Freemasonry

by Arnold Leese
We herewith reprint the text from the first page of this booklet in place of a review:

THE BASIS OF FREEMASONRY
In order to get a better understanding of Freemasonry, it is necessary to trace the source of its hidden doctrines, and the propagation of these doctrines by secret societies right from the beginning of the Christian era. This secret world history can only be sketched in this booklet, although it is a most fascinating and important study in itself, since the causes of such epoch?making events as the Reformation the Thirty Years War, and the Great Rebellion are discovered by it.
Freemasonry is simply the latest phase of organisation of the forces of Darkness against those of Light, of Evil against Good, in a fight which has been going on since the Jews first conceived the idea of organising for world?control. The nature of the struggle is dual, viz., religious and political; and whereas the political plan of the Jews has altered from time to time to allow for the changes in national boundaries and coalitions, the religious programme has remained practically constant, viz.., the destruction of all Gentile Creeds, and the substitution of Gnosticism.
WHAT IS GNOSTICISM?
To give an accurate definition of Gnosticism we cannot do better than quote from a very learned article written on the subject by Rabbi Ludwig Blau, Ph.D., Professor at the Jewish Theological Seminary of Budapest, Hungary:
"Gnosticism is an esoteric ('hidden secret') system of Theology and Philosophy .. Gnosis is neither pure philosophy, nor pure religion, but a combination of the two with magic, the latter being the dominant element, as it was in the beginning of all religions and philosophy. Jewish gnosticism unquestionably antedates Christianity, for Biblical exegesis had already reached an age of five hundred years by the first century of the Christian era .. There is, in general, no circle of ideas to which elements of gnosticism have been traced and with which the Jews were not .acquainted .. It is a noticeable and noteworthy fact that heads of Gnostic schools and founders of Gnostic systems are designated as Jews by the Church Fathers. Many Gnostic elements have doubtless been preserved in the Kabbalah together with magic mysticism".
(note: The Kabbalah and the Talmud together form the basis of modern Judaism. The Kabbalah regulates the spiritual life of Jews, and the Talmud the material).
Here it must be explained that Jewish magic consists in experimenting with the hidden forces of the human body, producing mass?hypnotism, etc. Such experiments are apt to produce physical wrecks, destroying the will?power of resistance, and should only be permitted under scientific control.