The Project Gutenberg eBook, Secret Societies, by David MacDill, Jonathan
Blanchard, and Edward Beecher

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Title: Secret Societies

Author: David MacDill, Jonathan Blanchard, and Edward Beecher

Release Date: October 15, 2004 [eBook #13759]

Language: English

Character set encoding: ISO-646-US (US-ASCII)

***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK SECRET SOCIETIES***

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SECRET SOCIETIES

A Discussion of Their Character and Claims

by

REV. DAVID MACDILL, JONATHAN BLANCHARD, D. D., AND EDWARD BEECHER, D. D.

'Have no fellowship with the
unfruitful works of darkness, but
rather reprove them.' --EPH. v: 11.

CONTENTS.

I. A TREATISE BY REV. D. MACDILL.

CHAPTER I. THEIR ANTIQUITY.
CHAPTER II. THEIR SECRECY.
CHAPTER III. OATHS AND PROMISES.
CHAPTER IV. PROFANENESS.
CHAPTER V. THEIR EXCLUSIVENESS.
CHAPTER VI. FALSE CLAIMS.

II. SHALL CHRISTIANS JOIN SECRET SOCIETIES?
BY JONATHAN BLANCHARD, D. D.

III. REPORT TO CONGREGATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF ILLINOIS.
BY EDWARD BEECHER, D. D.

CHAPTER I.

THEIR ANTIQUITY.

1. Secret associations are of very ancient origin. They existed among
the ancient Egyptians, Hindoos, Grecians, Romans, and probably among
nearly all the pagan nations of antiquity. This fact, however is
neither proof of their utility nor of their harmlessness. Slavery,
despotism, cruelty, drunken falsehood, and all sorts of sins and
crimes have been practiced from time immemorial, but are none the less
to be reprobated on that account.

2. The facts that these associations had no existence among the
Israelites, who, alone of all the ancient nations, enjoyed the light of
Divine revelation, and that they originated and flourished among the
heathen, who were vain in their imaginations; whose foolish heart was
darkened, and whom God gave up to uncleanness through the lusts of
their own hearts (Rom. i: 21-24), is a presumptive proof that their
nature and tendency are evil. We do not claim that all the
institutions among God's anci