THE BUILDER JULY 1927

The God of the Mason

By BRO. FERDINAND OUDIN, Illinois

EVER since man aspired to something more than material life he has
attempted to define who and what God is. His success in this
direction is probably difficult to estimate as there are today as
many definitions as there are religions or sects, and this could be
subdivided still further if personal definitions of individuals are
to be considered.

This leaves the question, "What is the God of the Mason?" a
peculiar one to answer. The adherents of orthodox religions find no
difficulty in this, they will give their answer unhesitatingly, but
do they not overlook the fact that the interpretation they give is
their own or that of the particular creed which they profess ? Also
the self-styled liberal thinker is no better; he has no patience
with the orthodox views but insists that a more modern
interpretation be accepted regardless, on his part, whether such be
generally acceptable.

Speculative Masonry has on its membership roll Christians of all
degrees, Universalists, Unitarians, Jews, Mohammedans, Brahmins,
Theosophists and what not. How then shall we approach this analysis
so as not to offend any? It is self-evident that personal
interpretation must not enter in. Possibly the best way will be to
start with the beginning of Masonry so far as documentary evidence
will permit. Let us then examine some of the old documents, dating
from 1390 to 1714, of which nearly a hundred have come down to us.
We find that many of them begin with an invocation to the Trinity.
"The might of the Father of Heaven with the wisdom of his glorious
Son, through the grace of the goodness of the Holy Ghost, there be
three persons in one Godhead, be with us at our beginning and give
us grace so as to govern us here in mortal life living, that we may
come to his kingdom that never shall have ending. Amen." The
Dowland MS., 1500 A.D., differs slightly in that it uses the term
"Father of Kings" in place of "Father of Heaven." In the Halliwell
Poem, in these lines, under the title "Ars quatuor coronatorum" we
find an invocation to God and the Virgin. There are also found
instructions regarding behavior when attending church and at the
celebration of Mass. The invocation appearing in many of the MSS.
of the German "Steinmetzen" read somewhat after the manner: In the
name of the Father, Son and Holy Ghost, in the name of the blessed
Virgin Mary.

These invocations leave no doubt as to the Christian character of
early Masonry and in the case of the Halliwell Poem and the German
MSS. show the influence of the undivided Western Church as it was
before the Reformation.

There also, many references to Old Testament characters and events
are found in these old MSS. Considerable stress is laid on Lamech
and his three sons, to whom is attributed the discovery of all
sciences. Noah and the flood also, the Tower of Babel, and of
course King Solomon's Temple find their place. The legends of the
Craft are largely developed from Old Testament stories. Even the
Hiramic legend from beginning to the denouement presumes a
knowledge of, and belief in, statements made in the Old as well as
New Testament.

EARLY MASONRY WAS CHRISTIAN

Now, it is safe to assume that what religious thought permeated the
Masonic mind prior to the 18th century was that of orthodox
Christianity, decidedly influenced by what is now Roman
Catholicism. These same views, slightly modified, were evidently
held by the founders of Speculative Masonry, more or less directed
by conservative Protestantism. These early Masons would, of course,
interpret the Bible in accordance with the views of the day, which
were very much what we now term Fundamentalists.

Our rituals, which were to a great extent formulated by such men,
should be interpreted from the same mental viewpoint as the
compilers had. So let us from that angle study our present
proceedings.

At the very start we invoke the blessings of Deity. In our
petitions we call upon him as the "Supreme Ruler of the Universe"
or "Most Holy and Glorious Lord God, the great Architect of the
Universe," or again in another form we petition the "Almighty and
All Wise Father, the Creator and Governor of Heaven and earth, we
would humbly ask thy blessing upon us thy children." Still again we
say, "Vouchsafe thine aid, almighty Father of the universe." These
prayers are petitions of the children of God to a personal God, the
most holy and glorious Lord God of the Old and the Almighty and All
Wise Father of the New Testament.

We are invited to enter the lodge in the name of the Lord and are
dedicated to God in the following ". . . Almighty Father of the
universe . . . grant that this candidate . . . may dedicate and
devote his life to thy service." We are further assured that our
trust being in God, our faith is well founded. We take an
obligation in the presence of Almighty God and promise to live up
to it with his help. We salute the Holy Bible, testifying by this
act that we believe it to be the rule and guide of our faith and
signify that we subscribe to the statements made therein.

THE BIBLE IN THE LODGE

On three occasions we find the Bible open so as to bring before our
eyes passages of scripture. First at the 133rd Psalm, where we
learn the lesson of brotherhood and eternal life. Next we read, in
the seventh chapter of Amos, his prayer to a very personal God to
divert the judgment of the grasshoppers, the "Lord repented of
this" and manifested himself to Amos standing on a wall with a
plumb line in his hand. Now a more personal God could hardly be
pictured, and our old ritualists surely did not pick this chapter
for its reference to the plumb line only. Lastly, we see the Bible
opened at the twelfth chapter of Ecclesiasties, where we read in
the thirteenth verse, "Let us hear the conclusion of the whole
matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole
duty of man." This is said by the author who until recent years has
been thought to be King Solomon. There is no controversy as to what
kind of Deity his God was. Solomon was a monotheist who believed in
a God with whom he could converse and one who had manifested
himself to men. It does not seem likely that our early brethren
would lay the Bible open at this passage which commands us so
forcefully to fear God and obey his law did they not hold views
concurrent with those of Solomon. While there are many parts of the
ritual that are based on the Bible, I shall content myself with
allusion to one more, this is the promise of "admission into the
celestial lodge above, where the Supreme Architect of the Universe
presides." This makes it incumbent on a Mason to believe in a
future existence where he will be as a knowing and thinking entity
and where God possessing similar attributes presides.

A careful study of the ritual with a thought to the custom and
philosophy of the times when they were formulated cannot help but
lead us to the conclusion that the traditional God of the Mason is
the "personal" God of "fundamental" Christianity.

Now this summation leaves us in an embarrassing position. According
to it many men, it would appear, have gained admission under false
pretenses. The question is one that will sooner or later have to be
settled in some way. That is shall the God of the Mason be He as
interpreted by Christian, Jew and other monotheists, or can He be
anything as defined by Pantheists, Deists, Theists, etc.?

In France the Grand Orient has settled the matter, they have given
active expression to the oft-repeated fact that Masonry is not a
religion but rather a system of ethics and morals. We in the United
States take exception to their act going so far, in the case of
most of our Grand Lodges, as to withhold fraternal recognition for
this reason. But do we not appear in a ridiculous position, we have
a ritual that is quite orthodox in that it demands a belief in a
God and a future life as pictured in the Bible, the Great Light of
Masonry, and then we admit to membership many whose views are the
very antithesis to this. Now if the bars are to be let down, then
how far shall we go? Let us for sake of argument disregard all
scriptural reference direct or indirect that may appear in the
ritual, let us consider only the one question and its answer, which
if the latter is in the affirmative, allows a man to become a
Mason. The question is, Do you believe in the existence of God ?
The answer is, I do. The answer is given in all sincerity, but let
us see what the God is that this man believes in.

THE PERSONALITY OF THE DEITY

I do not believe it necessary to go deep into the question
regarding the God of the Christian. We know him to be a personal
one, a being who directs the affairs of the universe, who looks
after man as a father watches his children. Whether he is a severe
and vengeful God as the Old Testament sometimes pictures him, or
the loving, forgiving one of the New Testament, is of little moment
here, in either case he is essentially the same.

And so with the God of the Jew, Mohammedan or Unitarian. Their
creed differs from the Christian's only in that theirs is
monotheistic. Their God is the same as that of the Christian
omitting the Trinity. He is the one true God who has no other gods
besides him. He is "personal," having conversed with and revealed
himself to man. He guides the destinies of the individual as well
as of nations.

The Pantheist is the next to be considered. His creed is in direct
antagonism to the foregoing; it negates all personality of God, the
creation of the world, the immortality of man. His God is one and
the same with the world, neither God nor the world have a distinct
and separate being. His God may assume various forms according to
the conception of divine nature, either a spirit or a substance,
resulting in idealistic pantheism in the former or materialism in
the latter. This theory of Deity became a factor in European
thought through the publication of Spinoza's great work, Ethica
ordine geometrico demonstrata, in the nineteenth century.

The Deist is not quite so radical, he recognizes a God, a Creator,
but one who having accomplished his task of creating the universe
now stands outside of it, restraining from all interference with
the laws he has established. This God is a good God; he possesses
self-conscious intelligence and will. This he has applied to
designs and their execution as is manifested in universal nature.
He is a benevolent being for all this has been done for man's
happiness. He is also very indulgent for man's sins are only
forgivable errors that do not influence his future life, which
consists only of man's immortal mind returning to and commingling
with the divine mind. No need for either adoration or supplication
for this God does not bother himself; has he not finished his work,
and did it well, when he completed the universe?

The Theist is only a modernization of the Deist. He merely
attributes a bit more warmth to God who is one with the world but
whose activities are confined within the course of nature. The
whole tone of the Theist's creed possesses a feeling of warmth and
spirituality that compares favorably with any other faith, but it
denies the Bible's claim to be or to contain a divine revelation,
in it the Theist only recognizes the literary product of
inspiration limited to the writer.

So then the Panthesists, Deists and Theists and many others whose
creeds are similar in character are admitted to Masonry. And why
not? Have they not all truthfully acknowledged a belief in God?
Maybe not the God of the Mason, who knows?

In extenuation of the tendency for thinking men to depart from the
strict orthodox definition of God I need only refer to:

(a) The acceptance of the doctrine of evolution in the world of
science.

(b) The preeminence of science and its claim of absolute and
uniform operation of the laws of nature, which calls in question
any statement regarding divine interference of these laws.

(c) The modern reinterpretation of the Bible by scholars in
accordance with the principles of critical research as applied to
other ancient literature.

(d) A realization, through the science of comparative religion,
that the so-called heathen religions are not so satanic as
traditional theology interpreted them to be.
