Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
On Freemasonry. The History And Antiquities Of Freemasonry.
amongst the Essenes . B y this practice they perpetuated the ancient system of tokens , which was of such eminent use amongst the workmen who were employed to build the first Temple . This memorable custom is referred to b y their great Patron , when speaking of wicked men : " Though hand join in hand , the wicked shall not be unpunished ;
meaning , that even this significant bond of union should not be capable of affording them protection if they persisted in their wickedness , or violated the compact into which they had entered at their initiation ; referring , most probably , to the punishment of three traitorous Brethren who brought a heavy calamity on the Order when the building was nearl y completed .
He was now taught the mysterious doctrine of the three hypostases in the divine Godhead , which were typified b y THREE GREAT LIGHTS . Thus they argued : " There are three great li ghts in God ; tlie ancient light , the pure , li g ht , and the purified li ght ; and these three make but one God . " These three hypostases were figured under the qualities of
the Crown of Glory , Wisdom , Understanding . And thus the Second Great Li g ht , or Wisdom , typical of the Redeemer , is revealed in the Book of Wisdom : " She is the bri ghtness of the everlasting li g ht , the unspotted mirror of the power of God , and the image of his goodness . " Their instruction was chiefly symbolical . The emblems
were explained to the initiated , but to the rest , of the world they were like a sealed book . Their disquisitions were principally confined to theology , moral philosophy , the four
cardinal and the three theological virtues , together with theories of human science . The three great rules of life inculcated with unceasing anxiety , were / the love of God , the love of jvirtue , ancl the love of their nei g hbour . We are told b y Philo , that they preserved , with the most jealous care , certain monuments of learning , which the leaders of
their sect had from time to time committed to their custody , containing dark and secret knowled ge , which formed the texts from which all their speculations were derived . The most important secret which the Essenes preserved and transmitted to posterity , was the Tetragrammaton . This name was communicated in a whisperand * under such
, a disguised form , that while its component parts were universall y known , tlie connected whole was an incommunicable mystery . They used , in common with the whole Jewish nation , the ancient and si gnificant symbol bv which this name was
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
On Freemasonry. The History And Antiquities Of Freemasonry.
amongst the Essenes . B y this practice they perpetuated the ancient system of tokens , which was of such eminent use amongst the workmen who were employed to build the first Temple . This memorable custom is referred to b y their great Patron , when speaking of wicked men : " Though hand join in hand , the wicked shall not be unpunished ;
meaning , that even this significant bond of union should not be capable of affording them protection if they persisted in their wickedness , or violated the compact into which they had entered at their initiation ; referring , most probably , to the punishment of three traitorous Brethren who brought a heavy calamity on the Order when the building was nearl y completed .
He was now taught the mysterious doctrine of the three hypostases in the divine Godhead , which were typified b y THREE GREAT LIGHTS . Thus they argued : " There are three great li ghts in God ; tlie ancient light , the pure , li g ht , and the purified li ght ; and these three make but one God . " These three hypostases were figured under the qualities of
the Crown of Glory , Wisdom , Understanding . And thus the Second Great Li g ht , or Wisdom , typical of the Redeemer , is revealed in the Book of Wisdom : " She is the bri ghtness of the everlasting li g ht , the unspotted mirror of the power of God , and the image of his goodness . " Their instruction was chiefly symbolical . The emblems
were explained to the initiated , but to the rest , of the world they were like a sealed book . Their disquisitions were principally confined to theology , moral philosophy , the four
cardinal and the three theological virtues , together with theories of human science . The three great rules of life inculcated with unceasing anxiety , were / the love of God , the love of jvirtue , ancl the love of their nei g hbour . We are told b y Philo , that they preserved , with the most jealous care , certain monuments of learning , which the leaders of
their sect had from time to time committed to their custody , containing dark and secret knowled ge , which formed the texts from which all their speculations were derived . The most important secret which the Essenes preserved and transmitted to posterity , was the Tetragrammaton . This name was communicated in a whisperand * under such
, a disguised form , that while its component parts were universall y known , tlie connected whole was an incommunicable mystery . They used , in common with the whole Jewish nation , the ancient and si gnificant symbol bv which this name was