-
Articles/Ads
Article Untitled Article ← Page 2 of 2
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Untitled Article
in all his conduct a substantial proof of them , by the love which he is regularly called upon to exercise to all his fellow-creatures , of whatever country , station , or creed they may happen to be .
If you refer to the volume of the Sacred Law ( Bible ) , you will find that the Jewish system was made up chiefly of ceremonies , types , and symbols , denoting intellectual and moral duties , which mode of teaching , Freemasonry adopts , and by which it is distinguished from all other institutions of the present day .
1 st . For instance : in the first step we take we are taught how , under the patriarchal dispensation , they worshipped God in a few simple rites of devotion , and we are taught to do unto all men as we would they should do unto us . The corporeal preparations which we have to submit to at our initiation , serve allegorically to remind the Brethren then present , that it is the man divested of all outward recommendations , of rank ,
state , and riches , which we accept , and that it is his moral worth alone which does or ought to open to him the door of the Masonic temple . 2 nd . In the second step , we either are or ought to be made acquainted with the elements of geometry , one of the noblest sciences , practically and morally , by which we may be taught many useful
lessons , and passed on to a view of the Mosaic dispensation shadowing forth a Church triumphant when the time should come . And now , as theocracy has ceased and regal government begun , we either are or ought to be given to understand in detail the erection of the temple , the middle chamber , being as Fellow Craft Masons not entitled to penetrate further . —See 1 Kings , vi . 8 .
3 rd . The third step or degree of a M . M . In this Degree we are taught to support with becoming dignity our new character , and so conduct ourselves that any instructions we may have to give to the Craft shall have its due weight by our own example . This Degree gives us a higher and more comprehensive view of the system by some display of the resurrection of the dead , which is a type of a
new dispensation established by that Sublime Being of whom the Jewish Shekinah was the glory and radiant appearance , and therefore it is , with manifest propriety , that the resurrection is shadowed forth in this Degree . Brethren , the scientific philosophy of Freemasonry forms a rational employment of the mind in acquiring
wisdom and experience resulting from human knowledge . But it is the theocratic or divine philosophy of the Order which must elevate the industrious Freemason above the things of this life , and prepare him for another an I better ; also must teach him to place his affections on things above , and instruct him so to pass through things temporal as finally not to lose the things eternal .
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Untitled Article
in all his conduct a substantial proof of them , by the love which he is regularly called upon to exercise to all his fellow-creatures , of whatever country , station , or creed they may happen to be .
If you refer to the volume of the Sacred Law ( Bible ) , you will find that the Jewish system was made up chiefly of ceremonies , types , and symbols , denoting intellectual and moral duties , which mode of teaching , Freemasonry adopts , and by which it is distinguished from all other institutions of the present day .
1 st . For instance : in the first step we take we are taught how , under the patriarchal dispensation , they worshipped God in a few simple rites of devotion , and we are taught to do unto all men as we would they should do unto us . The corporeal preparations which we have to submit to at our initiation , serve allegorically to remind the Brethren then present , that it is the man divested of all outward recommendations , of rank ,
state , and riches , which we accept , and that it is his moral worth alone which does or ought to open to him the door of the Masonic temple . 2 nd . In the second step , we either are or ought to be made acquainted with the elements of geometry , one of the noblest sciences , practically and morally , by which we may be taught many useful
lessons , and passed on to a view of the Mosaic dispensation shadowing forth a Church triumphant when the time should come . And now , as theocracy has ceased and regal government begun , we either are or ought to be given to understand in detail the erection of the temple , the middle chamber , being as Fellow Craft Masons not entitled to penetrate further . —See 1 Kings , vi . 8 .
3 rd . The third step or degree of a M . M . In this Degree we are taught to support with becoming dignity our new character , and so conduct ourselves that any instructions we may have to give to the Craft shall have its due weight by our own example . This Degree gives us a higher and more comprehensive view of the system by some display of the resurrection of the dead , which is a type of a
new dispensation established by that Sublime Being of whom the Jewish Shekinah was the glory and radiant appearance , and therefore it is , with manifest propriety , that the resurrection is shadowed forth in this Degree . Brethren , the scientific philosophy of Freemasonry forms a rational employment of the mind in acquiring
wisdom and experience resulting from human knowledge . But it is the theocratic or divine philosophy of the Order which must elevate the industrious Freemason above the things of this life , and prepare him for another an I better ; also must teach him to place his affections on things above , and instruct him so to pass through things temporal as finally not to lose the things eternal .