Contents
The President’s Corner
What Is GEOMETRY
Something To Think About
A Place For Women in Masonry
Freemasonry and the Churches
Masonry In The Space Age
Where Are We Now
THE NAME Philalethes
Vietnam Veterans
The Computer Corner
An Epistle To Masonry
Freemasonry’s Relationship
To Religion
Brigadier-General Hugh
Mercer
A Report From The Church
Of England
Jerry Marsengill, FPS Editor
401 Masonic Temple, 1011 Locust St.
Des Moines, IA 50309 (515) 244-2540
OFFICERS
John R. Nocas, FPS, President
P O. Box 2366
Inglewood, CA 9030500 (213) 678-2594
Jerry Marsengill, FPS, First Vice President
401 Masonic Temple, 1011 Locust St.
Des Moines, IA 50309 (515) 244-2540
John Mauk Hilliard, FPS, 2nd Vice President
Lehman College
Bronx , New York 10468 (212) 960-8363
Allen E. Roberts, FPS, Executive Secretary
Drawer 70, 110 Quince Ave.
Highland Springs, VA 23075 (804) 737-4498
Henry G. Law, FPS, Treasurer
2608 E. Riding Dr.
Wilmington, DE 19808 (302) 737-9083
LIVING PAST PRESIDENTS
Philalethes Society
Lee E. Wells
Judge Robert H. Gollmar, FPS
William R. Denslow, FPS
Robert V. Osborne, FPS
Eugene S Hopp, FPS
Dwight L Smith, FPS
Robert L Dillard Jr., FPS
Bruce H. Hunt, FPS
Allen E. Roberts, FPS
EXECUTIVE SECRETARY EMERITUS
Carl R. Griesen, FPS
S. Brent Morris, FPS
CONTENTS
The Presidents Corner
The Assembly, Feast and Workshop
What Is Geometry
Something To Think About
A Place For Women In Masonry
Freemasonry and the Churches
Masonry In The Space Age
Where Are We Now?
The Name Philalethes
Vietnam Veterans (Insight)
The Computer Corner
An Epistle To Masonry
Freemasonry's Relationship To Religion
Philalethes Magazine
Now On Microfiche
Brigadier-General Hugh Mercer
A Report From The Church Of England
Through Masonic Windows
On the Cover
A view of the United States Capitol Complex in Washington, D.C. site of the Assembly, Feast and Workshop for 1988.
Slide courtesy of the D.C. Chamber of Commerce Washington, D.C.
----o----
by John R. Nocas, FPS
"Starting A Philalethes Chapter Made Easy"
If you would like to form a Chapter of the Society in your area just make copies of the letter below and send it to your friends. This is the letter Brother William T. Canada sent to Masons in Cincinnati and the result is St. Mary's Chapter, U.D. We are looking forward to presenting Brother Canada his Chapter charter at our Annual Meeting in Washington on February 12, 1988. Here is the letter:
Brethren!
If you are fascinated by Freemasonry's intrigue, misty history, profound philosophy, and glorious heritage, you are hereby invited to join and enjoy a select group of Masons who share your same interests.
If you are interested in knowledge, study, and informing the Craft of your views in open discussion, then the Philalethes Society is tailor-made just for you.
If you are interested in the advancement of the Craft, in Masonic research, in reading new Masonic books and literature, and in old books, old thoughts, and old things that should not be forgotten - then (your local Philalethes Chapter name) is the one group you have been seeking.
The Philalethes Society is an international Masonic research society, founded October 1, 1928, by a group of Masonic students. It was designed for Freemasons desirous of seeking and spreading Masonic light. The sole purpose of this Research society is to act as a clearing house for Masonic knowledge. It exchanges ideas, researches problems confronting Freemasonry, and passes these along to the Masonic World.
Wouldn't you like to be a part of this exciting group? You can, very easily! Fill out the blank below and return it to us for further membership information.
To: (Your Local Philalethes Chapter)
___ Yes, I would like to belong to a local Chapter of the Philalethes Society.
___ Yes, I am interested in seeking and spreading Masonic Light!
___ Yes, I am interested in helping Freemasonry Survive
___ Yes, I would like to be a part of this exciting group!
_________________________________________________
Last Name, Middle, First
_________________________________________________
Lodge Affiliation
_________________________________________________
Address
_________________________________________________
Telephone Number
----o----
The Assembly, Feast and Workshop
(Your last opportunity for a discount)
*TANNSTAFL'S LAW will be the topic of the Lecture by John E. Jack Kelly, MPS, Immediate Past Grand Master of Texas. It will be presented during the Assembly, Feast and Workshop of The Philalethes Society at the Hotel Washington on Friday, February 12, 1988. The proceedings start at 6 p.m., sharp.
Tickets for the Assembly may be obtained from the Executive Secretary at $22.50, U.S., until February 5. Others may obtain tickets, while they last, in the lobby of the hotel at $25 until noon on the 12th. All who hold reserved tickets should register at the table in the lobby prior to noon on the 12th. Noon must be the deadline because of union regulations at the hotel. Master Masons do not have to be members of the Society to attend. Philalethes jewelry will be available for purchase at the registration table. Books will also be available.
Some of the leading Freemasons in the country will be present, many of them proposing the numerous toasts the assembly will enjoy. There will be good food, good beverages, good discussions, and above all good fellowship.
The workshop will begin about 7:30 p.m. and will be open to all Master Masons whether or not they attend the Assembly and Feast. This year's theme will follow that of the Lecturer - LEADERSHIP. The focal point will be based on The Search For Leadership, the bonus book of the Society.
Don't miss this great Masonic opportunity; reserve your ticket now.
* TANNSTAFL'S LAW = There Ain't No Such Thing As A Free Lunch!
The Assembly - The Hotel Washington
Friday, February 12, 1988
at 6 p.m., sharp
Good Fellowship-Toasts
The Feast - Good food-featuring steak
with all the trimmings
The Lecture - TANNSTAFL'S LAW by
John E. Jack Kelly, MPS,
Immediate Past Grand
Master of Masons in Texas
The Workshop - Leadership - What it is - What
it should be - Where to find it
What to do with it
Featuring The Search For Leadership
The Panel - Allen E. Roberts, FPS;
Wallace McLeod, FPS;
Jerry Manengill, FPS;
Royal C. Scofield, FPS
----o----
MEMBERSHIP
IS THE
LIFE'S BLOOD
OF ANY
ORGANIZATION
HAVE YOU
DONE YOUR
PART?
----o----
by Charles F. Minetti, MPS
Geometry is the measurement of lines, angles, surfaces and solids, but to get a precise definition of geometry is difficult.
Bell, in his "Development of Mathematics" says, "But what is geometry? According to Veblin 'geometry is what geometers do. If it be asked what geometers do, they do geometry'." This definition was not intended to be frivolous, it was meant to show that geometry is so much a part of what we do each day that it is almost impossible to isolate. Bell also defined geometry as "a product of a peculiar way of thinking."
Pascal says "The method of making no mistakes is sought by everyone. The logicians profess to show the way, but the geometers alone ever reach it, and aside from their science there is no genuine demonstration."
Plato says "Geometry is the knowledge of the eternally existant or pure knowledge." Also, "The highest object of knowledge is the essential nature of the good, from which everything that is good and right derive its value for us."
D'Alembert has said "We may look upon geometry as practical logic, for the truths which it studies, being the most simple and most clearly understood of all truths, are on this account the most susceptible of ready application in reasoning."
The word "Geometry" is of Greek origin and is composed of two words, Ge - which means earth, and Metron - meaning measurement; earth measurement, or surveying.
Josephus tell us that Cain was the author of measure and weights, and that he was the first to set boundries about lands. In discussing the reason why the ancients were able to develop the sciences, Josephus said, "God afforded them a longer time of life on account of their virtue and the good use they made of it in astronomical and geometrical discoveries, which would not have afforded the time of foretelling (the period of the stars) unless they had lived 600 years, for the Great Year is complete in that interval."
While Josephus shows geometry to be of Hebrew origin, and in the York Rite the seven liberal arts and sciences are said to be derived from the family of Lameck, the father of Noah, most historians believe that they are more in keeping with the speculative mind of the ancient Greeks and Egyptians than the moral intuitive insight of the Hebrews. Its development is usually traced through Egyptian, Babylonian and Greek endeavors.
It might be said that the study of geometry was a result of the annual flooding of the Nile. The ability to fortell this annual occurance was possessed by the Priest-Technicians, who, because of the cloudless skies of Egypt, were able to study the movement of the stars, and by the use of instruments called nilometers, were able to take measurements of the flow of the Nile. These depth measuring instruments were hidden from the lay people by subterranean channels running between the river and the temples, and so the Egyptians stood in awe of those men who could accurately predict the rise and fall of the sacred river.
With such abilities in their possession this priestly group became a class set apart, an intellectual class, relieved of the necessity of labor, free to expand their knowledge and to make advances in engineering and mathematics as well as in political and social organizations.
They invented the solar calendar which was adopted by the Romans and passed on to us. They taught the Egyptians how to build dams and irrigation canals. A decimal system was in existence in 3200 B.C. and a standard system of weights and measures was adopted. Thus they could accurately survey the land and reparcel it out after the floods had carried away the visible landmarks.
Herodotus is quoted as saying "They said also that their king divided the land among all Egyptians so as to give each one a quadrangle of equal size and to draw from each his revenues, by imposing a tax to be levied yearly. But everyone from whose part the river tore away anything, had to go to him and notify what had happened; he then sent overseers, who had to measure out how much the land had become smaller, in order that the owner might pay on what was left, in proportion to the entire tax imposed. In this way, it appears to me geometry originated, which passed thence to Hellas."
Before we pass on to Greece, however, there is one more observation to be made.
It has been assumed in many of the histories that the Egyptians arrived at their geometrical truths by guess work and trial and error methods, indeed, we have no definite record of any attempt at logical proofs of geometrical theorems before the time of Thales (560 B.C.). These same historians decry the feeble attempts of the Egyptians in the use of mathematics. They believe that the Egyptians made more use of man power than they did of brain power. Whatever they used, it must be said in all fairness to the Egyptians that in the Fourth Dynasty when the pyramid of Khufu was constructed, there was an average error of less than 1 in 15,000 of length and even less in angle.
In the Twelfth Dynasty the granite sarcophagus of Sunusert II was wrought with an average error in straightness and parallelism of under 7,000 of an inch, and an error of proportion between different parts of less than 300 of an inch.
From the Seventh Century B.C. the Greeks came into contact commercially and intellectually with the Egyptians. By 300 B.C. Euclid had written a text book on geometry which has been used almost until the present time. Most of the proof were borrowed from others but he presented them in a logical and orderly manner.
It seems strange that Freemasonry would place so much importance on a science from which we could derive a few material benefits. Freemasonry is a speculative science, and as such, is concerned with the spiritual rather than the material well being of man. It is inconsistant with what we have learned of our fraternity to believe that its name and geometry would be synonymous, or that geometry would be the basis upon which Freemasonry is erected, if all that was to be gained by its study was a few mercenary uses to which Cain applied it in the land of Nod, or to determine the amount of tax to be collected as was the case in Egypt.
It is to the Greeks that we are indebted for the change from an operative to a speculative geometry, and Plato seems to be the man most often singled out as the one responsible for the change in geometry.
It was Plato who said "Whatever we Greeks receive we improve and perfect."
Plato was closely associated with Socrates and in most of his writings he made Socrates the central figure. He traveled in many countries including Egypt where he is said to have become acquainted with the ancient mysteries, and in Italy where he came in contact with the schools of Pythagoras which taught the science of numbers.
Plato established his own academy of learning in Athens, and over its door he wrote "Let no one who is unacquainted with geometry enter here."
Lancelot Hogben, in his book "Mathematics for the Millions" states, "His (Plates) influence on education has spread a veil of mystery over mathematics and helped to preserve the queer freemasonry of Pythagorean brotherhoods, whose members were put to death for revealing mathematical secrets now printed in school books."
Hogben joined a list of historians who view with dismay the use that geometry was put to by the Greeks. The leisure class of Greek citizens played with geometry as we would play with cross word puzzles. It was, to a great extent, divorced from the art of calculation and used as an exercise of the mind.
Plato summed up the use of geometry in these words; "obviously, so much of it as bears on war like operations will concern us. For pitching a camp, occupying a position, closing up or deploying troops, and for the formations in battle or on the march, a knowledge of geometry will be an advantage.
But for such purposes a small amount of geometry and arithmetic will be enough. We have to ask whether a more advanced study will help towards a comprehension of the essential form of goodness.
Any study will have that tendency if it forces the soul to turn toward the region of that beautific reality, which it must by all means behold."
"The true purpose of the whole subject is knowledge - knowledge, moreover, of what eternally exists, not of anything that comes to be this or that at some time and ceases to be. It will tend to draw the soul towards truth and so direct upwards the philosophic intelligence which is now wrongly turned earthwards."
"It has incidental advantages, too, which are not to be despised. There are its uses in war, which were mentioned; and also we know that a training in geometry makes all the difference in preparing the mind for any kind of study."
This seems to be more in keeping with what we are taught in freemasonry. The quest for truth, the struggle for a glimpse of the Almighty, the hope of immortality. To achieve these goals the mind must be used to its fullest capacity. Our mental faculties must have a sumulus to awaken within us that power of reasoning which is necessary if we are to trace nature to her most concealed recesses.
That motto which Plato inscribed over the door to his academy could well be inscribed over the door to freemasonry, "Let no one who is unacquainted with geometry enter here." Indeed, that thought is implied in various places in our ritual. I am sure that you are well enough versed in our ritual that it becomes unnecessary to repeat those admonitions, however there is a custom in the English ritual which is varied enough to bear repeating. When the candidate is presented with his Fellowcraft apron (badge of a Fellowcraft) "The badge with which you have now been invested points out that, as a craftsman you are expected to make the liberal arts and sciences your future study, that you may the better be enabled to discharge your duties as a Masons and estimate the wonderful works of the Almighty."
This is enlarged upon in the charge "The study of the liberal arts, which tends so effectually to polish and adorn the mind, is earnestly recommended to your consideration, especially the science of geometry which is established as the basis of our art."
It seems evident that we are expected to make use of geometry for other purposes than to build bridges, construe tunnels, chart courses and probe the vast expanse of heaven. We as free and accepted Masons are taught to make use of it in a search for truth.
Absolute truth lies in perfection. There can be only one perfect thought or truth; it must lie within the Supreme Being, the source of all light and knowledge. Geometry, then, must ultimately lead us to a search for the Supreme Being.
Quite possibly this paper will be judged, not for what it does, but for what it does not do, for it certainty fails to show by what means or by what man or group of men geometry became so much a part of Freemasonry. All that can be shown is that geometry held a place of eminence in our first written records of this institution. The Halliwell or Regius manuscript is thought to have been transcribed in 1390 from an earlier copy. Among the several references in the manuscript pertaining to geometry is to be found this one which even at that early date points out the deeper meaning for the study of geometry. In its peculiar language it states "Geometry the seventh science it is that can separate falsehood from truth."
To be sure, knowing the origin would be advantageous, but the main advantage of geometry lies in its proper application. Half truths and subterfuge will not do. We can not do as the Egyptian priests did; keep part of the instruments hidden to form an illusion and expect to find truth, nor can we do as others have done, taken advantage of anothers ignorance to confound him.
There is a story about Diderot, the encyclopedist and materialist, a foremost figure in the intellectual awakening which immediately preceded the French Revolution. Diderot was staying at the Russian court, where his elegant flippery was entertaining the nobility.
The Tsarista, fearing that the faith of her retainers was at stake, commissioned Euler, the most distinguished mathematician of the time, to debate with Diderot in public. Diderot was informed that a mathematician had established a proof of the existence of God. He was summoned to court without being told the name of his opponent. Before the assembled court, Euler accosted him with the following pronouncement, which was uttered with due gravity " A plus Bn divided by n equals X, so God exists after all. What have you to say now?"
Like many of us, Diderot had stage fright when confronted with a sentence in size language, a language he neither knew or understood. He left the court abruptly and promptly returned to France.
If as Plato has said, we are to search for that which eternally exists, that type of argument would hardly suit our purpose. Sooner or later the truth would catch up with us. We would then worsen our position rather than better it. If, on the other hand, we make an honest mist take in our reasoning, and on hang it brought to our attention, we rectify that mistake, we will have made progress in our search for truth.
Shall we try our hand at geometric reasoning in this fashion and see where it will lead us?
Let us suppose that man was made in the image of God, and deduce from that that God and man were originally on a level or near level. Let us suppose, also, that man had two forces with which to deal; the force of good and the force of evil, and while he was free to choose between the two, he was to be held responsible for his actions. We shall assume the forces of good and evil to be of equal intensity. Taking this assumption, we must conclude that there are two Gods, one exerting good influences and the other exerting evil influences, or that there is only one God who controls both good and evil.
As we have stated, absolute perfection is to be found in a supreme bang. Furthermore, absolute perfection could not also contain imperfection. That which is completely good could contain no evil nor could that which is complete perfection conceive imperfection. It then follows that man, as created in the mind of the Supreme Being, could not be imperfect. Man could, however, still be in the process of creation, and as such would not yet have perfected all of his senses, such as that of choosing good over evil. Evil in this event would not be a power by itself, but would be considered as darkness is considered; darkness as such does not exist, it is merely the absence of light, so to, evil as such does not exist, it is the absence of good, or, it is the effect of man acting contrary to the laws of nature.
Evil is defined as being morally badwicked; prejudicial. It is not the lack of good in the Supreme Being that results in the catastrophies caused by nature that we sometimes term "The wrath of God," rather it is nature's method of shaping and refining our temporal world, just as we are taught to reshape our spiritual being by breaking off the rough and superflous parts, that our lives may be judged as "Good work - True work - Square work."
If our observations are correct we can conclude that there is one God, the author of all good, who created man, not as a perfect man, but as Steintmetz calls him, "The seven fold man with his four material parts and three spiritual parts," who, by aid of the seven liberal arts and sciences, will become the complete, or threefold man when these sciences have been mastered. Only then will he be the true man and not the image.
Bibliography
Mathematics for the Millions .................Lancelot Hogben
Mathematics Queen and Servent of Sciences ........................E.T. Bell
Development of Mathematics .........................E.T. Bell
History of Mathematics ..............David E. Smith
The World of Mathematics vol. I ...............James R. Newman
The Volume Library ............... A. R. Brubacher
The Republic of Plato ................Francis Cornford Translation
The Works of Josephus ................Whiston Translation
English Masonic Ritual Anvil of Civilization ........ Leonard Cottrell
Presented March 18, 1984, Redwood Council No. 165, Allied Masonic Degrees, Santa Rosa
----o----
by Tom Starkweather, MPS
(This is the second in a series. Three childhood friends who grew up together and became Master Masons together are having a reunion after 20 or more years. The conversation has turned to the declining membership of the Craft, likely reasons for it and possible solutions to reversing the trend.)
Bob: I think we've all agreed that it is a lot more difficult for Masonry to attract new members in urban America by individual example and act than it was 30 years ago or earlier when America was essentially a rural society and life was simply a much slower pace.
Dick: Have either of you noticed any changes in the atmosphere of the Blue Lodge or, for that matter, an appendant body's meeting environment when compared to when we were raised?
Jack: Well, of course there is the aspect we've already identified. Everyone knew everyone and would probably encounter them daily in the business world, church or community affairs and not just on lodge night years ago.
Bob: And the pace was much slower in the old days. After the meeting just about everyone hung around for coffee and conversation - and sometimes to play cards or dominoes. Now, except for one or two who may hang around to shoot the breeze, everyone is gone within minutes of the closing.
Dick: I was thinking along the lines of individual actions within the lodge room. You remember old "Greasy" Auberg, the blacksmith? He could drink most men under the table - and did. And he had a sailor's vocabulary. But he never drank on lodge night and never swore Inside the temple. And no one else did either. If someone slipped or was new they were quietly and politely informed that such words or actions weren't to occur inside the lodge.
Jack: I hear you. I remember once recently when I commented on the profanity being employed on the temple floor the master shrugged it off and said it was a reflection of our society.
Bob: I complained just the other day about the same thing and was informed that the younger members wouldn't play active roles in the work if we enforced such old-fashioned values. My answer was I would be embarrassed for my sons to think this language and these actions were typical of the fraternity I held in such high esteem and if someone didn't speak up then others would assume such behavior was considered acceptable.
Jack: When we lived in Denver our minister expressed an interest in becoming a Mason and I had to visit three Blue Lodges before I could find one that wouldn't embarrass me on this very count if he petitioned and was accepted. I encouraged him to take the rites after he was raised but shudder to think of his reaction if he is ever exposed to the hijinks of some of the appendant bodies that I've witnessed. So I suppose many of us aren't as enthusiastic as we once were and have never stopped to determine why.
Dick: I've heard all the arguments for excusing or ignoring the behavior of some Masons but I don't agree with the logic of such contentions. I suppose there are some who would call this a double standard or hypocritical attitude, however, I believe in the old days every entered apprentice was impressed - as indeed the three of us were - that the temple or lodge room if you will, was something special, a place of learning and fellowship, and just because various deportments were tolerated outside Masonry's hallowed halls did not mean they would be condoned within. Our code of conduct was for all brethren regardless of education, worldly goods or station in society and was enforced by the Masonic leadership.
Bob: Now you've introduced an entirely different issue. Our leadership. It appears to me in thinking back across the years, as well as in the reading I've done, that for centuries Masonic leadership was synonymous with community leadership. From George Washington to Harry Truman, Masons who were local, state and national leaders took an interest in and played an active role in Masonic affairs. But I believe you would have to admit that this has changed in the last quarter of a century. In many cases, our Masonic leaders aren't community leaders - in fact, they aren't leaders at all but followers who have reluctantly taken positions of leadership because everyone else pleaded being too busy. Moreover, in some cases our problems of conduct are the community leaders and everyone is afraid to say anything to them. But, I think, in most instances, the leaders of our society have not been moved to seek light in Masonry over the last 25 years.
Dick: You know that kind of thing is self-perpetuating. Back when everyone knew everyone and practically everything about everyone, if your role model - and I don't mean a George Washington or a Harry Truman but the banker, the teacher, the local congressman - was the Master or Past Master of the state then that became one of your goals. But today where the role model might be your company president living in another state and you don't have the slightest idea whether he is a Mason or not let alone a Past Master then being a Masonic leader certainly won't be one of your life's objectives.
Jack: If Masonry is lacking in leadership today it helps explain the reluctance to cooperate between Grand Lodges or to form a national body such as a Masonic Congress to marshall the latent strength of Freemasonry against its enemies and for the common good or to answer its critics - and, incidentally, those attacks aren't inspiring any of the profane to seek membership.
Bob: After watching one of those television evangelists slander Freemasonry with innuendo, half-truths and outright fabrications I was so darn mad I called one of our local Masonic leaders with the idea that we demand equal time on the station to rebut this fanatic's propaganda. Do you know what this leader said? He advised me to just ignore this fundamentalist anti-Masonic dribble - that no one paid any attention to it - that the average television viewer was only interested in food, sex and overtime. I was speechless.
Dick: Well, so far we have identified changes that have occurred in American society since World War II that make it difficult to inspire new membership by individual example and act. We've also found changes in the conduct of some brothers in some lodges which is not for the better and adversely affects the working atmosphere of the Craft. And it appears that our leadership leaves something to be desired. Where do we go from here?
Jack: Does anyone have any answers?
Bob: No - not yet anyway - but I'm becoming more convinced than ever as a result of our deliberations today that revising the ritual, the obligations, the memory work or the membership criteria is not the solution. That the Fraternity is worrying about the wrong problem.
Dick: If we came up with the answer would anyone pay attention to us?
Bob: It is something to think about."
[To Be Continued]
----o----
by Lou Baranello, MPS
The lion's share of the efforts in shaping and organizing our present-day Order Eastern Star is generally credited to Dr. Rob Morris, and rightly so, for he spearheaded the movement in this country during the middle of the 19th century, with the aid of other learned Masons of the time. Its roots, however, actually go back much further, to a time about 100 years earlier, when Masons of European countries had already begun similar quest. We learn from history that the forerunner of the Order of the Eastern Star as we know it today sprang up in France in the year 1760, being known there as Adoptive Masonry. Because of its female membership it sometimes was referred to as Female Masonry. It had for its purpose the establishment of means by which the wives, daughters, mothers, sisters and widows of Masons could be brought into closer ties with the Masonic Fraternity and hence the name Female Masonry. Its structure consisted of four degrees, three of them comparable in some respects to the three degrees of Blue Lodge Masonry. The principles of virtue, honor, fidelity, industry, charity and of fraternalism which were inculcated were similar to those of Freemasonry, and the rites of the Order were preeminently ancient and Biblical. The fourth degree had no corresponding degree in legitimate Masonry - it was simply the summit of the Rite of Adoption and was known as the degree of Perfect Mistress. The ceremonies of this degree, although somewhat connected, were meaningful and beautiful, based at least in part on the Mosaic dispensation at Sinai. The lecture or catechism contained many excellent lessons. Within this frame of activities then, the royalty, nobility and leaders of France and other countries had finally found the means in their search for a higher expression in life. There were three such Adoptive Lodges established in Paris from 1760 to 1777. Although adoptive Masonry was a secret Order of the highest character, and its ritual, rites and ceremonies were ornate and beautiful, the system did not appeal to the manners and habits of the American people, nor to the Masonic Fraternity of this country. The Rite of Adoption therefore was never introduced here, although many similarities could be detected in the rites which Dr. Rob Morns later introduced in America. He conceived of an imitation of it which became known as the American Adoptive Rite. Dr. Rob Morris was born near Boston, Mass. on August 31, 1818, and spent his early years in New England and New York. College training and other educational advantages enabled him to become a successful attorney, educator, lecturer and instructor in Masonry. He became a Master Mason in 1849 and was very early attracted to the idea that female relatives of Master Masons should enjoy the privileges and benefits from knowledge of and association with that great Fraternal Order. With these hopes and dreams, and with the aid of other Masons of similar persuasion, he set out to evolve an order for the participation of both men and women. In 1850 he rewrote and improved the then-existing ritual and ceremonies, the form of which has remained essentially unchanged, to this day. At that time some 15 chapters were in existence, operating under the name of American Adoptive Rite. It consisted of a ceremony of initiation, intended as a preliminary trial of the candidate, and of five degrees, known as
1. Jephthah's Daughter or Daughters degree
2. Ruth, or the widow's degree
3. Esther, or the wife's degree
4. Martha, or the sister's degree
5. Electa, or the Christian Martyr's degree
The purpose of this Adoptive Rite, which he proposed to call "Rosary of the Eastern Star", as expressed by Rob Morris, was similar to the original purpose of the Rite which had become so popular in France and throughout much of Europe. In 1855 he organized a Supreme Constellation with himself as the Most Enlightened Grand Luminary, headquartered in New York City, and many charters were issued in all parts of the country. In 1866, Dr. Morris became associated with Mr. Robert Macoy, also of New York City and when Dr. Morris departed for the Holy Land to conduct further religious studies, he transferred to Robert Macoy full authority which he had assumed in planning the Order of the Eastern Star. This assured continuation of the important work during his absence. Under the able direction of Mr. Macoy the Supreme Grand Chapter was organized, and appointed Deputies in all parts of the USA, Territories and Mexico. In 1867 Mr. Macoy compiled and published a Ritual, using Dr. Morris' Rosary as a guide. This was the beginning of the organization of Chapters of Order of the Eastern Star. In that year also was organized in Michigan a Grand Chapter known as the "Grand Lodge of Adoptive Rite" having 15 subordinate Chapters. Its chief officers were Worthy Grand President, a sister, and Worthy Grand Vice-President, a brother. It appears certain that much labor had been put forth in efforts to bring into being an American Adoptive Rite and that a number of prominent Masons had been engaged in these efforts, before Rob Morris carried to notable success his long and arduous labors for such an organization. Because of the fact that he prepared the general outline of the Ritual as finally completed, under the name of the "Eastern Star", and had much to do with the improvement of the Ritual adopted at the organization of General Grand Chapter of Order of the Eastern Star on November 15-16, 1876 at Indianapolis, Indiana, Rob Morris is generally credited with being the founder of the Eastern Star as well as contributing monumental efforts in creating the General Grand Chapter itself. Seven states were represented at the conclave, and two years later in 1878 six additional states were represented. This, after nearly a century of labors, more or less intermittently and sometimes helter-skelter with a variety of Rites and Rituals, all was combined under one common governing body, and all of the work standardized for use throughout the world. Needless to say the Order has grown tremendously, until today it holds a position in the world of equal importance and of equal character to the Masonic Order, from which it sprang. It is truly the world's foremost body that has led the way for a condition of human society where a woman is recognized in all activities, where she is loved, appreciated and known. Such are the accomplishments of a man of the caliber of Dr. Rob Morns, a man with a dream and a plan.
----o----
Each Member Get A New Member
----o----
Reality and Opportunity For The Future
by The Rev'd. William H. Stemper, Jr., MPS
Recent attacks on Freemasonry by the English Methodist Church and the Roman Catholic Church have caused Masonic leaders to take unprecedented steps to explain the religious significance of Freemasonry to its critics.
Accepted tradition in Masonic practice has been to ignore external attacks. The responses of certain Masonic authorities to these attacks represents a departure from such a tradition. It also has caused the development of a higher level of public relations/public affairs awareness within Masonic arches.
The purpose of this essay is to badly outline the nature and substance of recent attacks and to point to two examples of responses to critics: the Right Worshipful Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania and the Most Worshipful United Grand Lodge of England.
Further, the purpose of this essay is to examine what specific nature of Freemasonry elicits attacks from religious organizations and what - as a result - might be done to create a more cooperative relationship between Freemasonry and organized religion.
The Nature Of Attacks On Freemasonry:
Similar But Different
Recent attacks against Freemasonry are similar to previous attacks in Masonic history in many ways. Notable is the accusation that Freemasonry either supports political intrigue or that its system of organization makes such intrigue inevitable. Further, there has always been a suspicion on the part of religious bodies which have rigid approaches to doctrinal consistence that Masonic symbolism and obligations are inconsistent with discipleship to Jesus Christ as Risen and Reigning Lord. The Roman Catholic Church, The Lutheran Church (Missouri Synod) and the Free Methodist Church have more consistently in recent years emphasized the latter point.
Recent attacks are different also. There is little question that the P-2 Lodge scandal in Italy, with implications of an Argentinian connection, have informed religious criticism of Freemasonry. This was particularly the case with Roman Catholicism. The appearance of Stephen Knight's expose (1) and the association of a Masonic Order in Italy with the death of Pope John Paul I (2) accelerated reexamination of Roman Catholic attitudes toward Freemasonry. It is important to note that this fresh attack came after a pronounced "thaw" in Masonic/Roman Catholic affairs, and is different from previous Roman Catholic criticism of Freemasonry; e.g. Freemasonry's alleged anti-clericalism.
Both the pre-Vatican II attack on Freemasonry - recorded in a series of papal bulls (3) - and the "thaw" were aptly summarized by the late Harry Carr, former Master of the premier Lodge of Masonic research, Quatour Coronati No 2076 in London. Brother Carr stated that traditional Roman Catholic reservations were based upon misinformation and a possible confusion of moral-religious and political reasons. His own dialogue with the Roman Catholic primate of England at that time, Cardinal Archbishop John Heenan of Westminster, resulted in the following statement from the Holy See to the English and Welsh Roman Catholic bishops in July, 1974 (4):
The Sacred Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith...has ruled that Canon 2335 no longer automatically bars a Catholic from membership of (sic) masonic groups...And so a Catholic who joins the Freemasons is excommunicated only if the policy and actions of the Freemasons in his area are known to be hostile to the Church.
Brother Carr clearly believed at that time that an unfortunate and mistaken current of misinformation had been overcome, and that all was well between Roman Catholicism and the gentle Craft.
Sadly, such is not the case.
The most recent Roman Catholic attack on Freemasonry (5) has made it clear that the present attack is based upon a clear theological critique of Freemasonry's internal symbolism and teaching, not the apprehension that the Fraternity might engage in hostile anticlericalism. For those who have followed the matter over the years, there is no surprise that the consistent, if biased, lay Roman Catholic writer William J Whalen of Purdue University has finally had his "day in court." He has always maintained that Freemasonry is a religion of deistic naturalism, racist in character, and totally inconsistent with Roman Catholic and Christian belief. (6) After this most recent attack there is little chance that there will be another "thaw".
Why Theology?
The theological rather than the political criticism is important for two reasons: (1) it establishes a reason not to become a Freemason on the grounds of personal religious belief and practice, not on the policy and activities of Masonic organizations; (2) secondly, it makes more clear the grounds for a cross-denominational, even trans-Christian attack on Freemasonry. It is important to note that the recent attack of English Methodism is not cast in terms of political subterfuge, even though the Stephen Knight, P-2, London Police inquiry influences were surely felt. (7) The basic issue was that Freemasonry was "pure and simple" inconsistent with Wesleyan Christian belief.
If one keeps in mind that English Methodism has a long tradition of social liberalism dating from the Industrial Revolution and also notes that American "right-wing" fundamentalists (8) have also condemned Freemasonry; further, that the "fundamentalists" government of post-imperial Iran-Shi'ah Muslim suppressed the infant Grand Lodge of Iran; still further, that there is an initiative to investigate Freemasonry in the General Synod of the Church of England (9), a basic point becomes clear: Freemasonry is presently being subjected to a comprehensive attack by religious bodies which know no denominational or confessional boundaries. This is because the Renaissance and Enlightenment principles of universality and toleration upon which Freemasonry is built are also under attack.
What Can Or Should We Do?
Under such circumstances it is crucial to note that nothing programmatically which the range of Masonic bodies do; e.g., in charitable and social activities, will ameliorate the present climate of religious, theological criticism. The attacks are not on what Freemasonry does. They are rooted in what Freemasonry is perceived to be.
This insight is important in order to understand recent policy efforts on the part of established Masonic authority to respond to religious criticism notably the Right Worshipful Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania and the Most Worshipful United Grand Lodge of England, both estimable and influential powers in their own right.
In both cases these Grand Lodges have agreed to consider or to effect the alteration of Masonic penalties in the obligation. The Right Worshipful Grand Master of Masons in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania did so by fiat in the Fall of 1985. (10) The United Grand Lodge, with characteristic deliberation, has held a proposed demonstration which, if implemented, would move the ancient penalties to monitorial or lecture status. (11)
The first and most basic aspect of these changes is that they do not counter the essential criticism of the Craft. The penalties are simply one item on a very large inventory of problems with a believer being a Freemason. A careful reading of the rationale for such changes suggests in the case of England (and Wales) an honest willingness to "work with" honest critics to alter objectionable elements of the Masonic obligation of membership and a substantial interest in projecting a more favorable public image. (12) In the Pennsylvania instance there is a measure of "righteous indignation" that such criticism occurred in the first place as well as a direct action to counter the criticism by a quick action. In neither instance is it clear that what is at stake is a much more comprehensive objection to the whole Masonic system of ritual and symbolism. An effort to re-think the presentation of the ineffable name of Deity in the English Holy Royal Arch similarly attempts a piecemeal approach to ritual change. (13)
It must be stated that there is every reason to re-think both the presentation and substance of Masonic ritual. There are major scholarly inconsistencies in the presentation of Masonic ideas, mostly because the ritual is largely a product of 18th and 19th century pre-historical-critical biblical and historical understanding. Much of our awareness of what happened in the days Masonic ritual describes has, in other words, changed substantially in the past century.
But to make such changes for the sake of consistency will not answer major theological criticisms now being launched against Freemasonry. It is more accurate to thank of such changes as exercises in public rebuttons: albeit very important and timely public relations.
What Is At Stake?
What is the most basic ground for the religious attack on Freemasonry? In short, it is the perception that Freemasonry is a de facto system of salvation by works, with a wrong deistic and naturalistic accent. Even though Masons know that Freemasonry is not a religion in the formal sense even its most ardent enthusiasts e.g., Joseph Fort Newtons have tended to define its character in religious or spiritual terms. (14) The strong statements made by current Masonic authorities on this subject, that is that Freemasonry is not a religion, are not taken seriously by the Craft's prime theological critics. This perception is the most important issue facing Freemasonry in its association with organized religion.
The perception it should be admitted, is based upon a large measure of evidence. While Masonic authority and tradition is correct when it says that Freemasonry is not a religion, it tends to mean that the Craft is not a church, synagogue or temple. Further, that it is universal, non-sectarian, non-confessional and nondoctrinal.
Theological critics counter-claim that whether Freemasonry understands itself to be a religion or not it has several elements which are in fact religious. Among these are an implied doctrine of salvation by good works, non-Christian in character which claims in its rituals to have the power to resurrect the initiate to a new life, or awareness.
The difference in approach is explained by the important factor of Freemasonry's historical development in the 18th century period of the European and American Enlightenment. The rituals of the Fraternity bear the indelible imprint of the rationalist ideas held in that period by the intelligentsia of the time. These ideas were humanistic and deistic in origin and in some measure a reaction against a period of religious tyranny and religious warfare of the previous century, notably the Thirty Years War (1618-1648) The men who were attracted to Freemasonry - and the men who "created" it - were repulsed by the claim of opposing religions to ultimate truth and their willingness to impose that truth.
By contrast the principal strains of the Christian faith which are at present opposed to Freemasonry are products of the same period but were not significantly imprinted with the same ideas of toleration and universal brotherhood. In the case of Roman Catholicism there was a reaction against any form of freethinking because it was associated with the Protestant Reformation and was a threat to the imperial and monarchical system of Catholic Europe. In the instance of Lutheranism, the Masonic Enlightenment ethos was a decisive contradiction to Lutheran orthodoxy and literalism which succeeded in taking the place of the mindset of the earlier reformers, Luther and Melancthon - both of whom were deeply influenced by more tolerant ideas in the Renaissance. Modern fundamentalism - also characteristically closed-minded - and increasingly opposed to Freemasonry traces its ancestry to English and German independent sects who understood the Bible to be inerrant law and spiritual inspiration.
Similarly the Christian communions which have nothing negative or, more simply, nothing to say about Freemasonry have also tended to be the denominations most influenced by the rise of toleration and which have welcomed a measure of theological inquiry and breadth of belief. Among these have been Anglicans (Episcopalians), Congregationalists, U.S. Methodism, Disciple of Christ, Presbyterians and Unitarians.
The "Higher" Degrees
The matter has become more problematical because of the role of higher degrees in Freemasonry. These degrees, largely French in ancestry, contain sets of symbols which suggest an occult (15) or mystical transformation in the life of the initiate based upon ancient, pre-Christian teachings. Most notable is the Red Cross, or Rosicrucian motif, which pervades such degrees and orders as the Order of the Red Cross of Babylon, the Rose Croix, the Royal Order of Scotland, the Masonic Rosicrucians and the "Green Degree" of Knight Masonry. Such degrees are rich in the symbolism of Christianity but of a Christianity suffused by non-biblical, occult reference; e.g., Hermeticism.
The result is that both the deistic-rationalistic and occult-hermetical strata in Masonic rituals are perceived to constitute a tension in the mind of any Christian who takes a literal or narrow view of religious reference. In the Roman Catholic view, the matter is complicated because Freemasonry claims to be a moral tradition when the Church claims exclusive jurisdiction over all matters of faith, morality and doctrine. (16) The Masonic obligation, then, would be a direct attack on this claim because it is a moral obligation assumed outside of the Church's authority context.
With these differences in mind, it is remarkable that such differences have existed in relative peace for such a long time. Particularly, it is noteworthy that Masonic membership in fundamentalist communions; e.g., Southern Baptist, has been high.
The reason for this has been largely that most Masons have simply not taken the time to understand the climate of ideas out of which Freemasonry emerged. Many believe that because it talks about the Bible in certain degrees, it is consistent with biblical liberalism. Others simply have treated a Masonic affiliation as a social tie and have given little or no thought to its deeper meaning. Still others have simply thought that truth might be conclusive without being totally exclusive. That is, that both Freemasonry and fundamentalism might say truthful things in different ways. Sadly, this last category appears to be more rare in our time. The simple truth is that the two approaches are not the same. To be a Freemason means to have an expressed commitment to toleration and universality fundamentalism rejects.
Masonic "Ecclesiology" And "Eschatology"
For the sake of informed analysis, it is important to stress that Freemasonry has two elements which directly relate to religious structure: political and ethical. To understand the nature of the theological attack Freemasonry faces today, it is valuable to understand how these two elements relate to similar elements in Christianity and where they conflict.
Firstly, churches are commonly understood to have ecclesiologies: systems of government which reflect their basic understanding of God, man, and the relationship between the two. Churches that affirm a high sense of history - particularly those which stress a link to the apostolic period - are governed by bishops in "apostolic succession." Churches which stress individual responsibility and personal conversion tend to be more democratic. Churches which affirm a covenant or contractural relationship between God and man are consistorial or presbyterian. The politics of the denomination and, to some extent the teaching of the Church about politics, tends to be reflected in its ecclesiology
Similarly, Freemasonry has a non-religious version of ecclesiology. This means that its system of government is based upon its teachings and ritual. Masters, Wardens and Craftsmen exist in the relationship they do because of the Fraternity's method of moral instruction and its system of symbols and legends.
For Churches that have a highly tolerant approach to government, namely those with intellectual roots in the Reformation and the European Enlightenment, there is little conflict with Freemasonry. Anglicanism and Presbyterianism, particularly, share much in common with Masonic methods of organization precisely because they do not in effect treat all individuals as equal. There are grades, tiers and hierarchies for teaching and government in all three bodies.
For Churches that are more individually oriented, there is more tension with Freemasonry. Such Churches tend to disemphasize the role of the institution for the role of the person. Such Churches do not teach that any single individual has more inherent wisdom, knowledge or spiritual understanding than another individual. Indeed, the clergy in such churches tend to be less trained in historical and theological methods simply because religious inspiration is more important than learning or theological status. In theory, rank and station give way to common purpose and personal experience.
Freemasonry has far more in common with the established, hierarchical Churches than with the evangelical, individualistic bodies. It is no coincidence that the two most important early clergy members of the Fraternity were Presbyterian, James Anderson (1678-1759), and Anglican of French Hugenot background, Theophilus Desaguliers (1683-1744). The structure and ritual of the Craft reflect a clear commitment to grades, tiers and hierarchies for teaching and government. (18)
The second element of Freemasonry which relates to Churches is the ethical. Christian Churches, as opposed to sects and fringe groups, have a strong, characteristic commitment to the ethical. In the main, this commitment stems from the idea of the Kingdom of God: the reign of God which results from the incarnation, crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Most such bodies hold that Jesus will come again "to judge the quick and the dead," in the words of the Apostles Creed. Churches tend to differ on the subject of when He will come and how He will come. These differences generally fall into two differing categories:
1. That Jesus's reign will not come until the end of history.
2. That Jesus's reign is breaking into history now. (19) The first is characteristic of St. Paul's expression in Romans 13; the second is characteristic of apocalyptic literature; namely, the Book of the Revelation of St. John the Divine.
In addition to being different theologies, these two views imply different ways of looking at the world-differing ethics. In this sense, ethic is understood to mean what human beings do until Jesus returns.
With the exception of Roman Catholicism - which has a history of separate development removed from other Christian bodies - the present critics of Freemasonry tend to have the second approach to ethics. The Lutheran Church, Missouri Synod - which is historically in the Pauline, rather than the apocalyptic - Revelation tradition - has in effect moved from the former to the latter because of its literalistic and quasi-fundamentalist approach to the doctrine. (20)
In ethical, rather than religious terms, it is important to note that Freemasonry's ethic is more Pauline than apocalyptic. This means that it takes a view that the Kingdom of God is not physically imminent. "God" (a conventional interpretation of "The Lost Word") is approached "in due and ancient form" in successive steps, by certain degrees, in a careful search for that which was "Lost." This approach to ethics requires a graded system of ethical revelation wherein knowledge is not easily open to all persons. It is only open (1) to those who seek it; (2) to those who can comprehend the symbols of the search; and (3) to those who are admitted by established Masonic authority.
In Freemasonry, the object of the search for the lost word is two-fold: (1) It is the finding of the true, or real, word of Master Mason; and (2) It is the working of a path; i.e., the living of a life - or rectitude and probity on the way to the discovery of the true or real word, It is important to note that the two elements are not the same. The first is the discovery of what is commonly understood to be the ineffable name of God. The second is an interim, or provisional, "every day" ethic of life until that discovery is made. In technical, ethical terms, the Masonic ethic is life in the light of a future eventuality, which shapes and informs the present reality.
This provisional, even tentative, aspect of the Masonic ethic is directly connected to the mindset of those who created the present ritual. It would be very difficult to argue that they did not realize the disharmony and dangers implicit in connecting ethics directly with the individual's subjective understanding of God. They were rational men, seeking a harmonious common ground for good men of varying interpretations to live and work together in concord. The obligations of the Craft and higher degrees of Freemasonry, the "point within the Circle", and the search for "the Lost Word", each point to the unique ethical character of Masonic teaching.
Such teaching is at odds with individualistically oriented and fundamentalist teaching. Churches which take a highly literal new of Holy Scripture would find the Masonic approach to ethics objectionable because they understand Christian ethics to be the result of immediate experience of God at the personal level. Similarly, they would see the Gospels as ruling out any graduated series of steps toward ethical perfection. Such perfection would not be within the province of human aspiration.
It is important to understand that Freemasonry has existed with relative prosperity and popularity side-by-side with fundamentalism despite contradiction for specific reasons. Masonic students will remember that Churches were the primary opponents of the Craft during the Morgan period of anti-Masonry. (21) Such opposition was "free Church" in nature, not principally Roman Catholic or Lutheran
Why The Storm Now?
The reason why Freemasonry has existed so long in the United States and United Kingdom side by side with relative harmony is manifold. In brief, it is that the Order has assumed a role of non-controversial, social service and charitable work.
Further, there is probably some sense in which the ceremonial and ritual of Freemasonry appealed to free Churchmen and fundamentalists whose services of worship were very simple and nonliturgical. Further still, it has been important to the American Craft that the United States legal system provides for complete separation of Church and State. No religious body could attack or suppress Freemasonry except from the pulpit. The courts were not available. Still further it should be said that post Civil War Freemasonry became markedly social and patriotic in character. Any vestige of Federalist elitism or anticlericalism was suppressed. (22)
In the United Kingdom the patronage of the Craft by the Royal Family, its acceptance by the established Church and its quiet but effective charities headed off any extreme religious attack. It could be said that its non-Roman Catholic nature would have been an asset in certain English Establishment circles.
Today the situation has changed. Religious opponents to Freemasonry are more dear than ever that there exists conscientious theological reasons why Freemasonry and Christianity are incompatible from their point of new. They have made common cause across denominational boundaries linking Roman Catholic, Lutheran and fundamentalist criticisms. The recent English Methodist and Anglican initiatives are evidence that the concern is spreading.
Specific Responses
What could, or should, Freemasonry do? The present writer would make three suggestions:
1. Be prepared to recognize that honest differences do exist in the moral approach Freemasonry teaches its initiates. This would imply taking a stand on ancient Masonic principles which advocate personal moral transformation through initiation and universal brotherhood. This would mean a willingness to say that some Christians should probably not become Masons.
2. Coordinate and make consistent Masonic teaching and public image. One of the most damaging aspects of Masonic practice in the eyes of the Churches is that Freemasonry is racially discriminatory. (23) British Freemasonry has to a great extent overcome this problem as have other fraternal orders.
3. Coordinate Masonic interest in working constructively with the Churches. There is every reason for the many United States grand lodges, appendant bodies and non-Masonic, related organizations to communicate with key religious leaders in a positive way. Personal friendships have a way of overcoming the most stalwart prejudice.
In summary, it should be said that the present attack on Freemasonry by the Churches offers the Craft an opportunity to emerge stronger and better in the future. It will compel our leaders to re-think the contradictions between Masonic principle and practice where such exists. It will force Masonic leaders to take steps for more effective public relations. It will give Masons a chance to re-think for themselves the grounds for their own Masonic commitment. In such a context, our worst enemies may become our best friends.
Footnotes
1. Stephen Knight, The Brotherhood, Briarcliffe Manor, New York: Stein and Day, 1984.
2. David Yallop, In God’s Name, London: Jonathan Cape, 1984., p. 116-17, passim.
3. The date of the first Papal Bull against Freemasonry In Eminenti is April, 1738. Subsequent letters or Encyclicals, were promulgated in 1884, 1894, and 1902. Cf. Harry Carr, The Freemason at Work, Shepperton, Surrey, England: A. Lewis, (Masonic Publishers) Ltd., 1976, pp. 277-278.
4. Carr, p. 281
5. Origins. NC Documentary Service, June 27, 1985, Vol. 15, No. 6, pp. 83-92.
6. William J. Whalen, Handbook of Secret Organizations, Milwaukee, Wisconsin: Bruce Publishing Company, 1966, and Christianity and American Freemasonry, Milwaukee, Wisconsin Bruce Publishing Company, 1958.
7. Ministerial and Representative Sessions, The Methodist Conference, Birmingham, England, June 25-28, 1985, pps. 629-635. The Methodist Report reflects concerns that Freemasons might unduly influence the Methodist clergy appointment process. In a private interview with the author, November 25, 1985, The Reverend Harold S. Clarke, Methodist Minister, and Principal of the Luton Industrial College, Luton. England, stated that the primary impetus for the censure was of leftist political origin.
8. Your Turn: The John Ankerberg Show, "Freemasonry Series", 1985. The above is a published collection of responses to a television broadcast on Freemasonry, P.O. Box 8977, Chattanooga, Tennessee 57411. Also compare 7 Reasons Why Freemasonry is Not of God, published by Diasozo Trust, 68 Elm Road, Slade Green. Erith, Kent DAB 2NW, England.
9. The Church of England authorized an inquiry into the nature of Freemasonry's compatibility with Christianity in February, 1985. A negative report was rendered in July, 1987 after full cooperation with United Grand Lodge with Masonic members of the reporting committee. The report was adopted by the General Synod.
10. William A. Carpenter, "Pennsylvania Masonry Answers Its Critics", published address given at Stabler Arena, Lehigh University, Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, October 16, 1985. Brother Carpenter was Right Worshipful Grand Master of Masons in Pennsylvania at the time.
11. "Penalties: A Contributed Article Giving Some Useful Information", Bulletin of the London Grand Rank Association, 1985; "Suggestions for Changes to Give Effect to Transferring Penalty References". United Grand Lodge of England, November, 1985. Ritual Demonstration was held at Freemason's Hall in The Grand Temple, November 18, 1985.
12. Charles Laurence, "Duke of Kent to polish up image of "Freemasons", London: The Daily Telegraph, Monday, May 27, 1985, p. 11: Quenton Cowdry, "Duke to spruce up Masonic image:, London: The Sunday Telegraph, May 26, 1985, Front page.
13. The Reverend Canon Richard Tydeman, Unpublished address. Freemason's Hall, November 18, 1985, London, England.
14. The Roman Catholic objection is based upon the Church's exclusive claim to moral authority as indelibly related to religious authority, cf. Origins NC Documentary Service, work cited. See Joseph Fort Newton, "The Spirit of Masonry", The Builders: A Story and Study of Masonry, Cedar Rapids: The Torch Press, 1916, n.b., "Gentle, gracious, and wise, (Freemasonry's) mission is to form mankind into a great redemptive brotherhood..., p. 283, passim, emphasis added. See also Henry C. Clausen, Your Amazing Mystic Powers, Washington, D.C.: The Supreme Council, 33d, A.A.S.R., 1985. Brother Clausen understands Freemasonry to be an unbroken spiritual link to the Greek, Hellenistic mystery religions and borrows from the writings of Manley P. Hall who wrote the introduction to this work.
15. The modern occult tradition is summarized in Geoffrey Ahern's Sun at Midnight. The Rudolf Steiner Movement and the Western Esoteric Tradition, Wellingborough, Northamptonshire, England: The Aquarian Press, 1984; among Renaissance scholars. Frances A. Yates, has suggested most clearly and persuasively Freemasonry's ties with Rosicrucianism, Boulder: Shambhala Press, 1978. The Rosicrucian Enlightenment, "Rosicrucianism and Freemasonry", pp. 206 ff. See also A.C.F. Jackson, "Rosicrucianism and Its Effect on Craft Masonry", AQC, work cited, p. 115-135. Freemasonry is an accepted topic of research by the Hermetic Academy of America, which is linked with the American Academy of Religion.
16. Origins: NC Documentary Senice, work cited.
17. It is important to note that a high emphasis upon subjective, individualistic authority in religion, vis-a-vis a concept of universal or collective authority, is related to organized religion's response to the emergence of relativism in scientific and historical inquiry. See H. Richard Niebuhr, The Meaning of Revelations, New York: The MacMillan 1960, pp. 5ff. n.b., "No other influence has affected twentieth century thought more deeply than the discovery of spatial and temporal relativity," p.5. H.R. Niebuhr is recognized as one of the pre-eminent United States theologians of the present era.
18. The relationship of the Church of England's structure to that of Freemasonry has been pursued in the researches of C.W. Dyer, Member and Treasurer, Quatuor Coronati Lodge No. 2076, London, England. See also The Reverend N. Barker Cryer, "The De-Christianizing of the Craft," An Quatuor Coronati, Vol. 97, 1984, pps. 34-60, and by the same author, an unpublished paper, "Seven Reasons why Freemasonry is agreeable to Men who believe in God." Brother Barker-Cryer is convinced that the basic Christian elements in Freemasonry's structure were not jettisoned early in the history of the Grand Lodge.
19. In technical theological terms these distinctions are respectively termed (1) future eschatology: and (2) present eschatology. Eschatology is the study of the religious doctrine of "last things."
20. The Lutheran position on Freemasonry is given in J.W. Acker, Strange Altars, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1959, pp. 14-48. This is the view of the Lutheran Church, Missouri Synod.
21. See William Preston Vaughn, The Anti Masonic Party in the United States, 1826-1843, Lexington, Kentucky: The University Press of Kentucky, 1983, p. 16 ff.
22. Cf. Lynn Dumenii, Freemasonry and American Culture, "Brotherhood and Respectability," Princeton New Jersey: The Princeton University Press, 1984, pps. 72, possim.
23. This is the most persistent social criticism of Freemasonry by the Roman Catholic writer, William J. Whalen, works cited.
----o----
Editor’s Note
When you send material for publication enclose a stamped, self-addressed envelope if you want it returned. If I don't send you a rejection notice you may be assured that your article will, eventually, be published.
----o----
by Frank MacHovec, MPS
This is the year of the Constitution, its 200th birthday, a time to remember the founding fathers of this nation, their hopes and dreams for us 200 years ago, and reflect on what the Constitution means to us today. I want to do something similar but with the founding fathers of Freemasonry, the authors of the ritual we use today, and to reflect on their hopes and dreams for us.
Masonic historians agree that the ritual as we know and use it today was standardized after 1717 AD in England. That was 50 years before the Constitution. Like the Constitution, Masonic ritual is as timely today as it was then, 270 years ago.
As great as the Constitution is - and it is truly great - it applies only to the United States, a nation that didn't exist in 1717. Masonic ritual is worldwide. That makes its continual existence for 270 years more impressive. It has survived persecutions by religions and in wars and that is even more impressive.
Reviewing what was happening in the world in 1717 can help us appreciate that outstanding achievement. The Salem witch trials were in 1692, 25 years before. The first slave ships arrived in what is now Louisiana in 1716. The city of New Orleans was founded in 1718, two years later. By 1720 the combined total population of Boston, Philadelphia, New York and Charleston was only 32,500. In 1717 most people believed the earth stood still and the sun moved around it even though Galileo and Copernicus disproved that misconception centuries before. The world was in great need of light in those years.
In 1717 travel was on foot, by horse or sailing ship. Benjamin Franklin was but ten years old. George Washington wasn't born yet. The steam engine came in 1769, the internal combustion engine much later in 1860. It would be 150 years before Alexander Graham Bell invented the telephone or Samuel F.B. Morse sent code over wire and 200 years before Marconi demonstrated radio transmission.
Today we live in what is called the Space Age. We have instant communication by satellite TV and short-wave radio. We drive air conditioned cars and fly 600 miles an hour in jet airliners 30,000 feet above the earth. Neil Armstrong, a brother Mason, walked on the moon. We are actively exploring outer space. Those Brother Masons in 1717 rode horses and read by candlelight about the New World across the ocean. Yet, amazingly, the work they did fits perfectly into the Space Age, as timely as tomorrow's newspaper. Let me give you just a few examples.
They prayed to the Supreme Architect as we do tonight. The prayers of most religions are earthbound. The Lord's Prayer, for example, reads "blessed on earth as it is in Heaven." As we explore and colonize outer space, prayers like that will have to be adapted somehow to make them relevant to space exploration. Masonic ritual and practices are relevant right now without any change at all.
In the South, there is the world terrestrial and world celestial, symbols of our own planet and our life here, but also the heavens and the challenges out there, among the stars and planets, other worlds. Masonry is ready for that challenge - through the symbols placed in our hands 270 years ago and from centuries before.
The idea of light, from the East, from the sun or from any source whether it be scripture, words of wisdom or knowledge is and has been a part of our work though very rarely practiced in today's governments, religions and philosophies. The light of Masonry shines as clearly and brightly as it did in 1717 and ages past in operative Masonry.
And what is even more amazing, those remarkable English Brother Masons drew their ideas from ancient writings and teachings crossing over language and cultural differences. The ritual they perfected and handed down to us joins us to the greatest ideas and the highest ideals in history, international and universal, independent of national or sectarian differences.
The square, compass, straight edge and level are instruments of navigation as much as for temple building in ancient times. Today no ship sails the open sea, no airliner leaves the ground, no space craft leaves the earth without them. They are universal instruments for navigation, symbols of exploration of outer and inner space, operative and speculative.
Sir James Jeans, the British astronomer, was asked how many planets there are in the universe that could sustain life as we know it, where there could be other people like us. His answer: there are as many planets like that as grains of sand on all the beaches of the world.
If there is life on other planets - which seems likely - their religions and philosophies probably differ from ours. What do we have in common with them? How can we communicate with them? One way is without the spoken word, with an open hand outstretched in a gesture of peace and friendship. Another way is with any of the universal symbols of Masonry we have with us today, exactly as they were in England in 171 7, as they were in the building of the great cathedrals of Europe centuries before and ancient temples thousands of years before that.
Some say Freemasonry is dying. Its ideas have never been more alive. Some say Masonry has not kept pace with the increased speed and complexity of modem times. Masonry is still ahead of its time. Masonic teachings age well, they travel well, without major change, over time and space, across states and nations, anywhere in the universe without losing meaning.
Brother Benjamin Franklin wrote that it was his hope the day would come when a person could go anywhere in the world and say: "This is my country." In this 200th birthday of the Constitution we reflect on the past for its lessons for us here in the present and for guidance for the future. In this year, as in ages past, Masonry stands tall, deeply rooted in its rich past, vibrantly alive in the here and now, to help us travel life's road here on earth and also out into the farthest reaches of this vast and wondrous universe. For both those missions Freemasonry, as it has always, helps us feel at home, secure in its teachings, guided by its light, warmed by its brotherhood, and all these under the watchful eve of that same Supreme Architect who was with that small group of English brother Masons in 1717, with those who framed the U.S. Constitution in 1787, with operative Masons building and later rebuilding the Temple of Solomon thousands of years before.
Se mote it be!
----o----
by Frank A. Standring, MPS
In selecting a title for this paper, perhaps I could have made it a statement of fact by choosing "Where We Are Now" instead of making it interrogative. However, having read and reread many times a booklet entitled "Whither Are We Travelling?", by Dwight L. Smith, PGM and Grand Secretary of the Grand Lodge of Indiana and finding most of the problems pointed out in the early 1960's are indeed still with us, the question I ask seems very appropriate.
To arrive at the conclusions herein, I spoke with many past masters, masters and officers as well as members of many lodges, particularly those who had only been master masons for a short time. Their frankness in answering my questions has been invaluable in producing this paper, as has been the assistance of my fellow members of Lux Quaro Chapter of the Philalethes Society.
I believe we all know that two of the greatest problems our lodges are faced with today are loss of members and lack of attendance. How did this situation come about? The answer to that question is simple, by our own indifference! Can we change or reverse this trend? Yes! But first, we must find and examine the cause before a cure can be effected. In my opinion, loss of membership and nonattendance can be considered as one subject, as they both stem from the same source. Perhaps the following quotation from "Whither Are We Travelling?" may best illustrate the point I am driving at.
"When men are interested in the work of an organization, they will be on hand to participate in its program. When there is nothing that interests them, they will not be there no matter how much we nag. Hence, if master masons are not attending meetings of their lodges, one of two things may be wrong: First, There may be nothing of interest to them, and Second Perhaps, they should not have been dented to membership in the first place."
M. Wor. Bro. Dwight L. Smith further states "Make no mistake about it; intelligent men are not going to spend their evenings hearing the minutes read and the bills allowed, or watching other men exemplify poorly the same ritualistic work they have seen a score of times. Silly little quiz programs will not attract them, nor will lecturettes by a man who does not know what he is talking about."
Let me suggest to you as forcibly as I can, that unless Freemasonry presents what it has to offer in a challenging manner, intelligent men will not be on the sidelines to witness and participate. Let me portray to you some of the shortcomings we must face up to.
Poor quality of ritual performance
Many comments have been made both verbally and in writing with respect of our "beautiful ritual." Our ritual is indeed beautiful, but I can truthfully say that the way I have seen it performed in many of our lodges is anything but beautiful. Put yourself in the place of a candidate for initiation receiving the first degree in which, and I quote from a reprint published in the "Architect" by the Canadian Association of A.M.D. Council: - "He should go into the lodgeroom with a sense of reverence for the experiences he is about to have and a feeling of spiritual adventure, a pleasurable anticipation of coming into contact with something ennobling and inspiring."
But what in actuality does happen? Instead of being prepared by every mason he meets, not to be afraid of anything, mirth provoking, vulgar or humiliating, he is subjected to nonsensical innuendos regarding his coming initiation. Given these circumstances, is it any wonder that the candidate approaches what should be for him an enlightening, uplifting experience, in a highly apprehensive frame of mind? Entering the lodgeroom, he is then towed around by his "friend and guide" who, in many cast does not have a clue insofar as his duties as junior deacon are concerned. He is then subjected to a ritual, very often performed by lodge officers who are stumbling and being prompted continually through their work and with very little comprehension of the meaning of it.
He then receives instruction from a coaching committee, in most cases comprised of junior lodge officers with little more knowledge than himself, proves his proficiency in each of the precedent degrees by rote and in most cases within three to six months is considered to be a master mason.
Masonic education
You will recall, in the first degree, the candidate was cautioned "Without neglecting the ordinary duties of your station to consider yourself called on to make a daily advancement in masonic knowledge." Taking this advice literally, how then is he expected to comply with such a directive? True, he is now a master mason, but nothing further is done insofar as making him acquainted with the knowledge he is supposed to have. In most cases he sits on the sidelines totally ignored and after a time ceases to attend or drops out entirely. It should be obvious from the aforegoing comments our new master mason receives little or no knowledge of the organization and its aims, of which he is now a member.
Selecting and training lodge officers
The grand master of the Grand Lodge of Louisiana in the year 1965, made the following statement. "It has been said that organizations produce in proportion to the ability and effectiveness of their leaders. Certainly, this is true of our masonic lodges. If during the normal course of at least eight years, culminating in two years that a brother spends as a warden, he does not avail himself of every opportunity to prepare himself to be worshipful master, then he should not have the privilege and responsibility of being worshipful master."
Let us take a good look at the implications of that statement. In the masonic order, whether we realize it or not, we are engaged in big business. For instance, in the Province of Ontario, we have a major corporation, the Grand Lodge, presided over by the Grand Master, who is assisted by Grand Lodge officers - the Deputy Grand Master, forty three District Deputy Grand Masters, Grand Wardens, Grand Registrar, Grand Secretary, Grand Treasurer, twenty-eight Board of General Purpose members and some sixty to seventy appointed officers. The corporation has some 650 constituent bodies with approximately 97,000 workers, if we choose that term, grouped into forty three divisions or districts each presided over by the District Deputy Grand Master. There are few business organizations in Ontario, in fact in all Canada, with as many subsidiaries and employees.
Today every big business has leaders and every big business endeavors to get qualified, competent and progressive leaders, even to the extent of setting up training schools and extension courses. Our officers should be our leaders and we expect them to be endowed with initiative, enthusiasm, ingenuity, good judgement, alertness, co-operation, memory and study. Probably no other organization, business or otherwise, has so long an apprentice period for its officers and yet does as little in preparing them.
Cliques
The word is defined as "a small exclusive set of associates or a noisy gang." Both terms are, I think, amply descriptive. Unfortunately, most lodges have one and the more unfortunate may have more. These small groups are often the "power behind the throne" so to speak and many worshipful masters do not dare cross them. Worse still, a member hoping to be elected to office cannot achieve it unless he has the favour of the clique.
Election to membership
Are our boards who visit prospective members doing their job as they should? I think not, judging by the number of applicants who, once they have received their craft degrees, will immediately go on to the York or Scottish Rite bodies, thence to the Shrine and are no longer seen in attendance in the craft lodge. Indeed the number of Shriners who could work their way past the lodge door in the second or third degree is pitiful; perhaps three out of ten, in my estimation. In view of the fact that the Shrine invariably includes in its publications the statement "A good Shriner attends his blue lodge", and if that is the criterion for a good Shriner, obviously there are not too many good Shriners.
Living up to Masonic principles
One of our great problems seems to be that we are forgetting the basic principles we are admonished to practice by the teachings in the third degrees, Brotherly Love, Relief and Truth. In that regard, the following quote originally printed as a guest editorial in the "Bulletin", the publication of the Masonic Relief Association of the United States and Canada, though printed in 1969, is just as appropriate today.
"Freemasonry is founded upon the basic principle of brotherly love with the prime object of aiding the distressed brother or his loved ones. Notwithstanding the inestimable assistance being rendered by the fraternity, it is interesting to note the minimum attention, if any, that this subject receives at the average meeting. In delegating the charitable duties to committees, the general membership becomes almost totally unaware of the extent of masonic benevolence due to its lack of active personal participation.
Our meetings are considered to be retreats of friendship and brotherly love but most, except those dealing with degree work, are purely a business session to discuss the same type of problems that are met with in our daily living. This atmosphere does not constitute a retreat from the cares of the day, so it is no small wonder that attendance is low. The gem of endeavor that we possess, not too evident in the work-a-day world, is not cherished.
There are many concordant groups which cater to the entertainment needs, not to overlook professional presentations in the television, theatre and sports areas. It would appear to be high time the lodges vacated the entertainment field and exercised as individuals, the unchallenged duty to our brethren. The work of Boards of Relief, the plight of absent brethren, the circumstances of the widow and a thorough assessment of the needs and well being of our members are subjects which can safely and secretly be discussed in the privacy of the lodge room."
That, I believe, is self-explanatory and certainly straight to the point.
Prior to suggesting some solutions to the aforementioned problems, it may be useful to list a summation of them.
(a) Not enough selectivity in choosing officers.
(b) Poor work of some of the officers.
(c) Little or nothing explained to new members.
(d) Poor standard of Masonic education generally.
(e) Meetings boring.
(f) Too much politicing in the lodge.
(g) Meetings boring.
(h) Most members not living up to masonic principles.
Now, we have exposed some of the causes of our problems to the light, how then do we go about correcting them? Let us deal first with the ritual. Each lodge should have a skilled member who would be responsible to the worshipful master for the instruction of the lodge officers in the performance of their duties. Preferably, by and at the will and pleasure of each succeeding master, and replaced if he does not produce results. He should be capable of teaching those officers how to memorize their work, understand the meaning of it and deliver it with dignity and decorum. We should not insist that an officer, such as the junior warden in the first degree for example, should deliver a lecture if he cannot do so without continual prompting. He probably performs his duties in a satisfactory manner and being relieved of the lecture will save him embarrassment as well as the candidate and members.
This skilled member should also oversee the work of the coaching committee and determine when a candidate is fit to progress.
After candidates have received their third degree, a continuing course of instruction should be given, not only to further their knowledge, but prepare them for election to lodge office if they are directing their ambitions that way. A good program of masonic education should be presented to the general membership at regular intervals by lecturers who are fully qualified as masonic teachers. If none are available in the lodge, they could be invited from other lodges or masonic bodies.
By this method, that is courses of instruction for the candidates and lodge officer as well as education to the membership generally, good sound leadership will be developed with the end result being strong, capable masters, providing the type of leadership that is so necessary to achieve and maintain well managed lodges This will ultimately solve the problem and dispose of the "clique", for where there is strong leadership cliques cannot survive.
Let us also not forget to make use of the talents of our past masters, many of whom, during their years of service to the lodge, have developed a wealth of knowledge and expertise. These talents should not be neglected but made use of in every way possible. Those who are good ritualists could certainly solve the problem of the officer who is not too proficient in that particular phase of his duties and possibly, as an end result, help him become more expert. Others could chair committees dealing with subjects in which they have expertise, thereby benefitting the lodge and giving them (the past masters) an incentive to attend their lodge meetings by letting them know they are still useful.
Applications for membership should be dealt with very carefully. They should be screened not only to ascertain if the applicant is morally acceptable etc., but also to find out if his ultimate aim is just "membership in the masonic order as a means of becoming a Shriner." It goes without saying that the Shrine is a great organization performing a very commendable charitable function in the community, but we are not, nor should we be, a recruiting bureau for the Shrine. We require members whose main interest is in craft masonry and such members, if they ultimately progress to the York or Scottish Rites and the Shrine, will be of benefit to those organizations because they are first of all good craft members.
Finally, let us get out of the business of trying to outdo the service organizations such as the Lion's Club, Kiwanis and other community clubs, in raising large sums of money for charity. Commendable as it is, they are much better qualified in that respect than we are and do a far better job. Let us remember and get back to the purpose which has always been the aim of freemasonry, that of accepting good men into our lodges and making them into better men. Once we comprehend what freemasonry is all about and remember the lessons taught in the three degrees, "it will be shown in its true light, as an institution which fosters and improves the best affections of our nature and carries into active operation the practice of the four cardinal virtues. etc."
Dwight L. Smith also said in his booklet, "Given the challenge to practice Masonic charity in its intimate and personal form, almost any lodge and almost any individual mason will respond with enthusiasm. More important, freemasonry will then come to have a new meaning for them." If we combine this with the fellowship we are supposed to practice along with that moral instruction "veiled in allegory and illustrated by symbols" that freemasonry is supposed to be, then loss of membership and poor attendance will be a thing of the past.
In conclusion, it may seem that I am far too critical possibly harsh in my point of view, but believe me my brethren. it is only because of the great love and respect I have for our noble craft, that I am able to perceive some of its faults. As the immortal bard sang of his lodge;
Oft have I met your social band,
And spent the cheerful festive night;
Oft honor'd with supreme command,
Presided o'er the sons of light;
And by that heiroglyphic bright,
Which none but craftsmen ever saw!
Strong memory on my heart shall write
those happy scenes, when far awa.’
So let us make of ours, the source of friendship and brotherly love that they are supposed to be.
----o----
by Wallace McLeod, FPS
As the Philalethes Society approaches its sixtieth anniversary, it is entirely fitting that we should pause to consider the significance of its name. The topic has been discussed in the past, but never at such length, or with such authority. The name "Philalethes" is Greek. Our dictionaries have over 100,000 words of Greek origin, many of them invented in modern times by scientists or other pretentious people who needed a new word for something they were talking about. "Helicopter" means (having) a spiral, i.e. rotating, wing." "Oncologist," which should signify "one who studies bulks or masses," is used for a doctor who specializes in cancer. "Rhinoplasty" is a nose-job. Often the so-called "Latin" names of plants and animals are actually Greek, and some of them call up vivid pictures. A kind of fruit fly is called Drosophila melanogaster, "black-bellied dewlover." The house wren is Troglodytes aedon, "the songstress that creeps into holes." One of the wild orchids popularly known as lady's slipper is officially called Cypripedium acaule, "Venus' footware without a stalk."
The name "Philalethes," for those who have Greek, is immediately clear. It is made up of two words. The first is connected with the verb phileo, meaning "I love," or "I like," and the noun Kilos, "friend," or "lover." This root is often a part of longer words, in the form phil - before vowels and philo - before consonants. So we have "philo-sophy," love of wisdom; "philo-logy," love of words; "phil-anthropy," love of mankind, "phil-adelphia," love of brothers. The second part of "Philalethes" comes from the adjective alethes, "true," and the noun aletheia, "truth." So the whole name is really an adjective, meaning "loving the truth," or (since any adjective can be used as a noun) "lover of truth." The way the word ends shows that the form is singular, and means "the society" or "the member" or "the magazine that loves the truth." If you are a pedant, or are speaking ancient Greek, it should be pronounced "Fill-a-LAY-thace." Probably if you are speaking English, you should say "Fill-a-LEE-these." Most of us split the difference and call it "Fill-a-LAY-these."
The strangest thing about it is that it is not a modern coinage, like so anany of the Greek words in our language, but is found in ancient authors. Perhaps the first man to use it is the philosopher Aristotle (who lived 384-322 B.C.); he says somewhere in Ethics, "The lover of truth (philalethes), who tells the truth in things where it doesn't matter, will also tell the truth in things where it does make a difference. He will avoid falsehood because he thinks it is shameful. .." Again, in Plutarch's Lives, we read about a historian, who even though he had personal reasons for being biased, was generally "a lover of truth (philalethes) and useful." And also we have a letter written by the Roman lawyer and politician Cicero to his brother, closing with the plea, "Write me an answer, as you always do, frankly and like a brothers for "frankly" he uses the Greek adverb philalethos, "in a manner that loves the truth."
From the time of the Reformation on, the word was often used as a pen-name by people who wanted to "tell it like it is," but didn't want to use their own names. The British Museum Catalogue of books fills more than fourteen pages with a list of several hundred publications by authors called "Philalethes." The best known and most prolific was the seventeenth century poet and alchemist Thomas Vaughan (1622-1666), who published nearly all his works under the pseudonym, "Eugenius Philalethes," "The noble-born lover of truth." Actually, he has at least three indirect Masonic connections. In the first place, he was a particular friend of the scientist and military engineer, sir Robert Moray (1600?-1673), who was admitted a member of the Lodge in Edinburgh on 20 May 1641 - one of the earliest "gentlemen-Masons" known to us. Secondly, a book that Vaughan published in 1652 is called The Fame and Confession of the Fraternity of R:C: commonly, of the Rosie Cross. It is a translation of a German original of 1614, telling about that mysterious group of men called the Rosicrucians, whom some students imagine to be connected with the beginnings of Freemasonry. Thirdly, when the notorious scoundrel "Leo Taxil" was busy denouncing the Craft in the 1880s and 1890s, his most spectacular informant was Miss Diana Vaughan, a descendant of our lover of truths. This gorgeous lady, among other sensational revelations, told about the pact that her ancestor Thomas Vaughan had sided with Satan on 25 March 1645! (On Easter Monday of 1897, before a packed audience, Taxil admitted that all his anti-Masonic exposures had been a gigantic hoax, and that there was no such person as Miss Diana Vaughan; the whole fascinating story can be found in two recent books, both published in Richmond, Virginia, in 1985: Twice Told Tales: A Masonic Reader, by L.C . Helms, and Strange Masonic Stories, by Alec Mellor).
The word "Philalethes" also has other Masonic associations as well. In London, England, in 1722, a book was published under the title Long Livers: A curious History of Such Persons of both Sexes who have liv’d several Ages, and grown Young again. It's supposed to be a translation of a French book, published some seven years before; but the translator has put in a long preface of his own, telling what he thinks ought to be "the aims and ideals" of Freemasonry. He doesn't use his own name, but calls himself "Eugenius Philalethes, junior," as if he were the son of Thomas Vaughan. He's really supposed to be a man named Robert Samber, who also translated a number of other works into English, including Castiglione's Courtier (1724) and at least some of Perrault's Mother Goose Fairy Tales (1729). Most of us have never read Long Livers, or even seen a copy; but the long preface is reprinted in Douglas Knoop, G.P. Jones, and Douglas Hamer, Early Masonic Pamphlets (Manchester, 1945). It has some modern sounding things; for example, he says "avoid Politicks and Religion." Still good advice for members of a Masonic lodge!
Then, just about a half-century after Samber, in 1773, a Masonic order called the "Rite of Philalethes" was established by a French lodge in Paris. It had 12 degrees in all, and was particularly interested in the occult sciences. The name was roughly translated as "Seekers of Truth." The group didn't last very long, and died out soon after 1788. You can find all you need to know about it in Mackey's or Coil's encyclopedias.
When our predecessors in 1928 founded this Society, where did they get the name? Did they take it from the French body of enquirers who worked just before the Revolution? Or from the idealistic translator from the early days of organized Freemasonry? Or from the mystical chemist of the 1650s? Or from Aristotle himself? Or did they invent it afresh? Who can tell? In any event, the name is suitable, and should always remind us of the Society's aims. Fiat Lux, "Let there be light," is its motto; let there be light, to help us see what we're talking about, to illumine the shadowy by-ways of our minds, to dispel the darkness of ignorance and falsehood. Here we are all lovers of the truth, committed to uncovering it, and devoted to making it known. "Great is truth," said Thomas Brooks in 1662, "and shall prevail." To that, we can all say "Amen!"
----o----
A Short Note From
Your Lovable Editor
Almost every day I receive articles informing me that all of the problems of Freemasonry are caused by appendant bodies merely wanting, and taking, all candidates. Just to get on the record I would mention that I am a member of two (all I am allowed in Iowa) lodges. In those two lodges only two officers are not members of the Shrine and one or both rites. I am Secretary of one of the lodges and also Secretary-Recorder of all of the York Rite Bodies in Des Moines. My own experience has been that a man who is active in the symbolic lodge is also active in the appendant bodies. It is easy to trash the Shrine when we are looking for an excuse for some of our own shortcomings. However, I feel that when a young man does not become active in the lodge and goes to one or another apendant body, the treatment he receives within the lodge is, in many cases, to blame for his not becoming active in that body. It's nice that we have the Shrine to blame for ail our failings but my own lodges are examples that Shriners do, indeed, attend lodge.
----o----
(INSIGHT)
by Thomas B. Teeter, MPS
I am often asked why more Vietnam Veterans are not Freemasons. There are as many reasons for this as there are RVN Veterans. The most common are: Distrust of organisations, leadership, society, non-veterans. To this add guilt, pride, and something called "Survivors Complex."
My personal view is that the Vietnam Veteran is generally lost to Freemasonry. Now and again, some will knock on our door. There is nothing specifically Freemasonry can do to attract them, for, I fear the propensity to be a loner is so ingrained in them that they will only seek us out after they themselves have learned to deal with the past, accept the present, and look toward the future.
There are specific bodies within Freemasonry Vietnam Veterans will continue to shy away from. The Commandery is one. The uniforms, drills, and marches, will keep him from participating in this body. Once proud soldiers, who have had the wind taken from their sails by the negative appraisal of their actions, by their countrymen, want nothing to do with a militaristic organisation.
The Lodge is the organ targeted for the most improvement. It is within the Lodge a man is changed into a Freemason. This change has taken place in name only for countless men run through Lodges that are nothing more than "Degree Mills." The function of a Lodge is not only to make new Masons, but, to teach them. If a man is never taught the meanings of the Ritual, history, philosophy, tenets, and Cardinal Virtues, how is he ever to become a Freemason other than by name? It is the duty of a Lodge to change their Freemasons into "Freemasons. " This can only be accomplished by instruction. The teaching of Freemasons to live and act as Freemasons, is the best public relations vehicle we have at our disposal. All other efforts at PR, will fail until this is accomplished.
The documented cases of Vietnam Veterans losing control after coming home, are many. They are still doing it. "Delayed Stress Syndrome" is very real. Some, are emotionally and mentally injured. These wounds are as real as being shot and drawing blood. The government of this country, its people, politicians, and its past policies are responsible for these wounds. The lack of support, after the fact, is responsible too. You sent us. We sacrificed our lives, body parts, emotions and minds. Ten years later, half-hearted attempts at recognition of our services, by way of parades, speeches, and a memorial for our dead, is not enough to heal the wound. Those that survive, do not automatically, by some miracle, get better; nor are they willing to forgive the public their disdain for them, so easily. No matter how you cut it, Vietnam Veterans served this country. The majority said go and do this for us. They did, and this country turned its back on them. Until very recently, the American public has looked upon the Vietnam Veteran as nothing more then a demented individual who killed babies, raped women massacred the innocent, and was looked upon as a citizen of a somewhat lower class. They were told they had an enemy in Vietnam When they came home, another enemy raised its head; The very people who sent them. It seems to have been forgotten, that; Vietnam Veterans were and are a product of, THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA!
Harsh, bitter words. I know there are those that would take exception to them. Right or wrong, it is the feeling of tens of thousands of Vietnam Veterans. The treatment they received upon their return to this country, is as much at fault for their negative feelings, as the personal holocaust each went through in Vietnam. CASE IN POINT: At the tender age of 17, a young man I know, was allowed to join the US Army, become an Airborne Ranger, shipped to Vietnam, (the military later changed their policy and would not send you to Vietnam until you had reached 18 1/2), ordered into battle, took the lives of other people, was wounded, and sent back to his unit. He was still just 17 years old. What were you doing at the age of 17?
He voluntarily spent 30 months in Vietnam because he thought what he was doing was just and right. (His country, keeping the war going, certainly encouraged him to do so.) For 26 of those months, he lived in a tent, mud hut, or fox hole. He was involved in combat almost every day. Fifty eight hours before he landed at the Seattle airport, he extinguished the life of a human being. He was turned loose on the streets of Seattle and told to go home. Within three hours had been beaten, his ribbons torn from his uniform, humiliated, insulted and on his way to Fort Lewis Washington by way of military escort. Preceding these events, he had been sitting in a park, in the middle of the afternoon, basking in the glory of being home. He had taken no drugs, had drank no alcohol, and was minding his own business. He was attacked by hippies, (peace-niks?). There were too many for him to overcome. He suffered their beating and insults with rage.
He then suffered a nervous breakdown. After 3 weeks in a military hospital, he was again turned loose. This time, he wore sneakers, blue jeans, and an old jacket. He was afraid and almost ashamed to wear his uniform. He was 20 years old, without a high school diploma, and no prospects of a job. He was one hell of a good soldier though! Not all welcomes were as severe as his, but they were after all, just as devastating. What were you doing at the age of 20?
I know this story to be true, for I was the young man it happened to. I have been hiding the pain and emotional turmoil of the above experience for almost 20 years. Recalling it, has not been painless. It was as bad and as personally devastating as any experience I had in Vietnam Today, I am as fortunate as any man can be. I have recovered. I have an excellent career, loved ones, the respect of my peers, and, I have found Freemasonry. It has been a long hard road to recovery. I still have a distrust of people, organizations, and leaders. This distrust, comes not only from my "Vietnam experience", but also the reception I received upon my return to this country.
In case you missed the point; it was not combat alone that altered our state of being; it was also the internal events going on in this country, and the way we were treated when we came "HOME", (back to "THE WORLD"). As distasteful as this may be to you, it is a fact of life. You must learn to accept it; we must learn to live with it.!
----o----
by John M. Taylor, MPS
Do I need a computer? A little over 20 years ago, Dr. John Kemeny of Dartmouth College said, "Knowing how to use a computer will be as important as reading and writing." While this may be true in many careers today, it is not necessarily true as it relates to the secretary of a Masonic lodge. However, a computer will make the job much faster and easier. The "faster" part may appeal to a majority of the secretaries who are not paid for their efforts and whose duties frequently keep them away from their families. In these columns I hope to convince you to at least consider the ways a computer could help your lodge secretary.
The first (and possibly most important) point is that a computer is just an electronic device like a TV set. They have no intelligence and merely do as they are instructed. The second point is that the computer is much more than the "pong" game we all became too familiar with about 10 years ago. since I have been a computer programmer for 22 years, they are no mystery to me. However, I am constantly amazed in the advances in technology today.
Some of the things that a computer will allow a lodge secretary to do include: Keeping names and addresses current; create name and address listings for use by committee members; tracking when degrees are exemplified, knowing which brethren have had actions taken that need to be reported to the Grand Lodge; prepare form letters that have a "personal" look; follow up on overdue dues payments. All this requires is a common place where the data can be stored.
In computer lingo it is called a data base. Pieces of the data base are called records and each one contains all the information about one brother. Each record is logically broken down into smaller sections called fields. A field is one occurrence of data, such as city, state, or zip code. That is, the city is always located in the same field of each record in the data base.
One of the best things about having a computer as a lodge secretary is the ability to produce correspondence of which I can be proud. I think a letter with strikeovers, smudges, and erasures makes a terrible impression on the recipient. A word processor allows all typing to be done on the screen. It can be reviewed and revised as often as you like before it is actually printed. There are some excellent word processors available and a future column will be dedicated to a discussion of them.
In conjunction with a word processor, of course, there is a need for a printer. These range in price from about $200 up to $2,500 depending on the features you need. For most lodge correspondence a printer which has the capability of printing letter quality or near letter quality would suffice. Letter quality means that the printed material looks just as if it were done on an office typewriter. Near letter quality means that the printed characters are made up of many dots and only a few of the dots show when examined closely. (These printers are called "Dot Matrix.") Printers will also be a topic of a future column.
I will also attempt to answer questions that any reader may have about computers in general, and may even be able to make specific recommendations in some cases. I say may because each situation is different and it is very hard to get all the necessary facts by mail or telephone. At any rate, I hope the column will be helpful and' you will see the need for using a computer in the lodge.
Send questions to: John M. Taylor, MPS, The Computer Corner, 106 Busch Hill Dr., Wetumpka, AL 36092. (205) 567-2763.
----o----
We Need Your Input
Please, if you have been thinking of writing an article for the magazine, there is no time like the present. We need new authors, new viewpoints, and some new subjects. Don't write the eternal article "Why I Am Proud to be A Mason" write something new about your area or your interests.
----o---
By Wm. M. Larson, MPS
A candidate proposing to enter Freemasonry has seldom formed any definite idea of the nature of the organization in which he is engaging. Even after his admission, he usually remains quite at a loss to explain satisfactorily what Masonry is and for what purpose this order exist. He finds indeed that it is a system veiled in allegory, and illustrated by symbols. However that explanation while true, is only a partial interpretation and if not nurtured and encouraged can create an abyss in his mind which could result in the loss of our motivated initiate. For many members of the Craft, to be a Mason implies connection with a body which combines the natures of a club and a benefit society. The candidates find of course, a certain religious element in it, but as they are told, that religious discussion, meaning sectarian religious, is forbidden in the Lodge. They therefore infer that Masonry is not a religious institution. They believe that its teachings are intended to be secondary and only supplemental to any religious tenet they may possess. One sometimes hears it remarked that Masonry is "not a religion," which in a sense, is quite factual.
Masonry is often supposed, even by its own members, to be a system of extreme antiquity, that was practiced and has come down to its present form from the Egyptians, or at least from the early Hebrews. This is a view which possesses the merest truth. In short, the vaguest notions about the origin and history of the Craft remain almost entirely foreign to the consciousness of many of its own members.
We meet in our Lodges regularly, we perform our ceremonial work and repeat our catechismal instruction and lectures night after night with a lesser or greater degree of intelligence and verbal perfection, and there our work ends, as though the ability to perform this work creditably was the goal and the only means to culmination of all Masonic work.
Yet there exists a large number of brethren who would willingly repair the obvious deficiency. Brethren, those who nurture Masonry, even in their more limited aspect of it, and who feel their membership in the Craft to be a privilege, which has brought them into the presence of something greater than they know, fashion a profound appeal. To them, Masonry enshrines a purpose that could unfold a message deeper then they now realize.
It is helpless to attempt to deal adequately with all the deficiencies in our knowledge of the system which we belong to. The most one can hope to do is to offer a few suggestions or clues directed to those who may desire to develop for themselves a more profound understanding of the intricacies of Masonry, in the confines and privacies of their own thoughts. For in the last resource, no one can communicate the deeper elements of Masonry to another. Every man must discover and learn them for himself, although a friend may be able to conduct him a certain distance on the path of understanding.
We know that even the rudimentary and superficial secrets of the Order must be communicated to unqualified persons. The reason for this injection is not necessarily because those secrets have any special value, but because the silence, to the uninstructed, would presuppose the Brotherhood of Freemasonry was veiled in an allegory prison to be locked up in the mind and thoughts of man. Some of these secrets, for appropriate reasons, must not be communicated, for in reality they transcend the potential of human intelligences and understanding.
It is well to emphasize then that Masonry is a sacramental system possessing, like a sacrament, an outward and visible side consisting of its ceremonies, its doctrines, and its symbols which all individuals can see and hear. It also has an inward, intellectual, and spiritual side, which is concealed behind the ceremonies of its doctrines and its symbols. These are only available to the Mason who has learned to use his spiritual imagination and who can appreciate the reality that lies behind the veil of its outward symbols. Anyone, of course can understand the unpretentious meaning of the Symbols, especially with the help of the explanatory lectures. On the other hand, he may still miss the meaning of the scheme as the vital whole.
It is absurd to think that a vast organization like Masonry was ordained merely to educate grown up men of the world and the symbolical meaning of a few builder's tools. Nor was it ordained to impress upon us such elementary virtues as temperance and justice. The children of every school and every church are instructed by our educators that the elementary principles of charity, morality and brotherly love are the establishment of human existence and should be exercised to be appreciated. It is not just a belief in a supreme being, which is practiced as much by non-masons as by us, it is not to join a fraternal society to be taught that the volume of the Sacred Law is a fountain of truth and instruction, or to go through the great and elaborate ceremony of the third degree merely to learn that each one of us must die. The Craft, through whose work we are taught honor, with the name of science, has surely some larger end in view than merely inculcating the practice of social virtues common to all the world. By no means does Freemasonry have a monopoly on this corner of the market. Surely then, it behooves us to acquaint ourselves with what the larger end consists, and to enquire why the fulfillment of that purpose is worthy to be called a science. Also it calls us to delve into the mysteries, to which our doctrines promise we may ultimately attain.
Realizing then what Masonry cannot be deemed, let us ask what it can be. Before answering that question, let me put you in possession of certain facts that will enable you to appreciate the answer. In all periods of the world's history, and in every part of the globe. secret orders or societies have existed outside the official church. The purpose of these confidential alliances was to teach what is called "The Mysteries." These teachings were only for those with suitable and prepared minds, that of understanding the truths about human nature and human destiny. In other words, to teach that which was undesirable to distribute to the multitudes who would not, or could not, understand the teachings therefore misconstruing the facts, perhaps to a disastrous end.
These mysteries were formally taught, we are told, on the highest hills, and in the lowest valleys, which is merely a figure of speech for saying, first they were taught in the greatest seclusion, that is, in secret. And secondly they were taught in both advanced and simple forms, according to the understanding of the disciples.
The form of teachings has varied from age to age. They have been expressed in many different ways. But the ultimate truth is that "The Mysteries", the teachings and instructions, were and are, always one and the same. Only one doctrine has been taught in the past, and there will only be one doctrine for the future. For the moment, let us understand, that behind all the official religions of the world, and behind all the great movements and developments in the history of humanity, there have stood the keepers or stewards of "The Mysteries."
To trace the genesis of their movement, in Freemasonry which came into activity some 250 years ago, is beyond the purpose of these present comments. It is merely stated that within the movement itself is incorporated the slender ritual, and this, the rudimentary symbolism, has for centuries been employed in connection with the ancient building guilds. It has been the custom of the trades, and even for modern friendly societies, to spiritualize their trade, and to make their tools point to some unpretentious or moral truths.
No trade perhaps lends itself more readily to such treatment of instruction, than the builders trade. You will find traces of that industry becoming allegorized, and the allegory being employed for the simple virtuous instruction of those who were operative members of the industry. For instance, an ancient Egyptian ceremonial system, some 5000 years ago, taught precisely the same things Masonry does, but in terms of shipbuilding, instead of in terms of architecture. And the tools of these shipbuilders were utilized by the authors who originated modern Masonry, because they were readily at hand, and because they were in use among certain trade guilds then in existence, and lastly, because the builders tools were extremely effective and significant from the symbolic point of view.
To be emphasized at this stage, is that our present system is not one coming from remote antiquity. There is no direct continuity between us and the Egyptians, or even with those ancient Hebrews who built in the reign of King Solomon a certain Temple in Jerusalem. What is ancient in Freemasonry, is the spiritual doctrine concealed within the architectural phraseology. This doctrine is an elementary form that has been taught in all ages, regardless of what form was used to express it.
What was the purpose then, of the framers who built the Masonic system? You will find no satisfying answer in ordinary Masonic books. These sources are usually devoted to considering unessential matters relating to the external development of the craft. They neglect entirely to deal with its meaning and essence. This deficiency in some cases may be intentional, but more often it seems to be due to a lack of knowledge, information, and comprehension. The authentic, inner history of Masonry has never yet been given forth. There are members, familiar with the Craft, who in due time may feel justified in gradually making public at least some portion of what is known in the inner circles. But before that time comes, and that the Craft may better appreciate what it can be told, it is desireable, even necessary, that its own members should make some effort to realize the meaning of their own institution. Members should display symptoms of earnest desire to treat Masonry, less as a system of archaic and perfunctory rites, but more significantly as a vital reality, capable of entering into and dominating their lives, not as an inferior organization or a pleasant social order, but more as a sacred and serious method of initiation into the truths of life. It remains with the Craft itself to determine by its own actions whether it shall enter into its own ancestry. It may, by failing to realize and to safeguard the value of what it possesses, suffering its own mysteries to be vulgarized and profaned. Its organization would degenerate, and pass into disrepute and deserved oblivion, as has been the fate of many secret orders of the past.
There are signs however, from the populace of a great expansion in interest, of a genuine desire to know more about the contents of our Masonic system. This may tend to deepen interest in the order to which we belong. It may also help make Masonry for them become a vital factor, rather then a mere pleasurable appendage to social life.
Concisely Masonry offers us, in a dramatic form and by means of ceremony, a philosophy of the spiritual life of man. It also diagrams the process of regeneration. Presently the philosophy is consistent with the doctrine of every religious system taught outside the ranks of our order It also explains, and more sharply defines, the fundamental doctrines, which are in use throughout the world, whether past or present, Christian or non-Christian. The religions of the world, though all contemplating at teaching the truth, interpret the truth in different ways, and we are more prone to emphasize the differences than consider the similarities in what they teach.
Allied with no external religious system itself, Masonry is yet a synthesis, a concordat, for men of every race, of every creed, of every sect. Its foundation of principles are solemn to them all and admit no variation. Hence every Master of a Lodge is called upon to swear that no innovation in the body of Masonry is possible. The system already contains a minimum, and yet a sufficient amount of truth which none may add to nor alter, and from which none may take away.
The Order accords perfect liberties of independent opinion to all men. The truths it has to offer are entirely free to US in conformity with our capacity to assimilate them. Meanwhile those who not appeal, those who presume they can find a more enduring philosophy elsewhere, are equally at liberty to be free to search for them. Men of honor, those who do not find that Masonry has all the essential fulfillments that will conduct them to a tranquil and satisfying way of existence, will find it is their duty to withdraw from the Order, rather than suffer the disturbance in the harmony of thought that should characterize the Craft by their proximity.
----o----
Freemasonry’s Relationship To Religion
by The Rev'd. William B. Smear, Jr., MPS (Life)
For the modern Mason to understand Freemasonry's relationship to religion, it is important to understand our unique history.
The Craft emerged in its present form at the end of a great period of religious strife: the Reformation. It was part of the self-conscious effort of educated and enlightened men to seek a bond of common morality which would avoid destructive religious conflict, and affirm the goodness of mankind.
No man expressed this better than the great Freemason and composer, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: "magnanimity and gentleness have often reconciled the worst enemies". (1)
As both an organization AND a system of moral ideas, the Craft was a work of genius. Its government, laws, and structure reinforced its basic teaching of universal brotherhood. It became not just an order that DID good, it was a moral tradition that WAS good.
The pursuit of universal brotherhood and harmony cost Freemasonry dearly. It was condemned by the Roman Catholic Church in a series of edicts beginning in 1738. (2) It was suppressed by the Holy Inquisition and in time was outlawed by most major world powers in the century of its formal organization.
The reason Freemasonry was so savagely attacked by Church and State was because of its vision of universal brotherhood. Its principles threatened the authority of both spiritual and temporal tyrannies. Its very essence was the initiation of the human personality into liberty: a higher level of awareness, and increased responsibility for self and the community.
No greater contrast could exist between the world Freemasonry envisaged, and the world of religious and civil strife it sought to elevate and inspire.
Freemasonry's precise vision in the 18th century was a world in which the WORST aspects of religion were erased. These aspects are best described by the Latin poet Lucretius: tantum religio potuit suadere malorum - "religion has the power to convince men of evil things". (3) In this sense, the Masonic vision incorporated the utopian ideas of such luminaries as Plato, Sir Thomas More, Francis Bacon, and Lord Verulam, all of whom envisioned a perfect and harmonious society.
Yet, Freemasonry's particular sense of this vision was unique. It not only sought harmony in the midst of strife. It sought to return Good for Evil.
The result was that the Designers of the Craft created an institution which sought to call both religion and the state to be the best they could possibly be. It became a catalyst for good and a safeguard against tyranny.
The true impact of Freemasonry's mission was not felt until the establishment of the American Republic. The very ideas espoused in the earliest Masonic lodges were actualized and achieved in the Constitution of the United States. As American historian Henry Steele Commager noted, "Europe imagined the Enlightenment. America Realized it!" (4)
The United States of America is a "Masonic nation", but not chiefly because some of the Founding Fathers were Freemasons. It is 'Masonic' because it brought into reality a vision which at its essence and heart is Masonic: the universal and harmonious brotherhood of mankind.
We can begin fully to comprehend Freemasonry's relationship to religion when we - as Masons - realize that the setting of religion within the constitutional perimeters ordained in the young Republic allowed religion to cease being a force for evil, for killing people in the name of God, and enabled it to realize its full potential for Good. If Church had NOT been separated from State, and the principles of freedom of conscience and worship been established, American religion would have long continued to be "a power to convince men of evil things".
This sublime capacity - to return Good for Evil, and to cause people and institutions to be the very best they can be - is reflected in the words of the great Christian theologian, St. Augustine of Hippo (354-430 A.D.): Virtus est ordo Amoris - "Virtue is the setting in order of Love". (5) A Scottish Rite Mason might say Ordo ab Chao - "Order out of Chaos", but the meaning is the same. Evil is dis-order, and good is the result of divine order.
In a period of religious criticism of Freemasonry, it is crucial for Freemasons to seek ways to once again call religion to the best within it: the brotherhood of man under the Fatherhood of God. This may mean - in charity - to remind religion of its capacity for evil, and its potential for love.
References
1. Mozart: the Man and the Artist Revealed in His Own Words, ed., Henry Krehbiel, New York: Dover Publications, Inc., 1965.
2. Clement XII (1730-1740) In Eminenti.
3. Titus Lucretius Carus (c.99-55 B.C.), De Rerum Natura, I.101.
4. Henry Steele Commager, The Empire of Reason, Garden City. New York: Anchor Press. Doubleday, 1978, p. xi.
5. Cf., Anne Fremantle. "Augustine". Saints For All Seasons. ed., John J. Delaney, Garden City, New York: Anchor Press/Doubleday, 1978. p. 47.
----o----
Philalethes Magazine
Now On Microfiche;
So Is The Builder: The Master
Mason Coming
As another service for the members of The Philalethes Society, every issue of The Philalethes since it began publishing is now on microfiche. Complete sets of 124 jackets, each representing two years, are now available. The cost for the set is $54.25.
The Builder was an excellent Masonic publication of the National Masonic Research Society of Arsamosa, lowa. Many of the greatest names in Freemasonry of the Twentieth Century contributed to its pages. Others such as George Schoonover, the Father of The Masonic Service Association, Joseph Fort Newton, and Harry Leroy Haywood, were among its editors. Although copies are rare today, their contents are still quoted. Much that was published is still pertinent. The Philalethes Society has now made the complete works available on microfiche. The set consists of 194 jackets and they are available at $85.
Another excellent Masonic publication was The Master Mason published by The Masonic Service Association and edited by Joseph Fort Newton. The complete set will soon be available and the price will be announced at the Assembly, Feast and Workshop on February 12.
Orders will be filled by the Executive Secretary, The Philalethes Society, P.O. Box 70, Highland Springs, VA 25075-0070. Postage and handling is included in the price noted.
----o----
Past Master, Physician, Strategist and Patriot
by Jack Soroka, MPS
The life of every noted actor in the American Revolution would make a more exciting drama then most of the ridiculous semi-historical fiction we view on television. In this pithy sketch, I touch upon the career of a somewhat forgotten national hero in the American struggle for independence, General Hugh Mercer.
There were four periods in the biography of Mercer - in Scotland, in Pennsylvania, in Virginia, and in the American Revolution. He benefited by every experience and constantly grew in the esteem of his contemporaries. Doctor Mercer played a vital part in the history of western Pennsylvania and in the perilous Revolutionary days of 1776 and early 1777.
Mercer was born in Aberdeen, Scotland in 1725 and educated as a physician in Marischal College. We next hear of him as an assistant surgeon in the army of Charles Edward Stuart. The Scottish Highlanders called him "Bonnie Prince Charlie," the Young Pretender, because he pretended to claim the throne. In 1715, the Young Pretender led the Jacobites in a rebellion against England. Young Dr. Mercer hastened to link his fortune to the cause of the House of Stuart. In the tragic battle of Culloden Moor the Highlanders were defeated. The English executed numerous clan chiefs and outlawed the use of kilts and bagpipes. The Scottish fugitives were hunted by the implacable Duke of Cumberland, a name made infamous because of his butchery.
Dr. Mercer emigrated to America, and after a brief sojourn in Philadelphia, he settled in the southern frontier of Pennsylvania, the present site of Mercerburg. He practiced medicine in the Conocoheague settlement. After having ranked as captain, mayor, and lieutenant-colonel he was commissioned a colonel and served with Braddock's army in the French and Indian War. Hugh Mercer was gentle, mild, intelligent, pious, modest, and intrepid - these are true Scottish traits.
Many daring escapes from the Indians are ascribed to him. For example, during the raid on the Indian village of Kittanning, Mercer's right arm had been broken by a musket ball. He had neither food nor a weapon and subsisted on wild plums, berries, herbage, two fresh-water clams and rattlesnake meat. Sick with his wounds, half famished, and pursued by Indians, he traveled over 100 miles through unbroken forest in 14 days, before arriving at Fort Littleton. Captain Mercer became a celebrity because of his unique adventure.
Mercer became an intimate friend of George Washington who encouraged him to reside in Fredericksburg, Virginia. When in Fredericksburg, he became a member of Lodge No. 4, A.F. and A.M. Washington, Benjamin Day, and General George Weedon were also brothers in this lodge. Lodge No. 4 gave no less than five general officers to the Continental Army, including the commander-in-chief. In time, Mercer be came Master of Fredericksburg Lodge. Before the Revolution this town became the hotbed of patriotism. Dr. Mercer established an apothecary and became the town's leading physician. His exquisite home was called the Sentry Box. John Paul Jones and Mercer, both Scotchmen, were residents of Fredericksburg and it is assumed that they attended lodge together. It was from Fredericksburg that Mercer went forth to make his name immortal, fighting military battles on land; and it was there that Jones went to become illustrious by his great victories on the sea.
Washington consulted Mercer upon military strategy and it is on good authority that the idea of attacking the British at Trenton originated with Mercer. He is also credited with the plan of the battle of Princeton. Mercer always was the exponent of taking the offensive, and advocated outflanking the enemy by surprise attacks.
At the battle of Princeton, he enjoyed the distinction of being Washington's most trusted adviser. Mercer attempted to seize the bridge over Stony Brook, but his soldiers not having bayonets, were forced to retreat. General Mercer's horse was shot from under him. As he attempted to rally his brigade on foot, he was surrounded by redcoats who thought they had captured the "rebel General Washington." They demanded his surrender. He refused, and sought to fight his way out with his sword. Mercer was struck from behind by a blow from the butt end of a musket and bayonetted in seven places. On January 12, 1777, he died at the age of 52.
It is a curious fact that during the American Revolution there was but one man whose military record brought him enduring fame, while many other great military leaders are forgotten. Mercer was a secondary light to Washington, and Mercer never reached the acme of fame. He belongs to that galaxy of military heroes that we fancy as stars of the first magnitude. Douglas Southall Freeman, military historian, stated that had Mercer lived, "he might have been Washington's peer and possibly his superior." On the eve of our Constitution's bicentennial it seems appropriate to reexamine General Mercer's contribution to our national independence.
----o----
A Report From The Church Of England
by Rev. Eric E. Gaunt
The following is a letter to the Editor of the Church Times of Great Britain published in the 26 June 1987 Issue.
Sir, - it really is a piece of unmitigated humbug on the part of the Church of England to issue a report criticising Freemasonry. In the days when the Church could boast men of stature among its bishops, even archbishops found it not incompatible with their Christian convictions to belong to the Masonic Order.
Today it is extremely difficult to know with any degree of certainty what the Church does, or does not subscribe to - even to the Creeds; to say nothing of acceptance of perversions which are clearly stated in Holy Scripture as being contrary to the law of God. Alas, the Church of England is in no position at present to offer criticism of any order, Masonic or otherwise, but rather it should be employing its energies to sort out its own attitudes and doctrines.
Having been a member of the Church of England all my life and a Freemason for twenty-four years, I feel it is a great sadness that the Church is no longer able to set out its tenets as clearly concisely and unambiguously as does Freemasonry, which promotes the highest ideals of morality, truth and justice. Indeed, whilst we have bishops casting doubts on the very fundamentals of Christian belief and others condoning such evils as homosexuality without there being so much as a whimper of official protest, can the Church maintain sufficient credibility to speak with authority?
Let me assure you: Freemasonry is not a religion, neither is it any form of religious substitute
----o----
by Allen E. Roberts, FPS
Congratulations to Ralph A. Herbold, MPS. Because of his efforts in Masonically educating Freemasons he has been elected an honorary member of that Supreme Council 33rd Degree of the Scottish Rite of Brazil.
The Church Times of Great Britain has found many clergymen are courageous enough to continue their support of Freemasonry. It was noted that Freemasonry is condemned but polygamy is condoned. The Reverend Eric E. Gaunt's full and favorable reply to the condemnation is reported elsewhere. Frank Grinsted of Colyton, Devon, wrote: "Let's be fair! lsn’t the working group ungenerous in its harsh criticism of Freemasons? Jehova, Jahbulon, Father, Father-Mother God, if it is given with sincerity and respect, be it Jehovah, Jahbulon, Rather, Father-Mother God, Great Spirit, or whatever? Who among us knows the truth anyway? I am not a Mason...but I respect them for the good they do. Whether it is conceived in secrecy or not hardly matters; what counts is that it puts Christian principles into practice." Perhaps not too strangely, the Times reported: "Anglican clergymen predominated among people who wrote letters in support of Freemasonry to the working group which produced the report called "Freemasonry and Christianity: Are They Compatibles " Canon Tydeman asked: "As for solemn oaths never to reveal Masonic secrets: 'Can you imagine any Government employee being asked to sign the Official Secrets Act demanding to know beforehand what the secrets are? So I am afraid that this particular accusation is one which should leave the working group somewhat redfaced.' "
From the pen of Charles R. Glassmire, FPS, editor of The Maine Mason, comes concern for the lack of interest in fraternalism in the young men of today. Among other things, he believes the permissiveness of the United Grand Lodge of England in allowing a "carefully worded" invitation to join the Craft is a culprit. He adds: "The most recent changes in the wording of the Ancient Penalties have eliminated a colorful and important part of our beautiful ritual. This is done in the mistaken hope of appeasing some of our traditional and ancient enemies. Since when have we decided to allow our enemies to dictate our policies and our ritual? Those who are enemies of Freemasonry will not love us no matter how many changes we make in our forms and ceremonies in an effort to gain their friendship. They will only take such action as a sign of weakness, and an admission that we were wrong in the first place, and are only now admitting our wrongful doings in the past, thus encouraging them to hate us more! We must accept the fact that no one individual or no one organizations can be loved by all." He strongly suggests we learn the lessons history has to teach.
Lee E. Taylor, MPS, has worked out a plan for the American Canadian Grand Lodge "within the United Grand Lodge of Germany" to help sojourning Freemasons going to Germany. Many military men have been there and didn't know there have been English-speaking Lodges available for more than 25 years. Packets containing information about the ACGL will soon be available in every Grand Lodge office in North America and The Masonic Service Association. This is certainly a step in the right direction.
Bravo! Re: my report in the October issue about "civil rights.'' Freemasonry and judgeships. From the Congressional Record of the Senate for September 9, 1987 we learn many of the Senators who are Freemasons strongly condemned the action of those who held up the confirmation of David Bryan Sentelle from April 8 to September 9 simply because he was a Freemason. It was noted that no one objected to the confirmation of Judge Ronald Leo of California, also a Freemason. Senator Strom Thurmond, a Freemason, strongly condemned the actions of the obstructionists. Among other things, he said: "I would like to point out that there are five members of the Judiciary Committee who are Masons, Senators Grassley, Specter, Simpson, and myself, as well as the respected and able majority leader, Senator Byrd. There are at least 13 other Members of the Setate who are Masons. I am sure that they are all proud to be part of such a fine organization. Additionally, there are 58 Members of the House of Representatives who are Masons, including Speaker of the House Jim Wright, Don Edwards, Claude Pepper. Dan Glickman, William Ford, and Trent Lott to name but a few." The nomination was confirmed 87 to 0, with 13 not voting! Senator Simpson then spoke strongly about the opposition, named several other Masons, and closed by saying: "I think that should clear the record once and for all. and I hope this ugly head of prejudice against Masons will not rear itself again." To which Senator Robert Byrd added: "He has said what ought to have been said. I thinly in this instance. When I first heard that the objections to this man were that he is a Mason, I was determined that the Senate have a vote on it. I think that the Senate should take a stand and I am proud to be a Mason...and I am proud to see that the Senate has voted unanimously in support of Mr. Sentelle. I think that should clear the record once and for all, and I hope that this ugly head of prejudice against Masons will not rear itself again." To which I strongly agree - but add this caution - don't hold your breath.
Carrying with them a letter of greetings from the Grand Master of Masons in Virginia, Donald M. Robey, MPS, the Virginia Craftsmen auspiciously began their 26th year of service to the Craft. They exemplified the Master Mason Degree according to the Virginia ritual in four Spanish Lodges, two in Glasgow, Inverness, and Edinburgh. They then traveled to London where they did the same for Columbia Lodge No. 2397 in Freemasons Hall. They even survived a hurricane, the most severe storm in the recorded history of London. A report will follow in the next issue of The Philalethes.
Robin L. Carr, MPS, is now the Secretary of The Masonic Book Club, P.O. Box 1563, Bloomington. IL 61702. Dues remain at $15 U.S. The Club, which started with a limit of 500 members, found this wasn't feasible. It wants to increase the membership to 2000. frost of its publications over the years have been excellent. The small cost has paid, and will pay, dividends many times over. It's highly recommended.
The Summer issue of The Royal Arch Masons edited by Jerry Marsengill, FPS, contained several interesting and enlightening articles (this magazine always does). One of these was by Raymond Beardsley titled "The Masonic Presidents." One of those covered was James Monroe who became an Entered Apprentice in Williamsburg Lodge No. 6. Beardsley noted that no record exists as to when, or if, Monroe went further, but his funeral was conduced by Richmond Randolph Lodge No 19. Whether or not Monroe was more than an Entered Apprentice matters not. It wasn't until the 1840s, and even later, that it was considered necessary to be a Master Mason for a man to be a Freemason. This came about as a result of the Baltimore Convention of 1843 and was a direct aftermath of the anti-Masonic craze of the 1820s and 30s.
Joseph A. Walkes, Jr., President of the Phylaxis Society responded to my item concerning "Civil Rights Groups" and informs me: "The NAACP is run by Prince Hall Freemasons; the Executive Director of it is an active 33d and a member of this Society, also the Grand Secretary of the Prince Hall Grand Lodge of Tennessee. The Board of Directors of the NAACP has active Prince Hall Freemasons on it. I am an active member of the NAACP...There is no way that we would be involved in something as absurd as what the Rickmond Times Dispatch has reported in its July 16th issue. No one wants to destroy Caucasian or regular Freemasonry, and surely not the NAACP Prince Hall Freemasons." I don't believe anyone suspected Prince Hall Masonry was behind the attack on Freemasonry, and we're certainly happy to know the NAACP wasn't involved. But there are still many kooks out there.