Ritual , Secrecy , and Civil Society
God ’ s purpose and paved the way for Christianity , the highest expression of religious belief . For Oliver , freemasonry was the indispensable handmaid to the Christian religion and could only be fully appreciated by Christians . Oliver described his vast researches ( reminiscent perhaps of the intellectual endeavours of Edward Casaubon ) as a ' systematic attempt to identify Freemasonry with the religious institutions of ancient nations , as typical of the universal religion of Christ '. 57 Oliver ' s ultimate aim was to show that ' not only the legends , symbols and lectures of Freemasonry bear an undoubted reference to the Messiah promised at the fall of man ; but also that the Order itself , in the earliest ages , was a legitimate branch of true religion '. 58 Oliver did not claim that freemasonry should be exclusively Christian , but argued that because Christianity was the highest form of ethics , the genius of freemasonry could only be fully appreciated by freemasons .
Oliver ’ s teachings , constantly reiterated by masonic chaplains and popularised by masonic periodicals such as The Freemasons ' Quarterly Review and The Freemason , had an enormous impact on Victorian freemasonry . Oliver invented historical materials on a vast scale to support his Christian view of freemasonry . One of his most popular publications , The Revelations of a Square , which appeared in 1855 , told the story of English freemasonry from 1717 to 1813 through the voice of a square which had supposedly participated in key events . 59 Although the narrative was told through a fictional mouthpiece , Oliver claimed the facts were correct , and based on a diary by his father , who he alleged had known Desaguliers , Anderson , Preston and others . 60 Oliver inserts many footnotes into the narrative , but , while many refer to genuine books , others cite publications which do not exist . 61 According to Oliver , Desaguliers was entirely responsible for the events
57 Freemasons ' Quarterly Review , 30 June 1844 , p . 136 . 58 Freemasons ' Quarterly Review , 30 June 1844 , p . 137 .
59 George Oliver , The Revelations of a Square ; Exhibiting a Graphic Display of the Sayings and Doings of Eminent Free and Accepted Masons from the Revival in 1717 by Dr Desaguliers , to the Re-Union in 1813 by their R . H . the Dukes of Kent and Sussex ( London : Richard Spencer , 1855 ).
60 Revelations of a Square , pp . vii-viii : ' the following pages must not be accounted fabulous and without authority ... for the author is in possession of authentic vouchers for every transaction '.
61 Examples of fabricated references by Oliver are : p . 4 [ Simeon Townsend , Observations and Enquiries relating to the Brotherhood of Freemasons ( 1712 )]; p . 22 [ J . T . Desaguliers , An Eloquent Oration about Masons and Masonry , delivered 24 January 1721 ]; p . 23 [ James Anderson , On the Rise and Progress of Freemasonry ]; p . 90 [ Manifesto and Mason ' s Creed ( London , 1755 )]. On pp . 98-99 , Oliver lists four sermons concerning freemasonry by John Entick . The first , The Free and Accepted Mason Described preached at St Stephen Walbrook 25 June 1750 , is known only from the list of books published by Jonathan Scott at the end of the 1756 Book of Constitutions ; the second and third , The Free and Accepted Mason Truly Stated and A True Representation of Freemasonry , a lecture delivered at the King ' s Lodge in the Poultry London , 20 March 1751 , are not recorded elsewhere ; the fourth sermon by Entick listed by Oliver , A Caution to Free and Accepted Masons , in a sermon preached at St Mildred in the Poultry , London , on the 26th of October 1752 does however survive in a single copy in the British Library ( ESTC T28946 ). Some of Oliver ' s other references may be wishful thinking . On p . 90 he cites The Mason ' s Creed to which will be Subjoin ' d a Curious Letter from Brother Locke ...
16