MasonomroM
Registered User
One common criticism of anti-masonic "thinkers" or commentators has to do with the craft's symbolic gestures and the penal nature of the obligations. Ironically, most of these critics are fundamentalist Christians who claim to adhere strictly the Bible and what it contains, and yet the Bible has more than one reference to righteous individuals taking similar oaths.
Perhaps the best example is from the book of Ruth, where Ruth swore an oath to stay with her mother-in-law Naomi.
"And Ruth said, Intreat me not to leave thee, or to return from following after thee: for whither thou goest, I will go; and where thou lodgest, I will lodge: thy people shall be my people, and thy God my God:
"Where thou diest, will I die, and there will I be buried: the Lord do so to me, and more also, if ought but death part thee and me." (Ruth 1:16-17)
The meaning of the phrase "the Lord do so to me..." is so obvious, that even the famous pulpit commentary gets it right:
"[Ruth] appeals to the God of the Israelites, the one universal God. She puts herself on oath, and invokes his severest penal displeasure if she should suffer anything less uncontrollable than death to part her from her mother-in-law. 'So may Yahveh do to me.' It was thus that the Hebrews made their most awful appeals to Yahveh. They signified their willingness to suffer some dire calamity if they should either do the evil deed repudiated or fail to do the good deed promised. So stands...a kind of euphemism, or cloudy veil, two-thirds concealing, and one-third revealing, whatever horrid infliction could by dramatic sign be represented or hinted."
This passage in Ruth 1:17 could literally be rendered thus: "May the Lord do this to me, and even more, unless death separates us!" This makes it clear that Ruth made some sort of symbolic gesture denoting the way in which she would be punished if she broke her oath.
Perhaps the best example is from the book of Ruth, where Ruth swore an oath to stay with her mother-in-law Naomi.
"And Ruth said, Intreat me not to leave thee, or to return from following after thee: for whither thou goest, I will go; and where thou lodgest, I will lodge: thy people shall be my people, and thy God my God:
"Where thou diest, will I die, and there will I be buried: the Lord do so to me, and more also, if ought but death part thee and me." (Ruth 1:16-17)
The meaning of the phrase "the Lord do so to me..." is so obvious, that even the famous pulpit commentary gets it right:
"[Ruth] appeals to the God of the Israelites, the one universal God. She puts herself on oath, and invokes his severest penal displeasure if she should suffer anything less uncontrollable than death to part her from her mother-in-law. 'So may Yahveh do to me.' It was thus that the Hebrews made their most awful appeals to Yahveh. They signified their willingness to suffer some dire calamity if they should either do the evil deed repudiated or fail to do the good deed promised. So stands...a kind of euphemism, or cloudy veil, two-thirds concealing, and one-third revealing, whatever horrid infliction could by dramatic sign be represented or hinted."
This passage in Ruth 1:17 could literally be rendered thus: "May the Lord do this to me, and even more, unless death separates us!" This makes it clear that Ruth made some sort of symbolic gesture denoting the way in which she would be punished if she broke her oath.
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