Year: 1878

III TeCOEQh OF the EenOkH@L AAAh


Heaven, He'll, God and Devil figured a


the fundamental doctrinal points in tn
a theology of that distant time; an'
I among US of to-day the belief in heayel
: and hell God and a Devil is but tn
:, perpetuity of the ancient doctrine in
: more intelligent and enlighted form.


The subject Of He'll is one Of all absorb


ing interest to that class known as tn


Christian World In fact, belief in Hell


is Christianity, and Christianity is be


lief in He'll; for without He'll Christian


ity would be the merest farce and conse


quently unworthy of the thought it, a


the present time, attracts towards itsel


as the great Master Masonic Degree I,


eternal happiness in the land OF the


hereafter; or in other words there would


be no necessity for Christianity nor il


fact for religion of any description.


As we enter into the labyrinths Of this


subject let us take logical survey of the
probabilities of place of future punish
+ ment. / shall start out with three prop


ositious


l. That this world always existed.


2. That il was made by chance.


3. That il was created by design.


Philosophy teaches that it is impossi


BILE to take one particle from Or add one


particle to the aggregate OF particles,


that make or form the bulk or mass OF


the world. But it also teaches that the


particles may be changed and may be


made to assume other forms hence il is


inferred by some that the world always
existed i'm some form; that certain prop
critics inherent in matter itself alone
caused q tendency of these particles to
an unity that in the course Of time pro-
duced what we call the earth. But this
is fallacy because it would be making
\ every particle of matter act on its own
individual responsibility and volition as
it were, independent of any extraneous
force thereby causing to be inferred that
every particle of matter is a creative sen
4 tient, or God Of itself


1 The refinement of thought on the sub
I ject of Divinity has evolved as the latest
and newest science that there is but one
God, and that lie alone is the creator Of
all things Again, it has been asserted
and proven by several eminent scholars,
who have given to the subject much deep
thought, that light and air alone in time
would destroy the world.


Consequently light and air, according
to their deductions, are not the life OF
the world as some may assert or think,
but are on the contrary the ultimate
death Of it,


Let us illustrate; take for example the
mummies contained in the pyramids and
other tombs of the East. The body, by
being carefully bound and wrapped in
linen and all light and air excluded from
contact with it, then placed within the
tomb and all light and air excluded
therefrom by walls of masonry, is pre-
served, and has been preserved for count
less ages; ! say countless because we
have no authentic record of the builders
of those astonishing and wonderful works
of antiquity nor of the home Of their
construction. Hence the conclusion
the world could not always have existed,
because such non-commencing, and con-
sequently non-ending existence conflicts
with the teachings of the most enlight-
ened scientific research which reiutes the
theory. 1t also conflicts with the expert
ence of many who have given the subject
thought and study.


We now proceed to the consideration
of our I'd proposition: That il was made
by chance. Does chance do anything in
an uniform manner2 When we look
around US and above with what harmony
all the parts al Nature perform their
respective functions; when we observe
the law governing the growth of grains
and the formation of kernels when we
observe the law governing the growth of
the beautiful flowers in fine, when we
observe those laws that govern the repro
duction of the animal species, we are
constrained to confess that chance could (
not have been the author Of so much /
harmony regularity and uniformity
that it could not have brought forth from I
chaos such a beautiful and perfect poem /
as the earth in all its parts presents to I
the intelligent eye.


Again, let us take for consideration a
steam engine, or a watch; see with what I
perfection all the parts fit; see the 1
smoothness and regularity with which 4
those parts move and execute; now
would any one but a lunatictassert that I
the engine and the watch are the crea- 4
tions of cbance2 And when he comes to 4
compare these with the grand and sub +
lime work Of creation, we cannot as ra. 4
tional beings attribute a greater and I
grander work to the creative genius Of /
chance, whose genius is but tue genius I
of mishaps.


We now come to the Sd and last prop I
osition: That il was created by design |
If the earth had a designer, (and we have 4
established that fact by proving that il /.
could not always have existed, and that 1
chance did not create IT'D then the ere f





eminently superior to any one of crea.
tive faculties that the knowledge OF man 4
wots Of; hence he must be being supe. .
rior to any that is part of his creation 1
then it follows that being so highly ele- \
waited above anything that man has any .
knowledge Of can establish no degree OF /
comparison between Him and anything .
else; hence instead Of comparison, We 4
concede to Him certain attributes con
sisteut with His might and glory; these 1
attributes are all-pOwer, allmercy, and 4
all justice q


Regarding His attribute of power we 4
see it displayed in the creation of this /
world, and in the creation OF everything 4
it contains we see Iii. power in the /
creative genius that made the stars and I
system upon system of worlds that seem |.
but as spots as it were in the immensitv I
and interminableness of space


We see His mercy i'm the protective I
laws that govern his immense creations |
we see Ills mercy in forgiying Us for 4
those violations of His commands which /
His wisdom has considered necessary to /
our happiness. But His Justice we do I
not see in this world; but as it exists as
an attribute, there must be place where I
we shallseZperience display OF it, hence /
the inference: there Is a kCrca1tcr


We have thus proven there is a God. a
great creative God, aud that there is
hereafter. Now let us assume that every
positive has a negative In the proof OF
a hell l shall u.s. this as my PREMISE
Then we have the positive. who is all
good and the negative, who is all bad
We shall denominate the former God,
the latter devil


The abode OF the being whom we call
God-if we give his abode a location
must be place of traucendental happi-
al