Ancient Mystic Oriental Masonry

176."The Knights Templars united the possessions of the Old Man of the Mountains under their rule, as they had perceived the supernatural courage of his pupils, they admitted these into their order. Some historians have thus come to the opinion that the Knights Templars had been induced themselves to accept the institutions of those admitted. Gauthier von Montbar was acquainted with these teachings, and transplanted them into Europe.

177."All these circumstances were very detrimental to the religion of Rome; it lost many of those who had belonged to it; more especially many ^[110] Crusaders who were sojourning in Syria, Palestine and Egypt, where all the forms of belief of the first Christians were preserved and tolerated by the Saracens.

178." Eastern Christians regarded the dogma of the unity of God as a mystery and saw in it a Divine manifestation. They, therefore, only imparted the knowledge thereof at initiation which they held very secret. They practiced the morality commanded by the Son of Mary, but did not believe in his divinity; for all those who followed Gnostic and Kabalistic traditions considered him to be their Elder Brother.

179."The Knights of the Cross who had come to know these dogmas and mysteries of the Christians of the East, were obliged, when they had returned to Europe, to hold this initiation still more secret, for the mere suspicion of such a faith would have been sufficient to bring these new religious professors to the rack and the stake. "

180.As regarding to the link between the Knights Templars and the Gnostic teachings (the Masonic " G " does not and never did, stand for Geometry, but for "Gnosis," the soul) it is well to quote from Abbe Gregoire when he says:

181."The Order of the Temple is cosmopolitan; it is divided into two great classes: 1, the Order of the East; 2, the Order of the Temple.

182."The Order of the Temple sprang from the Order of the East, of which Ancient Egypt was the ^[111] cradle. The Order of the East comprised different orders or classes of adepts. The adepts of the first order were at once legislators, judges, and pontiffs.

183." Their policy was opposed to the propagation of metaphysical knowledge and the natural sciences, of which they made themselves the sole depositories; and whoever should have dared to reveal the secrets reserved for the initiates in the order of the sacerdotal hierarchy, would have been punished with most dire severity. They gave to the people only unintelligible emblems constituting the exoteric theology, which was a compound of absurd dogmas and extravagant practices tending to give more ascendency to superstition, and to consolidate the government.

184." Moses was initiated in Egypt. He was profoundly versed in the theological, physical, and metaphysical mysteries of the priests. Aaron, his brother, and the other Hebrew chiefs became the depositories of these doctrines. These chiefs, or Levites, were divided into several classes, according to the custom of the Egyptian priests.

185." Later on, the Son of God was born into the world. He was brought up in the Alexandrian school. Filled with a spirit altogether Divine, endowed with the most marvelous intelligence, He succeeded in attaining all the degrees of the Egyptian (Essenian) Initiation.

186."On returning to Jerusalem, he presented himself before the chiefs of the Synagogue, and ^[112] pointed out to them the numerous alterations that the Law of Moses had undergone at the hands of the Levites; he confounded them by the power of His spirit and the extent of his knowledge; but the Jewish priests, blinded by their passions, persisted in their errors.

187." However, the moment had come when the Christ, directing the fruits of His lofty meditations towards the universal civilization and welfare of the world, tore down the veil which hid the truth from the people, preached the love of one's neighbor and the equality of all men before the common Father. Finally, consecrating by a sacrifice worthy of the Son of God the heavenly doctrines which He had come to spread, He established forever on the earth, by His gospels, the religion inscribed in the Book of Eternity.