Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
America.
allowed to gain admission . At the very entrance to tho temple , sectarianism falls , bigotry hides , and the first lesson teaches that Masonry interferes with no man's political or religious opinions . From the altar goes forth the mild persuasive voice , rebuking the uncurbed passions of man ' s fallen nature , causing him to bow submissively at the shrine of pure morality .
The first great doctrines held in sacred veneration by the Order are the existence of God , and the immortality of the soul . It assumes the position that the works of nature demonstrate the wisdom and power of the Infinite Being , while the book of revelation discloses to man who this Infinite Being is ,, and the relation that we sustain to Him , as moral agents , capable of performing moral
action . The sentiment uttered by David of old is indelibly impressed on every worthy Mason— " The fool hath said in his heart there is no God . " All nature , whether dressed in the rich and varied hues of spring , or clad in the drapery of winter , reminds the intelligent creature that there is a Being of infinite wisdom , power , and goodnessand that this Beingwho is imperceptible to the
, , veiled eyes of man , directs and governs the laws of the material world . The whole universe , with the millions of creatures inhabiting it , from man , the masterpiece of creative power , to the smallest insect that floats in the sunbeam , bears the impress of a First Great Cause . If we cast our eyes over the world with its magnificent
scenery , its mountain heights—peak rising above peak until they are lost in the clouds—its lovely vales spread out with carpets of green , and adorned with flowers of every hue , and ask , who laid the foundations thereof ? thousands of voices reply , God , and God alone . If we cast our eyes upward , and gaze in wonder on that vast arch of the skies which seems to hang by nothing , and inquire , " who hath thus stretched it forth 1 "—who is it also that hath fixed above
us so many brilliant luminaries with such perfect order and regularity 1—these mighty wonders proclaim , in language not to be misunderstood , the existence and the power of a God . It is astonishing that any intelligent being should for one moment question the existence of a Supreme Being . Can any one gaze upon the sculptured marble , with its life-like form , or the painting spread upon the
canvass without believing , yea knowing , there had been a sculptor and a painter ? Can he gaze upon the gallant ship or the splendid mansion and not understand that there had lived a carpenter and an architect 1 Would he pretend to say that these were the products of blind chance , formations brought about by a few atoms blindly hurled together ? It is just as unreasonable to suppose there is no sunthough we behold his beams gilding the earthas
, , to conclude there is no God when we gaze upon his works . There is a God , and Masonry acknowledges his existence by pointing its votary to that " clouded canopy " where all good Masons hope eventually to arrive , by "faith in that God , hope in immortality , and Vol .. i , 3 i
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
America.
allowed to gain admission . At the very entrance to tho temple , sectarianism falls , bigotry hides , and the first lesson teaches that Masonry interferes with no man's political or religious opinions . From the altar goes forth the mild persuasive voice , rebuking the uncurbed passions of man ' s fallen nature , causing him to bow submissively at the shrine of pure morality .
The first great doctrines held in sacred veneration by the Order are the existence of God , and the immortality of the soul . It assumes the position that the works of nature demonstrate the wisdom and power of the Infinite Being , while the book of revelation discloses to man who this Infinite Being is ,, and the relation that we sustain to Him , as moral agents , capable of performing moral
action . The sentiment uttered by David of old is indelibly impressed on every worthy Mason— " The fool hath said in his heart there is no God . " All nature , whether dressed in the rich and varied hues of spring , or clad in the drapery of winter , reminds the intelligent creature that there is a Being of infinite wisdom , power , and goodnessand that this Beingwho is imperceptible to the
, , veiled eyes of man , directs and governs the laws of the material world . The whole universe , with the millions of creatures inhabiting it , from man , the masterpiece of creative power , to the smallest insect that floats in the sunbeam , bears the impress of a First Great Cause . If we cast our eyes over the world with its magnificent
scenery , its mountain heights—peak rising above peak until they are lost in the clouds—its lovely vales spread out with carpets of green , and adorned with flowers of every hue , and ask , who laid the foundations thereof ? thousands of voices reply , God , and God alone . If we cast our eyes upward , and gaze in wonder on that vast arch of the skies which seems to hang by nothing , and inquire , " who hath thus stretched it forth 1 "—who is it also that hath fixed above
us so many brilliant luminaries with such perfect order and regularity 1—these mighty wonders proclaim , in language not to be misunderstood , the existence and the power of a God . It is astonishing that any intelligent being should for one moment question the existence of a Supreme Being . Can any one gaze upon the sculptured marble , with its life-like form , or the painting spread upon the
canvass without believing , yea knowing , there had been a sculptor and a painter ? Can he gaze upon the gallant ship or the splendid mansion and not understand that there had lived a carpenter and an architect 1 Would he pretend to say that these were the products of blind chance , formations brought about by a few atoms blindly hurled together ? It is just as unreasonable to suppose there is no sunthough we behold his beams gilding the earthas
, , to conclude there is no God when we gaze upon his works . There is a God , and Masonry acknowledges his existence by pointing its votary to that " clouded canopy " where all good Masons hope eventually to arrive , by "faith in that God , hope in immortality , and Vol .. i , 3 i