That Religion in Which All Men Agree

Weaves the story of Freemasonry into the narrative of American religious history. In this book, the author argues that from the 1730s through the early twentieth century the religious worlds of an evolving American social order broadly appropriated the beliefs and initiatory practices of this all-male society. "In David Hackett’s deeply researched and compellingly written study, the Masons step directly into American religious history. Hackett presents Freemasonry as a bricolage of Enlightenment pretensions, Romanticism dreams, Christian inheritances, fragments of 'ancient' wisdom, and Native American lore. It is a surprisingly multicultural story, and in Hackett's telling, Freemasonry helped create the modern American public sphere by offering a forum for collective action and male solidarity. That Religion in Which All Men Agree is religious history on a grand scale." —Robert Orsi, Grace Craddock Nagle Chair in Catholic Studies and Professor of Religious Studies and History at Northwestern University "There are many studies of Freemasonry, but none like this one. Combining original research with a 'big picture' synthetic story about the history of Freemasonry, That Religion in Which All Men Agree is a valuable and useful work of scholarship." —Paul Harvey, coauthor of The Color of Christ: The Son of God and the Saga of Race in America "Professor Hackett examines Freemasonry as a radically tolerant power uniting European Americans and enabling men of different backgrounds—African American, Native American, Jewish, and Catholic—to integrate into the larger American society. He demonstrates how Freemasonry was used to conciliate true friendship among those who might otherwise have remained at a perpetual distance and clearly establishes the Fraternity as a robust and complex force in the evolution of American society." —S. Brent Morris, Past Master, Quatuor Coronati Lodge No. 2076, London This study weaves the story of Freemasonry into the narrative of American religious history. Freighted with the mythical legacies of stonemasons' guilds and the Newtonian revolution, English Freemasonry came to colonial America with a vast array of cultural baggage, which was drawn on, added to, and transformed in different ways in its sojourn through American culture. David Hackett argues that from the 1730s through the early twentieth century the religious worlds of an evolving American social order broadly appropriated the changing beliefs and initiatory practices of this all-male society. For much of American history, Freemasonry was a counter and complement to Protestant churches and a forum for collective action among racial and ethnic groups outside the European American Protestant mainstream. Moreover, to differing degrees and at different times, the cultural template of Freemasonry gave shape and content to the American "public sphere." By expanding and complicating the terrain of American religious history to include a group not usually seen to be a carrier of religious beliefs and rituals, That Religion in Which All Men Agree shows how Freemasonry's American history contributes to a broader understanding of the multiple influences that have shaped religion in American culture.