran was there . But is not the Book of Constitutions of more importance to Bro . Hughan than the Koran ? On the same occasion , the Duke could not have exhorted the candidate

to put his faith in the Bible , nor could he have alluded in similar strains to the Koran , hence the ceremony must have been altered , so as to give no offence to either Christian or Mahommedan . But we will now suppose that the said Mahommedan brother was afterwards elected

Master of the lodge , would any one insist when initiating a Christian Candidate for the Mahommedan W . M . to exhort the said candidate to believe in the Bible ? Most assuredly not . Now , we will go still further , and suppose that one or more Mahommedan brethren object to the

Bible being in the lodge—such a case may really occur in those Provincial Grand Lodges under the Grand Lodge of England existing in Turkey and East Indies—the Christians , on the other hand , would for similar raasons object to the Koran . Now , is it not better to remove

both than to break up the harmony of the lodge ? And if Masons are faithful to their own professions and their own charges , they need no more be accused of disbelief in the Bible , because they consent to its removal , than Anderson and Desaguliers could be charged

with anti-Trimtarianism because they allowed the Trinity to be ignored in the lodge . And now comes the question : If we admit disbelievers in the inspiration of the Bible , why should we favour the conscience of a Mahommedan and despise that of a Deist ? Must a Deist

naturally be a bad man ? Can he not be admitted into Masonry ; or does our ' •' charity to all mankind " stop with the believer with God with Mahomet , and reject the believer in God without Mahomet ? These are my ideas of universality . If Anderson ' s charges mean

anything , they mean just what they say : Masonry is " the religion in which all agree , " and when they cease to agree concession must be made to the progressive change of religious ideas , which takes place whether we like it or not . In

that sense only the metaphor can be realised . " Our lodge is as long as from east to west , as broad as from north to south , " & c , and the Masonic teaching of charity to all mankind attains its true significance and become a reality instead of a sham .

In conclusion , I beg to state that I believe that if we are guided by the moral precepts contained in the Bible , we cannot materially err , and have no conscientious objection to the presence of the Bible in the lodge ; but the moral precepts taught in the Bible would make me feel

ashamed at sanctioning or even tolerating the Jesuitism practiced in Scotch and American lodges , and would induce me to sanction and even advocate the removal of the Bible if its presence is made an excuse for violating justice , " even in its most minute point . " I have

therefore a right to caution and inform those who are constantly clamoring for the Bible , that whereas the Bible can only remain in the lodge as long as it continues to be " the religion in which all agree , " and whereas opinions are gradually changing , even among the highest dignitaries of

the Church , regarding the inspiration of this or that part of the Bible . It is therefore the duty of every just-minded brother to abstain in the lodge or in Masonic assemblies from ventilating ' certain doctrines or details drawn from the Bible /// which all do not agree . And if these men

should persist in their unmasonic conduct , it must eventually terminate either in a disrupture or in an entire change in the whole Masonic system . We must cither expunge from the charges and ritual all allusions to Masonic universality , or the very firm believers in the Bible , but who also believe that God is more pleased with those

who practice the moral teaching thereof than with thc mere clamorers who violate them . Yea , even these—even Bro . Hughan himself—may yet be driven to advocate the removal of the Bible ; and they could no more be blamed or accused of what is called infidelitythan Messrs , Anderson and Desaguliers could be charged

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