Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Kabbalism, Secret Societies, And Freemasonry.
KABBALISM , SECRET SOCIETIES , AND FREEMASONRY .
In the Christian ' Remembrancer of April there is an article relative to Kabbalism and Secret Societies , as a revieiv on tivo Avorks recently published , which we reprint , feeling that it cannot be otherwise than interesting to the speculative Mason , and though Ave are not prepared to endorse all that the Avriter says relative to our orderAve are bound to admit that
, there is much iu his observations which is perfectly true , Avhilst , where Ave disagree with him , ive think it not less interesting to know Avhat others say and think of us , as Avell as Avhat Ave say and think of ourselves , but at the same time we are bound to admit that Ave can by no means endorse much that has
been published by so-called Masonic writers , and which will not bear the test of investigation . The two Avorks referred to are , 1 . La Kabbah , ou La Philosophic SeUc / ieuse des Hebreux . Par ADOLPIIE FHANCK , Professeur Agrege a la Faculte des Lettres de ParisProfesseur de Philosophie au
, College Eoyal de Charlemagne . Paris . 2 . Etudes Orientales . Par ADOLPIIE FKASCK , Membre de l'lnstitut . Paris , 1861 . Taking these works for the text of his article , the author
says' The question that Pilate put to our Lord—Avithout , however , expecting an answer , from his belief in the impossibility of its being answered—has been the question that all great thinkers and philosophers have ever been proposing in all countries , and in all ages of the world—What is truth ? What is tho rationale of my own being , my beginning , my end , the purpose of my existence ?
Who and what is that Being Avhom ive call God , and what is my relation to Him ? Finally , what is the origin of the universe , and Avhat ivill be its end ? To solve these mysteries , the philosophers of Greece and Eome addressed themselves ; ivith Avhat success our classical readers ivell know . Without a direct revelation from Heaven , the attempt ivas , and proved itself to be ,
impossible ; though they hacl glimmerings of a belief in the immortality of the soul , and of a judgment after death , ycfc , ignorant of the doctrine of the Fall and tho Redemption , thoy could never realise the great truth of a state of probation , and so they sunk' down into a condition of Atheism , believing in a God , but denying His Providence . The glimmerings of light , scintillations from traditions of JEdcn , made many of them belici-e
that there was a time when man was unfallen , and lived without war or lust , contented with his own ;* but this failed to help them to truth , because they ivere ignorant that the loss of this state resulted from the temptation of a being external to man , and was to be repaired bj r another , at once man , and man ' s Creator . Human nature could not remain content with this negative state , priests
and priestesses would lose credit with the lay people , if they ivho had been , as it ivere , taken into the confidence of their Deity , could account no better for the condition of mankind , than to confess that they knew nothing about it . _ An esoteric theology ivas therefore invented , into which the initiated only ivere admitted , while an exoteric one , of types and symbols of the esoteric , was
published to the generality ; among the initiated alone ivas the truth ; a knowledge to be attained only at the cost of study and self-disci pline , in some cases of mortification , ivhieh , by subduing the flesh , was supposed to purify the spirit . For purification of the spirit so as to become Divine , and perhaps , as in Pantheistic Asia to be absorbed into the Deity , was probably the final ' truth ' that these mysteries taught . Egypt , according to
Kabbalism, Secret Societies, And Freemasonry.
Jamblicus , ivas the parent of religious mysteries—at least , those of Europe and Western Asia ; perhaps India may claim an equal , if not a superior , antiquity for hers ; but it may be safely doubted whether the Eleusinian , Samothracian , and other mysteries had not also an independent origin ; in other ivords , Avhether a " ' mystery' " be
nob an almost necessary accompaniment of all religious ; from the elaborate systems of Egypt aud Eleusis to the lvitch-doctors of Greenland and of Equatorial Africa . It is not , then , to be expected that a religion wliich alone possessed a Divine origin , should lack its esoteric mystery , especially one like the Mosaic , which ivas essentialla ' shadow of things to come . ' Full of types
y , figures , dark and obscure prophecies , which , until fulfilled in their antitype , were almost an impenetrable mystery , the Old Testament presented to the mind of the student the richest storehouse from which to frame a mystery . Accordingly there arose that stupendous monument of patient investigation and learned invention —the KAISBALA : an edifice carefulllanned and laid out
y p at first , and receiving additions from the intellectual JCAV of the golden age of Jewish literature , in the schools of mediasral Spain and France ; founding a science which far overflowed its original boundaries , for it infected largely the Christianity of that time ; and , as Ave shall afterwards prove , has its imitators among religious writers of our own day , and in our own country . The
Kabbalists would persuade us that their science is the oldest in existence , nay , that it preceded the creation of this world , for it ivas taught by God himself to the angels ; that after the Creation , they communicated it to Adam , and to certain favoured ones of his posterity ; that the Avritings of Moses and the Prophets contain the exoteric form suited for the generality , ivhile the initiated
were Divinely instructed in the esoteric ; by it they not only knew heavenly mysteries , but that they acquired supernatural powers ; they commanded the aid of good angels , and brought evil ones into subjection ; they
controlled the forces of nature , and made the elements of the Avorld subservient to them . In King Solomon was centered the utmost extent , as well as the highest perfection , of Kabbalistic Avisdom ; by Kabbalism he penetrated tho secrets of the universe , understood the language of birds and beasts , and made them obey him ; nay , he reduced to slavery demons and genii , and made
them execute his commands . His body is supposed to be yet sitting on a throne in the tomb ofthe kings , holding that awful sceptre ivith which he ruled all creation ; this sceptre is to be the inheritance of the Messiah , ivho shall , like his ancestor , hold universal sway . " Passing from the extravagances of oriental imaginationand coming to more sober historyive inquire when
, , and hoiv did Kabbalism arise ? The ansiver must be , to a certain extent , based on a weighing of probabilities ; the Book of Jetzirah , attributed to the Patriarch Abraham , but written in the first century , and the Book of Zohar , composed a little later , were the first works on Kabbalism ; but Ave must give the science itself a far greater antiquity .
" It seems , then , most probable that Kabbalism arose after the return from Babylon , Avhen . a great and lasting change took place iu the religious habits , thoughts , and manners of the people . We hear no more of that once besetting sin of idolatry ; ive find an attachment to the Divine law and ivorship , contrasting most remarkably with its former neglect ; an attention to the mintitias of
the Commandments , Avhich Avas not long in growing into Phariseeism . Whether intercourse ivith a more polished and intellectual people during the captivity , ivhether the severity of tho lesson they had received , or Avhether the germ of moral and intellectual poivers long lying dormant in their half-savage youth , were IIOAV developing into civilized manhood , similar to other ancient nations , like Greece and Eome , is to account for the phenomenon , Ave shall not stop to inquire ; the fact remains evident , that the Jeiv after the return Avas eminently superior fo
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Kabbalism, Secret Societies, And Freemasonry.
KABBALISM , SECRET SOCIETIES , AND FREEMASONRY .
In the Christian ' Remembrancer of April there is an article relative to Kabbalism and Secret Societies , as a revieiv on tivo Avorks recently published , which we reprint , feeling that it cannot be otherwise than interesting to the speculative Mason , and though Ave are not prepared to endorse all that the Avriter says relative to our orderAve are bound to admit that
, there is much iu his observations which is perfectly true , Avhilst , where Ave disagree with him , ive think it not less interesting to know Avhat others say and think of us , as Avell as Avhat Ave say and think of ourselves , but at the same time we are bound to admit that Ave can by no means endorse much that has
been published by so-called Masonic writers , and which will not bear the test of investigation . The two Avorks referred to are , 1 . La Kabbah , ou La Philosophic SeUc / ieuse des Hebreux . Par ADOLPIIE FHANCK , Professeur Agrege a la Faculte des Lettres de ParisProfesseur de Philosophie au
, College Eoyal de Charlemagne . Paris . 2 . Etudes Orientales . Par ADOLPIIE FKASCK , Membre de l'lnstitut . Paris , 1861 . Taking these works for the text of his article , the author
says' The question that Pilate put to our Lord—Avithout , however , expecting an answer , from his belief in the impossibility of its being answered—has been the question that all great thinkers and philosophers have ever been proposing in all countries , and in all ages of the world—What is truth ? What is tho rationale of my own being , my beginning , my end , the purpose of my existence ?
Who and what is that Being Avhom ive call God , and what is my relation to Him ? Finally , what is the origin of the universe , and Avhat ivill be its end ? To solve these mysteries , the philosophers of Greece and Eome addressed themselves ; ivith Avhat success our classical readers ivell know . Without a direct revelation from Heaven , the attempt ivas , and proved itself to be ,
impossible ; though they hacl glimmerings of a belief in the immortality of the soul , and of a judgment after death , ycfc , ignorant of the doctrine of the Fall and tho Redemption , thoy could never realise the great truth of a state of probation , and so they sunk' down into a condition of Atheism , believing in a God , but denying His Providence . The glimmerings of light , scintillations from traditions of JEdcn , made many of them belici-e
that there was a time when man was unfallen , and lived without war or lust , contented with his own ;* but this failed to help them to truth , because they ivere ignorant that the loss of this state resulted from the temptation of a being external to man , and was to be repaired bj r another , at once man , and man ' s Creator . Human nature could not remain content with this negative state , priests
and priestesses would lose credit with the lay people , if they ivho had been , as it ivere , taken into the confidence of their Deity , could account no better for the condition of mankind , than to confess that they knew nothing about it . _ An esoteric theology ivas therefore invented , into which the initiated only ivere admitted , while an exoteric one , of types and symbols of the esoteric , was
published to the generality ; among the initiated alone ivas the truth ; a knowledge to be attained only at the cost of study and self-disci pline , in some cases of mortification , ivhieh , by subduing the flesh , was supposed to purify the spirit . For purification of the spirit so as to become Divine , and perhaps , as in Pantheistic Asia to be absorbed into the Deity , was probably the final ' truth ' that these mysteries taught . Egypt , according to
Kabbalism, Secret Societies, And Freemasonry.
Jamblicus , ivas the parent of religious mysteries—at least , those of Europe and Western Asia ; perhaps India may claim an equal , if not a superior , antiquity for hers ; but it may be safely doubted whether the Eleusinian , Samothracian , and other mysteries had not also an independent origin ; in other ivords , Avhether a " ' mystery' " be
nob an almost necessary accompaniment of all religious ; from the elaborate systems of Egypt aud Eleusis to the lvitch-doctors of Greenland and of Equatorial Africa . It is not , then , to be expected that a religion wliich alone possessed a Divine origin , should lack its esoteric mystery , especially one like the Mosaic , which ivas essentialla ' shadow of things to come . ' Full of types
y , figures , dark and obscure prophecies , which , until fulfilled in their antitype , were almost an impenetrable mystery , the Old Testament presented to the mind of the student the richest storehouse from which to frame a mystery . Accordingly there arose that stupendous monument of patient investigation and learned invention —the KAISBALA : an edifice carefulllanned and laid out
y p at first , and receiving additions from the intellectual JCAV of the golden age of Jewish literature , in the schools of mediasral Spain and France ; founding a science which far overflowed its original boundaries , for it infected largely the Christianity of that time ; and , as Ave shall afterwards prove , has its imitators among religious writers of our own day , and in our own country . The
Kabbalists would persuade us that their science is the oldest in existence , nay , that it preceded the creation of this world , for it ivas taught by God himself to the angels ; that after the Creation , they communicated it to Adam , and to certain favoured ones of his posterity ; that the Avritings of Moses and the Prophets contain the exoteric form suited for the generality , ivhile the initiated
were Divinely instructed in the esoteric ; by it they not only knew heavenly mysteries , but that they acquired supernatural powers ; they commanded the aid of good angels , and brought evil ones into subjection ; they
controlled the forces of nature , and made the elements of the Avorld subservient to them . In King Solomon was centered the utmost extent , as well as the highest perfection , of Kabbalistic Avisdom ; by Kabbalism he penetrated tho secrets of the universe , understood the language of birds and beasts , and made them obey him ; nay , he reduced to slavery demons and genii , and made
them execute his commands . His body is supposed to be yet sitting on a throne in the tomb ofthe kings , holding that awful sceptre ivith which he ruled all creation ; this sceptre is to be the inheritance of the Messiah , ivho shall , like his ancestor , hold universal sway . " Passing from the extravagances of oriental imaginationand coming to more sober historyive inquire when
, , and hoiv did Kabbalism arise ? The ansiver must be , to a certain extent , based on a weighing of probabilities ; the Book of Jetzirah , attributed to the Patriarch Abraham , but written in the first century , and the Book of Zohar , composed a little later , were the first works on Kabbalism ; but Ave must give the science itself a far greater antiquity .
" It seems , then , most probable that Kabbalism arose after the return from Babylon , Avhen . a great and lasting change took place iu the religious habits , thoughts , and manners of the people . We hear no more of that once besetting sin of idolatry ; ive find an attachment to the Divine law and ivorship , contrasting most remarkably with its former neglect ; an attention to the mintitias of
the Commandments , Avhich Avas not long in growing into Phariseeism . Whether intercourse ivith a more polished and intellectual people during the captivity , ivhether the severity of tho lesson they had received , or Avhether the germ of moral and intellectual poivers long lying dormant in their half-savage youth , were IIOAV developing into civilized manhood , similar to other ancient nations , like Greece and Eome , is to account for the phenomenon , Ave shall not stop to inquire ; the fact remains evident , that the Jeiv after the return Avas eminently superior fo