Why is the All Seeing Eye found in some European Medieval Churches?
There are many videos and commentaries about Freemasonry and Catholicism.
"The earliest we find the Eye of Providence within a triangle is the Palatine Chapel, Aachen Cathedral, built 786 CE by the first Holy Roman Emperor, Charlemagne."
Here are some things we've found out about it:
- Catholic use of the “eye” of providence was used at least as early as 8th century A.D., 900 years before the Freemasons.
- The eye was used 200 years before the knights templar were founded
- The Church may have borrowed the “eye” from pre Christian sources, but added a triangle around it to show that God is Trinitarian. The same way that Evangelicals borrowed bongo drums from Africans.
- It was always understood to be the eye of God until the Masons appropriated it, then speculation about its meaning splintered into many directions including conspiracy theories, and the “eye of the dajja" (devil).
- The use of the eye in pre-Christian times, has led to much speculation among Evangelical fundamentalists, who also condemn the Church’s use of pre-Christian Greek and Hellenistic philosophy. The later appropriation of the image by the Masons, further fueled that attack.
- The image was also used in America by many mainline denominations, such as the United, etc. in their churches.
- It’s association with the eye of dajja (devil) is fairly recent.
- The Catholic Church has not used it as a symbol in its churches for a long time. The Church has basically abandoned the symbol when the masons started using it.
- The Knights Templar had been disbanded over 200 years before the Freemasonry existed.
- The Catholic church has consistently stated that Catholicism and Freemasonry are incompatible and it is forbidden for Catholics to be a member of a masonic lodge.