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On The Christianity Of Freemasonry.
taught to feel its OAVH utter insignificance and impotence unless strengthened by the precepts of tho purest morality , _ accompanied at all times with most earnest supplications for that aid which can only be vouchsafed to ns from above .
Great alterations Avere made in the Eitual at the time of the Union , for , prior to that period , Masonry bore a much stronger Christian character than it does at present . There can be no doubt that the alterations Avere made with the best intentions ; but it appears to me very questionable whether the result has proved so beneficial to tbe true interests of our Order as the zealous snd learned
brethren Avho suggested those alterations most sincerely trusted they would become . It is true that Craft Masonry requires only in the candidates for initiation into its mysteries a belief in the existence of one Supreme and Divine Being ; but it is an error to suppose that it denies the doctrineof the Trinity . On the contrary , its tivo principal symbols , borroived
from the ancients , are emblematic of the triune essence of the Deity , ivhieh ivas a prominent part of every heathen creed . The tri ple tau is as old or older than Confucius , and is seen upon ancient Chinese incense burners and sacred vessels ; tho equilateral triangle of the Persians , Hindoos , and Egyptians ivas also symbolical of the Trinity , and it bore the same meaning amongst
the old Jeivish Eabbi , by Avhom it ivas considered emblematical of Jehovah , the ineffable name of God , spoken by the High Priest only , and by bim but once a year , and on the pronunciation of Avhich , the Cabalists said , all nature trembled .
In the Chaldean oracles of Zoroaster , the Almighty is described as God , Father , Spirit ; Monad , Duad , Triad ; containing all . things in tho one summit of his OAA ' hyparaiis ; he himself subsists niiolly beyond ; measuring and bounding all things ; and again , all things are governed in the bosom of this Triad . The No . 9 also is divine , receiving completion , from three Triads , and
preserving the summits of theology according to Chaldean philosophy . The Trinitarian principle , indeed , pervades throughout : thus , there are three principal officers , three great and throe lesser lights ; and a triangle ivas formerly formed by the three great lights in the centre of the lodge . There are three degrees , E . A . P ., F . C ., and M . M . There
are three steps in the first degree ; tho principal rounds in tho theological ladder are Faith , Hope , aud Charity ; and the motto of the Order is threefold , Brotherly Love , Relief , and Truth .
Before the union , all lodges were dedicated to St . John the Ei-angelist . The Bible upon the Master ' s pedestal Avas opened in tho Gospel according to St . John ; and tho candidates sivore to be true to God and his holy Church , the cope-stone of the Eoyal Arch also forming part of tho ceremonies in the Mark degree ; one of the oldest aud most authentic , and , therefore , consistently ignored
by Grand Lodge , is the same stone the builders rejected , but which has since become the bead of the corner . Modern Freemasons arc unfaithful even to their OAVU traditions , which contain proofs of Christian origin . If , as ive are taught to believe , the Crusaders were all Masons , they cannot have been JOAVS ; for the Holy War ivas not undertaken for the purpose of rebuilding the Temple of
Solomon , but for the recovery of the Holy City and Sepulchre of our Lord Jesus Christ , and no Christian Avarrior in those days would have touched a JCAV except with the point of the sword ; and if the travelling Masonic Lodges , who arc said to have built our cathedrals , had any real existence , they must at least have professed the outward tenets of Christianity . It has been observed
that the Masons , and particularly tbe Templars , always held their lodges or chapters in the crypts of cathedrals , ( Higgins ' s " Anaealipsis , " vol . i ., p . 718 . ) 'there is a tradition that , in the vault or crypt under the choir of York Cathedral , King Edwin held his infant lodge ( Hargrove ' s " History of York , " vol . ii , p . 477 ); and tho
On The Christianity Of Freemasonry.
earliest lodge in Canterbury was established under the patronage of the Archbishop . The Ritual is full of passages identical with the customs of Christian chivalry . The questions first propounded to the novice in the first degree are almost verbatim the same put to the candidate for the honour of Knighthood . He must be freeborn , 21 years of age , and if he entered
the Order from any temporal view , he ivas judged guilty of simony ; and to attemjit the honour of any lady or mistress in private or social life was tbe most capital crime against the oath of knighthood , ( Pallavi's " Memoir of Ancient Chivalry ; " ) and the Sovereign of the Order , during tbe investiture of __ Knig ht of Malta , deduced religious and moral truths from tho knightly
Arms , Cross , and Mantle , in the same manner as the Worshipful Master still draivs them from the working tools during the initiation of a Freemason ( Fuller ' s " Holy Warre , " Cambridge , 1659 ) . The ladder is taken from the Eose Croix and Kadosb degrees . Celsus says , "Stoop not down , for a precipice lies below on the earth , drawing through the ladder with
seven steps , beneath which is the Throne of dreadful Necessity ; " but it was originally derived from the Mythutic ladder of seven stejDS or landings ; upon each landing Avere gates of the seven then known metals , gold , silver , nickel , iron , brass , tin , aud lead , which , among the alchymists , also bore allusion to the seven planets , the Sun , MoonMarsMercuryJupiterVenusand Saturn . The
, , , , , point Avithin a circle is a Druidical symbol , but , like all obelisks , is emblematical of the Phalic worship . Our illustration in the M . M . degree is derived from Hermes Tristmegistus . God is a circle whose centre is everywhere , but whose circumference is noivhere to be found .
Soe also Zoroaster—¦ " The centre from which all lines , ivhieh Ai ay soever , are equal . " The darkening the lodge in the third degree is derived from the evening service of the Holy Week , which the Roman Catholic Church performs on Wednesday , Thursday , and Friday before Easter , called Teiiebrse ( " Ex Bibliotheca , " ) F . F . Min ., Angb , Londini , 8 vo ., 1760 . The
name is given to the service from the custom of extinguishing the candles during the course of it , till at last all is finished in total darkness , to teach us that the Jews were totally deprived of the light of faith Avhen they put our Saviour to death . BUG the fifteenth candle , that represents the light of tbe worldJesus Christ , is only hidden for a time under the
, altar , and afterwards brought out again still burning , to signify that though Christ , according to His humanity , died and ivas laid in the sepulchre , yet Ho was always alive , according to His divinity , by Avhich He raised His body again to life . Here , for tho present , I must conclude ; but it is difficult to discover Avhat we have gained by these innovations , except having laid ourselves open
to the strictures so unsparingly inflicted upon us by our opponents , and , by rendering the Christian faith subservient to the Jewish element , naturally alienated our Roman Catholic brethren . Still , the idea of establishing one universal bond of brotherhood throughout tho world ivas grand , and worthy of our noble and ancient society ; and , iu my next letter , I will endeavour to shoAv IIOAA- , at
tho time of the Union , Grand Lodge prepared a way by AA'hich the announcement of the DiA'ine scheme of man ' s redemption , and the inestimable benefits ive have obtained by our Saviour ' s death and passion , might be grafted upon the sonud moral basis laid doivn by the teaching of tho Craft . I remain , dear Sir and brother , Yours fraternally , ROSA CRUCIS .
Ar01001
AFFECTION , like spring flowers , breaks through the most frozen ground at last : and the heart Avhich seeks hut for another heart to make it happy , Avill never seek in vain .
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
On The Christianity Of Freemasonry.
taught to feel its OAVH utter insignificance and impotence unless strengthened by the precepts of tho purest morality , _ accompanied at all times with most earnest supplications for that aid which can only be vouchsafed to ns from above .
Great alterations Avere made in the Eitual at the time of the Union , for , prior to that period , Masonry bore a much stronger Christian character than it does at present . There can be no doubt that the alterations Avere made with the best intentions ; but it appears to me very questionable whether the result has proved so beneficial to tbe true interests of our Order as the zealous snd learned
brethren Avho suggested those alterations most sincerely trusted they would become . It is true that Craft Masonry requires only in the candidates for initiation into its mysteries a belief in the existence of one Supreme and Divine Being ; but it is an error to suppose that it denies the doctrineof the Trinity . On the contrary , its tivo principal symbols , borroived
from the ancients , are emblematic of the triune essence of the Deity , ivhieh ivas a prominent part of every heathen creed . The tri ple tau is as old or older than Confucius , and is seen upon ancient Chinese incense burners and sacred vessels ; tho equilateral triangle of the Persians , Hindoos , and Egyptians ivas also symbolical of the Trinity , and it bore the same meaning amongst
the old Jeivish Eabbi , by Avhom it ivas considered emblematical of Jehovah , the ineffable name of God , spoken by the High Priest only , and by bim but once a year , and on the pronunciation of Avhich , the Cabalists said , all nature trembled .
In the Chaldean oracles of Zoroaster , the Almighty is described as God , Father , Spirit ; Monad , Duad , Triad ; containing all . things in tho one summit of his OAA ' hyparaiis ; he himself subsists niiolly beyond ; measuring and bounding all things ; and again , all things are governed in the bosom of this Triad . The No . 9 also is divine , receiving completion , from three Triads , and
preserving the summits of theology according to Chaldean philosophy . The Trinitarian principle , indeed , pervades throughout : thus , there are three principal officers , three great and throe lesser lights ; and a triangle ivas formerly formed by the three great lights in the centre of the lodge . There are three degrees , E . A . P ., F . C ., and M . M . There
are three steps in the first degree ; tho principal rounds in tho theological ladder are Faith , Hope , aud Charity ; and the motto of the Order is threefold , Brotherly Love , Relief , and Truth .
Before the union , all lodges were dedicated to St . John the Ei-angelist . The Bible upon the Master ' s pedestal Avas opened in tho Gospel according to St . John ; and tho candidates sivore to be true to God and his holy Church , the cope-stone of the Eoyal Arch also forming part of tho ceremonies in the Mark degree ; one of the oldest aud most authentic , and , therefore , consistently ignored
by Grand Lodge , is the same stone the builders rejected , but which has since become the bead of the corner . Modern Freemasons arc unfaithful even to their OAVU traditions , which contain proofs of Christian origin . If , as ive are taught to believe , the Crusaders were all Masons , they cannot have been JOAVS ; for the Holy War ivas not undertaken for the purpose of rebuilding the Temple of
Solomon , but for the recovery of the Holy City and Sepulchre of our Lord Jesus Christ , and no Christian Avarrior in those days would have touched a JCAV except with the point of the sword ; and if the travelling Masonic Lodges , who arc said to have built our cathedrals , had any real existence , they must at least have professed the outward tenets of Christianity . It has been observed
that the Masons , and particularly tbe Templars , always held their lodges or chapters in the crypts of cathedrals , ( Higgins ' s " Anaealipsis , " vol . i ., p . 718 . ) 'there is a tradition that , in the vault or crypt under the choir of York Cathedral , King Edwin held his infant lodge ( Hargrove ' s " History of York , " vol . ii , p . 477 ); and tho
On The Christianity Of Freemasonry.
earliest lodge in Canterbury was established under the patronage of the Archbishop . The Ritual is full of passages identical with the customs of Christian chivalry . The questions first propounded to the novice in the first degree are almost verbatim the same put to the candidate for the honour of Knighthood . He must be freeborn , 21 years of age , and if he entered
the Order from any temporal view , he ivas judged guilty of simony ; and to attemjit the honour of any lady or mistress in private or social life was tbe most capital crime against the oath of knighthood , ( Pallavi's " Memoir of Ancient Chivalry ; " ) and the Sovereign of the Order , during tbe investiture of __ Knig ht of Malta , deduced religious and moral truths from tho knightly
Arms , Cross , and Mantle , in the same manner as the Worshipful Master still draivs them from the working tools during the initiation of a Freemason ( Fuller ' s " Holy Warre , " Cambridge , 1659 ) . The ladder is taken from the Eose Croix and Kadosb degrees . Celsus says , "Stoop not down , for a precipice lies below on the earth , drawing through the ladder with
seven steps , beneath which is the Throne of dreadful Necessity ; " but it was originally derived from the Mythutic ladder of seven stejDS or landings ; upon each landing Avere gates of the seven then known metals , gold , silver , nickel , iron , brass , tin , aud lead , which , among the alchymists , also bore allusion to the seven planets , the Sun , MoonMarsMercuryJupiterVenusand Saturn . The
, , , , , point Avithin a circle is a Druidical symbol , but , like all obelisks , is emblematical of the Phalic worship . Our illustration in the M . M . degree is derived from Hermes Tristmegistus . God is a circle whose centre is everywhere , but whose circumference is noivhere to be found .
Soe also Zoroaster—¦ " The centre from which all lines , ivhieh Ai ay soever , are equal . " The darkening the lodge in the third degree is derived from the evening service of the Holy Week , which the Roman Catholic Church performs on Wednesday , Thursday , and Friday before Easter , called Teiiebrse ( " Ex Bibliotheca , " ) F . F . Min ., Angb , Londini , 8 vo ., 1760 . The
name is given to the service from the custom of extinguishing the candles during the course of it , till at last all is finished in total darkness , to teach us that the Jews were totally deprived of the light of faith Avhen they put our Saviour to death . BUG the fifteenth candle , that represents the light of tbe worldJesus Christ , is only hidden for a time under the
, altar , and afterwards brought out again still burning , to signify that though Christ , according to His humanity , died and ivas laid in the sepulchre , yet Ho was always alive , according to His divinity , by Avhich He raised His body again to life . Here , for tho present , I must conclude ; but it is difficult to discover Avhat we have gained by these innovations , except having laid ourselves open
to the strictures so unsparingly inflicted upon us by our opponents , and , by rendering the Christian faith subservient to the Jewish element , naturally alienated our Roman Catholic brethren . Still , the idea of establishing one universal bond of brotherhood throughout tho world ivas grand , and worthy of our noble and ancient society ; and , iu my next letter , I will endeavour to shoAv IIOAA- , at
tho time of the Union , Grand Lodge prepared a way by AA'hich the announcement of the DiA'ine scheme of man ' s redemption , and the inestimable benefits ive have obtained by our Saviour ' s death and passion , might be grafted upon the sonud moral basis laid doivn by the teaching of tho Craft . I remain , dear Sir and brother , Yours fraternally , ROSA CRUCIS .
Ar01001
AFFECTION , like spring flowers , breaks through the most frozen ground at last : and the heart Avhich seeks hut for another heart to make it happy , Avill never seek in vain .