THE ARCANE SCHOOLS - Fort Myers Beach Masonic Lodge No. 362

XII.
He Symbolism of Solomon'S Temple.
I have said that the operative art is symbolized--that is to say, used
as
a symbol--in the speculative science. Let us now inquire, as the
subject
of the present essay, how this is done in reference to a system of
symbolism dependent for its construction on types and figures derived
from
the temple of Solomon, and which we hence call the "Temple Symbolism of
Freemasonry."
Bearing in mind that speculative Masonry dates its origin from the
building of King Solomon's temple by Jewish and Tyrian artisans,[53]
the
first important fact that attracts the attention is, that the operative
masons at Jerusalem were engaged in the construction of an earthly and
material temple, to be dedicated to the service and worship of God--a
house in which Jehovah was to dwell visibly by his Shekinah, and whence
he
was, by the Urim and Thummim, to send forth his oracles for the
government and direction of his chosen people.
Now, the operative art having, _for us_, ceased, we, as speculative
Masons, symbolize the labors of our predecessors by engaging in the
construction of a spiritual temple in our hearts, pure and spotless,
fit
for the dwelling-place of Him who is the author of purity--where God is
to
be worshipped in spirit and in truth, and whence every evil thought and
unruly passion is to be banished, as the sinner and the Gentile were
excluded from the sanctuary of the Jewish temple.
This spiritualizing of the temple of Solomon is the first, the most
prominent and most pervading of all the symbolic instructions of
Freemasonry. It is the link that binds the operative and speculative
divisions of the order. It is this which gives it its religious
character.
Take from Freemasonry its dependence on the temple, leave out of its
ritual all reference to that sacred edifice, and to the legends
connected
with it, and the system itself must at once decay and die, or at best
remain only as some fossilized bone, imperfectly to show the nature of
the
living body to which it once belonged.
Temple worship is in itself an ancient type of the religious sentiment
in
its progress towards spiritual elevation. As soon as a nation emerged,