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Article THE NINE GREAT TRUTHS IN MASONRY. Page 1 of 3 →
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The Nine Great Truths In Masonry.
THE NINE GEEAT TETJTHS IN MASONED .
( From the AmericanQuarterly ' Review of Freemasonry . ') There are nine Great Truths which are at the foundation ofFreemasonrytruths -which it is its mission ' to teach- —and which , as constituting the very essence of that sublime system which gives to the venerable institution its peculiar identity as a science of morality , it behoves every disciple diligently to ponder and inwardly to digest . The First Great Truth in Masonry is this :
No man hath seen Clod at any time . He is One , Eternal , All-Powerful , All-Wise , Infinitely Just , Merciful , Benevolent , and Compassionate Creator and Preserver of all things , the Source of Light and Life , co-extensive with Time and Space who thought , and with the Thought , created the Universe and all living things , and the souls of men : that is :- ^ the Permanent ; while every thing beside is a perpetual genesis . The Second Great Truth in Masonry is this :
The soul of man is immortal ; not the result of organization , nor an aggregate of modes of action of matter , nor a succession of phenomena and perceptions ; but an existence , one and identical , a living spirit , a spark of the Great Central Light , that hath entered into and dwells in the body ; to be separated therefrom at death , and return to God who gave it : that doth not disperse or vanish at death , like breath or a smoke , nor can be annihilated ; but still exists , and possesses activity and intelligence , even as it existed in God , before it was enveloped in the body .
The Third Great Truth in Masonry is this : The impulse which directs to right conduct , and deters from crime , is not only older than the ages of nations and . cities , but coeval with that Divine Being who sees and rules both heaven and earth . Nor did Tartjuin less violate that eternal law , though in his reign there might have been no written law at Rome against such violence ; for the principle that impels us to right conduct , and warns us against guilt , springs out of the nature of things . It did not begin to be law when it was first turitten , but when it orkjinated and it is coeval with the Divine Intelligence
itself . The consequence of virtue is not to be made the end thereof ; and laudable performances must have deeper roots , motives , and instigations , to give them the stamp of virtues . If a man shall lay down as the chief good that which has no connection with virtue , and measure it by its own interests , and not according to its moral merit ; if such a man shall act consistently with his own principles , and is not sometimes influenced by the goodness of his heart , he can cultivate neither friendship , justice , nor generosity . It is impossible for the man to be brave , who shall pronounce pain the greatest evil ; or temperate , who shall propose pleasure as the highest good .
The Fourth Great Truth in Masonry is this : The moral truths are as absolute as the metaphysical truths . Even the Deity cannot make it that there should be effects without a cause , or phenomena without substance . As little could He make it to be sinful and evil to respect our pledged word , to love truth , to moderate ouv passions . The principles of morality
are axioms , like the principles of geometry . The moral laws are the necessary relations that flow from the nature of things , and they are not created by , but have existed eternally in Gob , Their continued existence does not depend upon the exercise of His Will . ^ Truth and Justice are of ) His Essence . Not because we are feeble and God omnipotent , is it our duty to obey His law . We mazy bo
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
The Nine Great Truths In Masonry.
THE NINE GEEAT TETJTHS IN MASONED .
( From the AmericanQuarterly ' Review of Freemasonry . ') There are nine Great Truths which are at the foundation ofFreemasonrytruths -which it is its mission ' to teach- —and which , as constituting the very essence of that sublime system which gives to the venerable institution its peculiar identity as a science of morality , it behoves every disciple diligently to ponder and inwardly to digest . The First Great Truth in Masonry is this :
No man hath seen Clod at any time . He is One , Eternal , All-Powerful , All-Wise , Infinitely Just , Merciful , Benevolent , and Compassionate Creator and Preserver of all things , the Source of Light and Life , co-extensive with Time and Space who thought , and with the Thought , created the Universe and all living things , and the souls of men : that is :- ^ the Permanent ; while every thing beside is a perpetual genesis . The Second Great Truth in Masonry is this :
The soul of man is immortal ; not the result of organization , nor an aggregate of modes of action of matter , nor a succession of phenomena and perceptions ; but an existence , one and identical , a living spirit , a spark of the Great Central Light , that hath entered into and dwells in the body ; to be separated therefrom at death , and return to God who gave it : that doth not disperse or vanish at death , like breath or a smoke , nor can be annihilated ; but still exists , and possesses activity and intelligence , even as it existed in God , before it was enveloped in the body .
The Third Great Truth in Masonry is this : The impulse which directs to right conduct , and deters from crime , is not only older than the ages of nations and . cities , but coeval with that Divine Being who sees and rules both heaven and earth . Nor did Tartjuin less violate that eternal law , though in his reign there might have been no written law at Rome against such violence ; for the principle that impels us to right conduct , and warns us against guilt , springs out of the nature of things . It did not begin to be law when it was first turitten , but when it orkjinated and it is coeval with the Divine Intelligence
itself . The consequence of virtue is not to be made the end thereof ; and laudable performances must have deeper roots , motives , and instigations , to give them the stamp of virtues . If a man shall lay down as the chief good that which has no connection with virtue , and measure it by its own interests , and not according to its moral merit ; if such a man shall act consistently with his own principles , and is not sometimes influenced by the goodness of his heart , he can cultivate neither friendship , justice , nor generosity . It is impossible for the man to be brave , who shall pronounce pain the greatest evil ; or temperate , who shall propose pleasure as the highest good .
The Fourth Great Truth in Masonry is this : The moral truths are as absolute as the metaphysical truths . Even the Deity cannot make it that there should be effects without a cause , or phenomena without substance . As little could He make it to be sinful and evil to respect our pledged word , to love truth , to moderate ouv passions . The principles of morality
are axioms , like the principles of geometry . The moral laws are the necessary relations that flow from the nature of things , and they are not created by , but have existed eternally in Gob , Their continued existence does not depend upon the exercise of His Will . ^ Truth and Justice are of ) His Essence . Not because we are feeble and God omnipotent , is it our duty to obey His law . We mazy bo