In the 18th century, as non-Christians began to seek admission. The Christian references
began to be softened and then gradually removed, so that men of different faiths
could meet in amity. The process was completed by the Lodge of Reconciliation in
1814-1816, resulting in the Craft becoming truly universal and able to accommodate
anyone with a belief in a supreme being, however he expressed that belief. In the
firm belief that the ritual is self-explanatory, Grand Lodge has always refused to
issue handbooks further explaining the meaning of and symbolism in the three Craft
degrees. Enthusiastic Masonic writers, however, have produced books in which they
have given personal, and often very idiosyncratic, interpretations of the ritual.
In some cases the religious gloss writers have put upon the ritual is deeply offensive
to the great majority of Freemasons. It cannot be too highly stressed that these
interpretations are entirely personal to their authors and neither have the sanction
of Grand Lodge nor do they reflect either Grand Lodge's views or those of the Craft
in general.
How Freemasonry Started
In the ceremonies Freemasons are told that Freemasonry was in existence when King
Solomon built the Temple at Jerusalem and that the masons who built the Temple were
organised into Lodges. Freemasons are also told that King Solomon, King Hiram of
Tyre and Hiram Abif ruled over those lodges as equal Grand Masters. The ceremonies,
however, are built up of allegory and symbolism and the stories they weave around
the building of the Temple are obviously not literal or historical facts but a dramatic
means of explaining the principles of Freemasonry. Freemasonry neither originated
nor existed in Solomon's time. Many well-meaning but misguided historians, both
Masons and non-Masons, have tried to prove that Freemasonry was a lineal descendant
or a modern version of the mysteries of classical Greece and Rome or derived from
the religion of the Egyptian pyramid builders. Other theories reckon that Freemasonry
sprang from bands of travelling stonemasons acting by Papal authority. Others still
are convinced that Freemasonry evolved from a band of Knights Templar who escaped
to Scotland after the order was persecuted in Europe. Some historians have even
claimed that Freemasonry derives in some way from the shadowy and mysterious Rosicrucian
Brotherhood which may or may not have existed in Europe in the early 1600’s. All
of these theories have been looked at time and again but no hard evidence has yet
been found to give any of them credibility. The honest answers to the questions
when, where and why Freemasonry originated are that we simply do not know. Early
evidence for Freemasonry is very meagre and not enough has yet been discovered -
if indeed it even exists - to prove any theory.
The general agreement amongst serious Masonic historians and researchers is that
Freemasonry has arisen, either directly or indirectly, from the medieval stonemasons
(or operative masons) who built great cathedrals and castles. Those who favour the
direct descent from operative masonry say there were three stages to the evolution
of Freemasonry.
The stonemasons gathered in huts (lodges) to rest and eat. These lodges gradually
became not the hut but the grouping together of stonemasons to regulate their craft.
In time, and in common with other trades, they developed primitive initiation ceremonies
for new apprentices. As stonemasons could easily travel all over the country from
one building site to another, and as there were also no trade union cards or certificates
of apprenticeship they began to adopt a private word which a travelling stonemason
could use when he arrived at a new site.
