U.M.W. St. John Of Louisiana A.F.&.A.M.

!!From whence come you and whiter are you traveling? !!!The Origins of the Master Mason Degree Bro. Abraham W. Johnson

In 1717 four lodges in London elected to form what they called a "Grand Lodge" to supervise the fraternity and grant charters to new lodges. The formation is what is commonly agreed on as the beginning of modern day speculative . This was entitled the “Premier Grand Lodge of England”. During this time, there existed only two (2) masonic degrees, the entered apprentice and the fellow craft (or fellow of the craft). Part of the purpose of supervising individual lodges was to unify and to make uniform the rituals. The basis of modern Freemasonry (Lodges which came into uniformity or creation after 1717) is Anderson’s Constitution. It was first published in 1723. In this publication there was no mention of the Master Mason degree. There is mention of the Master and Wardens of the lodge, Fellows and Apprentices. Section 4 of the Constitution spells out what the process was from candidate to Grand Master:

IV Of MASTERS, WARDENS, FELLOWS and APPRENTICES.

All preferment among Masons is grounded upon real Worth and personal Merit only; that so the Lords may be well served, the Brethren not put to Shame, nor the Royal Craft despis’d: Therefore no Master or Warden is chosen by Seniority, but for his Merit. It is impossible to describe these things in Writing, and every Brother must attend in his Place, and learn them in a Way peculiar to this Fraternity: Only Candidates may know that no Master should take an Apprentice unless he has Sufficient Employment for him, and unless he be a perfect Youth having no Maim or Defects in his Body that may render him uncapable of learning the Art of serving his Master’s Lord, and of being made a Brother, and then a Fellow-Craft in due Time, even after he has served such a Term of Years as the Custom of the Country directs; and that he should be descended of honest Parents; that so, when otherwise qualifi’d he may arrive to the Honour of being the Warden, and then the Master of the Lodge, the Grand Warden, and at length the Grand Master of all the Lodges, according to his Merit.

The Origins of The Master Mason Degree By Bro. Abraham Johnson Patterson Lodge #36 U.M.W. St. John Grand Lodge Of Louisiana A.F.&.A.M.

Though this was the first document intended to regulate the rituals and degrees of Freemasonry, there were many other Lodges who did not fall under its jurisdiction. These Lodges which existed prior to the formation of the first Grand Lodge were referred to as “Time Immemorial” Lodges. Manuscripts (hereafter abrv. Ms) or “minutes” from some of these lodges such as the Edinburgh Register House Ms. of 1696 allude to a third degree:

Now it is to be remarked that all the signes and words as yet spoken of are only what belong to the entered apprentice, But to be a master mason or fellow craft there is more to be done which after follows.

Scholars have debated whether the phrase “Master Mason” in this context referred to the “Master of the Lodge” or “Worshipful Master” as we now know him, or to the third degree of a Master Mason. There are passages that can be interpreted both ways in the Edinburgh Register House MS. of 1696. Since we cannot be certain as to the interpretation of the phrase “Master Mason” in this manuscript, and because there is no mention of the legend of Hiram Abiff which is such a major part of what we now know as the third degree... we will assume, at best, that this was part of the formation of the degree. Many scholars agree that the “Master Mason” degree was not just born on a particular date. That it developed into what we know it over the course of a few years. 1723-1730 to be exact. Upon examining the entered apprentice and fellow craft degrees prior to 1723, we see that the Masters word was given to an entered apprentice, and the 5 Points Of Fellowship to the fellow craft, meaning that the third degree was more of a reforming of existing information, than the creation of a brand new degree. This is an accepted theory among masonic scholars because the addition of the third degree was universally agreed upon by so many in a relatively short period of time (7 years).

So who was the first to receive the degree of Master Mason? We will probably never know this fact. What we do know is the first record of a man being conferred the degree. The earliest written reference of the conferring of the third degree is contained in the minutes of “Philo Musicae et Architecturae Societas Apollini.” This was a London based musical society composed entirely of Freemasons. Its minutes records the passing of Brother Charles Cotton and Brother Papillion Ball as Master Masons on May 12, 1725. It is also recorded that Gabriel Porterfield received his third degree in lodge Dumbarton Kilwinning in Scotland in March of 1726. He was the first to receive the Master Mason degree in that lodge, but he was not the first Master Mason who was a member. The lodge was founded in January of 1726 and the minutes of that meeting states that Apprentices, Fellowcrafts, and Master Masons are recorded as being present. In addition, Dumbarton Kilwinning Lodge recorded separate fees for initiating, passing, and raising in December of 1728. As we look at terminology, we see the terms “passing” and “raising” in reference to receiving the third degree. It leaves speculation as to when the Hiramic Legend entered into masonry and the Master Mason degree.

The Origins of The Master Mason Degree By Bro. Abraham Johnson Patterson Lodge #36 U.M.W. St. John Grand Lodge Of Louisiana A.F.&.A.M.

The earliest knowledge we have of masonic facts come from a collection of documents known as the “Old Charges” or the “Manuscript Constitution” of Masonry. There are 130 versions of these manuscripts or documents. The first allusion to Hiram Abiff comes from the Cooke Manuscript of 1410:

The King of Tyre sent to King his namesake Hiram Abif, the prince architects... the wise King Solomon was Grand Master of the Lodge at , King Hiram was Grand Master of the Lodge at Tyre, and the inspired Hiram Abif was Master of Work.

The first mention of the death Hiram Abif was in the second edition of Anderson’s Constitutions published in 1738:

Their joy was soon interrupted by the sudden death of their dear master Hiram Abif, whom they decently interred in the Lodge near the Temple, according to ancient Usage.

It would be natural now to wonder how we ended up with the intricate Legend and allegory of Hiram Abif from these minimal references. How exactly did it come about with minimal reference in the early manuscripts, and no mention of it in the bible. In fact, there is little reference to Hiram Abif in the bible at all, and not by that name. 2 Chronicles 2:13 says “Now I have sent a skilled man who has understanding, Huram- abi, the son of a woman of the daughters of Dan and his father was a man of Tyre...”. Huram is a Hebrew variant of Hiram. The name Abif is a title meaning “Father, Overseer, or Master”. Huram-Abi or Hiram Abif is confirmed to be the son of a widow of the tribe of Naphtali in :13-14: King Solomon sent to Tyre and brought Huram, whose mother was a widow from the tribe of Naphtali and whose father was a man of Tyre and a craftsman in bronze. Huram was highly skilled and experienced in all kinds of bronze work. He came to King Solomon and did all the work assigned to him. This is the origin of the phrase “Widows’ Son”. The bible makes no reference to the death of Hiram Abif, and it accepted among Masonic scholars and Grand Lodges that the account is not fact, but an allegory used for teaching. We are taught in the third degree that the hieroglyph of the beautiful virgin weeping represents the Temple unfinished, while the bible chronicles the completion of the Temple in 2 Chronicles 7:11: When Solomon had finished the temple of the Lord and the royal palace, and had succeeded in carrying out all he had in mind to do in the temple of the Lord and in his own palace,... In Anderson’s Constitutions of 1738 (the second or revised edition) the first reference to the three ruffians killing the Prince of Architects is made. So while we cannot be certain how it came to be, we can be certain that the Hiramic Legend became part of Masonic Traditions between 1723 and 1738.

The Origins of The Master Mason Degree By Bro. Abraham Johnson Patterson Lodge #36 U.M.W. St. John Grand Lodge Of Louisiana A.F.&.A.M.

We know that the vast majority of masonry is biblical or can be found in the bible. So where do we find masonry or masons in the bible? The word “masons” is found in the bible 7 times in the King James version: 2 Samuel 5:11 | And Hiram king of Tyre sent messengers to David, and cedar trees, and carpenters, and masons: and they built David an house. 2 Kings 12:12 | And to masons, and hewers of stone, and to buy timber and hewed stone to repair the breaches of the house of the LORD, and for all that was laid out for the house to repair it. 2 Kings 22:6 | Unto carpenters, and builders, and masons, and to buy timber and hewn stone to repair the house. 1 Chronicles 14:1 | Now Hiram king of Tyre sent messengers to David, and timber of cedars, with masons and carpenters, to build him an house. 1 Chronicles 22:2 | And David commanded to gather together the strangers that were in the land of Israel; and he set masons to hew wrought stones to build the house of God. 2 Chronicles 24:12 | And the king and Jehoiada gave it to such as did the work of the service of the house of the LORD, and hired masons and carpenters to repair the house of the LORD, and also such as wrought iron and brass to mend the house of the LORD. Ezra 3:7 | They gave money also unto the masons, and to the carpenters; and meat, and drink, and oil, unto them of Zidon, and to them of Tyre, to bring cedar trees from Lebanon to the sea of Joppa, according to the grant that they had of Cyrus king of Persia.

While these are the only times the word “masons” was specifically used, it is far from the only times masons were referenced. The term “hewers of stone” was used in addition to and alluding to masons, we find this several times in the bible as well. What is a mason? The dictionary defines a mason as 1. a builder and worker in stone. 2. a Freemason. So biblically speaking... who was the first mason? At its absolute core a mason is a builder. Who was the first builder? It could be argued that it is none other than The Grand Architect of the Universe. The opening book of the bible would support that theory. Genesis 1: 1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. 2 Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.3 And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. 4 God saw that the light was good, and he separated the light from the darkness. In the Jewish Bible the name of God is Elohim. The word Elohim from its original roots is plural. Not meaning there is more than 1 God, meaning there was the Father (God) the Son (Jesus) and the Holy Spirit. So, from an esoteric point of view God and Jesus would be considered masons. There are however a few others in the bible who we can identify as masons. Both in the esoteric and literal sense. But we were taught that Jesus was a carpenter right? We do know that He was a Jew, and is referred to as the son of a carpenter (Matthew 13:55 & Mark 6:3) . The original Greek word used in the to describe the profession of Joseph is “Teckton” which is more accurately translated as “builder”. It

The Origins of The Master Mason Degree By Bro. Abraham Johnson Patterson Lodge #36 U.M.W. St. John Grand Lodge Of Louisiana A.F.&.A.M. was Jewish tradition for a father to teach his son his trade at the age of 12. Joseph a practicing Jew would have made sure to adhere to this tradition. It is a fact that at that time Israel’s buildings were mainly constructed from stone and rocks making it more likely that Jesus was a stonemason rather than a carpenter.

Again we look to the bible to identify holy buildings and the builders thereof. In this search we find Bezaleel. If we look at the (Moses) Tabernacle, we see that according to the Hebrew Bible, the Tabernacle was the portable earthly meeting place of God with the children of Israel from the time of the Exodus from Egypt through the conquering of the land of Canaan. The main source for the account of the construction of the Tabernacle is the biblical Book of Exodus, specifically Exodus 25–31 and 35–40. It describes an inner shrine, the Holy of Holies, which housed the Ark of the Covenant (quoted from Wikipedia). Exodus 31: 1-5 names Bezaleel as the 1 the LORD has called to build the Tabernacle and has filled him with the skills needed which included cutting of stones.

We could not discuss Masons in the bible without looking at the most focal point of the bible as it related to Freemasons.... King Solomon’s Temple. The Jewish Bible which of course is the base for the refers to King Solomon’s Temple as the First Temple. It was constructed under the reign of King Solomon circa 970 to 931 BCE. King Solomon asked King Hiram of Tyre for assistance in the building of the temple, we find this in 1 Kings 5. Verses 15-18 read: 15 He also had eighty thousand workers to cut stone in the hill country of Israel, seventy thousand workers to carry the stones, 16 and over three thousand assistants to keep track of the work and to supervise the workers. 17 He ordered the workers to cut and shape large blocks of good stone for the foundation of the temple.18 Solomon’s and Hiram’s men worked with men from the city of Gebal, and together they got the stones and logs ready for the temple. Clearly, King Hiram set his craft to work, giving them good and wholesome instructions for their work.

Tubal Cain can be considered to be the person who made stonemasonry possible. We know that stonemasons used the common gavel and chisel to shape stone into the shape suitable for usage. Genesis 4:22 reads: Zillah also gave birth to Tubal Cain, the forger of every cutting instrument of bronze and iron. Tubal Cain's sister was Naamah. Without Tubal Cain and the tools he not only forged, but instructed others in this craft, speculative masonry would not be able to exist. While he may not have been credited as being a stoneworker, he was sure to be the first to do it.

The Origins of The Master Mason Degree By Bro. Abraham Johnson Patterson Lodge #36