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Article AN OLD MASON'S ADVICE TO HIS NEPHEW. ← Page 3 of 6 →
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An Old Mason's Advice To His Nephew.
J , the question at issue considerabl y ^ when his adversary had proved beyond dispute that ancient M Gr . A . O . T . IX . meant Jesus Christ , by replying with all the tenacity of error ( for with such excited controversialists as deliver their opponents
to the mercies of the secular arm , by calling dp wn" storms of indignation " * on the devoted heads of all jwho presume to think differently from themselves- —what is the divinity of Christ to the establishment of an hypothesis ?) - — " What I said was , that Masoiiry does ixot teach that the Redeemer is the G . A . O . T . U . ; not that Masonry never did teach it . If " Sit Lux" can show me any such teaching since the meeting of
the Lodge of Reconciliation , which , I presume , is , in all Masonic matters , our present guide , I shall gladly receive the information , and be obliged to him for it ; but I protest against passing over the lectures as regulated by the Lodge pf Reconciliation , and of going back to Desagulier ' s , and the revival of 1717 ?'—FreemasoM M ^ ^ vol . ii ., p . 128 .
This new objectipn might also ha , ve been conclusively dealt with hy producing the following extract from the revised lectures promulgated by the Lodge of Reconciliation . " The Lord of Life will enable us to trample the king of terrors beneath our feet , and lift up our eyes to the bright Morning Star , whose rising brings peace and salvation to the faithful and obedient of the human race . " Now the question is , who can be here meant by the " Lord of Life" and the " Morning
Star , whose rising brings peace and salvation , " & c , hut the Sun of Righteousness—He who was the source of our existence , who gave his own life on the cross as a ransom for sin , and rose from the dead that we might attain life everlasting—even Jesus Christ , the Son of God . This exposition is endorsed by all the bishops of our church , and by Matthew Henry , Doddridge , Adam Clark , Stanley , Faber , and indeed all Christian writers .
But confining yourself to the letter of the above reply , you naturally ask me why our views of Masonry are to be limited to so brief a period as the last fifty years ? It is a fair question , my dear Timothy , for modern interpretations are decidedly no safe criterion of the truth
of Masonic doctrines ; and you are quite right in carrying your researches beyond that point , for Freemasonry is either an ancient institution or it is not . If it be , why are all our venerated landmarks thrown overboard at the dictation of the Socinian and the Jew ? If
otherwise , why is not the appellation of " Antient" formally rescinded from our Grand Lodge books , and the institution proinulgated under a new phasis avowedly disconnected with the principles and practice of religion ? Then the candidate would be under no misapprehension respecting its real object and tendency . But , as you justly observe , it is an unworthy fiction to assure him , at his initiation * that " the 7
Order contains nothing contrary to his religion , and afterwards to repudiate the assertion by prohibiting all reference to it in the Lodge . This constitutes your third stumbling block . * See Freemasons Magazine . 1858 , p . () 61 ,
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
An Old Mason's Advice To His Nephew.
J , the question at issue considerabl y ^ when his adversary had proved beyond dispute that ancient M Gr . A . O . T . IX . meant Jesus Christ , by replying with all the tenacity of error ( for with such excited controversialists as deliver their opponents
to the mercies of the secular arm , by calling dp wn" storms of indignation " * on the devoted heads of all jwho presume to think differently from themselves- —what is the divinity of Christ to the establishment of an hypothesis ?) - — " What I said was , that Masoiiry does ixot teach that the Redeemer is the G . A . O . T . U . ; not that Masonry never did teach it . If " Sit Lux" can show me any such teaching since the meeting of
the Lodge of Reconciliation , which , I presume , is , in all Masonic matters , our present guide , I shall gladly receive the information , and be obliged to him for it ; but I protest against passing over the lectures as regulated by the Lodge pf Reconciliation , and of going back to Desagulier ' s , and the revival of 1717 ?'—FreemasoM M ^ ^ vol . ii ., p . 128 .
This new objectipn might also ha , ve been conclusively dealt with hy producing the following extract from the revised lectures promulgated by the Lodge of Reconciliation . " The Lord of Life will enable us to trample the king of terrors beneath our feet , and lift up our eyes to the bright Morning Star , whose rising brings peace and salvation to the faithful and obedient of the human race . " Now the question is , who can be here meant by the " Lord of Life" and the " Morning
Star , whose rising brings peace and salvation , " & c , hut the Sun of Righteousness—He who was the source of our existence , who gave his own life on the cross as a ransom for sin , and rose from the dead that we might attain life everlasting—even Jesus Christ , the Son of God . This exposition is endorsed by all the bishops of our church , and by Matthew Henry , Doddridge , Adam Clark , Stanley , Faber , and indeed all Christian writers .
But confining yourself to the letter of the above reply , you naturally ask me why our views of Masonry are to be limited to so brief a period as the last fifty years ? It is a fair question , my dear Timothy , for modern interpretations are decidedly no safe criterion of the truth
of Masonic doctrines ; and you are quite right in carrying your researches beyond that point , for Freemasonry is either an ancient institution or it is not . If it be , why are all our venerated landmarks thrown overboard at the dictation of the Socinian and the Jew ? If
otherwise , why is not the appellation of " Antient" formally rescinded from our Grand Lodge books , and the institution proinulgated under a new phasis avowedly disconnected with the principles and practice of religion ? Then the candidate would be under no misapprehension respecting its real object and tendency . But , as you justly observe , it is an unworthy fiction to assure him , at his initiation * that " the 7
Order contains nothing contrary to his religion , and afterwards to repudiate the assertion by prohibiting all reference to it in the Lodge . This constitutes your third stumbling block . * See Freemasons Magazine . 1858 , p . () 61 ,