more light #302
Origin Of Freemasonry
by Ed Halpaus
Grand Lodge Education Officer
Grand Lodge of A. F. & A. M. of Minnesota
Dear Masonic Student,
Below we have something that is taken from Mackey’s Encyclopedia of
Freemasonry that should be helpful to read and retain for the time when someone
asks what the origin of Freemasonry is. It seems like that is a question that
gets asked by Masons and non-Masons alike who are genuinely interested in the
history of Masonry. You may have a copy of Mackey’s; I hope so, because they are
great books to have for the Masonic Student. If you don’t have a set you might
be able to get one from a used book source; my favorite used book source is
Brother Harold Davidson at brod...@wtp.net
, I also like the on-line versions such as the e-book library at
www.phoenixmasonry.org . I’m sure you’ll like reading what Brother and Dr.
Mackey, and subsequent editors, wrote about the Origin of Freemasonry.
ORIGIN OF FREEMASONRY
The origin and source whence first sprang the institution of Freemasonry,
such as we now have it, has given rise to more difference of opinion and
discussion among Masonic scholars than any other topic in the literature of the
Institution. Writers on the history of Freemasonry have, at different times,
attributed its origin to the following sources:
1. The Patriarchal religion.
2. The Ancient Pagan Mysteries.
3. The Temple of King Solomon
4. The Crusaders.
5. The Knights Templar.
6. The Roman Colleges of Artificers
7. The Operative Masons of the Middle Ages.
8. The Rosicrucians of the sixteenth century
9. Oliver Cromwell, for the advancement of his political schemes.
10. The Pretender, for the restoration of the House of Stuart to the British
throne.
11. Sir Christopher Wren at the building of Sailt Paul’s Cathedral.
12. Doctor Desaguliers and his associates in the year 1717.
Each of these twelve theories has been from time to time, and the twelfth
within a recent period, sustained with much zeal, if not always with much
judgment, by their advocates. A few of them, however, have long since been
abandoned, but the others still attract attention and find defenders. Doctor
Mackey had his own views of the subject in his books History of Freemasonry, to
which the reader is referred (see Antiquity of Freemasonry Egyptians Mysteries;
Roman College Artificers; Como; Comacine Masters; Traveling Masons; Stone-Masons
of Middle Ages; Four Old Lodges; Revival; Speculative Freemasonry).
Those references about seeing those topics in Mackey’s 7 volume set of the
History of Freemasonry are a great help in shortening up the time it might take
to find information in the set on the origin of Freemasonry, if you’d like to
follow-up with some reading. If you don’t have a set they can be found in most
Masonic Libraries, and there is an e-book copy of each volume at:
www.phoenixmasonry.org
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