Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
On The Universality Of The Grand Masonic Triunity.
ON THE UNIVERSALITY OF THE GRAND MASONIC TSIUNITT ,
BY BEO . Or . E . GILLESPIE , A . m / A correspondent of the JShreemasons ^ Mag azin e , " P . M . and P . I ^ v . G . J . IX" having arraigned the soundness of the Masonic views expressed in my Article' *[ On the Camber 666 , " in the Sep tern ber number , I feel compelled to offer an elucidation on the point , trusting to the justice of the Editor to permit me to be heard in my vindication . I assert that the charge is utterly unfounded . That it should be proved so is important also to the interests of the ¦ ¦ ' ¦¦¦ ¦¦¦' ¦ ¦ '¦' ¦¦ ''¦¦•
- * - * < « - » : -r- - . ¦ ... . ¦•• . -1 '¦* ¦» . . « . » . . 1 l ? reemason £ Magazine ; since nothing could be more mj urious to the cause of Masonry than that its periodical organ should be justly reflected on as countenancing sectarian polemics , or dogmas tending to impair the universality of Masonic science . It is equally momentous to the cause of Masonry that it should be proved to our Jewish , and other Unitarian Brethren , that no attack on their tenets was even imagined , much less made , in the article in question . On
several grounds , therefore , it is desirable to obviate misconception m this matter ; and I trust to be able to demonstrate that , so far from taking a limited view calculated to confine the range of Masonic extension , I have in reality done the exact reverse , by enunciating such a generalization as reduces to Masonic simplicity and universality the principles held in common by all the religions of the world .
Having been made aware , at my initiation into Freemasonry , of the universality of that noble science , which embraces within its pale the Gentile and the Jew , I should deeply regret if any word of mine gave offence to the religious feelings of a Mason of any creed .
I therefore preface the explanation I am about to offer by emphatically disclaiming any intention to impugn the doctrines of our Brethren of the Jewish persuasion , or of any other class of Unitarians . This I have by no means done , either directly or by implication , in the article in question .
It is true that , on a superficial examination and unexplained , the article may have worn the appearance of a sectarian character ; but I shall proceed to show that the positions which I advanced relating to the triune nature of the Deity are , one and all , held by the Jew and by the Mahometan ; by the Unitarian Christian in common with the illustrious philosophers of ancient Greece ; and , in a word , by every one who reasons aright respecting the general attributes
of God . Ear indeed have I been from committing so grave and reprehensible an error as to lay down , in a Masonic publication , any dogma exclusively Christian respecting the physical embodiment , or human
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
On The Universality Of The Grand Masonic Triunity.
ON THE UNIVERSALITY OF THE GRAND MASONIC TSIUNITT ,
BY BEO . Or . E . GILLESPIE , A . m / A correspondent of the JShreemasons ^ Mag azin e , " P . M . and P . I ^ v . G . J . IX" having arraigned the soundness of the Masonic views expressed in my Article' *[ On the Camber 666 , " in the Sep tern ber number , I feel compelled to offer an elucidation on the point , trusting to the justice of the Editor to permit me to be heard in my vindication . I assert that the charge is utterly unfounded . That it should be proved so is important also to the interests of the ¦ ¦ ' ¦¦¦ ¦¦¦' ¦ ¦ '¦' ¦¦ ''¦¦•
- * - * < « - » : -r- - . ¦ ... . ¦•• . -1 '¦* ¦» . . « . » . . 1 l ? reemason £ Magazine ; since nothing could be more mj urious to the cause of Masonry than that its periodical organ should be justly reflected on as countenancing sectarian polemics , or dogmas tending to impair the universality of Masonic science . It is equally momentous to the cause of Masonry that it should be proved to our Jewish , and other Unitarian Brethren , that no attack on their tenets was even imagined , much less made , in the article in question . On
several grounds , therefore , it is desirable to obviate misconception m this matter ; and I trust to be able to demonstrate that , so far from taking a limited view calculated to confine the range of Masonic extension , I have in reality done the exact reverse , by enunciating such a generalization as reduces to Masonic simplicity and universality the principles held in common by all the religions of the world .
Having been made aware , at my initiation into Freemasonry , of the universality of that noble science , which embraces within its pale the Gentile and the Jew , I should deeply regret if any word of mine gave offence to the religious feelings of a Mason of any creed .
I therefore preface the explanation I am about to offer by emphatically disclaiming any intention to impugn the doctrines of our Brethren of the Jewish persuasion , or of any other class of Unitarians . This I have by no means done , either directly or by implication , in the article in question .
It is true that , on a superficial examination and unexplained , the article may have worn the appearance of a sectarian character ; but I shall proceed to show that the positions which I advanced relating to the triune nature of the Deity are , one and all , held by the Jew and by the Mahometan ; by the Unitarian Christian in common with the illustrious philosophers of ancient Greece ; and , in a word , by every one who reasons aright respecting the general attributes
of God . Ear indeed have I been from committing so grave and reprehensible an error as to lay down , in a Masonic publication , any dogma exclusively Christian respecting the physical embodiment , or human