Western sentinel. [volume] (Winston [i.e. Winston-Salem], N.C.) 1856-1886, 1879-02-06
ANCIENT FREE MASONRY /!
An Address deIix cred before Winston
Lodge, NO. 16S, A. IF. A. WI, Dec.
"a, 1SSS. -
By REV. NJ. L. WOOD.
Yorshipful Master and Brethren,
Tol;oa o-J 1a.+

B1 KEW. m. Il. W OOOs 4 F...r
WorshipfiA Master and Brethren,
Ladies and Gentlemen !:
Free Masonry is not a religious
institution, but it is very intimately
connected with, religion. It is this
connection that constitutes its impress
siveness and worth and beauty. The
signifcancy and force of its symbols
and ceremonies are derived from their
references to the facts and truths con-
tanned in the Divine Word. And that
is the ground upon which God can be
claimed as its Author. If our Mystic
Order can claim no higher origin than
human authority it is stupendous
cheat, and venerable farce.
.'Ancient Free Masonry is beau
tiful system of morality veiled in al
legory and illustrated by symbols
Truth is its center-the point whence
it's radii diverge, pointing out to its
disciples correct knowledge of the
Great Architect of the Universe, and
the moral laws which He has ordained
for their government" How much is
contained in s'a correct knowledge of
the Great Architect of the Universe ?"
And what are the moral laws which
He has ordained for the government
OF His subjects? No atheist can be
a mason any more than he can be a
christian. The Holy Bible is not only
a part of the furniture Of the Lodge,
but it is also necessary for its work.
An open lodge must have an open
Bible. The Bible is the rule and
guide of the faith and practice OF Ma
sons. The Bible as it Is. The whole
Bible. Free Masonry claims all the
sublime truths therein taught. It
claims the whole truth therein reveal
ed. Its mission is not confined to this
world. And it does provide an
atonement-an atonement ''veiled
in alIegory and illustrated by sym
bols. .19 @
The late DIR. J. w. S. Mitchell,
very high Masonic authority, says ::
''Free Masonry was instituted by
Gods appointment, for the subversion
of the heathen mythology, and to
bring back to the true faith those
hAa.hen nations who had lost knowl.
edge of the true God, and were run
ming after plurality of false GODS
We say that this divine plan of open
ing up way for return to the true
faith was an essential ingredient in
the teaching and success OF the great
er plan, viz: the atonement, through
which alone lost and ruined world
could be saved,' Again he says
9'We say, without fear Of successful
contradiction, that the Old Testament
furnishes more abundant evidence Of
Gods plan of winning back the heath
en- through the great mysteries, than
it does of His promise to send His
only begotten Son to become a sac
rificial offering for the sins of the
world, and none can fail to see that
if one was conceived in infinite wis
dom and mercy, the other was also. y
We would especially emphasize, in
the above quotations, the expression,
THE TRUE FAITH. The true faith EN-
braces the whole of the revealed will
OF God. And Masonry being found
ed on the word of God cannot be dis
connected from christianity.
When the fullness of time was come,
when the full blaze of the true light
shed its etfulgence upon the world,
the teachers of the very highest type
of morality declared that they spake
"the wisdom of God in a mystery
the mystery which had been hid from
ages and from generations but now is
! made manifest 10 His saints to whom
God would make known what is the
riches of the glory of this mystery
among the Gentiles which is Christ
among you the hope of glory." THI
woxD.made flesh taught in parallels
or by allegories, because it is giver
only to the sincere, the honest anc
true hearted "to know the mysterie.
of the kingdom of heaven" In al
the ages those who perverted th,
divine oracles '.seeing, see not; anC
1 hearing they hear not, neither do they
understand" % p ~ sa<%
In all time man has had a place O
worship, a seat of divine presence, +.
depository of sacred eni blems, and al
oracle. The Cherubim of Eden will
its Unfolding flame and the cherubin
, of the Mosaic Sanctuary with its she
kinah we're the same in meaning ant
use. And their ceremonies have beel
initiated by all nations departin,
! from the true faith. Faber, in hi
Pagan ldolatry, thus accounts for tn
pagan mysteries, $50 remarkable an,
exact accordance of sentiments an,
; institutions, which may be distinctl
r traced in every part of the world
leads inevitably to the belief that, il
the infancy of society, when as ye
mankind were but few in number, al
the children of Noah were associate
4 together in one community that
while they thus formed but one EN-
pire, great apostacy from the wol
ship of-the true God took place; tha
at that period the original system G
. idolatrous mythology and the sacre
: mysteries attached to it were frs
contrIved; and afterward these, b
the Dispersion, were spread over th
world. These sacred mysteries wer
always secret worship of some par