Do you know the answers to these questions?
(Just click on the square and compass
for the answer!)
1) What is the oldest know written record of our Craft?
a) the Hiram Letters
b) Tyre's Poem
c) the Regius Poem
d) London Manusript
a)1816
b)1776
c)1818
d)1861
a) Never - it never had a religious
base b) 1949
c) 1300 AD
d) 1723
a) Yes b) No
a) St. John the Baptist b) King Solomon
c) St. John the Evangelist d) King David
C) The Regius Poem, also know as the Halliwell Manuscript, was written by an unknown author about 1390 A.D.
Although written over 600 years ago, the Regius Poem shows Freemasonry to have been very old, even at that remote date.
Indiana Monitor and Freemason's Guide,
Sixteenth Edition, 1997, page 14
C) The Indiana
Grand Lodge was formed
January 12, 1818. Five
lodges were under it's charter originally: Vincennes No. 1; Union No. 2,
Madison; Blazing Star No. 3, Charlestown; Lawrenceburg No. 4, and Pisgah
No. 5, Corydon.
Indiana Monitor and Freemason's Guide,
Sixteenth Edition, 1997, page 26
d) The rules changed
in 1723, primarily due to problems with the Catholic church. In 1723, the
"Old Charges" went into effect, which are detailed below. Contrary to popular
belief, prior to 1723, Masonry was almost exclusively Christian (Catholic).
(I copied this directly from a website which answers these questions in great detail. I have included a few paragraphs from this site that pertain to this topic).
As might be supposed, during this entire period the Craft was strongly Catholic. This position softened somewhat, however, following the Protestant Reformation. Masonry required its members to adhere and support the "religion of the country in which they were living and working." It was still strongly Christian, "aggressively" Christian has been one description, but no longer exclusively Catholic.
This orientation persisted until about 1600 A.D., at which time a new view came to be held; a view which required only a belief in a Supreme Being, leaving the name of this Being and the manner of worship solely to the conscience of the individual.[2] This, the present view, was later formalized (1723) in the so-called Old Charges, one of the foundation stones upon which modern Freemasonry rests. The first of the Old Charges reads (with the spelling modernized):
"A Mason is obliged by his tenure to obey the moral law; and if he rightly understands the art, he will never be a stupid athiest, nor an irreligious liber tine. But though in ancient times Masons were charged in every country to be of the religion of that country or nation, whatever it was, yet 'tis now thought more expedient only to oblige them to that religion in which all men agree, leaving their particular opinions to themselves; that is, to be good men and true, or men of honor and honesty, by whatever denominations or persuasions they may be distinguished; whereby Masonry becomes the center of union and the means of concili ating true friendship among persons that must have remained at a perpetual distance."
To visit the web site that has more info in detail on
Christianity, Catholicism, Politics, and Freemasonry, please click:
The
Miter and the Trowel
Truth be known, our traditional Grand Lodges were the real "clandestine" lodges. We broke off from the Grand Lodge of England, whereas the original Prince Hall Lodges received their charter from the Grand Lodge of England. In other words, had we gone to Great Britain to sit in Lodge (until 1998), we would have been considered "clandestine." At this point in time, if I understand this correctly, Prince Hall Masons and regular Masons now fall under the same charter.
In 1998, Indiana's Grand Lodge voted
in favor of giving Prince Hall Mason's "full fraternal recognition."
May 19, 1998 - 1998 Indiana Proceedings,
pages 83-86
For more info on Prince Hall Masonry and Freemasonry,
please visit this website: http://www.bessel.org/pha.htm
A) and C) - St. John the Baptist and St. John the Evangelist
ST. John the Baptist
was the son of Zacharias and Elisabth (thus, the cousin of Jesus). His
day is celebrated June 24th.
St. John the
Evangelist was Galilean by birth, the son of Zebedee and Salome.
His day is celebrated Dec. 27th.
Both days were anciently established
as Church Festival Days.