Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1868-04-25

GEORGE FRANK GOULEY has several
times positively asserted that the 2Sih
degree of the Ancient and Accepted
Scottish Rite is an Gtaejstjoal degree.
We propose to prove that this is exactly
! the autipodes Of the Truth.
After the person in question had con-
| cluded not to keep his obligations taken
in the A. &. A. Rite, and to assail it, he
went to ILL.,. Bro. VIM. NJ. LOKER,
aud got from him the Ritual of the De-
grees from the 18th to the 305h, to look
over, without taking il away. Of course
supp0sing that he deemed himself bound
by his obligations, that Bro. permitted
him to look it over. We need not char
acterize this mode OF obtaining further
information after one has concluded to
denounce the Rite.
The paragraphs which we append,
contain the teachings Of the degree ia
question as to the Deity. The reader
will be able to say, after reading them,
what GEO. FRANK GoULEY's repeated
statement ought to be styled:
The existence of evil and suffering, at
! the same time that God is all-wise and
perfectly beneficent; and the cO-eXist-
ence Of His OmnipOtence and Omnisci-
ence, and the moral accountability of
man, have in all ages been the rocks on
which philosophers and religions have
made shipwreck. Whole nations have
/ held il blasphenly to say that God is the
author of Evil; and the idea is not easily
dismissed, thatsa world not all good aud
! always happy is imperfect and unworthy
/ of perfect God, unless there is TO be
compensation in another life.
| But the Holy Writings expressly say
| To at God has created the xvii as well ss
| the Good and it is for us To reconcile
! this and the punishment by Him OF in-
! iquity and wrong, with His All-knOwl-
! edge, All-pOWer and Infinite Beneficence.
| For We are conscious that in doing wrong
| We exercise cur free will we know that
suffering is, by Gods ordinance, the con-
! sequence Of vice, its consequences often
| descending to our children and Logic
| asks US if it is not true that man can do
nothing contrary to the will Of God ?-if
| He did not fOreknow and intend that we
should do the wrong and if so, why He
should punish US?
| What we term evil, therefore, a0Gs
| necessary, and God was compelled to
| create il, or not 10 create at all for every
/ thing below himself must be imperfect,
/ and impeFfegtion is the intermingling OF
evil. To give bodies to human beings,
/ bodies capable OF receiving the impFes-
/ siOns that cause pain, bodies with SEN
i sual Rppetites, and provoking sensual
| passions, il was necessary that the cTe8-
! ture so constituted should be imperfect.
To dream Of perfection in the body is
mpia absurdity. A millennium on
earth is impossible. Pain, suffering,
sickness, death, wrong, oppression, dis
tress and evil, are absolutely necessary,
| in this sense, that without causing them
God could not create human beings,
with bodies, senses and sppetitss, at all.
We cannot escape the conclusion that
If ia i'm possible for man to do anything
not intended by the Deity. To hold that
we can eoutravene His will, is to deny
His OmnfpOtence. We are thus forced
Ia q belief in Fatality or PredestinatiOD
and vet our consciousness, which is
higher evidence than Logic, and Reason,
which tells US that otherwise God would
he unjust, that is, would not De, concur
in proving to Us, our Free VIII or
Nv Brother, it is time that you should
begin to think. Modern Science Is the
experimeEtalism of Bacon run mad IL
ignores all immsteriaI influences and
forces, and refers all cause and effect In
Nature to material laws and chemical
forces. The Universe is for it ma
chine OF mechanism, created and set
going by the Deity so many
years ago, TO be run without bis further
intervention, by means of these foEces
and laws. 1t is true, then, that God,
after resting an eternity, created the uni-
verse and has rested ever since that rest
being immooility, nou-action and stag
patton 1t sxiles God 70 distance