Morals and Dogma of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite of Freemasonry by Albert Pike

Morals and Dogma of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite of Freemasonry by Albert Pike

The teachings of these Readings are not sacramental, so far as they go beyond the realm of Morality into those of other domains of Thought and Truth. The Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite uses the word Dogma in its true sense, of doctrine, or teaching; and is not dogmatic in the odious sense of that term. Everyone is entirely free to reject and dissent from whatsoever herein may seem to him to be untrue or unsound. It is only required of him that he shall weigh what is taught, and give it fair hearing and unprejudiced judgment. Of course, the ancient theosophic and philosophic speculations are not embodied as part of the doctrines of the Rite; but because it is of interest and profit to know what the Ancient Intellect thought upon these subjects, and because nothing so conclusively proves the radical difference between our human and the animal nature, as the capacity of the human mind to entertain such speculations in regard to itself and the Deity.

Pike was born in Boston, Massachusetts, to Ben and Sarah (Andrews) Pike, and grew up in the towns of Byfield and Newburyport. John Pike (1613-1688/1689), the founder of Woodbridge, New Jersey, was among his colonial ancestors who inhabited the region in 1635. He went to school in Newburyport and Framingham until he was fifteen years old. He passed the entrance tests to Harvard University in August 1825, but he declined to go when the college asked payment of tuition fees for the first two years. He started a self-education program and went on to teach in Gloucester, North Bedford, Fairhaven, and Newburyport.

He left Massachusetts in 1831 to move west, eventually settling in St. Louis. St. Louis is a city in Missouri. Eventually, he joined a hunting and trading trip to Taos, New Mexico. After settling in Arkansas in 1833, Pike taught in a school and authored a series of articles under the pen name Casca for the Little Rock Arkansas Advocate.

His essays were so well-received that he was requested to join the staff of the publication. In a politically tumultuous and divided Arkansas in December 1832, the Advocate championed the Whig Party's stance under Pike's administration. He bought the newspaper after marrying Mary Ann Hamilton in 1834. In 1840, Pike became a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows.

He thereafter became a member of a Masonic Lodge, where he was very active. In 1859, he was chosen Sovereign Grand Commander of the Southern Jurisdiction of the Scottish Rite. He remained Sovereign Grand Commander for the rest of his life (a total of 32 years), devoting most of his time to the development of the order's ceremonies. He is most known for publishing Morals and Dogma of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite of Freemasonry in 1871, which was followed by multiple editions.

During the nineteenth century, this aided the order's expansion. Pike is still regarded as an illustrious and powerful Freemason, particularly in the Scottish Rite's Southern Jurisdiction. Pike died at the age of 81 in Washington, D.C., and was interred in Oak Hill Cemetery. Burial was not in his plans; he had requested that his body be burned.

His ashes were brought to the House of the Temple, the Scottish Rite's Southern Jurisdiction's headquarters, in 1944. In Washington, D.C.'s Judiciary Square neighborhood, there is a memorial honoring Pike. In Washington, D.C., he is the only Confederate military officer who has an outdoor statue.

SKU	Unavailable
ISBN 13	9781988297637
ISBN 10	198829763X
Title	Morals and Dogma of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite of Freemasonry
Author	Albert Pike
Condition	Unavailable
Publisher	Devoted Publishing
Year published	2016-12-24
Number of pages	366
Cover note	Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary.
Note	Unavailable