29th Degree

by M. Todd McIntosh, 33°, Active for Ohio Chairman, Committee on Ritualistic Matters

The 29th degree is possibly one of our oldest messages and exemplifies one of the most ancient disparities between men. Its straightforward message of tolerance among those of differing faiths never seems to lose its luster as our modern world deals with the same error of man as it did in the 16th century and centuries before.

This degree is of curious origin. As we peruse the historical notes of the degree, we read of its development since the late 19th century. Yet, what does not appear is the evolution of the premise prior to the codification of the degree by Albert Pike, 33°.

In researching the ancient editions of the 32nd degree, I found that before the advent of the legend of Constans, circa 1916, and before Illustrious Brother Pike’s work on the 29th degree, the 32nd degree was quite different and was made of three vignettes, one of which was a story of capture by the Saracens. Our exemplar there was a Teutonic Knight, who, having fallen behind the main army was captured and tortured in order to force a recantation of his faith. It was upon his fervent refusal to recant that the Saracen commander was about to kill him. When by the grace of God and the harkening of the Grand Hailing Sign, his brother knights rushed in, gave the Saracens battle, and saved our exemplar by bringing him to the safety of the camp. His successful weathering of such a moral trial (not the first or the last of the ancient 32nd degree) was the basis for his elevation to Sublime Prince of the Royal Secret. In his excellent manuscript of 2008, which traced the development of the degrees, Brother C. DeForrest Trexler, 33°, notes the battle scene was rather extensive and dramatic. That would be something to behold today!

As the 32nd degree moved into the lesson we know and love to this day, the fundamental message, a true Core Value of a Sublime Prince—tolerance of others’ faiths—found its home in the 29th degree. No longer was there torture or bloody battle. Instead, the degree developed into a straightforward dialogue between adversaries regarding the differences perceived by opposite devotions and the fallacy of prejudice that can play an integral part in the separation of mankind.

“Masonic equality is not an artificial leveling of wealth or outward conditions. It is true equality that should exist between men of virtue and high ideals, regardless of such conditions. In the code of chivalry, the poorest Knight and the greatest King were equal Knights,” our prologist decries. “No one man, no one church, no one religion has a monopoly on truth.”

As we follow the concourse of this degree, we watch as the static opinions of dogma fall to the undeniable scythe of reason. We learn how we can employ the lesson of the degree in our own lives. As we see in the degree, the knights’ ransom is set, and they are about to depart when the Sultan, Bayazid el Ilderim, opens the quintessential dialogue. Bayazid II was praised as a statesman of renowned justice and fairness. By his question about the equality between knights, his character allows us to see what good can come from the refusal to be complacent in our predeterminations of others, and how the commitment to listen to those of different opinions can open an otherwise shut door.

Moved by the knights’ responses, he asks to join the order of the knights. Such a request elicits a vitriolic rebuff, but even though his very faith has been onerously disparaged, our Sultan is undeterred. It is the very foundation of tolerance that one is willing to weather the prejudice of others to seek the truth and the common ground which so often lies just beneath the surface of disdain. With the Sultan’s perseverance and confidence in the nature of God, however it may manifest in their individual lives, the heroes of two very different worlds bridge a schism that remains almost unbreachable even today. And upon that level plane, what would be an unheard-of act occurs as men of a perpetual distance, in faith as well as society, become brothers in the bonds of chivalry!

As we emerge from a season of reflection and giving, we must ask ourselves how we can see through the veil when strong feelings of faith and religious tradition are at the fore. It is not enough simply to understand or comprehend the beliefs of others but to embrace each other as children of the same God. For indeed, my Brothers, the just of all creeds are joined in the same desire to be true and moral beings. Our faiths may differ, but our understanding of the immutable nature of the Grand Architect remains fundamentally the same.

Al salam-u-alaykom! Peace be upon you!