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James Anderson

1679 – 1739 Scottish Presbyterian minister, Masonic author

Minister who wrote the foundational Constitutions of modern Freemasonry.

Religion
Presbyterian Christianity. He framed Freemasonry around a shared moral religion on which all men agree, leaving specific creeds aside.
Affiliations
Member of the Premier Grand Lodge of England. Author of the Constitutions of the Free-Masons.

James Anderson was a Presbyterian minister who compiled The Constitutions of the Free-Masons in 1723 for the new Grand Lodge of England, giving the order a legendary history and a set of charges. His charge on God and religion asked members only to follow the moral law all good men share, opening the lodge across denominations. The book became the template for Masonic constitutions worldwide.

Connections

  • influenced Elias Ashmole — Ashmole's early speculative Masonry preceded the organized Grand Lodge Anderson served.
  • associate of Jean Theophile Desaguliers — Both were central figures in the early Premier Grand Lodge of England.
  • associate of Jean Theophile Desaguliers — Collaborated in building the early Grand Lodge and its Constitutions.

In the timeline

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