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Prime Beliefs of
Freemasonry
by Norman Williams Crabb, MPS

The four prime beliefs of Freemasonry
are the Fatherhood of God, the Brother-
hood of Man, Relief to Others, and the
Search for Truth. If these four points are
all any person gets out of being a Free-
mason, knowing a Freemason, or even
knowing that there is Freemasonry, then
Freemasonry has served its mission on
earth.

Freemasonry is a philosophy. The basis
of Masonic philosophy is that there is a
Supreme Being and that all men are of
the same family. The existence of a Su-
preme Being is taken in the broadest
sense. Many of the great religions of the
world fit into the Freemasonic parame-
ters of subscribing to the existence of a
Supreme Being. This is also the reason
that Freemasonry is not a religion. Its
tenets accept most major religions;
therefore no one religious belief takes
precedence over another.

The Brotherhood of Man is exactly
what it says. All men are created equal
in the eyes of the Supreme Being; be they
white, black, Christian, Jew, Moslem,
European, African or Asian, all are
brothers. Our duty as Freemasons is to
practice brotherly love and friendship by
transcending the differences in men and
finding similarities.

Relief means that Freemasons are obli-
gated to help others less fortunate than
themselves when it is possible to do so.
Charity, whether it be on a one-to-one
basis as need arises, or as one of the many
charities Freemasonry and its related
bodies perform, is most important.

The Search for Truth is a Freemasonic
mainstay. In all of our worldly endeavors

Prime Beliefs ol Freemasonry


we are reminded to be truthful to others,
to follow the path of truth, and even to
look for truth in our daily lives.

While in a Masonic Lodge anywhere in
the world, a Mason cannot discuss poli-
tics or religion. This is to assure that first
and foremost there is harmony among
the brotherhood while in lodge assem-
bled.

If Freemasonry has done nothing else,
it has and will continue to shape world
events by bringing together men of dif-
ferent races, creeds, and nationalities
under the auspices of Freemasonic
teachings of brotherly love, friendship,
relief, and truth. In doing this one act it
will have served mankind on a grand
scale by promoting a dialogue with all
members of the human race.
