The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1897-01-20


are sorre secret sJctE-iess 9TE4HEzE1 4gs
business or Insurance, that 60 DOL
have & religion Ike FFeena SoEirT. Snt
Some ore may say shai Masonry IS 10
religious institution. thar i Is hsneFossnt
organization Il IS as weA . religious N
stfsl1sion. Il teaches ire immortality q
fhe sou happiness IN me world neyoild'
fasfh IN recfitaGe and morally. aElE 4 Dc
lief In z esvine being. Is mas religious cefe-
monies 4 religious ritual. ana FsAslo4s
prayers NaeksTs Lexicon OF FREE
masonry page -. says. AL the ceTs-
monies % our order are prefscsd and ter
minated ~vith prayer. because Masonry =
3 religious Institution. and because %e
merely STOW our dependence On ana iaith
ara trust IN God Charles Scott. a n,
once grand master OF the Grand Lodge q
the state OF Mississippi. says Free-
rrasourv il founded o. me truths contained
n tho Holy Scriptures. and that It's design
is 10 tes.h those doctrines waica essen
tally relate 10 the temporal and sfeTnai
destiuiss OF our race he further says:
Masonry Is founded on faith In God. hope
o. immortality. and charity TO All man
kind II Is b. inc practice or these VIZ
tues tnat the Mason expects 70 find access
% Him who is The subject Of faith, the OBJ
feet OF hope. and the eternal fountain OF
charity See Stern on Masonry. pages
and In letters. In Sickels Free
n1asou's Guide page 81, we hnd
this language: And, finally. we snaH
discover that our rites embrace al pos
sltie circumstances % man-noral spir-
ftigaf and scotland have a meaning high
AS the heavens. broad as the universe.
and profound as eternity In Mackey's
Jurisprudence Of Freemasonry. p. 70, we
read: The truth is, that Masonry IS un-
doubtedly a religious institution-its re-
iigfon being or that universal kind In
which ali men agree From such authors
We not only see that Masonry Is religion,
bat we have been given the hint that the
religion is peculiar. II IL were the Chris
tlan religion It could not be said that it
was OF that kind IN which ali men agree.
Webb'S Monitor, p. ZS4. says: The re-
llgious tenets OF Masonry are few and
simple, but fundamental. The candidate
must profess a belief in deity before inl-
tiation' Here Is brought cut the one
thing fundamental 20 Masonry. and that
in which all men agree, belief IN deity.
Mackey's Jurisprudence says, ?. "a:
Though in ancient times Masons were
charged IN every country 10 be OF the
religion OF that country or nation. what
ever IL was. yet IL Is now thought more
expedient only 20 obiige them 70 that re-
iigion IN which all men agree, leaving
their particular opinions TO themselves.
This same thought is presented at greater
length In Chase's Digest of Masonic Law.
2. 2S. In our opinion any further re-
ligi0us test is not necessary; and TO re-
quire that a candidate profess belief
in the divine authenticity OF the Bible. or
a state OF future rewards and punish
ments. is a serious innovation into the
very body OF Masonry. II is anti-Masonic
to require any religious test other than
the candidate should believe in God.
tne Creator and Governor OF the uni
verse We now see that this belief in a
God does Sbt need 10 be belief neces-
sarily In the Father OF our Lord Jesus
Christ for Mackey in hts Jurisprudence.
p. %. says: Under the shelter of this
wise provision. the Christian and the
Jew. the Mohammedan and the Brshmin,
are permitted 10 meet around our common
altar. and Masonry becomes. in practice
as wei as in theory. universal We have
now come 10 a point when we can see
radical distinction between the religion
OF the church and that Of Masonry. The
church believes In a God who is the
Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. but
Masonry does not require the uniting a
belief In God with belief in Christ. The
individual can be a rejecter Of the Chris
tian God as Is the Jew. the Mohammedan,
the Brahmin, and many Others. Yet as
we have seen this religion resting upon a
simple belief in a deity meets. according
TO Masonic authority. ar possible cir
cumstances OF man-moral. spiritual and
social Now We come 10 another grand
distinction. Chase says IN his Digest OF
Masonic Law p. aoI and 20S: Blue Ma
sorry has nothing 20 do with the Bible.
IL Is not founded on the Bible; II II was,
II would not be Masonry. tx would be
something else The religion OF the
church is not only founded on the Bible.
but al its teachings are drawn from the
Bible. The Bible Is everything with the
church, IL Is 10 Masonry only as IL may
be made % serve It's system. The Chris
Masonic Law. p. 207 and s0S: Blue Lodge
Masonry has nothing 20 10 with the Bible
and we can well understand the reason
that there IL no Christ IN Masonry. Christ
IS the center OF the Bible the Great Per
sonage with whom ell our interests Il.
as members OF the church but as Ma
sorry neither ix built on the Bible nor re-
quires besief in the God wnJ e the Father
% our Lord Jesus Christ. It does not need
Christ II its religious system. Il is
quite natural that he is left out Masons
desire 60 use some passages OF Scripture
IN the New Testament where Christ's
name occurs. bat not wishing 70 use his
name e Is dropped out II, Thess., and {,
s. used by Masons New We commend
you. brethren. in the name OF our Lord
Jesus Christ, that Sc withdraw yourselves
from every brother that Walketh disorder
u. and not after the tradition which ye
received Of us TIE words IN the name
OK our Lord Jesus Christ are dropped
out"
Nr HOWE then quoted passages from
the New Testament which he claimed
are used In the Masonic ritual
Religion of the Lodge.
Now notice that the name Of Christ
IS not only LETT cut o. these passages. but
tie meaning is perverted In this last
passage all reference 70 Christ as the
corner stone is taken away. and
tho reference Is made 10 the corner
stone laid BY Masons. Masonry Is not
made 70 suit the Bble hut the Bible Is
made 20 suit Masonry There IL no virtue
"a Masons carrying around the Bihle when
they are not required 20 believe in its IN
spiraticn. or in its God. or IN It's savior
o. even 20 be guided ~ is moral code: for
We learn from Mackey's Masonic Iurfs-
prudence. pages - and 593. tha. the Ma
Sonic moral iaW IS not 20 BE Considered
as cona1ed 20 the 6ecaloSue 81 Moses.
hus - The lex uaturse or law % nature'
Fer SAYS he. 'tNs precerts of Jesus could
not have been made obligatory OF Jew:
= Christian would have denied the sane
tons of TIE Koran Mohammefan must
have rejected the laH % Noses. and a dis
clpte OF Zoreaster woul3 have turned from
a 20 the teachings 81 his Zend Avesta'
j IS ore % the strange things that al
CHRISTIANS Al not turn from the m
Biblical 0n-Christian system OK MasoEry
Rat II tae rel Eion % the lodge IS not
the Christian 70 Iston What 5 IA From
Masonic authorities e appears that the re-
tE.on IS peculiar 20 the Institution %
secrecy.
''Mackey's Iexicon. rare &c. says. The
rF-g ien. the1, az Masonry is pure theisn