250 FROM THE ART OF BUILDING TO THE ART OF THINKING
proved by later editions of the Book of Constitutions in which theism
took the place of deism.
The best argument J. R. Clarke provided to support his contention
that deism became the rule is that Jews were accepted into Freemasonry
shortly after 1723. First mention of this is in the Daily Post, September
22, 1732, and Fog's Journal, October 7, 1732, which announced the
admission of Daniel Delvalle.^5 How could Jews who remained ortho-
dox utilize the Christian symbolism of traditional freemasonry? And
why would the lodges have admitted them if they had renounced
Freemasonry's principles?
In his missive Anderson's Freemasonry not Deistic,^6 E. Ward res-
ponded by showing, with the support of precise facts, that English
Freemasonry had actually retained Christian objectives following 1723.
Thus the admission of Jews into Freemasonry could amount to only iso-
lated instances corresponding to particular circumstance, much like the
admission of several Turks into the lodges of Smyrna and Aleppo in
1738.
Ward also thought it wise in regard to the dispositions of Pastor
Anderson's mind to quote two sermons, one of which was published in
the very year of 1723: "Refutation of the Errors of the Socinianus,
Pythagorians, Papists and Others." The other, " Unity in Trinity against
Idolaters, Modern Jews, and Anti-Trinitarians," was published in 1733.
Besides the rejection of the Jews, Freemasonry's apparent rejection of
"papists" and "idolators" reinforces Lantoine's sentiments. The toler-
ance of the Book of Constitutions barely conceals the struggle against
the Catholics as a means for Anglicans to defend Christianity.
But we should also look at the contemporary reactions of London
and Great Britain as a whole to the founding of the Grand Lodge of
London. Tolerance, even if it was a ploy, was nonetheless seen as being
in tune with rituals and the formulation of oaths, invocations, and
prayers using any word or expression that might irk anyone or cause
controversy, no matter the form of Christian worship. Many saw toler-
ance as a renunciation—if not an outright denial—of Christian disbelief.
For a long time, the influence of the Grand Lodge of London
remained constricted because its jurisdiction was confined only to the
cities of London and Westminster and their suburbs. The majority of