Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
The Grand Lodge Of The Three Globes, Berlin.
against all politics , as what never yet conduced to the welfare of the lodge , nor never will . This charge has boon always strictly enjoined and observed ; but especially ever since the reformation in Britain , or the dissent and secession of
these nations from the communion of Rome . " "This , " ' the Grand Lodge continues , " alludes directly to the religion mentioned ( Section I . ) in the Ancient Charges , AAdiere it is designated as ' catholic , ' : nid points to the church entanglements during the English Reformation . This , therefore , teaches us that the term ' catholic
religion' does not mean the Roman Catholic Church , but those doctrines only which all professors uf Christianity possess iu common . * * * It cainio : bo at all doubted that these laws AA'ere
made ior Christians only , as they were drawn up by Bro . Anderson , a clergyman of the Church of England , and approved by Bro . Desaguliers , a clergyman of the Reformed Church , and Deputy Grand Master , etc . " * * * " For these
reasons , " the mother Grand Lodge continues , " it is to be assumed that the initiation in Freemasonry Avas conditioned upon a profession of Christianity , according to the Constitution of 172-3 . The Masonic Institution , according to the Constitution ,
is to be made a society for the Avhole human family , resting upon a Christian basis—the supporter aud transplanter of original Christianity , free from all priestcraft . On the 15 th
November , 1723 , the following important resolution was adopted ( General Regulation XXXIX . ) : 'Every annual Grand Lodge has an inherent power and authority to make new regulations , or alter these , for the real benefit of this ancient Fraternity ;
provided always , that the old landmarks be carefull y preserved , etc' Tin ' s power was exercised by the Grand Lodge of England , in 173 S , Avhen the Constitution was amended . The section on religion , as amended , reads as follows : ' A Mason is
obliged , by his tenure , to obey the moral law ; and if he rightly understands the art , he Avill never be a stupid atheist nor irreli gious libertine . He , of all men , should best understand that God seefch
not as man seeth ; for man looketh at the outward appearance , but God looketh at the heart . A Mason , is , therefore , particularly bound never to act against I ho dictates of his conscience . Let a man ' s religion or mode of worship be what it may ,
he is not excluded from the Order , provided , he believe in the glorious Architect of Heaven and Earth , and practise the sacred duties of morality .
Masons unite with the virtuous of every persuasion in the firm and pleasing bond of fraternal love ; they are taught to view the errors of mankind with compassion , and to strive , by the purity of their own conduct , to demonstrate the superior
excellence of the faith they may possess . Thus Masonry is the centre of union between good men and true , and the happy means of conciliatingfriendship among those Avho must otherwise have remained at a perpetual distance . ' "
The Constitution of 1738 , Avas revised by its author , Anderson * This section , however , remained intact in the Constitution of the Grand Lodge of England in its several editions of 1815 , 1827 , 1841 , and 1855 .
The Grand Lodges of Prussia themselves seem to be fully aware that this forced construction placed by them upon that part of the Ancient Charges is Avith the intent of making them conform to the principles they have adopted . The
address delivered hy the Grand Master of the Grand Lodge Royal York , at Berlin , on St . John ' s Day , 1867 , which lies before us , expresses it very clearly . He says therein : Suffice it to state that the Grand Lodge has laboured faithfully and
effectively according to the doctrines transmitted to her by the English mother . If , in some respects she has travelled paths diverging from herif for instance , she has planted herself upon a Christian platform—it is not the result of
accident or arbitrariness , but it is just as indigenous to our country as the enlarged tendencies in England are to that country . In our fatherland the religious differences have never terminated in bloody persecutions or in splits of sectarianism ,
etc . " The last sentence certainly shoAvs a strange oversight on the part of the M . W . brother . Has he forgotten that it took thirty long , bloody years before the Catholic Church was forced to tolerate the Protestant Church ? It Avas not b y their
free will that religious liberty was allowed . The whole continent was strewn with slain ; and they only yielded the point Avhen they could fight no longer . Their hate still remained ; the sword was only sheathed for the time , to be drawn again
when opportunity offered . But the Grand Lodge of the Three Globes also asserts that the princi ple of Christian faith has been sanctioned , in its original form , by nearly all Grand Lodges of Europe and North America . We fail to discover that the principle of Christianity is at all alluded to in the last cited
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
The Grand Lodge Of The Three Globes, Berlin.
against all politics , as what never yet conduced to the welfare of the lodge , nor never will . This charge has boon always strictly enjoined and observed ; but especially ever since the reformation in Britain , or the dissent and secession of
these nations from the communion of Rome . " "This , " ' the Grand Lodge continues , " alludes directly to the religion mentioned ( Section I . ) in the Ancient Charges , AAdiere it is designated as ' catholic , ' : nid points to the church entanglements during the English Reformation . This , therefore , teaches us that the term ' catholic
religion' does not mean the Roman Catholic Church , but those doctrines only which all professors uf Christianity possess iu common . * * * It cainio : bo at all doubted that these laws AA'ere
made ior Christians only , as they were drawn up by Bro . Anderson , a clergyman of the Church of England , and approved by Bro . Desaguliers , a clergyman of the Reformed Church , and Deputy Grand Master , etc . " * * * " For these
reasons , " the mother Grand Lodge continues , " it is to be assumed that the initiation in Freemasonry Avas conditioned upon a profession of Christianity , according to the Constitution of 172-3 . The Masonic Institution , according to the Constitution ,
is to be made a society for the Avhole human family , resting upon a Christian basis—the supporter aud transplanter of original Christianity , free from all priestcraft . On the 15 th
November , 1723 , the following important resolution was adopted ( General Regulation XXXIX . ) : 'Every annual Grand Lodge has an inherent power and authority to make new regulations , or alter these , for the real benefit of this ancient Fraternity ;
provided always , that the old landmarks be carefull y preserved , etc' Tin ' s power was exercised by the Grand Lodge of England , in 173 S , Avhen the Constitution was amended . The section on religion , as amended , reads as follows : ' A Mason is
obliged , by his tenure , to obey the moral law ; and if he rightly understands the art , he Avill never be a stupid atheist nor irreli gious libertine . He , of all men , should best understand that God seefch
not as man seeth ; for man looketh at the outward appearance , but God looketh at the heart . A Mason , is , therefore , particularly bound never to act against I ho dictates of his conscience . Let a man ' s religion or mode of worship be what it may ,
he is not excluded from the Order , provided , he believe in the glorious Architect of Heaven and Earth , and practise the sacred duties of morality .
Masons unite with the virtuous of every persuasion in the firm and pleasing bond of fraternal love ; they are taught to view the errors of mankind with compassion , and to strive , by the purity of their own conduct , to demonstrate the superior
excellence of the faith they may possess . Thus Masonry is the centre of union between good men and true , and the happy means of conciliatingfriendship among those Avho must otherwise have remained at a perpetual distance . ' "
The Constitution of 1738 , Avas revised by its author , Anderson * This section , however , remained intact in the Constitution of the Grand Lodge of England in its several editions of 1815 , 1827 , 1841 , and 1855 .
The Grand Lodges of Prussia themselves seem to be fully aware that this forced construction placed by them upon that part of the Ancient Charges is Avith the intent of making them conform to the principles they have adopted . The
address delivered hy the Grand Master of the Grand Lodge Royal York , at Berlin , on St . John ' s Day , 1867 , which lies before us , expresses it very clearly . He says therein : Suffice it to state that the Grand Lodge has laboured faithfully and
effectively according to the doctrines transmitted to her by the English mother . If , in some respects she has travelled paths diverging from herif for instance , she has planted herself upon a Christian platform—it is not the result of
accident or arbitrariness , but it is just as indigenous to our country as the enlarged tendencies in England are to that country . In our fatherland the religious differences have never terminated in bloody persecutions or in splits of sectarianism ,
etc . " The last sentence certainly shoAvs a strange oversight on the part of the M . W . brother . Has he forgotten that it took thirty long , bloody years before the Catholic Church was forced to tolerate the Protestant Church ? It Avas not b y their
free will that religious liberty was allowed . The whole continent was strewn with slain ; and they only yielded the point Avhen they could fight no longer . Their hate still remained ; the sword was only sheathed for the time , to be drawn again
when opportunity offered . But the Grand Lodge of the Three Globes also asserts that the princi ple of Christian faith has been sanctioned , in its original form , by nearly all Grand Lodges of Europe and North America . We fail to discover that the principle of Christianity is at all alluded to in the last cited