The meaning of the Eye of Providence.

@FreddieUK My son is a member of the Masons. ONE requirement for all Freemasons is that they believe in a higher power. In 1782, that higher power was God. You, not being a member, may choose to believe that Freemasons are far from Christian if you wish. But I would like to point out that they are NOT a religion. They are a brotherhood.

Here is a quote from the Freemason's website: (Ohio):

"The connection of the Eye of Providence to Freemasonry in the United States emerged when Thomas Smith Webb wrote and published his book, The Freemason’s Monitor, or Illustrations in Masonry, in 1797. This book had a significant impact on Masonic ritual in America, and especially of York Rite. Before this publication, the Eye was considered an emerging symbol in the Craft.

The symbol of the all seeing eye serves as a reminder to Freemasons of the watchfulness of the Great Architect. Our brotherhood is held to a high moral standard, dedicating our lives to community, self-improvement, and seeking light. As we commit to Brotherly Love, Relief, and Truth in all that we do, we have these symbolic reminders that surround us, reminding us of where our values lie. Thus, the Eye of Providence reminds us of the need for our actions to be just and for us to live humbly and in harmony with all creation."

@FreddieUK Ah, but did the association already exist in the 18C, or is it something that more modern, romantic, fantasies about the Freemasons has created?

The Freemasons might not be Christian in terms of being a "church" or denomination, and the idea that it arose among the literal, trade-sense "Free Masons" who built cathedrals is probably a myth; but I expect there are many individual Freemasons who are Christians, individually. These days anyway it is basically a private-members' social-club that also happens to raise a lot of money for charities.

And no, I am not one!


"Experiment still in progress...." !

@4meAndyou But don't they have to swear some awful oaths to someone other than Jesus Christ the one and only Saviour? My church will not accept into membership anyone who has sworn an oath which denies the effectiveness of the blood of Jesus - not just masons. Everyone is welcome to attend worship, but these days we are very aware of the duplicity of satanic entryism.

@ArishMell There is historical evidence that they DID exist in the 18th century.

"Most Americans recognize Benjamin Franklin as one our Nation’s most influential Founding Fathers, but many do not realize that he was also a Freemason. In 1731, he joined the Masonic Lodge of St. John in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. In 1732, Franklin helped to create the bylaws of his Lodge. By 1734 his hard work and dedication led him to the highest rank within the organization: Grand Master. That year, Franklin also published the first Masonic book printed in America, The Constitutions of the Free-Masons, which was produced in Philadelphia. Devoted to Freemasonry, Franklin remained an active member for over sixty years until his death in 1790 at age 84. In 1776, he was sent to Paris to serve as America’s diplomat to France. In France, he joined and became the Grand Master of the Nine Sisters Lodge in Paris."

https://blog.philosophicalsociety.org/2015/11/07/benjamin-franklin-founding-father-and-freemason/

While this blog is not evidence, the book that B. Franklin published in 1734, IS.

@ArishMell Perhaps like the swastika it has accreted new meaning since its original intention.

@FreddieUK Since neither of us has ever heard one of these oaths, I could not speculate. Feel free to do so yourself.

@4meAndyou He we go

https://nyenquirer.uk/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/The-Masonic-Oath.pdf

@4meAndyou This might be helpful from Freedom in Christ Ministries:

https://www.ficm.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/free-masonry.pdf

@FreddieUK I do not find exception with it.

I DO know that our Founding Fathers were Christians, and that in good faith, they employed symbols such as the Eye of Providence to remind themselves that God was, and still is, watching over this nation.

Now, I also know that you hate the United States. If you want to attack our Christian origins and our very symbols, feel free to do so.

@4meAndyou You know nothing of the sort. I worry about the United States. I enjoy much that comes from there and engaging with many people on SW who live in your wonderful country. My main concern is that certain parts of the Christian church have abandoned what Jesus has taught and have embroiled themselves in politics which have nothing to do with his commands.

I am well aware that many of the founding fathers ran away from the UK because of outrageous religious persecution. I am a member of a denomination whose members used to have to hide from the King's men when they raided their meeting houses. I'm also well aware that another group of people left this country for purely commercial reasons and they were not interested in God at all. I will agree with you on one thing: God is watching over you as I believe he is over my own country and we will all be held accountable for our actions to other people the way we respond to them in the hour of need wherever they may live.

I pray that there will be a swift restoration of true Christian values in both our countries.

@FreddieUK That is a great relief. You must have given me that impression unwittingly.

I feel so much better. I soooo dislike thinking that there are good people in the world who disapprove of the United States, when we are trying so hard to be the best we can be.

@FreddieUK

Possibly, but I think here it has the same meaning in Freemasonry as in the American badge: that of Divine oversight; but importantly with no specific link. Most of the Founders of the USA were very religious but not necessarily Freemasons.

The Freemasons might have been more religious as an organisation in the past: I don't know its history but it or similar has been around for some hundreds of years.


One organisation that must not be confused with the Freemasons is the The Worshipful Company of Masons . That is one of the London-based trade-associations called Guilds, working to promote training and highest-quality work in their own fields.

A "Free Mason" to them was a skilled mason not bound to a master; i.e. self-employed and prepared to travel to new projects, in the years when travel was slow, difficult and arduous.

The Company's own web-site stresses and clarifies the distinction; and questions the oft-quoted link to Mediaeval builders. Instead its members genuinely are skilled stone-masons, and though like any club they enjoy the social side they have no strange titles and little ornamention.


Nor with what seems a Scottish equivalent, open only to Scots. That "Guild of Masons" is very much the popular idea of "Freemasony": square-and-dividers badges, semi-hermetic titles and colourful formal regalia; harmless but simply a social-club of no clear connection to any real builders living or centuries deceased. (So suggested by its own http://www.guildofmasons.org.uk/). One might assume the fine gentlemen in the photograph are as skilled with maul and chisel as with holding formal meetings in delightfully eccentric style; but the web-site hints otherwise.

@ArishMell A very good distinction to make and helpful to those who don't know some of our quirky British Guild history.

@FreddieUK Thankyou!

It was a curious route that led me to dig into it a few days ago, but what surprised me is the number and variety of these Worshipful Company associations, each to its own trade; and new ones are occasionally still created as trade and industry develop.

I think there is even one for accountants! (Well, someone has to ensure the masons and their stone suppliers are paid, not neglecting IT, NI and VAT...)

I'd looked up the Society of Ornamental Turners' web-site for some reason that slips my mind. The S.O.T. is not a trade association but a club supporting a hobby, albeit once that of the nobility, including King George III.

Nevertheless its web-site names the Worshipful Company of Turners (or something like that). That one, I found, is a professional trade guild, unsurprisingly as the lathe is the fundamental machine-tool; although the Company appears to have a heavy bias towards wood-turning, which is primarily decorative.

That inspired me to look at one or two others to gain better understanding of these Guilds generally.

@ArishMell You'll be able to correct me if I'm wrong, but I think they're all based in the City of London where their roots are?

@FreddieUK They are, yes; though I imagine now they have members around the country.

The tie to London may be due as much to the difficulty of travelling anywhere in the past as anything else; but they do play a part in running the capital.

@4meAndyou Thankyou for adding that information.