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Article PRE-REQUISITES FOR MASONIC INITIATION. ← Page 2 of 4 →
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Pre-Requisites For Masonic Initiation.
motives , or ( as some have done ) that they will vote against the reception of all candidates proposed , because the W . M . or someone else has passed them over , in giving official collars , etc ., or any other such un-Masonic plea or reason is proclaimed , then the authorities can be called upon to perform their duty , and all such offenders can
be excluded , or suspended , or expelled , according to their deserts , and the sooner the better . " Three black balls , " or less , are intended to enable good brethren to vote against bad or unsuitable candidates , and prevent their admission , if they cannot otherwise secure their withdrawal ; but such a
regulation was never made to enable brethren of low , selfish , and bitter dispositions to gratify their spleen at the expense of the harmony of the Lodge and the discomfiture of worthy candidates for Freemasonry . [_/ . ] As to religious tests , it seems to me , the fewer in reason the
better . All candidates ought really to be of some religion or other _ but as Freemasonry is cosmopolitan , and whether they require , to be obligated on the Bible , the New Testament , the Koran , or any other "sacred book , " it is not for us to enquire beyond ; and if the Quaker affirmation is preferred , " well and good . " All candidates must believe
in a God , and I take it also must believe in future rewards and punishments , as well as " obey the moral law . " They may be Jews , Parsees , Christians , or belong to one of the many other religions under the sun ; but so long as they can conform to the ordinary preliminary tests , the members of all such are eligible for initiation into
Freemasonry , their religions being no bar to admission , if otherwise properly qualified . The first of the modern arrangement of the " Old Charges " in the " Book of Constitutions , " of A . D . 1723 , states— " ' tis now thouyht more expedient only to oblige them to that religion in which all men agree , leaving their particular opinions to themselves . "
Some Grand Lodges , however , are not content to accept of the principles of the Craft as they received them from the Grand Lodge of England , directly or indirectly from early last century , but introduce sectarian tests , and make the society a proselytising institution . They will have all candidates to be Christians in one case , or in
another , at least Jews , and exclude all others . Take , for instance , the resolution passed by the Grand Lodge of Nebraska , U . S . A ., June , 1857 , relative to the " Holy Scriptures , " or the Bible . "That in the sense of this Grand Lodge no man can become a Mason , unless he can avow a belief in the principles therein contained ; " othersas we know ,
, require their neophytes to be ' professing Christians at least ! Well , after all , the vagaries and fancies of some Grand Lodges are beyond my comprehension , and the manner in which they prostitute Free-
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Pre-Requisites For Masonic Initiation.
motives , or ( as some have done ) that they will vote against the reception of all candidates proposed , because the W . M . or someone else has passed them over , in giving official collars , etc ., or any other such un-Masonic plea or reason is proclaimed , then the authorities can be called upon to perform their duty , and all such offenders can
be excluded , or suspended , or expelled , according to their deserts , and the sooner the better . " Three black balls , " or less , are intended to enable good brethren to vote against bad or unsuitable candidates , and prevent their admission , if they cannot otherwise secure their withdrawal ; but such a
regulation was never made to enable brethren of low , selfish , and bitter dispositions to gratify their spleen at the expense of the harmony of the Lodge and the discomfiture of worthy candidates for Freemasonry . [_/ . ] As to religious tests , it seems to me , the fewer in reason the
better . All candidates ought really to be of some religion or other _ but as Freemasonry is cosmopolitan , and whether they require , to be obligated on the Bible , the New Testament , the Koran , or any other "sacred book , " it is not for us to enquire beyond ; and if the Quaker affirmation is preferred , " well and good . " All candidates must believe
in a God , and I take it also must believe in future rewards and punishments , as well as " obey the moral law . " They may be Jews , Parsees , Christians , or belong to one of the many other religions under the sun ; but so long as they can conform to the ordinary preliminary tests , the members of all such are eligible for initiation into
Freemasonry , their religions being no bar to admission , if otherwise properly qualified . The first of the modern arrangement of the " Old Charges " in the " Book of Constitutions , " of A . D . 1723 , states— " ' tis now thouyht more expedient only to oblige them to that religion in which all men agree , leaving their particular opinions to themselves . "
Some Grand Lodges , however , are not content to accept of the principles of the Craft as they received them from the Grand Lodge of England , directly or indirectly from early last century , but introduce sectarian tests , and make the society a proselytising institution . They will have all candidates to be Christians in one case , or in
another , at least Jews , and exclude all others . Take , for instance , the resolution passed by the Grand Lodge of Nebraska , U . S . A ., June , 1857 , relative to the " Holy Scriptures , " or the Bible . "That in the sense of this Grand Lodge no man can become a Mason , unless he can avow a belief in the principles therein contained ; " othersas we know ,
, require their neophytes to be ' professing Christians at least ! Well , after all , the vagaries and fancies of some Grand Lodges are beyond my comprehension , and the manner in which they prostitute Free-