Masonry History
King Solomon’s Temple
When the great temple of King Solomon was built in Jerusalem (956 BC), thousands of workers contributed to its completion. The architects and masons who built the legendary temple were learned and highly skilled men. The men who knew how to cut, measure, layout, and build with stone carefully guarded the secrets of their craft. Their knowledge contained fundamental principles that they used as a rule and guide for their lives. With their knowledge came the respect of their communities and the ability to support their families and colleagues.
Medieval Stonemasons
As Europe moved through the early Christian era, stonemasons were responsible for building the great cathedrals. Those great buildings contained hidden knowledge that was embedded in the architectural elements. Stonemasons used their skills to create castles, cathedrals, and palaces. They also sculpted the statue and ornaments that grace those monumental structures. To the average population, the stonemasons had magical abilities. These men were the elite. To protect their positions and rank from overly ambitious apprentices, they developed secret customs and coded markings to maintain their status. Masons were handsomely paid and had considerable freedom to travel through the land.
Charters Cathedral
Speculative Masons
Men who sought safety beyond the reach of the Pope and the Inquisition settled in the relative isolation of Scotland. It was here that the cry for freedom rang out. The secret knowledge of the operative masons became the principles of the speculative masons. What was once the purview of the builders transformed into the more profound teachings of a pioneering group of thinkers and philosophers who took the practical knowledge and made it applicable to society as a whole.
Masonic Working Tools
Age of Enlightenment & The Foundation For Our Nation.
Early in the 18th century, a new philosophy was born in Europe and America. For the first time in history, the idea of equality based on a person's humanity rather than his status in society emerged. With equality came tolerance and acceptance.
Ben Franklin
The notion of the "brotherhood of man" took on new significance as the political evolution of the day led to the Founding Fathers' establishment of a new nation based on principles of human rights.
In conjunction with the political movement, a spiritual force drove progress. Unity and cooperation became the foundation of a new democracy. To bring together a nation of people from different backgrounds and cultures required the utmost commitment to higher ideals.
Even so, though the American dream was written into the documents of the new nation, the Founding Fathers' attempt to create a nation founded on equality was politically impossible during their day.
(The evolution of a human society that has slowly progressed over thousands of years continues today in the lodges of Masons around the world.)
Masonic Presidents
From the swearing-in of our first president on a Masonic bible to the William R. Singleton Hope Lebanon Lodge #7 inaugural ball hosted by the Masons honoring Barak Obama, Free and Accepted Masons have had close relations with the American Democracy. In all the activities of Masonry, "one man / one vote" has been the mainstay of the fraternity.
In every lodge, men of different faiths, backgrounds, and stations in life are brought together on equal footing. Every member has the same right to advance through the ranks to become the Master of the Lodge. Whatever his station in life, all who become masons share the same dignity and the same fate, for we all walk on the level of time to that country from whose bourne no man returns.
