most worshipful grand lodge - Louisiana State University

30 SPECIAL COMMUNICATION OF THE GRAND LODGEto obtain any accurate opinion beyond what these massive wallstell us.In Genesis we read that the kings of the east smote the Rephaimsiii AshterothKarnaim. Ancient history tells us that Ashterothwas the goddess of the Phoenicians. This fact may suggestto us their form of worship. So far as our knowledge ofancient history extends, this is the only land where habitationskept pace with the buildings of palaces and temples; and we havereason to believe that these are among the oldest monuments builtin stone on the earth. We learn that the goddess Ashteroth wasworshiped here long prior to her being introduced into the worshipof the Egyptians. From this fact it is reasonable to concludethis land had grand buildings in stone, and a form of religionantedating that of Egypt and Greece.I have wandered thus into most ancient history in order toemphasize the answer to a preceding question. Were the menwho were organized, at a later period, into lodges of operativemasons, different from the people from whom they sprung? Werethey men of enquiring minds, seeking for truth 1 Did they wishto obtain correct ideas concerning God and their duty to Him andto one another 1 Were they wholly egotistic or were they altruisticfCain and Abel offered sacrifices to God. Noah, after leavingthe ark, " builded an altar unto the Lord * * * * andoffered burnt offerings on the altar." Prom that period down tothe date when the colleges of operative masons are first mentionedin history, men everywhere, so far as our knowledge exextends,had altars and monuments for sacrificial purposes.Whether the altar was a single stone, as in the case of Jacob, whenhe set up the stone he used for a pillow during the night andpoured oil upon it and consecrated it to the Lord, to the morecomplex forms of later days, and in all lands, the same spirit animatedthe generations and peoples of the earth to come nearer to