Re: The Church and Freemasonry
Posted: Tue Jun 28, 2022 7:01 pm
Thank you Brother!George MillerPM wrote: ↑Tue Jun 28, 2022 3:31 pmThe links above and in the original post should now be fixed. I hope that helps.
Internet Mormons, Chapel Mormons, Critics, Apologists, and Never-Mo's all welcome!
https://discussmormonism.com/
Thank you Brother!George MillerPM wrote: ↑Tue Jun 28, 2022 3:31 pmThe links above and in the original post should now be fixed. I hope that helps.
The first twelve verses (Moses 5:1-12) of the fifteen verse insertion at the beginning of Genesis 4 focus mainly on Adam and his righteous posterity. As has been demonstrated, these verses echo in many respects the retelling of the Genesis account as it appears in the Masonic text Antiquities of Freemasonry. In addition, Reverend Oliver’s work gives the added information that Adam and his righteous posterity were Masons who participated in Masonic rituals including those related to the Royal Arch ritual with its offices of prophet, priest, and king.”Moses 5:13-15” wrote:[b[MOS 5:13[/b] And SATAN CAME AMONG THEM, saying: I am also a SON OF GOD; and he commanded them, saying: Believe it not; and THEY BELIEVED IT NOT, and they LOVED SATAN MORE THAN GOD. And men began from that time forth to be CARNAL, SENSUAL, AND DEVILISH.
MOS 5:14 And the Lord God called upon men by the Holy Ghost everywhere and COMMANDED THEM THAT THEY SHOULD REPENT;
MOS 5:15 AND AS MANY AS BELIEVED IN THE SON, AND REPENTED OF THEIR SINS, SHOULD BE SAVED; AND AS MANY AS BELIEVED NOT AND REPENTED NOT, SHOULD BE DAMNED; and the words went forth out of the mouth of God in a firm decree; wherefore they must be fulfilled.
Moses 5:15 records the teachings of God that “as many as believed not and repented not, should be damned” was the fate of those that became Diabolical Mahans but promised that “as many as believed in the son, and repented of their sins, should be saved”. Thus the text claims that this two-fold doctrine promised damnation to the unrighteous and salvation to the righteous. While Cain’s posterity was damned by the carnal, sensual, and devilish dispositions, Joseph’s translation of the Genesis reveals that the Seth were “preachers of righteousness, and spoke and prophesied, and called upon all men, everywhere, to repent”. (Moses 6:23) This righteous posterity of Seth which “believed in the son, and repented of their sins” is also discussed in great detail in Antiquities of Freemasonry”Antiquities of Freemasonry” wrote: WHEN MEN BECAME NUMEROUS UPON THE EARTH, THE EVIL SPIRIT OF DARKNESS WAS VERY BUSILY ENGAGED in the CORRUPTION OF THEIR MORALS; and SUCCEEDED in in working up the MALEVOLENT PASSIONS IN THE HEART OF CAIN, until APOSTATIZED FROM MASONRY, and slew his brother Abel.
(AoF 46)
Being, however, by the mercy of God, protected from the summary vengeance oh his fellow men, Cain migrated from the residence of his parents, as many of Adam’s posterity had done before him, and planted a colony in the land of Nod. Here his race FORSOOK EVERY GOOD AND LAUDABLE PURSUIT, ALONG WITH MASONRY, and DEGENERATED into every species of IMPURITY AND WICKEDNESS; though there were a few of his immediate descendants, who retained so much virtue as to exert the FAINT REMAINS OF THEIR MASONIC TALENTS for the benefit of mankind. Thus Jabal, the sixth in descent from Cain, invented music, Tubal Cain, his half-brother, invented the art of forging of working metals. Here Cain, with the assistance of these artists, reduced the knowledge he had acquired from Adam to practice, and constructed a city, which he named Hanock, after his eldest son.
The FAMILY OF CAIN lived in much fear of the rest of Adam’s posterity, whom they conjectured would revenge the death of Abel upon them when a favourable opportunity should present itself. LAMECH was the first who ENDEAVOURED to REMOVE THEIR APPREHENSIONS, and proposed a fortification as the most certain means of safety. By HIS advice, CAIN, the the assistance of Jabal and Tubal Cain, encompassed his city with walls, as a place of refuge, in case of interruption from the people around them. This city, being the FIRST PRACTICAL EXERTION OF OPERATIVE MASONRY, was necessarily ill constructed, and probably worse defended. The habitations were merely tents or huts, which served, indeed, to shelter them from the inclemency of the seasons, but whose conveniences were little superior to the dens and caves which had hitherto been used as their places of domestic retreat. The only great advantage derived from the construction of this city was the association, from which many important benefits resulted. The blessings of superior civilization might ensue, in a well regulated commonwealth, from an union of interests and reciprocity of benefits; which could never be obtained while men depended on their own insulated exertions for the necessities of life; and existed, if not in absolute enmity with all other of their species, at least without the conviction that each occasional companion or associate was a firm and constant friend. And if, in this solitary mode of living, the duty of laying up stores of provision and comfort for the winter was neglected, in that inclement season the improvident individual must inevitably perish with cold and hunger; unless, with the STRONG ARM OF VIOLENCE AND INJUSTICE, he wrested the miserable pittance from his more provident neighbour. This, we are assured by Diosodous Suculus, was frequently the case; and hence MURDER AND HOMICIDE WERE VERY COMMON AMONG THE ANTEDILUVIANS, and were the particular species of violence which elicited the wrath of God to sweep them from the earth.
By the formation of a SOCIETY OR COMPACT, in the bond was MUTUAL SECURITY, the evils might have been prevented; the social virtues of the heart might display themselves, traces of civil government might be visible, to RESTRAIN THE IMPETUOSITY OF HUMAN PASSION; and some notion of the moral government of the universe, by a Superior Being, become impressed upon their minds, and possess a genial influence on their morals. UNFORTUNATELY THE COMMONWEALTH OF HANOCH enjoyed but few of these benefits, from a WANT REGULARITY IN IT ITS FOUNDER. ROUGH AND UNGOVERNABLE, and more distinguished by VIOLENCE and LICENTIOUSNESS, than peace and social order. They had either FORGOTTEN GOD, or were WILLFULLY DISPOSED to act in DIRECT OPPOSITION TO HIS COMMANDS. Their HOSTILITY to the DIVINE AUTHOR of the being announces the DECAY OF MASONRY AMONGST THEM; and their subsequent DEGENERACY shews how the human HEART MAY BE DEBASED, when divested of these true principles, which so strongly stimulate to virtue and holiness.
After his this PUBLIC RENUNCIATION OF GOD’S LAWS, VICE RAPIDLY INCREASED, until it brought on man’s destruction. LAMECH, WHO APPEARS TO HAVE POSSESSED GREAT INFLUENCE IN THE CITY OF HANOCH, introduced the EVIL OF BIGAMY; and the effects of HIS EXAMPLE increased to SUCH A DEGREE, that, before the flood, there existed amongst his posterity an INDISCRIMINATE COMMUNITY OF WIVES, as well as BESTIAL INTERCOURSE WITH EACH OTHER. HOLY SCRIPTURE has NOT RECORDED THEIR MONSTROUS ENORMITIES; and as MASONRY was at length WHOLLY GIVEN UP BY THIS RACE, I return to the line of Seth, amongst whom it was yet cultivated. (AoF 47-51)
Moses 5:13-15 echoes Antiquities of Freemasonry in five aspects. First, both make the anachronistic claim that Satan came among the progeny of Adam to tempt them. Second, both texts claim that Satan set up an alternative system of worship. Third, emphasize the element of “Sons of God” - an appellation given to the righteous Masons in Seth’s line and Satan’s claim as a “Son of God”. Fourth, both texts record the success of Satan’s teaching amongst both Cain who “apostatized from Masonry” and amongst the many others who followed Cain. Fifth, both describe the apostasy of the Mahanic brothers as having the aspects of being carnal, sensual, and devilish. Sixth, both Antiquities of Freemasonry record the preaching of Seth and his righteous posterity to the Diabolical Mahans. While not discussed here, there are further parallels in the above quoted passages about both the Divine Masonic and Diabolical Mahanic traditions amongst Seth’s lineage and Lamech’s lineage respectively found in later chapters of the Joseph Smith translation.”Antiquities of Freemasonry” wrote: Seth, the son of Adam, was educated by his father in the strictest principles of piety and devotion; and when he arrived at the YEARS OF MATURITY was ADMITTED to a participation in the MYSTERIES OF MASONRY, to study he applied himself with the most diligent assiduity. The progress he made in the science is fully demonstrated by the purity of his life. Associating with himself the most virtuous men of his age, the FORMED LODGES, and discussed the GREAT PRINCIPLES OF MASONRY with FREEDOM, FERVENCY, and ZEAL. These MASONS in a few centuries, made such progress in the science, that they received the appellation SONS OF LIGHT, or SONS OF GOD. Their SYSTEM OF MASONRY WAS PURELY THEOLOGICAL: its illustrations EXPLAINED THE NATURE AND ATTRIBUTES OF GOD, the CREATION OF THE WORLD, and the UNHAPPY FALL OF MAN. It pointed out the differences between MORAL GOOD AND EVIL, and COMPARED THE HAPPINESS OF PARADISE with the PAIN, DISEASE, AND MISERY of this wretched world; that the mind might be incited to AVOID A MUCH GREATER PUNISHMENT, and ASPIRE TO THE ENJOYMENT OF A MUCH HIGHER DEGREE OF HAPPINESS in a FUTURE STATE. It inculcated the PRECEPTS OF RELIGION, and the necessity of DIVINE WORSHIP; the SANCTIFICATION OF THE SEVENTH DAY, with other particulars which EVERY MASON IS ACQUAINTED with, who is master of our imitable FELLOW CRAFT’S LECTURE.
From general illustrations of God’s attributes, these indefatigable MASONS proceed to the study and investigation of GOD’S CREATED WORKS. Of these the CELESTIAL ORBS appeared the most prominent and splendid, and were, therefore, contemplated with an eagerness of research which produced the MOST IMPORTANT RESULTS. The rudiments of ASTRONOMY were NOT ONLY FORMED IN THESE EARLY AGES, byt the science was carried to SOME DEGREE OF PERFECTION; and certainly inspired a sublime idea of the glorious Being, who could create and govern so vast and complicated a machine.
The Jewish Rabbins, in describing the holiness of this race while engaged in these pursuits, present to the view a TRUE AND BEAUTIFUL PICTURE OF THE RESULTS OF MASONRY, when practiced in its native purity. Separated, by the divine economy, from the rebellious race of Cain, they preserved the primitive sanctity of their progenitors until the year of the world 500. THEIR OCCUPATIONS WERE PURELY SPIRITUAL, for they lived almost SOLELY ON THE SPONTANEOUS PRODUCTIONS OF NATURE. The LAWS AND MOTIONS OF THE CELESTIAL BODIES CONSTITUTED THEIR CHIEF STUDY, and their unusual amusement consisted in singing psalms to God. Endued with that benign principle which we term CHARITY, the passions of envy, hatred and revenge found no place amongst them; injustice and deceit were banished from their society; sincerity and plain-dealing were their distinguishing characteristics; and they lived, daily ripening for that state which enlightened by the presence of God for evermore. To the purity of these SONS OF GOD our most excellent patron, St. John the Evangelist, compared that of the Christian converts. He addresses them by the same appellation, and contrasts their conduct with the righteous race of Cain.
Seth continued to preside over these SACRED ASSEMBLIES until the time of Enoch; and finding that the spirit of God was in that highly favoured individual, and that he excelled his brethren in wisdom and knowledge, he installed him Grand Superintendent in his stead; happy to leave science under the direction of so excellent a protector.
(AoF 51-54)
Enoch perceiving that men did not reform from his REPEATED EXHORTATIONS, instituted that form of EXCOMMUNICATIONS known amongst the primitive Christians by the name of Maranatha, being derived from Maran, the Lord, and Ath, fire. After giving them a SOLEMN WARNING OF THEIR DREADFUL PUNISHMENT WHICH AWAITED THEIR OBDURATE INIQUITY, he resigned the government to his son Lamech; and on his fervent petition for death, it pleased God to translated him from the Lodge on earth to the Lodge above, where his piety was rewarded with everlasting glory. HIS FAREWELL EXHORTATION WAS CALCULATED TO AWAKEN MANKIND FROM THEIR LETHARGY, IF THEY HAD NOT BEEN DEAD TO THE IMPULSE BIT THAT OF VICE. “Behold,” says he “the Lord cometh with ten thousand of his Saints, to execute judgment upon all, and to the convince all that are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deed which they ungodly committed, and of their hard speeches which ungodly sinners have spoken against him.” (Jude 1:14-15)
Being liberated from a monitor whom they regarded with some degree of awe and reverence, mankind proceeded to the UNLIMITED GRATIFICATION of their REBELLIOUS PASSIONS, WITHOUT FEAR OF RESTRAINT.
The fascinations held out by the Cainites were too powerful for the children of Seth to resist, and THEIR MINDS WERE RAPIDLY TAINTED wi the ABOMINATIONS OF IDOLATRY: they WORSHIPED THE HOST OF HEAVEN; they erected shrines to the honour of imaginary deities; and at length Tubal Cain was EXALTED TO THE DIGNITY OF A GOD, under the appellation of Vulcan. This was the first instance of a MORTAL BEING DEIFIED, and it took place in the seventh generation from Adam. To this god the Egyptians afterward assigned the attributes of prescience, power, and unlimited duration of immortality. While the reign of other gods was confined within certain and specific limits, the reign of Vulcan was without end. (AoF 91-92)
After the 15 verse addition, the Joseph Smith translation begins editing the text of Genesis 4:1. The text matching Genesis 4 is in black while the additions and emendations are in red above.”Moses 5:16-22” wrote:[GEN 4:1 | MOS 5:16 And Adam and Eve, his wife, ceased not to call upon God. And Adam knew Eve his wife, and she conceived and bare Cain, and said: I have gotten a man from the Lord; wherefore he may not reject his words. But behold, Cain hearkened not, saying: Who is the Lord that I should know him?
GEN 4:2 | MOS 5:17 And she ]b]again conceived[/b] and bare his brother Abel. And Abel hearkened unto the voice of the Lord. And Abel was a keeper of sheep, but Cain was a tiller of the ground.
MOS 5:18 And Cain loved Satan more than God. And Satan commanded him, saying: Make an offering unto the Lord.
gen 4:3 | MOS 5:19 And in process of time it came to pass that Cain brought of the fruit of the ground an offering unto the Lord.
gen 4:4 | MOS 5:20 And Abel, he also brought of the firstlings of his flock, and of the fat thereof. And the Lord had respect unto Abel, and to his offering;
gen 4:5 | MOS 5:21 But unto Cain, and to his offering, he had not respect. Now Satan knew this, and it pleased him. And Cain was very wroth, and his countenance fell.
GEN 4:6 | MOS 5:22 And the Lord said unto Cain: Why art thou wroth? Why is thy countenance fallen?
GEN 4:7 | MOS 5:23 If thou doest well, thou shalt be accepted. And if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door, and Satan desireth to have thee; and except thou shalt hearken unto my commandments, I will deliver thee up, and it shall be unto thee according to his desire. And thou shalt rule over him;
MOS 5:24 For from this time forth thou shalt be the father of his lies; thou shalt be called Perdition; for thou wast also before the world.
MOS 5:25 And it shall be said in time to come—That these abominations were had from Cain; for he rejected the greater counsel which was had from God; and this is a cursing which I will put upon thee, except thou repent.
This claim that priesthood is eternal echoes the claim of George Oliver’s statement about the Masonry that “that our science existed before the creation of this globe, and was diffused amidst the numerous systems with which the grand empyreum of universal space is furnished. The great architect of the universe was the founder of masonry.””Instruction on Priesthood” wrote: [T]he Melchisadeck priesthood comprehends the Aaronic or Levitical priesthood and is the Grand head and holds the hig[h]est Authority which pertains to the priesthood— the keys of the Kingdom of God in all ages of the world to the latest posterity on the earth— and is the channel through which all knowledge, doctrine, the plan of salvation and every important matter truth is revealed from heaven. Its institution was prior to “the foundation of this earth or the morning stars sang together or the sons of God shouted for joy,” (Job 38:6-7) and it is the highest and holiest priesthood and is after the order of the Son [of] God, and all other priesthoods are only parts, ramifications, powers and blessings belonging to the same and are held controlled and directed by it. It is the Channel through which the Almighty commenced revealing his glory at the beginning of the creation of this earth and through which he has continued to reveal himself to the children of men and to the present time and through which he will make known his purposes to the end of time[.]
Thus George Oliver and Joseph Smith both would use Job 38 as prooftext for their expansive Masonic theology which elucidated God as a the Grand Architect of the Universe who held Masonic rule over the initiated angels who practiced Masonry. Because the angels who kept not their first estate had learned Masonry before the fall, the archdemon Satan and the other demons had knowledge of the mysteries of freemasonry.[Joseph Smith] ays the spirit or the inteligence of men are self Existant principles before the foundation this Earth— & quotes the Lords question to Job “where wast thou when I Laid the foundation of the Earth”2 Evedencing that Job was <in> Existing somewhere at that time he says God is Good & all his acts is for the benefit of infereir [inferior] inteligences— God saw that those inteligences had Not power to Defend themselves against those that had a tabernicle therefore the Lord Calls them together in Counsel & agrees to form them tabernicles so that he might Gender3 the spirit & the tabernicle togather so as to create sympathy for their fellow man— for it is a Natureal thing with those spirits that has the most power to bore down on those of Lesser power4 so we see the Devil is without a tabernicle & the Lord has set bands to all Spirits.REF
The Joseph Smith translation continues with 6 more added verses before it begins paraphrasing Genesis 4:8. Of these six added verses, the verse that has most interested Mormon historians has been Moses 5:31. In this verse, Cain claims the title of Master Mahan. As multiple Mormon historians have noted, this title seems to be a linguistic bastardization of the term “Master Mason.” The term Master Mason comes from Freemasonry and describes a man who has been initiated an Entered Apprentice in the first degree, passed to the second degree of Fellow Craft, and raised to the sublime third degree of Blue Lodge Masonry. Lodges of Freemasons are also usually presided over by the Worshipful Master, also referred to as the Master of the Lodge.”Moses 5:26-31” wrote:[MOS 5:26 And Cain was wroth, and listened not any more to the voice of the Lord, neither to Abel, his brother, who walked in holiness before the Lord.
MOS 5:27 And Adam and his wife mourned before the Lord, because of Cain and his brethren.
MOS 5:28 And it came to pass that Cain took one of his brothers’ daughters to wife, and they loved Satan more than God.
MOS 5:29 And Satan said unto Cain: Swear unto me by thy throat, and if thou tell it thou shalt die; and swear thy brethren by their heads, and by the living God, that they tell it not; for if they tell it, they shall surely die; and this that thy father may not know it; and this day I will deliver thy brother Abel into thine hands.
MOS 5:30 And Satan sware unto Cain that he would do according to his acommands. And all these things were done in secret.
MOS 5:31 And Cain said: Truly I am Mahan, the master of this great secret, that I may murder and get gain. Wherefore Cain was called Master Mahan, and he gloried in his wickedness.
I have only met two (that I know of) who do; one in Idaho and another in Wyoming or Montana (who winters down here in St. George, UT). Unfortunately, the OES chapter here in St George folded due to low numbers; the next nearest one is in Cedar City, but I don't know too many of the OES members there.
Are you, by chance, the same Don Bradley that authored The Lost 116 Pages?
I don't know how often Don checks in here. I think last time he posted was to let us know he was taking a break, so I hope he does not mind me answering for him.latterdaytemplar wrote: ↑Tue Jul 05, 2022 6:22 pmAre you, by chance, the same Don Bradley that authored The Lost 116 Pages?
Rick Grunder wrote:Some secondary works perpetuate old apologetics calculated to suggest that William Morgan was not murdered - or perhaps even abducted at all. (And a twentieth-century pro-Masonic artist's conception of a scurrilous-looking Morgan which I see in some of those books and web pages is easily negated by George Washington Harris' careful 1827 description of how high up on his face Morgan shaved.)
Extensive data, on the other hand, and commentary from special prosecutors and court cases of the time are both clear and available. Here is one of my entries on that subject for anyone who has the patience to glance through it:
http://www.rickgrunder.com/parallels/mp359.pdf
Rick
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC5n_8_ ... ju0hu2CFXQlatterdaytemplar wrote: ↑Tue Jul 05, 2022 6:16 pmI have to apologize for dropping off of this subthread. I have very much enjoyed reading from George MillerPM and Philo Sofee.
Philo Sofee, are your podcasts located somewhere other than your TheBackyardProfessor YouTube channel? I think that I saw you mention it here before, but forgot to save it and now I'm having difficulty finding it (it doesn't help that my computer's going a bit slow haha).