Part 25 (2/2)

The Hindu Vedas thus define the Deity:

”He who surpa.s.ses speech, and through whose power speech is expressed, know thou that He is Brahma; and not these perishable things that man adores.

”He whom Intelligence cannot comprehend, and He alone, say the sages, through whose Power the nature of Intelligence can be understood, know thou that He is Brahma; and not these perishable things that man adores.

”He who cannot be seen by the organ of sight, and through whose power the organ of seeing sees, know thou that He is Brahma; and not these perishable things that man adores.

”He who cannot be heard by the organ of hearing, and through whose power the organ of hearing hears, know thou that He is Brahma; and not these perishable things that man adores.

”He who cannot be perceived by the organ of smelling, and through whose power the organ of smelling smells, know thou that He is Brahma; and not these perishable things that man adores.”

”When G.o.d resolved to create the human race,” said _Arius_, ”He made a Being that He called The WORD, The Son, _Wisdom_, to the end that this Being might give existence to men.” This WORD is the _Ormuzd_ of Zoroaster, the _Ainsoph_ of the Kabalah, the [Greek: ???~?] of Plato and Philo, the _Wisdom_ or _Demiourgos_ of the Gnostics.

That is the True Word, the knowledge of which our ancient brethren sought as the priceless reward of their labors on the Holy Temple: the Word of Life, the Divine Reason, ”in whom was Life, and that Life the Light of men”; ”which long shone in darkness, and the darkness comprehended it not;” the Infinite Reason that is the Soul of Nature, immortal, of which the Word of this Degree reminds us; and to believe wherein and revere it, is the peculiar duty of every Mason.

”In the beginning,” says the extract from some older work with which John commences his Gospel, ”was the Word, and the Word was near to G.o.d, and the Word was G.o.d. All things were made by Him, and without Him was not anything made that was made. In Him was Life, and the life was the Light of man; and the light s.h.i.+neth in darkness, and the darkness did not contain it.”

It is an old tradition that this pa.s.sage was from an older work. And Philostorgius and Nicephorus state, that when the Emperor Julian undertook to rebuild the Temple, a stone was taken up, that covered the mouth of a deep square cave, into which one of the laborers, being let down by a rope, found in the centre of the floor a cubical pillar, on which lay a roll or book, wrapped in a fine linen cloth, in which, in capital letters, was the foregoing pa.s.sage.

However this may have been, it is plain that John's Gospel is a polemic against the Gnostics; and, stating at the outset the current doctrine in regard to the creation by the Word, he then addresses himself to show and urge that this Word was Jesus Christ.

And the first sentence, fully rendered into our language, would read thus: ”When the process of emanation, of creation or evolution of existences inferior to the Supreme G.o.d began, the Word came into existence and was: and this word was [Greek: p??? t?? Te??] _near to_ G.o.d; _i.e._ the immediate or first emanation from G.o.d: and it was G.o.d Himself, developed or manifested in that particular mode, and in action.

And by that Word everything that is was created.”--And thus Tertullian says that G.o.d made the World out of nothing, by means of His Word, Wisdom, or Power.

To Philo the Jew, as to the Gnostics, the Supreme Being was the _Primitive Light_, or _Archetype of Light_,--_Source_ whence the rays emanate that illuminate Souls. He is the _Soul_ of the World, and as such acts everywhere. He himself fills and bounds his whole existence, and his forces fill and penetrate everything. His Image is the WORD [LOGOS], a form more brilliant than fire, which is not pure light. This WORD dwells in G.o.d; for it is within His Intelligence that the Supreme Being frames for Himself the Types of Ideas of all that is to a.s.sume reality in the Universe. The WORD is the Vehicle by which G.o.d acts on the Universe; the World of Ideas by means whereof G.o.d has created visible things; the more Ancient G.o.d, as compared with the Material World; Chief and General Representative of all Intelligences; the Archangel, type and representative of all spirits, even those of Mortals; the type of Man; the primitive man himself. These ideas are borrowed from Plato. And this WORD is not only the Creator [”_by Him was everything made that was made_”], but acts _in the place_ of G.o.d; and through him act all the Powers and Attributes of G.o.d. And also, as first representative of the human race, he is the protector of Men and their Shepherd, the ”Ben H'Adam,” or Son of Man.

The actual condition of Man is not his primitive condition, that in which he was the image of the Word. His unruly pa.s.sions have caused him to fall from his original lofty estate. But he may rise again, by following the teachings of Heavenly Wisdom, and the Angels whom G.o.d commissions to aid him in escaping from the entanglements of the body; and by fighting bravely against Evil, the existence of which G.o.d has allowed solely to furnish him with the means of exercising his free will.

The Supreme Being of the Egyptians was _Amun_, a secret and concealed G.o.d, the Unknown Father of the Gnostics, the Source of Divine Life, and of all force, the Plenitude of all, comprehending all things in Himself, the original Light. He _creates_ nothing; but everything _emanates_ from Him: and all other G.o.ds are but his manifestations. From Him, by the utterance of a Word, emanated _Neith_, the Divine Mother of all things, the Primitive THOUGHT, the FORCE that puts everything in movement, the SPIRIT everywhere extended, the _Deity of Light and Mother of the Sun_.

Of this Supreme Being, _Osiris_ was the image, Source of all Good in the moral and physical world, and constant foe of Typhon, the Genius of Evil, the Satan of Gnosticism, brute matter, deemed to be always at feud with the spirit that flowed from the Deity; and over whom Har-Oeri, the Redeemer, Son of Isis and Osiris, is finally to prevail.

In the Zend-Avesta of the Persians the Supreme Being is _Time without limit_, ZERUANE AKHERENE.--No origin could be a.s.signed to Him; for He was enveloped in His own Glory, and His Nature and Attributes were so inaccessible to human Intelligence, that He was but the object of a silent veneration. The commencement of Creation was by emanation from Him. The first emanation was the Primitive Light, and from this Light emerged _Ormuzd_, the _King of Light_, who, by the WORD, created the World in its purity, is its Preserver and Judge, a Holy and Sacred Being, Intelligence and Knowledge, Himself Time without limit, and wielding all the powers of the Supreme Being.

In this Persian faith, as taught many centuries before our era, and embodied in the Zend-Avesta, there was in man a pure Principle, proceeding from the Supreme Being, produced by the Will and Word of Ormuzd. To that was united an impure principle, proceeding from a foreign influence, that of Ahriman, the Dragon, or principle of Evil.

Tempted by Ahriman, the first man and woman had fallen; and for twelve thousand years there was to be war between _Ormuzd_ and the Good Spirits created by him, and _Ahriman_ and the Evil ones whom he had called into existence.

But pure souls are a.s.sisted by the Good Spirits, the Triumph of the Good Principle is determined upon in the decrees of the Supreme Being, and the period of that triumph will infallibly arrive. At the moment when the earth shall be most afflicted with the evils brought upon it by the Spirits of perdition, three Prophets will appear to bring a.s.sistance to mortals. Sosiosch, Chief of the Three, will regenerate the world, and restore to it its primitive Beauty, Strength, and Purity. He will judge the good and the wicked. After the universal resurrection of the Good, the pure Spirits will conduct them to an abode of eternal happiness.

Ahriman, his evil Demons, and all the world, will be purified in a torrent of liquid burning metal. The Law of Ormuzd will rule everywhere; all men will be happy; all, enjoying an unalterable bliss, will unite with Sosiosch in singing the praises of the Supreme Being.

These doctrines, with some modifications, were adopted by the Kabalists and afterward by the Gnostics.

Apollonius of Tyana says: ”We shall render the most appropriate wors.h.i.+p to the Deity, when to that G.o.d whom we call the First, who is One, and separate from all, and after whom we recognize the others, we present no offerings whatever, kindle to Him no fire, dedicate to Him no sensible thing; for he needs nothing, even of all that natures more exalted than ours could give. The earth produces no plant, the air nourishes no animal, there is in short nothing, which would not be impure in his sight. In addressing ourselves to Him, we must use only the higher word, that, I mean, which is not expressed by the mouth,--the silent inner word of the spirit.... From the most Glorious of all Beings, we must seek for blessings, by that which is most glorious in ourselves; and that is the spirit, which needs no organ.”

Strabo says: ”This one Supreme Essence is that which embraces us all, the water and the land, that which we call the Heavens, the World, the Nature of things. This Highest Being should be wors.h.i.+pped, without any visible image, in sacred groves. In such retreats the devout should lay themselves down to sleep, and expect signs from G.o.d in dreams.”

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