Anti-Masonry
Frequently Asked Questions
German historian Von Hammer stated: It is nothing to the ambitious man what people believe, but it is everything to know
how
he may turn them for the execution of his own projects. Talking
in reference to the anti-mason.
Topics to
jump too
Organizations Symbols
People Freemasonry History
Hoaxes/Frauds Are the Freemasons responsible for
? - Religion
Anti-Masonry has a history dating to the early eighteenth century
in
ORGANIZATIONS
1. Who are the Illuminati?
An undocumented, unconfirmed and undefined group with the alleged goal
of world domination. Much fiction has been written on the topic. Although the
subject of speculation, there is no documentation of any active and effective
group currently using the name. See Bavarian Illuminati.
_______________
Albert G. Mackey. "Encyclopedia of Freemasonry". Macoy
Publishing: 1966.
2. Does the Trilateral
Commission control the Freemasons?
No, and before you ask, the Freemasons don't control the Trilateral
Commission either. There are some 423 influential think tanks around the world;
the Trilateral Commission is one.
3. Who are the Trilateral
Commission?
Launched in 1973, the European Union,
The full Commission gathers once each year: the 1995 meeting was in
The Commission has three permanent regional offices in
Japanese Chairman:
Yotaro Kobayashi
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Fuji Xerox Co., Ltd.
North American Chairman :
Paul A. Volcker
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer,
James D. Wolfensohn Inc.,
New York;
Further information and a list of Trilateral Commission
publications can be found at:
http://www.jcie.or.jp/thinknet/tc/tc_contents.html
4. Who are the Bilderburgers?
A creation of M.W. Cooper who also reprinted the well known hoax
the "Protocols of the Elders of Zion", and stories of an ongoing
invasion of aliens from outer space, as fact. Three quotes from his book,
"The Secret Government" follow: "Throughout our history, the
Aliens have manipulated and controlled the human race through various secret
societies, religions, Satanic cults, witchcraft and occult movements."
"The headquarters of the international conspiracy is in
Mr. Cooper's writings are, in the main, fiction.
THE SECRET GOVERNMENT
The Origin, Identity, and Purpose of MJ-12
By Milton William Cooper
This fictional creation is not to be confused with the Bilderberg Conference. Started by Prince Bernhard in
In their own words: What is unique about Bilderberg
as a forum is:
1. The broad cross-section of leading citizens, in and out of government, that
are assembled for nearly three days of purely informal discussion about topics
of current concern especially in the fields of foreign affairs and the international
economy.
2. The strong feeling among participants that in view of the differing
attitudes and experiences of their nations, there is a continuous, clear need
to develop an understanding in which these concerns can be accommodated.
3. The privacy of the meetings, which have no purpose other than to allow
participants to speak their minds openly and freely.
At the meetings, no resolutions are proposed, no votes taken, and no policy
statements issued. In short, Bilderberg is a flexible
and informal international leadership-forum in which different viewpoints can
be expressed and mutual understanding enhanced.
To ensure full discussion, individuals representing a wide range of political
and economic points of view are invited. Two-thirds of the participants come
from
Participants are solely invited for their knowledge, experience and standing
and with reference to the topics on the agenda. All participants attend Bilderberg in a private and not in an official capacity.
Participants have agreed not to give interviews to the press during the
meeting. In contacts with the media after the conference it is an established
rule no attribution should be made to individual participants of what was
discussed during the meeting. There will be no press conference.
5. What was the P2 Lodge?
Originally a lodge under the jurisdiction of the Grand Orient of
Italy, their warrant was revoked and a number of their members expelled for unmasonic conduct.
The P2 Incident was a by-product of three related factors; the
vagaries of Italian Masonic History, the joint effects of past repressions and
social patronage on the Italian Craft, and certain defects in their
Constitution.
Italian Masonic history has been influenced by the political and
ethnic history of that country and the P2 Incident needs to be placed in that
context. Irregular Lodges (not recognized by mainstream Freemasonry), both in
Several Grand Lodges have been formed in
Although politics and religion were officially banned from
discussion in Lodges, in practice the Italian temperament views discussion of
state affairs as a duty. In 1908 a schism resulted when the Grand Orient
expelled a number of members for their political stance and the National Grand
Lodge was formed. It continues to this day as an irregular body.
Masonry was again prohibited in
Although the National Grand Lodge is not relevant to this article,
this history of suppression, irregularity, political infighting, and class
consciousness, is. In 1877, the Grand Orient granted a warrent
to a Lodge in
When the Grand Orient was revived after the Second World War it was
decided to number the Lodges by drawing lots; Lodge Propaganda drew number two,
thus it became P2. It rarely held meetings and was almost inactive.
In 1967, Brother Lucio Gelli, who had been initiated into a Lodge in
Gelli's growing influence became a concern
of the then Grand Master who, in late 1974, proposed that P2 be erased. At the
Grand Orient Communication in December 1974, of the 406 Lodges represented, 400
voted for its erasure. In March 1975 Gelli accused
the Grand Master of gross financial irregularities, withdrawing the accusations
only after the Grand Master issued a warrent for a
new P2 Lodge -- despite the fact that the Grand Orient had erased it only four
months earlier. P2 was considered regular; its membership was no longer secret
and Gelli was its Master. In 1976, Gelli requested that P2 be suspended but not erased. This
nuance of jurisprudence meant that he could continue to preserve some semblance
of regularity for his private club without being answerable to the Grand
Orient.
By 1978, suspect financial arrangements involving the Grand Master prompted
many other Grand Lodges to threaten to withdraw recognition, and the Grand
Master resigned before his term expired. Gelli
promptly financed the election campaign of the Immediate Past Grand Master, but
the Grand Orient elected another candidate as their new leader.
In 1980, Gelli told a press interview
that Freemasonry was a puppet show in which he pulled the strings. Italian
Masonry was outraged by this, struck a Masonic tribunal which in 1981 expelled
him and decided that P2 had been erased as a Lodge in 1974 and therefore any
contrary action by a Grand Master had been illegal.
The same year the police investigated Gelli
for a range of fraudulent activities and, in searching his house, found a P2
register of 950 names - mostly prominent people. Several government ministers
resigned and the Italian Government fell. Gelli
managed to get out of the country. A Special Parliamentary Commission found Gelli to have an obscure and opportunistic past and to
count among his friends many such as the fraudulent banker Calvi
who was later found dead under
The President of the Parliamentary Commission of Investigation,
while openly hostile to Freemasonry at the outset, eventually declared that
Freemasonry itself had been Gelli's first and
principal victim. While three successive Grand Masters (two now deceased and
one expelled from Freemasonry) had manipulated secret funds, secret members,
secret decisions and secret Lodges, the body of Italian Freemasonry was neither
guilty nor culpable in the P2 Affair.
At the Grand Orient Meeting of March 1982, no incumbent Grand
Officer was re-elected.
______________
Researchers are referred to a paper written by Kent Henderson, on which this
article is based :
The Transactions of the Lodge of Research No. 218. "Italian Freemasonry
and the 'P2' Incident", Kent Henderson.
6. What was Palladium?
Taxil purported to reveal the existence of
"Palladium," the most secret Masonic order, which practiced
devil-worship. He recounted the story of its high priestess Diana Vaughan; and
ended by publishing the "Memoires d'une ex-Palladiste" after
her conversion to Catholicism. When doubts began to spread, Taxil
realized the time had come to end the deceit. In a widely reported conference
in
After Taxil's public confession, Abbe de la Rive expressed his disgust and recanted his
writings on Diana Vaughan in the April 1897 issue of "Freemasonry
Disclosed", a magazine devoted to the destruction of the Craft. As much as
he hated Freemasonry, de la Rive had the integrity to admit Taxil's
hoax in the following editorial: "With frightening cynicism the miserable
person we shall not name here (Taxil) declared before
an assembly especially convened for him that for twelve years he had prepared
and carried out to the end the most extraordinary and most sacrilegious of
hoaxes. We have always been careful to publish special articles concerning Palladism and Diana Vaughan. We are now giving in this
issue a complete list of these articles, which can now be considered as not
having existed."
_____________
New Catholic Encyclopedia (R. Limouzin-Lamothe, s.v. Taxil, Leo)
Quoted in Alec Mellor's , "Strange Masonic Stories." (Richmond, Va.: Macoy Publishing & Masonic Supply Co., Inc., 1982), p.
151.
7. Is the Club of Rome
No.
According to John Lear, William Cooper and others, The Club of Rome
is a front for the Illuminati, or the 'Cult of the Serpent' backed by an
'alien' or non-human vanguard, the so-called 'Greys'.
An often quoted article, titled 'Pine Gap Base: World Context', written in
French by Lucien Cometta and later translated into
English by Dr. Jean Francois Gille, covers the same
theme, with an equal lack of verifiable documentation.
The Club of Rome was founded in 1968 by Dr. Aurelio Peccei (1908-84), an Italian scholar and industrialist, and
Alexander King, with a group of scientists, economists, businessmen,
international civil servants, heads of state and former heads of state from the
five continents but with similar concerns for the global future.
It currently has 27 honorary members, including a number of active
and former heads of states as well as noted scholars. Soka
Gakkai International President Daisaku
Ikeda was nominated on
The SGI's relationship with the Club of
Rome began with SGI President Ikeda's friendship with Aurelio Peccei. Their dialogue on world problems was published as
"Before it is Too Late" in 1984. Many books written by club members
are available to the public, including the 1972 bestseller "The Limits of
Growth", which first linked economic growth to negative consequences for
the environment.
The following are abstracts from a paper entitled "The Club of
Rome - The New Threshold" by Alexander King which was read into the
Congressional records of the United States on Tuesday, March 20, 1973: "The Club of Rome is:-a group of world
citizens, sharing a common concern for the future of humanity and acting merely
as a catalyst to stimulate public debate, to sponsor investigations and
analysis of the problematique and to bring these to
the attention of decision makers". "The Club of Rome is not: - a club
devoted exclusively to problems of industrial societies, attempting to find
solutions to the difficulties of affluence, but a group concerned with the
world system as a whole and with the disparities it includes. - a group of
futurologists, but of individuals who realise the
necessity of attacking now longer term and fundamental problems which are
difficult to approach with our present methods of government and which could
give rise to irreversible situations. - a political organisation,
neither of the right or of the left, but a free assembly of individuals,
seeking to find a more objective and comprehensive basis for policy-making. - a
body devoted to public propaganda for change - although, should we succeed in a
better delineation of the elements of the problematique,
we are convinced that our results should be made known universally through
appropriate national and international organisations
and the media."
Since the death of Aurelio Peccei and the
retirement of Alexander King, the Club of Rome has developed an updated Charter
under its president, Ricardo Diez Hochleitner
and its secretary general, Dr. Bertrand Schneider.
8. Did high-ranking mason,
Albert Pike found the Ku Klux Klan?
No.
There is no documentation that would suggest that Masonic author,
Albert Pike, was ever a member of the Ku Klux Klan., much less a founder or
organizer.
The 19th century Ku Kux Klan was
originally organized as a Confederate veterans social club in
Confederate Lieutenant General and Klan First Grand Wizard, Nathan
Bedford Forrest (1821-1877), was an entered apprentice of Angorona
Lodge No. 168 in
Twentieth century Klan organizers Colonel William J. Simmons and
Edward Y. Clarke were not Freemasons.
As a counterpoint, note that famous slavery abolitionist, John
Brown (1800-1859), was a member and officer of Hudson Lodge No. 68 in
SYMBOLS
1. Why do Freemasons use the Satanic pentagram/pentacle?
From the
Greek, "pente", meaning five and "gramma", a letter; the pentagram is a five pointed
star, with no specifically Satanic origin or meaning. It has no connection to
Freemasonry per se.
Masonry has
traditionally been associated with Pythagoras, and among Pythagoreans, the
pentagram was a symbol of health and knowledge; the pentagram is consequently
associated with initiation, as it is in Masonry.
The
pentagram (also called pentacle or pentalpha) traces its
origins to an astrological observance of the pattern of Venus' conjunctions
with the Sun and has had many meanings in many cultures through the ages. Its
use in Freemasonry is vestigial and peripheral, with the exception of its
mnemonic association with the "Five Points of Fellowship". It has no
relationship to the Blazing Star, which has no specified number of points, nor
the Star of David, which has six points.
"The
Medieval Freemason considered it a symbol of deep wisdom, and it is found among
the architectural ornaments of most of the ecclesiastical edifices of the
Middle Ages." (1) Eliphas Levi claimed, with no
justification or historical precedent , that one point upward represents the
good principle and one downward, the evil. (2) Incidentally, the pentalpha seems to have been widely used in Christianity,
and may even be found in certain Gnostic sects. It is commonly known as the
"Star of Bethlehem," or the "Star of the East" and is a
symbol of Divine guidance. When inverted, the slightly extended
downward-pointing angle reveals the place where the Christ child lay, thus
accentuating the association of heavenly or divine guidance.
It was
appropriated in the mediaeval period as a charm to ward off demons, evil
spirits and witches, which seems to be the source of its common association
with modern witchcraft.
_____________
(1) Albert Mackey. "Encyclopedia of Freemasonry.
(2) Eliphas Levi. "Dogma and Ritual of High
Magic ii". p.55.
2. Are Freemasons Satanists or Luciferians?
No.
Few masonic writers will say Freemasons are luciferians,
none will say they are Satanists. They use "luciferian"
to denote a spirit of enquiry and a search for knowledge, wisdom and truth; not
as a form of worship. The terms "lucifer"
and "luciferian" do not appear in any
accepted ritual or lecture of Freemasonry
3. Is the eye and pyramid a Masonic symbol?
No.
Of the four
men involved in designing the
______________________
1 Robert Hieronimus,
2 Patterson and Dougall in Hieronimus.
p. 48.
3 Hieronimus, p. 81.
4 Hieronimus. p. 57.
5 Thomas Smith Webb, The Freemasons Monitor or Illustrations of Masonry (Salem,
Mass.: Cushing and Appleton, 1821), p. 66.
PEOPLE
1. Who was Elias Ashmole?
(1617-1692)
Chemist and antiquarian of the late 1600s with connections at
2. Who was Francis Bacon?
Sir Francis
Bacon (1561-1626), English philosopher, statesman, and author.
Francis
Bacon's 'Novum Organum' and
later work,'The New Atlantis' "exerted a
considerable and beneficial influence on the manners of his age"(1).
Simply put, he proposed that truth is not derived from authority and that
knowledge is the fruit of experience. In his utopian allegory 'The New
Atlantis', Bacon wrote of a 'House of Solomon': a college of scientific
observation and research.
His association
with, or influence on, Freemasonry is questionable. If he was initiated or
active in any operative or speculative Masonic lodge, no record is known. Christoph Nicolai wrote that Lord Bacon had taken hints
from the writings of John Andrea (2), the founder of Rosicrucianism
and his English disciple, Fludd (3) and that his
ideas heavily influenced Elias Ashmole.(4)
Christoph Nicolai claims that Ashmole and others used Masons' Hall, London to conceal
their secret political efforts to restore the exiled house of Stuart and to
build an allegorical 'Solomon's House'.(5) 'The New Atlantis' did exert a
strong influence on the formation of the Society of Astrologers with Elias Ashmole in 1646 and they did meet at Masons' Hall. Many
members of this society also became Freemasons. If they had any influence on
the ritual or doctrines of Freemasonry, it is not apparent, from what few
records remain.
To suggest
that Ashmole introduced Solomon's legend into the masonic ritual is to ignore the 'Sloane Manuscript' (No.
3329,
Albert
Mackey refers to Nicolai's theory on the Bacon inspired origin of the Grand
Lodge of England as "peculiar."(6)
_________________
1.Albert Mackey. 'Encyclopedia of Freemasonry'. Macoy
Publishing:
2. John Andrea (b.
3. (1574-1637)
4. Elias Ashmole (b.
5. Christoph Nicolai (b.3/18/1733 -d.1/8/1811). 'Versuch uber die Beschuldigungen welch dem Tempelherrnorden gemacht worden und uber dessen Geheimniss;
nebst einem Anhange uber das Entstehen der Freimaurergesellschaft'
[An Essay on the accusations made against the Order of Knights Templar and
their mystery; with an Appendix on the origin of the Fraternity of Freemasons],
Berlin: 1782.
6. Albert Mackey. 'Encyclopedia of Freemasonry'. Macoy
Publishing:
3. Who was Abbι Barruel?
Augustin Barruel
(1741-1820) published "Mι pour servir ΰ'Histoire du Jacobinisme", in four volumes octavo, in
4. Who was Cagliostro?
Giuseppe
Balsamo (1743-95), Italian adventurer and gifted conman. Initiated into Esperance Lodge No. 289 (
5. Who was Albert Pike?
(1809-1891)
Lawyer and editor, Sovereign Grand Commander of the Southern Supreme Council,
Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite (1859). Although held in high regard by many
North American Freemasons, he is not considered an authority on either the
history or symbolism of Freemasonry.
Author of
"Morals and Dogma", he extracted much from earlier authors, such that
the book's preface reads: "Perhaps it would have been better and more
acceptable, if he had extracted more and written less." The preface also
states that, "Every one is entirely free to reject or dissent from
whatsoever herein may seem to him to be untrue or unsound."
6. Who was John Robison?
(1739 -
1805) Professor of Natural Philosophy in the University of Edinburgh, and
Secretary of the Royal Society in that city; author of "Proofs of a
Conspiracy against all the Religions and Governments of Europe carried on in
the Secret Meetings of the Freemasons, Illuminati, and Reading Societies,
collected from Good Authorities" Due to the anti-Jacobin sentiments of the
day it was received with some excitement but the "Encyclopaedia
Britannica" says that this book, "betrays a degree of credulity
extremely remarkable in a person used to calm reasoning and philosophical
demonstration." Robison had been initiated into Freemasonry at
7. Who was Leo Taxil?
Born in the
south of
In the strongly anti-Church climate existing throughout
Leo Taxil confessed to the sins he had committed in writing and
publishing anti-Catholic pamphlets. He then began writing a series condemning
the Freemasons. Titles include: The Anti-Christ and the Origin of Masonry;
The Cult of the Great Architect; and The Masonic Assassins.
Leo Taxil honed the simple declaration, "Lucifer is
God," and attributed it to Albert Pike., supposedly delivered to
Freemasons in
He also
coined the non-existent title, "Sovereign Pontiff of Universal
Freemasonry", for Pike. Of the hundreds of Masonic bodies in the world at
that time, Pike was the leader of just one, the Southern Jurisdiction of the
Scottish Rite. A blatant fraud, Taxil's forgery was a
huge success.
On
A
8. Who was Adam Weishaupt?
Adam Weishaupt was born
"Weishaupt, whose views were cosmopolitan, and who knew and condemned
the bigotry and superstitions of the Priests, established an opposing party in
the University.... This was the beginning of the Order of Illuminati or the
Enlightened...."(1) Weishaupt was not then a
Freemason; he was initiated into Lodge Theodore of Good Council (Theodor zum guten Rath),
at Munich in 1777.
___________________
(1) Albert G. Mackey, "Encyclopedia of Freemasonry", Richmond,
Virginia: Macoy Publishing. 1966, p.1099.
9. Was ? a Mason?
There are
over 200 recognized Masonic Grand Lodge jurisdictions around the world, each of
which keeps its own records and rolls. Several <>books have been
published listing details of over 10,000 famous Freemasons but it is not always
easy to document membership.
No individual speaks for Freemasonry so Masonic membership is no real criterion
for evaluating views, opinions, conclusions, or actions.
(1) US
President George Bush?
No. Some
draw an association with his use of the phrase "new world order", but
no regular lodge is on record as having initiated him. He was a member of the
Skull and Bones fraternity at Yale University; which has certain elements in
common with Freemasonry, of which the principal one might be summarized in
their motto, "memento mori".
(2) Miss
Diana Vaughan?
A figment of Leo Taxil's imagination, he claimed
Miss. Vaughan belonged to a fictional lodge called Palladium.
(3) Was
Joseph Stalin a Martinist Freemason?
The Rectified Rite of Martinism, except in North
America, did not restrict its membership to Freemasons but did require a belief
in a Supreme Being. Stalin, an avowed atheist, would not have qualified for
membership in either Freemasonry or the Rectified Rite. There is no record of
his membership.
(4) Karl
Marx?
An avowed athiest, Marx would not have qualified for
membership. There is no record of his having joined a recognized lodge. Marx's
supposed Masonic link stems from his involvement with the League of the Just.
Friederich Engels (1820-1895) helped transform this
socialist secret society of ιι German workers into
the Communist League when they held their first congress in London in June 1847
[The New Encyclopaedia Britannica. Vol. 4 p. 495.
Chicago: 1989.]. In 1848 he and Karl Marx were authorized to draft their
statement of principles, "The Communist Manifesto."
Any claim that this society was associated in any form with any Illuminati--or
by extension, Freemasonry--is unfounded.
(5) US
President Millard Fillmore?
An active Anti-Mason in his youth, Fillmore, after his presidency, later
attended two Masonic cornerstone laying, but there is no record that he was a
Freemason.
FREEMASONRY
1. Is a 33rd degree Mason more important than a 3rd degree Mason?
No.
There are
three degrees in Freemasonry, Entered Apprentice, Fellowcraft
and Master Mason. Some jurisdictions recognize a fourth degree as completing
the third degree, while the Swedish Rite confers 10 degrees.
Individual
lodges elect their "Master" for a one or two year term, individual
Grand Lodges elect their "Grand Master" for a similar term of office,
but these are not degrees. What are called appendant or concordant bodies
confer "side" degrees that have no bearing on, or authority over,
regular Freemasonry. [With the exception of a few jurisdictions such as the
Grand East of the Netherlands and the National Grand Lodge of Sweden.] The most
important concept to note is that Freemasons meet as equals, "on the
level".
2. What does A.F. & A.M. mean?
Ancient
Free and Accepted Masons
Although they represent historical ties, they are no indication of recognition
or ritual. The definitions noted are not absolute in that several grand
jurisdictions arbitrarily chose which terms to include in their name when they
were constituted.
Those Grand
Lodges that don't use the appellation "Ancient", claim immediate
descent from the "Grand Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons under the
constitution of England".
This Grand
Lodge was constituted from four lodges on June 24, 1717 and designated
"Modern". The "Moderns" and "Ancients" united in
November 25, 1813 to form the United Grand Lodge of Ancient Freemasons of
England.
Lodges and
Grand Lodges whose charters' roots derive from the United Grand Lodge of
Ancient Freemasons of England, The Grand Lodge of Ireland, or the Grand Lodge of
Ancient Free and Accepted Masons of Scotland, use the expression, A.'.F.'.&
A.'.M.'.
Ancient or Antient Freemasons:
Mostly Irish Freemasons formed this Grand Lodge in London in 1751. Properly
titled "Grand Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons of England according to
the Old Institutions". Also called Atholl
Freemasons, after the Third and Fourth Dukes of Atholl.
Free and
Accepted :
This term was first used in 1722 in Roberts Print; "The Old Constitutions
belonging to the Ancient and Honourable Society of
Free and Accepted Masons".
Free:
A Free Mason was free with his Guild; he had the freedom of its privileges and
was entrusted with certain rights.
Accepted:
"Acception" was an Inner Fraternity of
Speculative Freemasons found within the Worshipful Company of Masons of the
City of London. Operative members were "admitted" by apprenticeship,
patrimony, or redemption; speculative members were "accepted". First
recorded use of the term dates from 1620.
____________________
Mackey. Albert G.. Encyclopedia of Freemasonry. Macoy
Publishing: Virginia. 1966.
3. Is Freemasonry anti-(insert religion)?
No.
Although a
few individual masonic authors have commented unfavourably on individual religions, many more have
written about the value of religion and religions. Freemasonry as a body is
indifferent to religion.
4. Is Freemasonry a racist organization?
No.
Freemasonry has no bar to membership based on race, religion or creed. If there
have been Freemasons who have voted to reject an applicant for one of these
reasons, it was an act inconsistent with Masonic principles.
5. Do Freemasons worship Satan?
No.
Freemasonry, not being a religion by any definition, does not
"worship" any specific Supreme Being
6. Is it true that members can never quit?
No.
No
recognized Grand Lodge jurisdiction can coerce or compel membership. If a
member wishes to cease being a Freemason, he is free to do so.
HISTORY
1. What was the Bavarian Illuminati?
Adam Weishaupt founded the Illuminati of Bavaria on May 1, 1776 on
the principles of his early training as a Jesuit. Originally called the Order
of the Perfectibilists, "its professed object
was, by the mutual assistance of its members, to attain the highest possible
degree of morality and virtue, and to lay the foundation for the reformation of
the world by the association of good men to oppose the progress of moral
evil."(1) The Edicts (on June 22, 1784, for its suppression) of the
Elector of Bavaria were repeated in March and August, 1785 and the Order began
to decline, so that by the end of the eighteenth century it had ceased to
exist.... it exercised while in prosperity no favorable influence on the
Masonic Institution, nor any unfavorable effect on it by its
dissolution."(2) Coil describes the Order as a "short lived, meteoric
and controversial society"(3) while Kenning refers to it as a
"mischievous association".(4) In his own defence,
Weishaupt did say: "Whoever does not close his
ear to the lamentations of the miserable, nor his heart to gentle pity; whoever
is the friend and brother of the unfortunate; whoever has a heart capable of
love and friendship; whoever is steadfast in adversity, unwearied in the
carrying out of whatever has been once engaged in, undaunted in the overcoming
of difficulties; whoever does not mock and despise the weak; whose soul is
susceptible of conceiving great designs, desirous of rising superior to all
base motives, and of distinguishing itself by deeds of benevolence; whoever
shuns idleness; whoever considers no knowledge as unessential which he may have
the opportunity of acquiring, regarding the knowledge of mankind as his chief
study; whoever, when truth and virtue are in question, despising the
approbation of the multitude, is sufficiently courageous to follow the dictates
of his own heart, - such a one is a proper candidate." (5) As regards any
information derived from celebrated anti-mason, John Robison (6): "In the
(London) "Monthly Magazine" for January 1798 there appeared a letter
from Bottiger, Provost of the College of Weimar, in
reply to Robison's work, charging that writer with making false statements, and
declaring that since 1790 'every concern [sic] of the Illuminati has ceased.' Bottiger also offered to supply any person in Great
Britain, alarmed at the erroneous statements contained in the book above
mentioned, with correct information." (7) Documented evidence would
suggest that the Bavarian Illuminati was nothing more than a curious historical
footnote.
Other Illuminati
HesychastsHesychasm is a form of Eastern Christian monastic life requiring
uninterrupted prayer. Dating from the 13th century, it was confirmed by the
Orthodox Church in 1341, 1347 and 1351, and popularized by the publication of
the "Philokalia" in 1782.
Alumbrados (Spanish for 'enlightened') Members of a mystical movement similar
to the French Guerinets, in 16th century Spain; for
the most part they were reformed Jesuits and Franciscans. They believed that
the human soul could enter into direct communication with the Holy Spirit and,
due to their extravagant claims of visions and revelations, had three edicts
issued against them by the Inquisition. Ignatius of Loyola, founder of the
Jesuits in 1534 and composer of the 'Constitutions" of the Society of
Jesus, has written nothing that would suggest he was in sympathy with the Alumbrados.(8) The name translates as 'illuminati' in
Italian but the name is the only similarity with the later Bavarian Illuminati.
Geurinets17th century France.
Illuminati
of AvignonFormed by Pernetti in Avignon, France in 1770;
moved to Montpellier as the "Acadamy of True
Masons" in 1778. Inactive.
Illuminates
of StockholmThe Illuminated Chapter of Swedish Rite Freemasonry is currently
composed of approximately 60 Past or current Grand Lodge officers who have
received the honorary 11th degree.
Illuminated
Theosophists or Chastanier's RiteA 1767 modification of Pernetti's
"Hermetic Rite" that later merged with the London Theosophical
Society in 1784. Inactive.
Concordists: A secret order established in Prussia by M. Lang, on the wreck of
the Tugendverein (German for the Union of the
Virtuous), which latter Body was instituted in 1790 as a self-styled successor
of the Bavarian Illuminati. It was suppressed in 1812 by the Prussian Government,
on account of its supposed political tendencies.
______________
Notes:
(1) Albert G. Mackey, "Encyclopedia of Freemasonry", Richmond,
Virginia: Macoy Publishing. 1966, p.474.
(2) Albert G. Mackey, "Encyclopedia of Freemasonry", Richmond,
Virginia: Macoy Publishing. 1966. p.1099.
(3) Henry Wilson Coil, "Coil's Masonic Encyclopedia", New York: Macoy Publishing. 1961 p. 545.
(4) "Kenning's Masonic Cyclopaedia and Handbook
of Masonic Archeology, History and Biography", ed. Rev. A.F.A. Woodford.
London: 1878. p. 326.
(5) Adam Weishaupt, "An Improved System of the
Illuminati", Gotha: 1787.
(6) John Robison (1739 - 1805), "Proofs of a Conspiracy against all the
Religions and Governments of Europe carried on in the Secret Meetings of the
Freemasons, Illuminati. and Reading Societies, collected from Good
Authorities", printed by George Forman for Cornelious
David, Edinburgh: 1797. (531 pages).
(7) Heckethorn, p.314.
(8) "The Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius", trans. by L.J. Puhl (1951); "The Constitutions of the Society of
Jesus; Translated with an Introduction and a Commentary", by G.E.
Ganss:1970.
2. Weren't George Washington, every USA president, the first USA
Congress and the entire Continental Army all Freemasons?
(a) Masonic
Presidents of The United States:
George Washington
initiated 11/4/1752 Fredericksburg
Lodge No. 4, Virginia
James Monroe
initiated 11/9/1775 Williamsburgh Lodge No. 6, Virginia
Andrew Jackson
initiated Harmony Lodge No. 1
Tennessee
James Knox Polk
raised 9/4/1820 Columbia Lodge No.
31, Tennessee
James Buchanan
raised 1/24/1817 Lodge No. 43,
Pennsylvania
Andrew Johnson
initiated 1851, Greenville Lodge No.
119, Tennessee
James A. Garfield
raised 11/22/1864, Columbus Lodge No.
20, Ohio
William McKinley
raised 4/3/1865, Hiram Lodge No. 21,
Virginia
Theodore Roosevelt
raised 4/24/1901, Matinecock
Lodge No. 806, Oyster Bay
William Howard Taft
made a mason at sight 2/18/1909.
affiliated Kilwinning
Lodge 356, Ohio
Warren G. Harding
raised 8/13/1920, Marion Lodge No.
70, Ohio
Franklin Delano Roosevelt
raised Nov. 28. 1911,
Harry S. Truman
initiated 02/09/1909, Belton Lodge
No. 450
raised 03/18/1909, Belton Lodge No.
450
Lyndon Baines Johnson (EA)
Gerald Ford
raised May 18, 1951, Columbia Lodge
No.3
Grand Lodge of Washington, D.C.
courtesy to Malta Lodge No 465 Grand Lodge Michigan, Grand Rapids
(b) Signators to the U.S. Declaration of Independence (1776):
8 Freemasons out of 56 total.
Benjamin Franklin
Deputy Grand Master, Pennsylvania
John Hancock
St. Andrew's Lodge, Boston
Joseph Hewes
visited Unanimity Lodge No. 7,
Edenton, North Carolina: Dec. 27 1776
William Hooper
Hanover Lodge, Masonborough,
North Carolina
Robert Treat Payne
attended Grand Lodge, Roxbury, Mass.:
June 26, 1759
Richard Stockton
charter Master, St. John's Lodge,
Princeton, New Jersey: 1765
George Walton
Solomon's Lodge No. 1, Savannah,
Georgia
William Whipple
St. John's Lodge, Portsmouth, New
Hampshire
(c) Signators to the U.S. Constitution (1789):
Out of the 55 delegates, 9 signers were confirmed Freemasons; 5 non-signing
delegates were Freemasons; 6 later became Freemasons; 13 delegates have been
claimed as Freemasons on apparently insufficient evidence; 22 were known not to
be Freemasons.
9 Freemasons out of 40 total.
George Washington
raised: Fredericksburg Lodge,
Virginia: 1753
Benjamin Franklin
Lodge at Tun
Tavern, Philadelphia: 1731
Rufus King
St John's Lodge, Newburyport,
Massachusetts
John Blair
First Grand Master, Virginia
Gunning Bedford Jr.
First Grand Master, Delaware
John Dickinson
Lodge No. 18, Dover, Delaware: 1780
Jacob Broom
Lodge No. 14, Wilmington, Delaware,
1780
David Brearley
First Grand Master, New Jersey:1787
Daniel Caroll
St. John's Lodge No. 20,
Maryland:1781
Later became
Freemasons:
Jonathan Dayton
Temple No. 1, Elizabeth Town, New
Jersey
James McHenry
Spiritual LodgeNo.
23, Baltimore, Maryland: 1806
William Patterson
Trinity Lodge No. 5, New Jersey: 1788
Insufficient
evidence:
Nicholas Gilman
St John's Lodge No. 1, Portsmouth,
New Hampshire
(d) Signators of the U.S. Articles of Confederation (1781):
10 Freemasons out of (?) total.
(e)
Generals in George Washington's Continental Army:
34 Freemasons out of (?) total.
(f)
Presidents of the Continental Congresses (1774-89):
4 Freemasons out of (?) total.
Peyton Randolph of Virginia (1st)
John Hancock of Massachusetts (3rd )
Henry Laurens of South Carolina
Arthur St. Clair of Pennsylvania.
(g) Governors
of the thirteen colonies during the Continental Congress:
10 Freemasons out of 30 total.
(h) Chief
Justices of the United States:
Oliver Ellsworth
John Marshall (also Grand Master of
Virginia)
William Howard Taft
Frederick M. Vinson
Earl Warren (also Grand Master of
California.)
Note:
Neither Thomas Jefferson nor Patrick Henry were Freemasons, although Paul
Revere, John Paul Jones, LaFayette and Benedict
Arnold were. For further study see "Masonic Membership of the Founding
Fathers", by The Masonic Service Association, or refer to Coil's Masonic
Encyclopedia
HOAXES AND FRAUDS
1. What were the Protocols of the Elders of Zion?
The
"Protocols of the Elders of Zion", the most notorious and most
successful work of modern antisemitism, draws on popular
antisemitic notions which have their roots in
medieval Europe from the time of the Crusades. The libels that the Jews used
blood of Christian children for the Feast of Passover, poisoned the wells and
spread the plague were pretexts for the wholesale destruction of Jewish
communities throughout Europe. Tales were circulated among the masses of secret
rabbinical conferences whose aim was to subjugate and exterminate the
Christians, and motifs like these are found in early antisemitic
literature.
The conceptual
inspiration for the Protocols can be traced back to the time of the French
Revolution at the end of the 18th century. At that time, a French Jesuit named Abb Barruel, representing
reactionary elements opposed to the revolution, published in 1797 a treatise
blaming the Revolution on a secret conspiracy operating through the Order of
Freemasons. Barruel's idea was nonsense, since the
French nobility at the time was heavily Masonic, but he was influenced by a
Scottish mathematician named Robison who was opposed to the Masons. In his
treatise, Barruel did not himself blame the Jews, who
were emancipated as a result of the Revolution. However, in 1806, Barruel circulated a forged letter, probably sent to him by
members of the state police opposed to Napoleon Bonaparte's liberal policy
toward the Jews, calling attention to the alleged part of the Jews in the
conspiracy he had earlier attributed to the Masons. This myth of an
international Jewish conspiracy reappeared later on in 19th century Europe in places
such as Germany and Poland.
The direct
predecessor of the Protocols can be found in the pamphlet "Dialogues in
Hell Between Machiavelli and Montesquieu", published by the non-Jewish
French satirist Maurice Joly in 1864. In his
"Dialogues", which make no mention of the Jews, Joly
attacked the political ambitions of the emperor Napoleon III using the imagery
of a diabolical plot in Hell. The "Dialogues" were caught by the
French authorities soon after their publication and Joly
was tried and sentenced to prison for his pamphlet.
Joly's "Dialogues", while
intended as a political satire, soon fell into the hands of a German antisemite named Hermann Goedsche
writing under the name of Sir John Retcliffe. Goedsche was a postal clerk and a spy for the Prussian
secret police. He had been forced to leave the postal work due to his part in
forging evidence in the prosecution against the Democratic leader Benedict Waldeck in 1849. Goedsche adapted
Joly's "Dialogues" into a mythical tale of
a Jewish conspiracy as part of a series of novels entitled
"Biarritz", which appeared in 1868. In a chapter called "The
Jewish Cemetery in Prague and the Council of Representatives of the Twelve
Tribes of Israel", he spins the fantasy of a secret centennial rabbinical
conference which meets at midnight and whose purpose is to review the past
hundred years and to make plans for the next century.
Goedsche's plagiary of Joly's "Dialogues" found its way to Russia. It
was translated into Russian in 1872, and a consolidation of the "council
of representatives" under the name "Rabbi's Speech" appeared in
Russian in 1891. These works furnished the Russian secret police (Okhrana) with a means with which to strengthen the position
of the weak Czar Nicholas II and discredit the reforms of the liberals who
sympathized with the Jews. During the Dreyfus case of 1893-1895, agents of the Okhrana in Paris redacted the earlier works of Joly and Goedsche into a new
edition which they called the "Protocols of the Elders of Zion". The
manuscript of the Protocols was brought to Russia in 1895 and was printed
privately in 1897.
The
Protocols did not become public until 1905, when Russia's defeat in the
Russo-Japanese War was followed by the Revolution in the same year, leading to
the promulgation of a constitution and institution of the Duma.
In the wake of these events, the reactionary "Union of the Russian
Nation" or Black Hundreds organization sought to incite popular feeling
against the Jews, who they blamed for the Revolution and the Constitution. To
this end they used the Protocols, which was first published in a public edition
by the mystic priest Sergius Nilus
in 1905. The Protocols were part of a propaganda campaign which accompanied the
pogroms of 1905 inspired by the Okhrana. A variant
text of the Protocols was published by George Butmi
in 1906 and again in 1907. The edition of 1906 was found among the Czar's
collection, even though he had already recognized the work as a forgery. In his
later editions, Nilus claimed that the Protocols had
been read secretly at the First Zionist Congress at Basle in 1897, while Butmi in his edition wrote that they had no connection with
the new Zionist movement, but rather were part of the Masonic conspiracy.
In the civil
war following the Bolshevik Revolution of 1917, the reactionary White Armies
made extensive use of the Protocols to incite widespread slaughters of Jews. At
the same time, Russian emigrants brought the Protocols to western Europe, where
the Nilus edition served as the basis for many
translations, starting in 1920. Just after its appearance in London in 1920,
Lucien Wolf exposed the Protocols as a plagiary of the earlier work of Joly and Goedsche, in a pamphlet
of the Jewish Board of Deputies. The following year, in 1921, the story of the
forgery was published in a series of articles in the London Times by Philip
Grave, the paper's correspondent in Constantinople. A whole book documenting
the forgery was also published in the same year in America by Herman Bernstein.
Nevertheless, the Protocols continued to circulate widely. They were even
sponsored by Henry Ford in the United States until 1927, and formed an
important part of the Nazis' justification of genocide of the Jews in World War
II.
2. Did Albert Pike give a speech claiming "Lucifer is
God"?
No.
What
follows is a forgery by Leo Taxil, falsely identified
as part of a speech and written order which Albert Pike was supposed to have
delivered to Freemasons in Paris on Bastille Day, July 14, 1889: "That
which we must say to the world is that we worship a god, but it is the god that
one adores without superstition. To you, Sovereign Grand Inspectors General, we
say this, that you may repeat it to the brethren of the 32nd, 31st and 30th
degrees: The Masonic Religion should be, by all of us initiates of the higher
degrees, maintained in the Purity of the Luciferian
doctrine. If Lucifer were not God, would Adonay and
his priests calumniate him? "Yes, Lucifer is God, and unfortunately Adonay is also god. For the eternal law is that there is no
light without shade, no beauty without ugliness, no white without black, for
the absolute can only exist as two gods; darkness being necessary for light to
serve as its foil as the pedestal is necessary to the statue, and the brake to
the locomotive. "Thus, the doctrine of Satanism is a heresy, and the true
and pure philosophical religion is the belief in Lucifer, the equal of Adonay; but Lucifer, God of Light and God of Good, is
struggling for humanity against Adonay, the God of
Darkness and Evil."
Pike had
been dead for three years, so Taxil back-dated the
order. It was signed by Taxil as the work of
"Albert Pike, Sovereign Pontiff of Universal Freemasonry, Instructions to
the twenty-three Supreme Councils of the World, July 14,1889."
No one in
Freemasonry ever held the title of "Sovereign Pontiff." Also, the
phrase "Universal Freemasonry" has never been used, since there is no
such thing. Of the hundreds of Masonic bodies in the world at that time, Pike
was the leader of just one, the Southern Jurisdiction of the Scottish Rite. In
spite of its blatant fraudulence, Taxil's forgery was
a huge success.
3. Does A.L. mean "In the year of Lucifer"?
No, Anno Lucis translates as "in the year of light" and is
arrived at by adding 4000 to the common era. No other explanation for this has
been made other than the archbishop of Armaugh, James
Ussher's (1581-1656) published support of a long-accepted chronology of
Scripture which fixed the earth's creation at 4004 BCE
4. Isn't the Masonic Bible supposed to be Albert Pike's
"Morals and Dogma"?
There is no
"Masonic Bible". The proper Masonic term is "Volume of the
Sacred Law". Freemasonry having evolved in Christian, and at one time
Catholic, nations, members were predominantly Christian and therefore a version
of the Christian "Holy Bible" is utilized in most Masonic Lodges. The
King James version is the most common. If its membership is composed of men of
different faiths, a lodge may choose to use a number of different books such as
the Koran, Torah or Bahgvagita.
5. Did George Washington renounce Freemasonry?
No.
He remained
a member of the Craft from his initiation into the Lodge at Fredericksburg,
Virginia No. 4 on Nov 4, 1752 until the day he died on December 14, 1799, when
he received a Masonic funeral.
6. Doesn't the "Big Book of Conspiracies" explain all
this?
No.
The
compiler, Doeg Moench, DC
Comics and Time Warner Entertainment Company have avoided actionable libel by
including a carefully worded "Publisher's note", defining conspiracy
theories as opinions, which may or may not be true, inferring relationships
between facts, which may in fact have no relationship, and drawing conclusions
without any other proof.
Most of the
fanciful claims made in this "comic book" are addressed in this FAQ.
Errors in facts and specific claims regarding Freemasons are detailed and
refuted in the "Big Book page".
ARE THE MASONS RESPONSIBLE FOR ? ?
1. Did the Freemasons cause the French Revolution of 1789?
French
Freemasons of the 18th century were, in the main, aristocrats or propertied.
They were not in sympathy with social change. A growing belief that a ruler
governed by right of the people and not by right of God provided a backdrop for
much of the French Revolution. As many Freemasons embraced one belief as
another. Whatever the actions of individual Freemasons, Freemasonry as a whole
is indifferent to politics.
"Not
only did Freemasonry have no part in instigating the movement but it was one of
the principal sufferers... and the majority of Paris Masters lost their
lives." Before the Revolution the Grand Orient of France had 67 lodges in
Paris and 463 in the Provinces, Colonies and Foreign Countries; the Grand Lodge
had 88 in Paris and 43 outside. During the Revolution only two or three of the
Paris lodges kept open.(1) Napoleon Bonaparte (1769-1821) was initiated into
Army Philadelphe Lodge in 1798. His brothers, Joseph,
Lucian, Louis and Jerome, were also Freemasons. Five of the six members of
Napoleon's Grand Councel of the Empire were
Freemasons, as were six of the nine Imperial Officers and 22 of the 30 Marshals
of France.
French
General of the Revolutionary Army, Jean Victor Moreau (1763-1813) was one time
Master of Loge Parfaite Union in Rennes, France. He
headed the Republican and Royalist conspiracy against Napoleon. (1) (1)
Henry Wilson Coil, "Coil's Masonic Encyclopedia". Macoy
Publishing. Richmond, Virginia: 1995. p.2 74. (2) William R. Denslow, "10,000 Famous Freemasons". Missouri
Lodge of Research. Independence, Missouri: 1957.
2. Did the Freemasons kill Captain William Morgan?
No.
In brief, William Morgan was an itinerant worker who settled in Batavia in
1824. He managed to convince the Masons of Batavia that he was a Mason and participated
in Lodge activities, made speeches and visited other Lodges. He signed a
petition for the formation of a Royal Arch Chapter in Batavia, but some other
Masons questioned his Masonic legitimacy. Another Royal Arch petition was then
submitted, which he was not permitted to sign. Morgan was furious about this,
and vowed revenge. He agreed to work with David Miller, the publisher or the
"Batavia Advocate," the local newspaper, and several partners, in the
publication of a book exposing Freemasonry. The project was made public and
there was Pandemonium among the Masons of Batavia and the surrounding towns in
western New York, leading ultimately to his disappearance on September 19th,
1826. It is generally agreed that William Morgan was taken to Canada by Masons
and there given $500 and a horse, with the agreement that he never return.
However, despite a lack of evidence, rumors persisted that he had been
murdered.
Those
involved issued the following statement; "The plan from inception to completion,
contemplated nothing more than a deportation of Morgan, by friendly agreement
between the parties, either to Canada or some other country. Ample means were
provided for the expenses and the after-support of Morgan and his family. This
plan had been perfected from the fact that the minds of Masonic brethren had
been agitated by rumors that William Morgan was preparing an exposition and was
preparing to give it to the public. It was then mutually agreed that Morgan
would destroy the document, refuse all interviews with his partner and hold
himself in readiness to go to Canada, settle down there and upon arrival he
should receive 500.00 dollars with his written pledge to stay there and never
return to the States. We also agreed that Morgan's family should be cared for
and sent to Canada as soon as a suitable home had been provided for them. What
a tremendous blunder we all made! It was scarcely a week until we saw what
trouble was before us. Morgan had sold us out as he had sold his friends in
Batavia. Within forty eight hours after his arrival in Canada he had gone. He
was traced to a point down the river not far from Port Hope where he had sold
his horse and disappeared. He had doubtless got on a vessel there and left the
country."
Morgan's
deportation cannot be justified by any legal, moral or Masonic principle. It
should be noted that Morgan's "expose" was nothing more than a
cobbled plagiarism of earlier English exposures, of little interest or value.
Public
interest in the affair began about three weeks after Morgan's disappearance in
the form of inflammatory hand-bills printed throughout New York and Canada
accusing the Freemasons of Batavia of abducting and murdering William Morgan.
Conventions and public meetings were held demanding an investigation and
offering rewards for the discovery and conviction of those involved.
DeWitt
Clinton, a distinguished and eminent Mason, was Governor of the State of New
York at the time. He issued proclamations condemning the actions of those
accused of abducting Morgan and secured indictments against the four men
involved in the conspiracy.
The Grand
Lodges throughout the United States passed resolutions, disclaiming all
connection or sympathy with the outrage.
RELIGION
1. Is Freemasonry a religion?
No.
Freemasonry
seeks no converts. Freemasonry has no dogma, cosmology or theology. Freemasonry
offers no sacraments nor does it claim to lead to salvation. Freemasonry is not
a religion.
2. Are Freemasons really Gnostics?
No.
Gnosticism
is a religion. Freemasonry is not a religion. There have been those Masonic
writers who have filtered their personal understanding of Freemasonry through
their personal Gnostic beliefs. The same can be said of Masonic writers of any
religious belief.
3. What is Gnosticism?
Gnosis
"is not taught but when God wills it is brought to remembrance."
(from "Corpus Hermeticum")
"Gnostic" is often erroneously used as a pejorative for any belief or
faith that excludes Jesus and has become almost synonymous with
"pagan". It is also often equated with secret writings and concealed
knowledge. Gnosticism, under its own name and at least eight others, was
declared heretical within the first three centuries of the Roman Catholic
Church. Gnosticism, though, is not only an old Catholic heresy, it is also a
living religion.
Gnosticism
may be considered a Perso-Babylonian syncretion with three definable schools, Essenic, Samaritan (Simon Magus), and Alexandrian (Philo),
with the Judaic "Qabala" as an arguable
fourth.
Gnostic
thought contains four main threads, first; that God is unknowable, or
ineffable, mankind being rude matter cannot comprehend God. Second; that
knowledge, not through intellect, but through special revelation, is an aspect
or emanation from God and therefore superior to faith. Third; that mankind's
goal is redemption of the soul from the material world. And fourth; that
knowledge could only be revealed as the petitioner was trained to understand
it.
With rare
exception Gnostic writing had no place for a personal Redeemer or Savior God.
With the knowledge of personal revelation and the proper passwords, a Gnostic
believed that his soul would find its way back to its creator. The cosmology
encompassed a wide range of complex and hotly-debated explanations for the
spiritual mechanics of a dualistic universe composed of a world of
sense-appearance and a realm of real being: matter and God, with matter being
essentially evil.
Gnostic
practices ranged from the rigorous ascetism of Saturninus to the unbridled libertinism of the Ophites. The Gnostic tradition flourished in such
communities as the Essenes and the Ebionites and Carinthus. The
ritual was defined by two extreme schools, one rejecting all sacraments and the
other, mainly Marcosians, developing an extreme
symbolism and mystic pomp in worship, with many sacraments and varied rites.
The only
surviving Gnostic community is the Mandeans, found
near the lower reaches of the Tigris and Euphrates.
Gnostic
authors:
"Pistis
Sophia"
Coptic-Gnostic texts of the
"Codex Brucianus"
two "books of Jeu"
Acts of Thomas
Hermes Trismegistus
"Poimandres" (300 CE)
Anti-Gnostic
authors:
Irenaeus
Hippolytus "Philosophoumena"
Clement of Alexandria "Stroneteis", "Excerpta
ex Theodoto"
Tertullian "adv. Marcionem" "adv. Hermogenem",
"adv. Valentinianus"
Epiphanius "Panorion"
___________
"A History of Christian Thought." Arthur C. McGiffert,
Charles Scribner's Sons, New York London: 1933.
"A
History of Western Philosophy." Bertrand Russell. Simon and Schuster, New
York: 1945. (pp. 324-326, 291-293).
"Dictionary
of the Apostolic Church." ed. James Hastings. Vol
I. Charles Scribner's Sons: New York: 1916. (pp. 453-456).
"Gnostic
Gospels, The." E Pagels. New York and London:
1979.
"Harper
Dictionary of Modern Thought, The." Alan Bullock, et al, Harper & Row,
Publishers, New York: 1988 (p. 362).
"Jew
and Greek: Tutors unto Christ." G.H.C. MacGregor.
Ivor Nicholson ans Watson
Limited, London: 1936 (pp. 309 -329).
4. Isn't Lucifer another name for Satan?
No.
The name
Lucifer was applied to Satan by St. Jerome and then to the demon of sinful
pride by Milton in "Paradise Lost". This was a fanciful development
of an original reference confused in translation. "Lucifer" is the
term originally used by the Romans to refer to the planet Venus when that planet
was west of the sun and hence rose before the sun in the morning, thereby being
the morning star.
The word
appears to have entered the religious lexicon when the original Hebrew word
"heyleyl" (meaning morning star, or
literally, "shining one") was translated to "Phosphorus"
(the Greek word for Venus as the morning star) in the Septuagint, and then
translated into "Lucifer" in the Vulgate (from the Greek Septuagint).
One passage in which this occurs is Isaiah 14, which taken as a whole, is a
parable, or prophecy of denunciation against the Kings of Babylon, specifically
Tiglath-pilneser (circa 716 BCE) In verse 12, the
prophet characterizes the arrogance of Tiglath-pilneser
as if the king had thought himself fit to appear in the sky as the morning star,
but has fallen to earth, being brought low by the vengeance of the Lord against
those who would exalt themselves and persecute the Lord's people (i.e., the
Israelites).
The word
"Satan" is from a Hebrew word, "Saithan",
meaning adversary or enemy; in original Jewish usage (see the book of Job),
Satan is the adversary, not of God, but of mankind; i.e., the angel charged by
God with the task of proving that mankind is an unworthy creation. Thus Satan
is not in opposition to God but in fact doing His will. Later, the concept of
an evil power ruling an underground domain of punishment for the wicked became
fixed in Christian doctrine. In such a doctrine, elements of the Graeco-Roman god Pluto/Vulcan/Hephaestus, the Underworld,
and various aspects of Nordic/Teutonic mythology may be traced.
From a
supposed reference to this passage in our Lord's words. 'I beheld Satan fallen
as lightning from heaven' (Lk 10:18), in connection
with Rev 9:1-11 (the language of 9:1 being in part probably derived from this passage),
Lucifer came in the Middle Ages to be a common appellation of Satan. The star
of Rev 9:1-11 is a fallen angel who has given to him the key of the abyss, from
which he sets loose upon the earth horribly formed locusts with scorpions'
tails, who have, however, power to hurt only such men as have not the seal of
God on their foreheads. But this angel is not actually identified with Satan by
the writer of the Apocalypse. The imagery in Is was no doubt suggested by a
meteor, and possibly it was so in Rev also. (2)
________________
1) Funk & Wagnalls Standard Dictionary of
Folklore, Mythology & Legend.
2) F.H. Woods, "A Dictionary of the Bible Vol
III". ed. James Hastings. New York. Charles Scribner's Sons: 1908. p. 159.
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