Freemasonry

The Symbolism of Freemasonry: II. The Noachidæ

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This is an excerpt from a 19th-century Masonic treatise, likely Albert Mackey's *The Symbolism of Freemasonry*, introducing an argument about the historical origins of the institution. The author contends that Freemasonry's two foundational doctrines — belief in a Supreme Intelligence and belief in the immortality of the soul — trace directly to Noah and the antediluvian patriarchs, making Freemasonry in essence the custodian of humanity's oldest religious truths. A distinctive move in the argument is the author's claim that these doctrines are not merely revealed theology but are independently verifiable through reason: the universality of religious sentiment across all human cultures, even in "debased" fetishism, is offered as philosophical proof that belief in God and a future life is innate to humanity. The author traces a developmental hierarchy of religion — from fetishism to ancestor/hero worship to purer monotheism — and uses this schema to argue that Noachic religion represents the purest, original form. The practical conclusion is that Freemasons are rightly called "Noachidae" (sons of Noah), positioning the fraternity not as a modern invention but as the unbroken transmission of primordial religious knowledge.

The Symbolism of Freemasonry: II. The Noachidæ

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