Mackey A G - Encylopedia of Freemasonry - The Grand Masonic ...

KORAN
KRAUSE 417
had asked pardon of me but once"Al Beiddwi.
Koran. The sacred book of the Mohammedans,
and believed by them to contain a
record of the revelations made by God to Mohammed,
and afterward dictated by him to an
amanuensis, since the prophet could neither
read nor write. In a Lodge consisting wholly
of Mohammedans, the Koran would be esteemed
as the Book of the Law, and take the
place on the altar which is occupied in Christian
Lodges by the Bible. It would thus become
the symbol to them of the Tracing-
Board of the Divine Architect . But, unlike
the Old and New Testaments, the Koran has
no connection with, and gives no support to,
any of the Masonic legends or symbols, except
in those parts which were plagiarized by
the prophet from the Jewish and Christian
Scriptures . Finch, however, in one of his
apocryphal works, produced a system of Mohammedan
Masonry, consisting of twelve degrees,
founded on the teachings of the Koran,
and the Hadeeses or traditions of the prophet .
This system was a pure invention of Finch
Krause, Carl Christian Friedrich. One
of the most learned and laborious Masons of
Germany, and one who received the smallest
reward and the largest persecution for his
learning and his labors. The record of his life
reflects but little credit on his contemporaries
who were high in office, but it would seem low
in intellect . Findel (Hist . of F. M ., p . 628)
calls them "the antiquated German Masonic
world ." Dr . Krause was born at Eisenberg, a
small city of Altenberg, May 6, 1781 . He was
educated at Jena, where he enjoyed the instructions
of Reinhold, Fichte, and Schelling .
While making theology his chief study, he devoted
his attention at the same time to philosophy
and mathematics. In 1801, he obtained
his degree as Doctor of Philosophy, and
established himself at the University of Jena
as an extraordinary professor . There he remained
until 1805, marrying in the meantime
a lady of the name of Fuchs, with whom he
passed thirty years, leaving as the fruit of his
union eight sons and five daughters .
In 1805, Krause removed to Dresden, and
remained there until 1813 . In April, 1805, he
was initiated into Freemasonry in the Lodge
"Archimedes ." As soon as he had been initiated,
he commenced the study of the Institution
by the reading of every Masonic work
that was accessible . It was at this time that
Krause adopted his peculiar system of philosophy,
which was founded on the theory that
the collective life of man-that is to say, of
humanity-was an organic and harmonious
unity ; and he conceived the scheme of a formal
union of the whole race of mankind into one
confederacy, embracing all partial unions of
church organizations, of State government,
and of private, social aggregations, into one
general confederation, which should labor,
irrespective of political, ecclesiastical, or
rsonal influences, for the universal and uniorm
culture of mankind. Of such a confederation
he supposed that he could see the
germ in the Order of Freemasonry, which,
therefore, it was his object to elevate to that
position .
He first submitted these views in a series of
lectures delivered before the Lodge "Zu den
drei Schwertern" in Dresden, of which he had
been appointed the Orator. They were received
with much approbation, and were published
in 1811 under the title of the Spiritualization
of the Genuine Symbols of Freemasonry .
In these lectures, Krause has not confined
himself to the received rituals and accustomed
interpretations, but has adopted a
system of his own . This is the course that
was pursued by him in his greater work, the
Kunsturkunden ; and it was this which partly
gave so much offense to his Masonic, but not
his intellectual, superiors . In 1810, he published,
as the result of all his labors and researches,
his greatest work, the one on which
his reputation principally depends, and which,
notwithstanding its errors, is perhaps one of
the most learned works that ever issued from
the Masonic press. This is Die drei dltesten
Kunsturkunden der Freimaurerbriidersehaft,
or "The Three Oldest Professional Documents
of the Brotherhood of Freemasons ."
The announcement that this work was
shortly to appear, produced the greatest excitement
in the Masonic circles of Germany .
The progressive members of the Craft looked
with anxious expectation for the new discoveries
which must result from the investigations
of an enlightened mind . The antiquated
and unprogressive Masons, who were opposed
to all discussion of what they deemed
esoteric subjects, dreaded the effects of such a
work on the exclusiveness of the Order . Hence
attempts were made by these latter to suppress
the publication . So far were these efforts carried,
that one of the German Grand Lodges
offered the author a large amount of money
for his book, which proposal was of course rejected
. After the publication, the Grand
Master of the three Grand Lodges sought
every means of excommunicating Krause and
Mossdorf, who had sustained him in his views .
After much angry discussion, the Dresden
Lodge, "Zu den drei Schwertern," was prevailed
upon to act as executioner of this ignorant
spirit of fanaticism, and Krause and
Mossdorf, two of the greatest lights that ever
burst upon the horizon of Masonic literature,
were excommunicated . Nor did the persecution
here cease . Krause experienced its effects
through all the remaining years of his
life . He was prevented on frequent occasions,
by the machinations of his Masonic enemies,
from advancement in his literary and professional
pursuits, and failed through their influence
to obtain professorships to which, from
his learning and services, he was justly entitled .
Findel (p . 629) has approvingly quoted Dr .
Schauberg as calling this " the darkest page
in the history of German Freemasonry .'
In 1814 Krause removed to Berlin . In
1821 he traveled through Germany, Italy,
and France, and in 1823 established himself at
Gottingen, where he gave lectures on philoso-