“A VAST SYSTEM OF SUN-WORSHIP.”
By Editor
We give place to the following letter, with the above heading, for the proofs it presents, merely remarking that we are sure that none of the people whom this paper represents are members of this ancient cult. Many have been. They once joined, as thousands of others have joined, believing these secret orders to be good things in a benevolent, social, and commercial way. But when they came to know Christ, His teachings, His fellowship, His Spirit, and His fulness, they found no room for aught that the world in its ancient or modern lore could furnish. The only way to meet sun-worship or Sunday laws is in the presentation of that better worship of the great Creator through the everlasting Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. Sun-worship is, after all, but a form of nature-worship. It is only one of the religions which spring from the natural heart of man. Here is the letter; it will speak for itself:— EDITOR SIGNS OF THE TIMES: Sabbatarians in their discussion of Sunday observance should not overlook the vast system of sun-worship, set up and running full blast within the shadow of every church, chapel, and cathedral in the United States. It is right to worship the true God every day in the year, and it is idolatry to worship the sun any day. If it is a principle involved, then we must pass beyond Sunday to an examination of sun-worship itself. To stop short of this is inconsistency and insincerity. There are papers and people opposing Sunday observance and Sunday laws that are silent as the grave about the great temples, altars, rites, and ceremonies of Sabaism all about and around them. Many Sabbatarians are actually practising those ancient pagan forms. Albert G. Mackey, the Past General Grand High Priest of the General Grand Chapter of all the Masons in this country, on page 100 of his “Lexicon of Freemasonry,” says that Masonry is a philosophical development of sun-worship, not something like sun-worship, but of sun-worship. A. T. C. Pierson, present Grand Secretary of the Masonic Grand Lodge of Minnesota and Grand Captain-General of the Grand Encampment of American Masonry, in his “Traditions of Freemasonry,” page 87, assures us that the sun as an object of worship and symbolization has always formed an important part of Freemasonry; and he proves that every rite and ceremony is a reproduction of ancient sun-worship. Dan Sickels is the great Masonic publisher of New York City, and Secretary-General of the Supreme Council of the Northern Jurisdiction of the Masons of the United States. On page 56 of his “Freemason’s Guide” he says:— “Accepting the symbol, have we lost its sense? Our rites will be of little value to us if this be the case. It is our duty, then, to make Freemasonry the object of a profound study. We must consult the past. We must stand by the sarcophagus of the murdered but restored Osiris, in Egypt, enter the caverns of Phrygia, and hold communion with the Cabiri; penetrate the ‘Collegia Fabrorum’ of ancient Rome, and work in the mystic circles of Sidon.” Every Master Mason knows that the lodge can never be regularly opened or closed without stating that the Master and Wardens represent the sun at rising, at meridian, and at setting. The three lights and three principal supports also represent the sun. Robert Morris, the Past Most Worshipful Grand Master of Kentucky, the Poet Laureate of the Order, and a Masonic Sovereign Grand Inspector-General, in his “Dictionary of Freemasonry,” page 296, declares: “The Worshipful Master himself is a representative of the sun.” Not something like the sun, but of the sun. To speak the word “worshipful” is worship in the lodge. And thus evidence in abundance can be produced, proving beyond all cavil that Freemasonry is actual, real sun-worship, just as in the days of Jehu and Elijah. What America needs to-day is one grand home missionary crusade against this heathenism, the worship of Osiris and Isis—the sun and moon. The other orders in their preparation, ritualism, marching around an altar, obligations of secrecy, signs of recognition, etc., are patterned after Masonry, and are a revamping of all this ancient pagan worship. M. N. BUTLER.