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Article THE VISIBLE SYMBOLISM OF FREEMASONRY , ← Page 6 of 6
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The Visible Symbolism Of Freemasonry ,
there used to spread the cement which united the building in one common mass , so is it selected as the symbol of brotherly love , rthat cement which is to unite bur mystic association into one sacred and harmonious band of brothers . Here , then , we perceive the first , or , as I have already called it , the elementary form of our symbolism : the adaptation of the terms and implements and processes
of an operative art to a speculative science . The Temple is now completed . The stones hewed , squared , and numbered , in the quarries , by the Apprentices , having been properly adjusted by the Craftsmen , and secured in their appropriate places by the stronges ^ ^^ and purest cement , the Temple of King Solomon presented , in ^ ^^
finished condition , so noble an appearance of sublimity and grandeur as to well deserve to be selected , as it has been , as the type or symbol of that immortal temple of man , to which Christ significant ^ and symbolically Minded when three day si will build it up again /'
This idea of representing the interior and spiritual man by a material temple , is so apposite in all its parts , as to have occurred , on more than one occasion , to the founders of Christianity . Christ himself repeatedly alludes to it in other passages ; and the eloquent and figurative St . Paul beautifully extends the idea in one of his
Epistles to the Corinthians , in the following language : — " Know ye not that ye are the temple of Grod , and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you ? " And again , in a subsequent passage of the same " J _ I _ 1 ^ _ — _ l « . J- I- « ** „ __~ ^ -. _ .-1 ^ ,-. — - ^ —™ ^ . _ . « ... » ^ v , -- » -i--. _~»^ JL ] r * .-M * mnn - *> W ] l ?» « "k T " istlehe the idea in form hat
. ~ _ , Ep , propounds same a more positive -. — "W , know you not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost , which is in you , which you have of God , and ye are not your own ? " While Dr . Clarke , in commenting on this latter passage , makes the very allusions which have been the topic of discussion in the present very allusions which nave Deen the topic 01 discussion m me present
lecture . "As truly , " says he , " as the living God dwelt in the Mosaic Tabernacle , and in the Temple of Solomon , so truly does the Holy Ghost dwell in the souls of genuine Christians ; and as the Temple and all its utensils were holy , separated from all common and profane uses , and dedicated alone to the service of God , so the bodies of genuine Christians are holy , and should be employed in the service of God alone . " The idea , therefore , of making the
Temple the symbol of the body is not exclusively Masonic , but the mode of treating the symbolism , by a reference to the particular Temple of Solomon , and to the operative art engaged in its construction , is peculiar to Masonry ; it is this which isolates it from all other similar institutions having many things in common with the secret societies of antiquity , —in this Temple-symbolism it differs from them all . ( To le continued )
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
The Visible Symbolism Of Freemasonry ,
there used to spread the cement which united the building in one common mass , so is it selected as the symbol of brotherly love , rthat cement which is to unite bur mystic association into one sacred and harmonious band of brothers . Here , then , we perceive the first , or , as I have already called it , the elementary form of our symbolism : the adaptation of the terms and implements and processes
of an operative art to a speculative science . The Temple is now completed . The stones hewed , squared , and numbered , in the quarries , by the Apprentices , having been properly adjusted by the Craftsmen , and secured in their appropriate places by the stronges ^ ^^ and purest cement , the Temple of King Solomon presented , in ^ ^^
finished condition , so noble an appearance of sublimity and grandeur as to well deserve to be selected , as it has been , as the type or symbol of that immortal temple of man , to which Christ significant ^ and symbolically Minded when three day si will build it up again /'
This idea of representing the interior and spiritual man by a material temple , is so apposite in all its parts , as to have occurred , on more than one occasion , to the founders of Christianity . Christ himself repeatedly alludes to it in other passages ; and the eloquent and figurative St . Paul beautifully extends the idea in one of his
Epistles to the Corinthians , in the following language : — " Know ye not that ye are the temple of Grod , and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you ? " And again , in a subsequent passage of the same " J _ I _ 1 ^ _ — _ l « . J- I- « ** „ __~ ^ -. _ .-1 ^ ,-. — - ^ —™ ^ . _ . « ... » ^ v , -- » -i--. _~»^ JL ] r * .-M * mnn - *> W ] l ?» « "k T " istlehe the idea in form hat
. ~ _ , Ep , propounds same a more positive -. — "W , know you not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost , which is in you , which you have of God , and ye are not your own ? " While Dr . Clarke , in commenting on this latter passage , makes the very allusions which have been the topic of discussion in the present very allusions which nave Deen the topic 01 discussion m me present
lecture . "As truly , " says he , " as the living God dwelt in the Mosaic Tabernacle , and in the Temple of Solomon , so truly does the Holy Ghost dwell in the souls of genuine Christians ; and as the Temple and all its utensils were holy , separated from all common and profane uses , and dedicated alone to the service of God , so the bodies of genuine Christians are holy , and should be employed in the service of God alone . " The idea , therefore , of making the
Temple the symbol of the body is not exclusively Masonic , but the mode of treating the symbolism , by a reference to the particular Temple of Solomon , and to the operative art engaged in its construction , is peculiar to Masonry ; it is this which isolates it from all other similar institutions having many things in common with the secret societies of antiquity , —in this Temple-symbolism it differs from them all . ( To le continued )