James Anderson

Who was James Anderson? What part did James Anderson play in the origins of Freemasonry?

James Anderson was Scottish writer and minister during the early 18th century. He is most famously renowned for writing the Book of Constitutions, which serves as a compilation of the earliest principles of Freemasonry.

Anderson was born in Scotland, circa 1680, where he was educated and probably took the degrees M.A. and D.D. Anderson was a minister for the Church of Scotland in 1707, and at some time prior to 1709, migrated to London, where we learn from state records that he was Presbyterian minister in Swallow Street until 1734. During his service to the church he published many sermons and is reported to have lost a great sum of money in the South Sea Company disaster of 1720.

When and where his participation began with Freemasonry has not yet been discovered, but must have been a prominent member of the Craft. In September 1721, he was assigned by the Premier Grand Lodge of England, having just been established in 1717, to digest the Old Charges in a new and better manner and standardize the ritual and practices of the fraternity. After an investigation of the Anderson’s work by a committee of 14 well studied brethren, the Grand Lodge approved and ordered the Constitution be printed for the benefit of lodges in 1723. The writing is commonly known as the Book of Constitutions or Anderson’s Constitutions but originally titled as:

The Constitutions of Free-Masons; containing the History, Charges, Regulations, &c. of that Most Ancient and Right Worshipful Fraternity. For The Use of Lodges. London. In the year of Masonry 5723, Anno Domini 1723.

The Book of Constitutions was rewritten by Anderson in 1738, after the formation of the Grand Lodge of London and Westminster. It was the first Masonic book printed in America under the direction of Bro. Benjamin Franklin in Pennsylvania in 1734, and was again edited in 1754, by Bro. John Entick who introduced various modifications to the ancient charges.

Anderson’s Constitution of 1723, addresses the following Masonic principles: 1) concerning God and Religion 2) Of the Civil Magistrates Supreme and Subordinate 3) Of Lodges 4) Of Masters, Wardens Fellows and Apprentices 5) Of the Management of the Craft in Working 6) Of Behavior

The Williams Digest of Laws, adopted laws of the Grand Lodge of Mississippi, states that, “Anderson’s Constitution, contain all or nearly all the Ancient Landmarks and Usages of Masonry proper to be written. No Grand Lodge has the right to alter, change or amend any portion of said Ancient Constitution, as contained in the first edition of Anderson’s Constitutions is, or should be, regarded as the highest Masonic authority on which to found a Code of Laws for the good of the Craft.”