THE BUILDERS - 3. DRAMA OF FAITH - Story & Study of Free-Masonry - Joseph Fort Newton

THE BUILDERS: A STORY AND STUDY OF MASONRY - Joseph Fort Newton (1914) - HQ Full Book. 

TABLE OF CONTENTS

The Ante-Room

Part I — Prophecy 
Chapter I. The Foundations
Chapter II. The Working Tools
Chapter III. The Drama of Faith
Chapter IV. The Secret Doctrine
Chapter V. The Collegia

Part II — History 
Chapter I. Free-Masons
Chapter II. Fellowcrafts
Chapter III. Accepted Masons
Chapter IV. Grand Lodge of England
Chapter V. Universal Masonry

Part III — Interpretation 
Chapter I. What Is Masonry
Chapter II. The Masonic Philosophy
Chapter III. The Spirit of Masonry

**The Builders: A Story and Study of Masonry** by Joseph Fort Newton is a comprehensive exploration of Freemasonry, designed not only to trace its historical roots but also to delve into the symbolic and spiritual significance that underpins this ancient fraternity. Written in an approachable yet scholarly style, Newton’s work seeks to illuminate the philosophical and moral foundations of Freemasonry, making it accessible to both the initiated and the uninitiated.

At its core, *The Builders* is both a historical study and a philosophical reflection. Newton begins by exploring the origins of Freemasonry, linking its early development to the guilds of operative masons who built the magnificent cathedrals of Europe. He traces how the operative craft eventually evolved into speculative Freemasonry, transitioning from a trade-based organization into a society focused on moral and spiritual enlightenment. By recounting the legends, rituals, and traditions of the fraternity, Newton places Freemasonry within the broader context of human civilization, showing its deep connections with the ideals of liberty, equality, and fraternity that have shaped Western thought.

One of the most compelling aspects of the book is its focus on the allegorical and symbolic nature of Freemasonry. Newton unpacks the meanings behind the symbols and rituals that are at the heart of the Masonic experience, such as the square and compass, the ashlar stones, and the working tools. He explains how these tools of the ancient builders serve as metaphors for the inner work of the soul—shaping one’s character, refining virtues, and striving towards moral perfection. For Newton, Freemasonry is more than a social fraternity; it is a system of ethical and spiritual development, where the “builders” are those who seek to build their own lives upon a foundation of truth, integrity, and brotherhood.

Newton also provides a deep analysis of the fraternity’s philosophical underpinnings, drawing connections between Masonic teachings and broader themes in religious and esoteric traditions. He explores the influence of ancient mystery schools, the Bible, and other sacred texts, demonstrating how Freemasonry draws upon universal spiritual wisdom to inspire its members toward a higher moral and ethical life. By doing so, *The Builders* emphasizes Freemasonry’s role as a universal institution that transcends national, religious, and cultural boundaries.

Throughout the book, Newton’s reverence for the Masonic tradition is evident. He portrays the fraternity as an important custodian of wisdom and moral values, which, while ancient, remain deeply relevant in the modern world. His narrative emphasizes Freemasonry’s capacity to unite men of different backgrounds in pursuit of a common goal: the betterment of the individual and, by extension, society.

In *The Builders*, Newton offers not just a history lesson, but a philosophical and spiritual guide, urging readers to see themselves as part of the long line of “builders” who have sought to construct not only great temples of stone, but also the temple of the human spirit. This classic work remains a profound introduction to the craft of Freemasonry, inspiring those who wish to understand its deeper meanings and timeless relevance.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
The Builders, A Story and Study of Masonry by Joseph
Fort Newton, Grand Lodge of Iowa, Part one Prophecy, Chapter three,
The Drama of Faith. And so the quest goes on,
and the quest, as it may be, ends in attainment.
We know not where and when, So long as we

(00:21):
can conceive of our separate existence, the quest goes on,
an attainment continued. Henceforward and ever shall the study of
the ways which have been followed by those who have
passed in front be a help on our own path?
It is well, it is of all things beautiful and perfect, holly,
and high of all to be conscious of the path
which does in fine lead thither where we seek to go,

(00:43):
namely the goal which is in God. Taking nothing with
us which does not belong to ourselves, leaving nothing behind
us that is of our real selves. We shall find
in the great attainment that the companions of our toil
are with us, and the place is the valley of peace.
Arthur Edward Waite the Secret tradition man does not live

(01:04):
by bread alone. He lives by faith, hope, and love.
And the first of ease was faith. Nothing in the
human story is more striking than the persistent passionate, profound
protest of man against death. Even in the earliest time,
we see him daring to stand erect at the gates
of the grave, disputing its verdict, refusing to let it

(01:24):
have the last word, and making argument in behalf of
his soul. For Emerson, as for Addison, that fact alone
was proof enough of immortality, as revealing a universal intuition
of eternal life. Others may not be so easily convinced.
But no man who has the heart of a man
can fail to be impressed by the ancient heroic faith

(01:45):
of his race. Nowhere has this faith ever been more
vivid or victorious than among the old Egyptians. In the
ancient Book of the Dead, which is indeed a book
of resurrection, occur the words the soul to heaven, the
body to earth, and that first faith is our faith.
To day of King Yunas, who lived in the third millennium,

(02:07):
it is written, behold thou hast not gone as one dead,
but as one living. Nor has any one in our
day set forth this faith with more simple eloquence than
the hymn to Osiris in the Papyrus of hunfhur So.
In the Pyramid texts the dead are spoken of as
those who ascend, the imperishable, ones who shine as stars,

(02:27):
and the gods are invoked to witness the death of
the king, dawning as a soul. There is deep prophecy,
albeit touched with poignant pathos, in these broken exclamations written
on the pyramid walls. Thou diest not have he said
that he would die? He deest not. This king Peppi
lives for ever live. Thou shalt not die. He has

(02:52):
escaped his day of death. Thou livest, thou livest raise
thee up. Thou deest not stand up, raise thee up.
Thou perishest, not eternally thou diest not Pyramid Texts seven
hundred and seventy five, twelve sixty two, fourteen fifty three,

(03:13):
fourteen seventy seven. Nevertheless, nor poetry, nor chant, nor solemn
ritual could make death other than death, and the Pyramid Texts,
while refusing to utter the fatal word, give wistful reminiscences
of that blessed age before death came forth. However high
the faith of man, the masterful negation and collapse of

(03:33):
the body was a fact, and it was to keep
that daring faith alive and a glow that the mysteries
were instituted. Beginning it may be in incantation, they rose
to heights of influence and beauty, giving dramatic portrayal of
the unconquerable faith of man. Watching the sun rise from
the tomb of night, and the spring return in glory
after the death of Winter, man reason from analogy, justifying

(03:57):
a faith that held him as truly as he held it,
that the race sinking into the grave would rise triumphant
over death. There were many variations on this theme as
the drama of faith evolved and as it passed from
land to land, but the motif was ever the same,
and they all were derived directly or indirectly from the
Old Ossyrian passion play. In Egypt, against the background of

(04:20):
the ancient Solar religion, Osiris made his advent as Lord
of the Nile and facan spirit of vegetable life, son
of Nut, the sky goddess, and ghed the earth God.
And nothing in the story of the Nile dwellers is
more appealing than his conquest of the hearts of the
people against all odds, howbeit that history need not detain
us here except to say that, by the time his

(04:41):
passion had become the drama of national faith, it had
been bathed in all the tender hues of human life,
though somewhat of its solar radiance still lingered in it,
enough to say that of all the gods called into
being by the hopes and fears of men who dwelt
in times of eure on the banks of the Nile,
Osiris was the most beloved. Osiris the benign father, Isis,

(05:02):
his sorrowful and faithful wife, and Horace, whose filial piety
and heroism shine like diamonds in a heap of stones.
About this trinity were woven the ideals of Egyptian faith
and family life. Here now the story of the oldest
drama of the race, which for more than three thousand
years held captive the hearts of men. Osiris was ruler

(05:23):
of eternity, but by reason of his visible shape seemed
nearly akin to man, revealing a divine humanity. His success
was chiefly due, however, to the gracious speech of Isis,
his sister wife, whose charm men could neither reckon nor resist.
Together they labored for the good of man, teaching him
to discern the plants fit for food themselves, pressing the

(05:45):
grapes and drinking the first cup of wine. They made
known the veins of metal running through the earth, of
which man was ignorant, and taught him to make weapons.
They initiated man into the intellectual and moral life, taught
him at thad and religion, how to read the starry sky,
song and dance, and the rhythm of music. Above all,

(06:07):
they evoked in men a sense of immortality, of a
destiny beyond the tomb. Nevertheless, they had enemies, at once
stupid and cunning, keen witted but short sighted, the dark
force of evil, which still weaves the fringe of crime
on the borders of human life. Side by side with
Osiris lived the impious set Typhon, as evil ever haunts

(06:28):
the good. While Osiris was absent. Typhon, whose name means serpent,
filled with envy and malice, sought to usurp his throne,
but his plot was frustrated by Isis, whereupon he resolved
to kill Osiris. This he did, having invited him to
a feast, by persuading him to enter a chest, offering,

(06:48):
as if in jest, to present the richly carved chest
to any one of his guests, who, lying down inside it,
found he was of the same size. When Osiris got
in and stretched himself out, the conspirators closed the chest
and flung it into the nile. Thus far the gods
had not known death. They had grown old, with white

(07:09):
hair and trembling limbs, but old age had not led
to death. As soon as Isis heard of this infernal treachery,
she cut her hair, clad herself in a garb of mourning,
ran thither and yon a prey to the most cruel anguish,
seeking the body. Weeping and distracted, she never tarried, never
tired in her sorrowful quest. Meanwhile, the waters carried the

(07:32):
chest out to sea, as far as Biblos in Syria,
the town of Adonis, where it lodged against a shrub
of arica or tamarisk like an acacia tree. Owing to
the virtue of the body, the shrub at its touch
shot up into a tree, growing around it and protecting it,
until the king of that country cut the tree, which
hid the chest in its bosom, and made from it

(07:54):
a column for his palace. At last, Isis, led by
a vision, came to Bibel, made herself known, and asked
for the column, hence the picture of her weeping over
a broken column torn from the palace, while Horace, god
of Time, stands behind her, pouring ambrosia on her hair.
She took the body back to Egypt, to the city

(08:16):
of Buddho, but Typhon, hunting by moonlight, found the chest, and,
having recognized the body of Osiris, mangled it and scattered
it beyond recognition. Isis embodiment of the old world. Sorrow
for the dead. Continued her pathetic quest, gathering peace by
piece the body of her dismembered husband and giving him
decent interment. Such was the life and death of Osiris.

(08:39):
But as his career pictured the cycle of nature, it
could not, of course end here. Horace fought with Typhon,
losing an eye in the battle, but finally overthrew him
and took him prisoner. There are several versions of his fate,
but he seems to have been tried, sentenced, and executed,
cut in three pieces, as the pyramid texts relate. Thereupon,

(09:01):
the faithful son went in solemn procession to the grave
of his father, opened it and called upon Osiris to rise,
stand up. Thou shalt not end thou shalt not perish,
but death was death. Here the Pyramid texts recite the
mortuary ritual with its hymns and chance, but in vain.

(09:21):
At length, o Cyrus awakes, weary and feeble, and by
the aid of the strong grip of the lion God,
he gains control of his body and is lifted from
death to life. Thereafter, by virtue of his victory over death,
Osiris becomes lord of the land of death, his scepter
and ank cross his throne. A square such, in brief

(09:42):
was the ancient allegory of eternal life, upon which there
were many elaborations as the drama unfolded. But always under
whatever variation of local color, of national accent or emphasis,
its central theme remained the same, often perverted and abused,
it was everywhere a jo thematic expression of the great
human aspiration for triumph over death and union with God,

(10:05):
and the belief in the ultimate victory of good over evil.
Not otherwise would this drama have held the hearts of
men through long ages and won the eulogiums of the
most enlightened men of antiquity, of Pythagoras, Socrates, Plato, Euripides, Plutarch, pinder, Isocrates, Epictetus,
and Marcus Aurelius. Writing to his wife after the loss

(10:27):
of their little girl, Plutarch commends to her the hope
set forth in the mystic rights and symbols of this drama.
As elsewhere, he testifies that it kept him as far
from superstition as from atheism, and helped him to approach
the truth. For deeper minds, this drama had a double meaning,
teaching not only immortality after death, but the awakening of

(10:47):
man upon earth from animalism to a life of purity, justice,
and honor. How nobly this practical aspect was taught, and
with what fineness of spiritual insight may be seen in
secret sermon on the mountain in the hermetic lore of Greece.
What may I say, my son? I can but tell
thee this. Whenever I see within myself the simple vision

(11:10):
brought to birth out of God's mercy, I have passed
through myself into a body that can never die. Then
I am not what I was before. They who are
thus born are children of a divine race. This race,
my son, is never taught. But when he willeth it,
its memory is restored by God. It is the way

(11:31):
of birth in God. Withdraw into thyself and it will
come will and it comes to pass. Isis herself is
said to have established the first temple of the mysteries,
the oldest being those practiced at Memphis. Of these there
were two orders, the lesser, to which the many were eligible,
and which consisted of dialogue and ritual with certain signs, tokens, grips, passwords,

(11:55):
and the greater reserved for the few who approved themselves
worthy of being in trusted with the highest secrets of science, philosophy,
and religion. For these the candidate had to undergo trial, purification, danger,
austere asceticism, and at last regeneration through dramatic death amid rejoicing.

(12:16):
Such as endured the ordeal with valor were then taught
orally and by symbol the highest wisdom to which man
had attained, including geometry, astronomy, the fine arts, the laws
of nature, as well as the truths of faith. Awful
odes of secrecy were exacted, and Plutarch describes a man kneeling,
his hands bound accord round his body and a knife

(12:38):
at his throat, death being the penalty of violating the obligation.
Even then Pythagoras had to wait almost twenty years to
learn the hidden wisdom of Egypt, so cautious were they
of candidates, especially of foreigners. But he made noble use
of it when later he found it a secret order
of his own at Cretona in Greece, in which, among

(12:59):
other things, he taught geometry using numbers as symbols of
spiritual truth. From Egypt, the mysteries passed with little change
to Asia Minor, Greece, and Rome, the names of local
gods being substituted for those of Osiris and Isis. The
Grecian or Eleusinian mysteries, established eighteen hundred BC, represented Demeter

(13:21):
and Persephone and depicted the death of Dionysius with stately
ritual which led the neophyte from death into life and immortality.
They taught the unity of God, the immutable necessity of morality,
and a life after death, investing initiates with signs and
passwords by which they could know each other in the
dark as well as in the light. The Mithraic or

(13:42):
Persian mysteries celebrated the eclipse of the sun God using
the signs of the zodiac, The processions of the seasons
the death of nature and the birth of spring. The
Edoniac or Syrian cults were similar, Adonis being killed but
revived to point to life through death. In the Cabrin
Mysteries on the island of Samothrace eighties, the son was

(14:03):
killed by his brothers the seasons, and that the vernal
equinox was restored to life. So also the Druids, as
far north as England taught of one God the tragedy
of winter and summer, and conducted the initiate through the
valley of death to life everlasting. Shortly before the Christian era,
when faith was failing and the world seemed reeling to

(14:24):
its ruin, there was a great revival of the mystery religions.
Imperial edict was powerless to stay it, much less stop it.
From Egypt, from the far East they came rushing in
like a tide. Isis of the myriad names, vying with Mitral,
the patron saint of the Soldier for the homage of
the multitude. If we ask the secret reason for this

(14:46):
influx of mysticism, no single answer can be given to
the question. What influence the reigning mystery cults had upon
the new uprising Christianity is also hard to know, and
the issue is still in debate. That they did influence
the early Church is evident from the writings of the Fathers,
and some go so far as to say that the

(15:07):
mysteries died at last, only to live again in the
ritual of the Church. Saint Paul and his missionary journeys
came in contact with the mysteries, and even makes use
of some of their technical terms in his epistles, but
he condemned them on the ground that what they sought
to teach in drama can be known only by spiritual experience,
a sound insight, though surely drama may assist to that experience,

(15:29):
else public worship might also come under ban. Toward the
end of their power, the mysteries fell into the mire
and became corrupt, as all things human are apt to do,
even the Church itself being no exception. But that at
their highest and best they were not only lofty and noble,
but elevating and refining, there can be no doubt, and

(15:49):
that they served a high purpose is equally clear. No
one who has read in the Metamorphoses of Apulius the
initiation of Lucius into the Mysteries of Isis can doubt
that the effect on the votary was profound and purifying.
He tells us that the ceremony of initiation is as
it were to suffer death, and that he stood in

(16:09):
the presence of the gods. I stood near and worshiped far.
Hence ye profane, and all who are polluted by sin
was the motto of the mysteries, and Cicero testifies that
what a man learned in the House of the Hidden
Place made him want to live nobly and gave him
happy hopes for the hour of death. Indeed, the mysteries,
as Plato said, were established by men of great genius, who,

(16:33):
in the early ages strove to teach purity, to ameliorate
the cruelty of the race, to refine its manners and morals,
and to restrain society by stronger bonds than those which
human laws impose. No mystery any longer attaches to what
they taught, but only as to the particular rites, dramas,
and symbols used in their teaching. They taught faith in

(16:55):
the unity and spirituality of God, the sovereign authority of
the moral law, heroic purity of soul, austere discipline of character,
and the hope of a life beyond the tomb. Thus,
in ages of darkness, of complexity, of conflicting peoples, tongues,
and faiths, these great Orders toiled in behalf of friendship,
bringing men together under a banner of faith, and training

(17:19):
them for a nobler moral life. Tender and tolerant of
all faiths. They formed an all embracing, moral and spiritual
fellowship which rose above barriers of nation, race, and creed,
satisfying the craving of men for unity, while evoking in
them a sense of that eternal mysticism out of which
all religions were born. Their ceremonies, so far as we

(17:40):
know them, were stately dramas of the moral life and
the fate of the soul. Mystery and secrecy added impressiveness
and fable and enigma disguised in imposing spectacle the laws
of justice, piety, and the hope of immortality. Masonry stands
in this tradition, and if we may not say that
it is historically related to the Great ancient Orders, it

(18:02):
is their spiritual descendant, and renders much the same ministry
to our age which the mysteries rendered to the olden world.
It is indeed the same stream of sweetness and light
flowing in our day, like the fabled river Alpheus, which,
gathering the waters of a hundred rills along the hillsides
of Arcadia, sank lost to sight in a chasm in

(18:22):
the earth, only to reappear in the fountain of Arethusa.
This at least is true. The greater ancient mysteries were
prophetic of masonry, whose drama is an epitome of universal initiation,
and whose simple symbols are the depositaries of the noblest
wisdom of mankind. As such, it brings men together at
the altar of prayer, keeps alive the truths that make

(18:44):
us men, seeking by every resource of art to make
tangible the power of love, the worth of beauty, and
the reality of the ideal