The Freemason Battle Revived: "Antients" vs "Moderns"

The Freemason Battle Revived: "Antients" vs "Moderns," by Bro. Jeff Peace

From the very beginning of Speculative Free-Masonry there has been a silent internal schism that at times has resurfaced into an open wound. The famous schism of 1751 between the "Antients" and "Moderns" is perhaps the most well remembered but it is but one of many such incidents in the history of the Craft. As with all history the victors account will become the commonly accepted truth but eventually the facts overtake this view and the conflict begins anew.

Today, many Free-Masons live in the false belief that all Free-Masonry is the same. Nothing could be further from the truth! The "Antients" want to preserve the mysticism of the Middle Ages while the "Moderns" want to chart a progressive course of enlightenment through natural philosophy, science and morality. The "Antients" won the conflict of 1751 and the Masonry we have today is a result of that victory. Where has it led us? It would appear back to the darkness of the Middle Ages.

On December 27th, 2005 the Grand Lodge of the "Moderns," first formed in 1717, was reconstituted with a formal Declaration of Independence from the American "Antient" Grand Lodges. The new United Grand Lodge of America is the re-birth of "Modern" Free-Masonry and the true essence of spiritual and intellectual enlightenment. The Light of George Washington’s Free-Masonry once again burns brightly across America.

In 1751 the "Antient" Grand Lodge referred to its great predecessor mockingly as "The Grand Lodge of the Moderns," today "Modern" Masons wear that badge with honor because we are "Modern" and progressive, and even more importantly we are the legitimate Grand Lodge of Speculative Free-Masonry. We have purged our rituals of the deceptive symbolism of the "Antients" and restored that which we intended from the beginning. Free-Masonry was never intended to be a mystery to its initiates. A "Modern" Free-Mason understands his Craft and can reveal its secrets to his Apprentice.

For those brothers who have wandered in darkness for so long and by led by the cable-tow down dead-end streets with the promise of further Light, your days of aimless wanderings have come to an end. The United Grand Lodge of America welcomes all true brothers into the brotherly love and Light of true Free-Masonry.

— Bro. Jeff Peace

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