# Synodical Conference Convention Proceedings_St. Louis Missouri_1904_S25
# AI translation — CHI Digital Archive (demonstration)

of the Ev. Luth. Synodical Conference of North America. 1904. 25

As for the matter that is sworn, to which one commits oneself by the oath, it is not touched by the oath; it is and remains the same with or without an oath. In having found that the lodge people swear, we have discovered nothing yet about the essence of the lodge. It has an excrescence there that is sinful; beyond that we have nothing yet to charge against it. As far as swearing is concerned, it might still be the case that one would have to say: Where the oath is not present, or if the oath were not there, nothing in the lodge system would be open to objection.

A further thing that strikes us when we look through the rituals and handbooks of the various lodges is the acts of worship that we find. We find prayers and hymns, the demand for a confession of faith, examinations and more. — It is impossible to go into all the lodges. But in order to have the best known and at the same time such as are of different coloring, we limit ourselves to the Freemasons, Odd Fellows, Knights of Pythias, Maccabees, Modern Woodmen, the *Hermannssöhne* [Sons of Hermann] and — in order to have a women's lodge among them — the Rebekah Lodge. The Freemasons ask the candidate: "Do you believe in the existence of a supreme being, the creator and governor of the universe?" They have in their ritual opening prayers in which God is addressed as great Architect of the Universe or as eternal and almighty Jehovah, as glorious, eternal I AM, sometimes in the name of the Most High Priest. Holy Scripture is used and read. Certain passages are to be opened at the induction of members into the various degrees: at degree I Ps. 133, at degree II Amos 7, etc. Scripture portions are read, e.g. Deut. 31, and hymns of praise and prayer are sung. In the ritual of the Odd Fellows we find priests and high priests, patriarchs, prayers, confession, hymns and altars. The Knights of Pythias have prelates and prayers and hymns and profess their faith in a higher being. The Rebekah Lodge is in all respects modeled on that of the Odd Fellows. The Modern Woodmen have hymns with a religious tinge, especially for funerals, but they do not demand a confession of faith and have in their ritual, including the funeral ceremonies, no prayers; yet repeatedly there are found quotations from Holy Scripture and references to it. Among the Maccabees there are again altar and prelate, prayers and hymns addressed to the "almighty Jehovah," while the question to the candidate whether he believes in a higher being is, according to the ritual, not asked. The Hermannssöhne have, as far as is known, no real ritual at all; according to their constitution no acts of worship whatever are at home among them.

What holds of the Hermannssöhne holds of various other lodges. They demand no confession of faith, do not pray or sing, have no altars nor chaplains or officers filling their place among their personnel. From this one must draw the logical conclusion that worship-