New England and the Bavarian IlluminatiStauffer, Vernon
History
New England and the Bavarian Illuminati
Stauffer, Vernon
Illuminati; New England -- Church history; Thesis (Ph. D.)
[357] Forestier, _op. cit._, p. 88. The anticlerical spirit of the
order did not receive an official emphasis commensurate with its
importance and weight, doubtless because of Weishaupt’s desire to work
under cover against his enemies as completely as possible. Forestier’s
comment seems thoroughly just: “Il ne faut pas oublier que Weishaupt en
fondant sa Societé n’avait pas songé seulement à faire le bonheur de
l’humanité, mais qu’il avait cherché aussi à trouver des alliés dans la
lutte qu’il soutenait à Ingolstadt contre le parti des ex-Jésuites. A
côté du but officiellement proclamé, l’Ordre avait un autre but, auquel
on pensait d’autant plus qu’on en parlait moins.” (_Op. cit._, 87. _Cf.
ibid._, pp. 92, 110.)
[358] _Ibid._, p. 90.
[359] _Einige Originalschriften des Illuminaten Ordens_, p. 216.
The order was to be used in the circulation of anticlerical and
antireligious books and pamphlets, and the work of the priests and the
monks was to be held in mind as constituting the chief obstacle to
intellectual and moral progress. Forestier, _op. cit._, pp. 91, 92.
[360] _Ibid._, p. 317.
[361] _Ibid._, p. 318.
[362] Forestier, _op. cit._, p. 318. This was treated as the esoteric
doctrine of Christ, coming to the surface here and there in His
teachings and acts, and revealed in the _disciplina arcani_ of the
early church. It is only when this secret teaching is grasped that
the coherence of Jesus’ utterances and the significance of the true
doctrines of man’s fall and his resurrection can be understood. It was
because man abandoned the state of nature that he lost his dignity
and his liberty. In other words, he fell because he ceased to fight
against his sensual desires, surrendering himself to the rule of his
passions. His work of redemption will be accomplished when he learns to
moderate his passions and to limit his desires. The kingdom of grace is
therefore a kingdom wherein men live in reason’s light.
[363] “Par ses divers caractères avoués ou secrets, l’Ordre des
Illuminés était l’expression d’une époque et d’un milieu. Le Système né
dans le cerveau de Weishaupt avait trouvé des adeptes en Bavière parce
qu’il répondait aux aspirations et satisfaisait les haines de la classe
cultivée dans ce pays.” (_Ibid._, p. 99.)
[364] These new centers were Munich, Regensburg, Freising, and
Eichstätt. For data concerning the early enrollment of recruits, _cf.
ibid._, pp. 30 _et seq._
[365] _Ibid._, p. 45.
[366] The term _Areopagite_ was applied to the men who shared with
Weishaupt the supreme direction of the order. Each was assigned a
pseudonym. With one exception, Xavier Zwack (Danaus), they seem to have
been men of very ordinary ability. Forestier, _op. cit._, p. 232.
[367] _Ibid._, pp. 231 _et seq._, 112 _et seq._
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