Truth – the application of Prudence, Temperance, Fortitude and Justice

By: Harry E. Hackman, Jr

The search for truth overwhelms and consumes Speculative Freemasonry; it is the search for that light which brings the true knowledge of the metaphysical universe and brings man closer to God.

A Freemason must pursue light, the emblem of God and the giver of all truth; he learns that only God may dispense truth and justice. A Freemason will learn as he labors in the quarries of Speculative Freemasonry that his purpose is the investigation of the truth, and his wages, the revelation of divine truth.

Philosophers debated truth and justice for millennia, philosophical discussions interchange truth and justice, many times equating the two so that truth equals justice and justice equals truth. These philosophers believe that a person may only obtain truth and justice in the metaphysical or spiritual universe and not in the physical world.

In the physical world a person’s emotions and passions cloud his judgement and determine his understanding of truth and justice. Civil authorities, paganism, heathenism, along with the pleasures and temptations of the flesh from the physical world constantly pull the physical body toward falsehood and injustice.

The perception of truth and justice in the physical world originates from the irrational portion of the brain, the amygdala , which is the most primitive part of the brain and generates and controls passion, fear, superstition, paranoia, and irrational thought.

Each man’s primordial passions, fears, superstitions, paranoia, and irrational thoughts define his understanding of truth and justice. The prefrontal cortex is the rational part of the brain, and control’s executive function, rational thought, analytics, logic, and judgment.

With arduous work and practice the rational part of the brain can moderate the irrational part of the brain. Therefore, truth and justice to one man is different for another man. The difficulty compounds with the massive amount of information provided daily.

For many self-interested reasons, individuals will manipulate what we call “fake news,” with half-truths and false data, to their advantage to achieve their own interests. This has always been the case; however, technology has exasperated the condition.

For man to determine truth and justice, he must learn to turn off or subdue the passions, irrational, fearful, superstitious, paranoid part of the brain and use the rational part of the brain to analyze the data provided, thus he may begin to approach his spiritual self.

Academics, scholars, and philosophers studied truth and justice for millennia; therefore, this paper will examine the philosophies of Zoroaster, Pythagoras, Socrates, Plato, Plotinus, and New and Old Testament prophets.

The Speculative Freemasons of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries incorporated the philosophy of these great philosophers into Speculative Freemasonry’s philosophy and ritual. The common ground found in all the philosophies state truth and justice constitute the basis of the soul of man.

The soul of man becomes evil when infused into the body. It absorbs the body’s thoughts, fears, passions, and superstitions. A man’s perception of truth and justice is therefore a reflection of his soul. Man is human and thus flawed, therefore, will never be able to achieve perfect understanding of truth and justice.

If the soul throws off the body’s moods and passions and devotes itself to intellect and wisdom, it metamorphoses into the Divine emulating God.

In Plato’s dialogue Theages: On the Virtues, where Socrates defines wisdom and the other virtues to Theages, we learn:

“The soul’s reasoning power’s virtue is wisdom, which is a habit of contemplating and judging. The soul’s irascible part’s virtue is courage, which is a habit of enduring dreadful things, and resisting them. The soul’s appetitive part’s virtue is temperance, which is a moderation and detention of the pleasures which arise from the body. The whole soul’s virtue is justice, for men indeed become bad either through vice, or through incontinence, or through a natural ferocity. ”

Freemasonry acknowledges the imperfections of man yet teaches the lessons of living a moral and righteous life in the pursuit of achieving virtue and harmony in one’s soul.

Ancient Philosophers’ view of Truth and Justice.

IMAGE credit:  the square magazine Digital Collection (CC BY 4.0)

The Hindu text Upanisads states:

“The person who becomes free from the sense of affection by giving up the passion for ever and establishing the sense of equity, only he can abandon the physical ties. Giving up passion is, hence, the supreme duty. The man is only liberated soul who gives up the passion full of ego and enshrines after duly giving up the desired thing. The person attaining supreme power by leaving entirely passion in the form of resolution is worth admiration for such sacrifice. Consider only him the actually liberated and excellent among the persons known to Brahma.”

The Buddhist Canon states:

“The follower of the law, even if he can recite only a small portion (of the law), but, having forsaken passion and hatred and foolishness, possesses true knowledge and serenity of mind, he, caring for nothing in this world or that to come, has indeed a share in the priesthood.”

Paul says in his letter to the Colossians, Chapter 3, verses 5 to 10:

“Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth; fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and covetousness, which is idolatry:

For which things’ sake the wrath of God cometh on the children of disobedience: In the which ye also walked some time, when ye lived in them.

But now ye also put off all these, anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy communication out of your mouth. Lie not one to another, seeing that ye have put off the old man with his deeds; And have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him:”

IMAGE credit:  the square magazine Digital Collection (CC BY 4.0)

Plotinus who was born 205 AD, in Lyco, or Lycopolis, Egypt, and died 270 AD, in Campania, is an ancient philosopher, considered the center of an influential circle of intellectuals and men of letters in third century Rome, and who is regarded by modern scholars as the founder of the Neoplatonic school of philosophy.

Plotinus states:

“As the Soul is evil by being interfused with the body, and by coming to share the body’s states and to think the body’s thoughts, so it would be good, it would be possessed of virtue, if it threw off the body’s moods and devoted itself to its own Act, the state of Intellection (thought or reasoning) and Wisdom, never allowed the passions of the body to affect it, the virtue of Sophrosyne (temperance or self-control), knew no fear at the parting from the body, the virtue of Fortitude, and if reason and the Intellectual-Principle ruled, in which state is Righteousness. Such a disposition in the Soul, become thus intellective (rational) and immune to passion, it would not be wrong to call Likeness to God; for the Divine, too, is pure and the Divine-Act is such that Likeness to it is Wisdom.”

IMAGE credit:  the square magazine Digital Collection (CC BY 4.0)

Zoroaster, or Zarathushtra was born second millennium BC, in what is current day eastern Iran. He was an Iranian religious reformer and prophet, traditionally regarded as the founder of Zoroastrianism.

In the Gathas, Zoroaster asks Ahura Mazda to give him the truth and equates truth with righteousness and with the word of God.

“Clear is this all to the man of wisdom as to the man who carefully thinks; he who upholds Truth with all the might of his power, he who upholds Truth the utmost in his word and deed, he, indeed, is thy most valued helper, O Mazda Ahura.”

In Zoroastrianism, Asha Vahishta, the first of the Amesha Spentas or attributes of God, is defined as:

“The Highest (Best) Truth, also the Highest form of Righteousness. This Truth describes how the World ought to be in its ideal form. Consequently, the intention to actualize it is Righteous Intention, and action according to it the highest form of Righteousness.”

Zoroaster also connects truth to justice:

“This I ask Thee, tell me truly, O Ahura, the religion that is best for all mankind–the religion, based on truth, which should prosper all that is mine, the religion which establishes our actions in order and justice by the Divine Songs of Perfect Piety, which has, for its intelligent desire of desires, the desire for Thee, O Mazda!”

It is clear that Zoroaster considers the only real “Truth” as God’s “Truth” which represents righteousness.

The Holy Bible also interchanges “Truth” and righteousness. Both the Old Testament and New Testament interchange “Truth” with righteousness or more accurately God’s truth with God’s righteousness.

IMAGE credit:  the square magazine Digital Collection (CC BY 4.0)

Ancient philosophers and Freemasonry view truth and justice from a metaphysical perspective. Perfection applies only to the spiritual universe.

According to Plato’s theory of “Forms,” physical man in the physical world can only see shadows of the perfect universe. When man transitions back to the spiritual universe, he again can see and understand the perfect universe.

Only God sees clearly and determines truth and justice. Righteousness and equality prevail clearly in the spiritual universe. Dualism and the fight between the opposites which prevail in the physical world, do not impact God’s perspective.

Only God may judge with absolute righteousness and equality. The soul of man is perfect when with God in the spiritual universe, however when put into a physical body in the physical world, it becomes imperfect and contaminated with the evils of the physical world.

For the soul of man to replicate the Divine, it must first practice the virtues of “Prudence, Temperance, Fortitude and Justice.”

To practice justice or truth, a person must apply the virtues of prudence, temperance, and fortitude to the person’s life. Only through the application of prudence, temperance, and fortitude can the soul achieve justice or truth.

In Freemasonry we have the seven Masonic Virtues, which consist of the three Theological Virtues, Faith, Hope and Charity, and the four Cardinal Virtues, Prudence, Temperance, Fortitude, and Justice.

The Theological Virtues evolved from Christianity, and first require a mastery of the Cardinal Virtues. The Cardinal Virtues evolved in antiquity, and have become the basis of Greek or Western philosophy.

Pythagoras, Socrates, and Plato incorporated the Cardinal Virtues into the core of their philosophical discussions.

Socrates, born c. 470 BC, Athens, and died 399 BC, in Athens; was an ancient Greek philosopher whose way of life, character, and thought exerted a profound influence on Classical antiquity and Western philosophy.

Plato, born 428/427 BC, Athens, Greece and died 348/347, in Athens; was an ancient Greek philosopher, student of Socrates c. 470–399 BC, teacher of Aristotle 384–322 BC, and founder of the Academy.

He is best known as the author of philosophical works of unparalleled influence and is one of the major figures of Classical antiquity.

Pythagoras did not believe in putting his teachings in writing, however his followers or Pythagoreans did document his teachings in writing, and those documents do survive.

Socrates and Plato spent their whole lives attempting to quantify and define prudence, temperance, fortitude and especially justice.

Socrates followed Pythagoras’ style in not documenting his teachings in writing, however Plato documented Socrates teachings in writing, as well as his own work. Plato’s book the “Republic” defines justice in a civil society.

IMAGE credit:  the square magazine Digital Collection (CC BY 4.0)

Pythagoras was a Greek philosopher, mathematician, and founder of the Pythagorean brotherhood that, although religious in nature, formulated principles that influenced the thoughts of Plato and Aristotle and contributed to the development of mathematics and Western rational philosophy.

Pythagoras obsessed with the soul of man. Zoroastrianism influenced his philosophy and the belief of the soul and dualism. Zoroastrianism and Pythagoras believed in the theory of opposites; good and evil, moral and immoral, right and wrong, etcetera.

When opposites are in balance the world is in harmony. Pythagoras believed that the soul was immortal and that it transmigrated from one body to another after death. The soul is immortal, but descends into the realm of generation, being bound to the “hard and deeply-grievous circle” of incarnations, until it is released through a series of purifications and rites, regaining its true nature as a divine being.

Pythagoras believed that the moral conduct of a person in their previous life determined the nature of their reincarnation. He believed that the soul needed to live a virtuous life to become one with the divine being.

To do this one had to achieve true harmony within his life and soul. These virtues he defined as “Prudence, Temperance, Fortitude, and Justice.”

The level of virtuousness in a soul was determined on how well the soul applied prudence, temperance, fortitude, and justice.

Pythagoras and Pythagoreans believed so strongly in the virtue of the soul that they spent much of their time studying virtue.

Plato, apparently, in line with the Pythagorean tradition, divides the soul into three parts: one part is reasoning, another part is spirited, and the last desires the pleasures of nutrition and generation.

The reasoning part of the soul is made up of Prudence, Temperance, Fortitude and Justice. The soul’s goods are prudence, courage, justice, and temperance; the body’s are beauty, health, good disposition of its members, and the perfect condition of its senses.

Ambition and ferocity cling to the irascible part, for this is the spirited and strenuous part of the soul. The love of pleasure clings to the passionate part, which is effeminate and yielding.

Injustice, however, which is the supreme vice, is composite, and clings to the whole soul. The third part of the soul desire manifests itself in the desire to accumulate the superfluous in wealth and worldly goods, subsists with the irrational part of the soul, for desire is not rational.

Pythagoras believed that for the soul to regain its true nature as a divine being, it had to live a balanced life. This meant that the three parts of the soul needed balance and harmony.

The reasoning part of the soul controls the spirited portion and the desire portion of the soul; therefore, the exercise of the Cardinal Virtues of Prudence, Temperance, Fortitude and Justice was essential for a well lived life.

Masonic Scholars’ view of Dualism and Balance.

Albert Pike

IMAGE LINKED:  wikimedia Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)

Albert Pike was born in Boston, Massachusetts, on December 29, 1809, and died on April 2, 1891, in Charleston, South Carolina. Albert Pike served as Sovereign Grand Commander of the Scottish Rite’s Southern Jurisdiction, from 1859 until his death.

He was a lawyer, jurist, and early civil rights advocate for Native American tribes. He was also a Confederate General, student, writer, and one of the greatest religion and theology scholars of his time.

Albert Pike was a distinguished linguist and fluent in several languages, including Greek, Latin, and Hebrew. Pike in his book “Morals and Dogma” in Chapter 32 ends the book with a discussion on dualism and equilibrium.

Pike states:

“he attains the purposes of his being only when the two natures that are in him are in just equilibrium; and his life is a success only when it too is a harmony, and beautiful, like the great Harmonies of God and the Universe. Such, my Brother, is the TRUE WORD of a Master Mason; such the true ROYAL SECRET, which makes possible, and shall at length make real, the HOLY EMPIRE of true Masonic Brotherhood.”

Pike clearly states in this chapter, his position that Freemasonry is all about the mystery of balance, the secret of universal equilibrium.

Freemasonry teaches the eternal battle of dualism, the warfare between spiritual against material and sensual. The final goal of Freemasonry is to be in harmony with the Divine.

Joesph Fort Newton

IMAGE LINKED:  wikimedia Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)

Joesph Fort Newton, Litt.D., was born July 21, 1880, in Decatur, TX and died January 24, 1950, in Merion, PA. He was a minister, priest, and author.

He wrote extensively on the Christian faith and on Freemasonry. In his book “The Men’s House” he devotes a chapter to “The Doctrine of the Balance.” In this chapter he discusses dualism and the dangers of falling under the influence of one side or the other. He emphasizes the danger of becoming obsessed with extremes.

Newton states:

“This lesson, taught so often by our supreme poet, is for each of us, teaching us to keep our poise, and to flee an obsession as a plague. Whatever fastens itself upon the mind, shutting out the light, marring the proportions and perspectives of things, forebodes disaster.”

Newton shares Pike’s belief that the great lesson of Freemasonry is mystery of balance, the secret of universal equilibrium. For a man to live a happy life he must be in harmony with the Divine.

Thus far the discussion centered on truth and justice and the application of Cardinal Virtues by living a balanced life in harmony with the Divine, without a detailed discussion of prudence, temperance, fortitude, and justice. A more detailed discussion on each of these virtues follows.

Prudence (Wisdom / Knowledge) – Symbol is the Sun.

Prudence is the application of knowledge and facts by the reasoning part of the brain to obtain God’s wisdom.

In the physical world man is conflicted with the dualism of conflicting views, values, and virtues.

In the spiritual universe there is no conflict, God’s wisdom, i.e., knowledge, judgement and truth are unopposed and embraced.

To obtain harmony in life, prudence must subdue the vices and superfluities of life, the temptations which draw the soul away from God. A person must first live a prudent life, before he may attain temperance, fortitude, justice, and truth.

Zoroaster saw prudence in relation to dualism or in Pythagorean terms the law of “Table of Opposites.” “With wisdom distinguish well between Right and Wrong. Let your deeds advance the Right, in conformity with the primeval laws of Ahura Mazda.”

With prudence comes wisdom and with wisdom comes the ability to distinguish between, right and wrong, truth and untruth, righteous and unrighteous, limit and unlimited, etcetera.

“If vigor of sensation is, as it is, considered to be desirable, so much more strenuously should we endeavor to obtain prudence; for it is, as it were, the sensitive vigor of the practical intellect, which we contain. And as through the former we are not deceived in sensible perceptions, so through the latter we avoid false reasonings in practical affairs.”

Pythagoras says about prudence:

“The soul heeds reason, the happy life is contingent on prudence. For prudence is nothing more than the science of the happy life, or the science of the goods which belong to human nature.”

Prudence is the ability to use good reason and good judgement in the use of resources. The Pythagoreans and Plato would sometimes exchange prudence with wisdom.

In the Old Testament of the Holy Bible, we find the linking of prudence, knowledge, wisdom, and justice.

Proverbs, verse 1 to 7: The proverbs of Solomon, son of David, king of Israel: To know wisdom and instruction, to understand words of insight, to receive instruction in wise dealing, in righteousness, justice, and equity; to give prudence to the simple, knowledge and discretion to the youth.

Let the wise hear and increase in learning, and the one who understands obtain guidance, to understand a proverb and a saying, the words of the wise and their riddles. The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction.

Albert Pike explains prudence or wisdom:

“No evil can overcome wisdom. She (Wisdom) glorifies her Nobility by being conversant with God: and the Lord of all things loveth her. For it is she that teaches the knowledge of God, and is the expounder of His works. If a man-love justice, her labors have great virtues; for she teaches temperance and prudence, and justice and fortitude ; which are such things as man can have nothing more profitable in life.”

The Blazing Star in our Lodges, we have already said, represents Sirius, Anubis, or Mercury, Guardian, and Guido of Souls. Our Ancient English brethren also considered it an emblem of the Sun.

In the old Lectures they said,

“The Blazing Star or Glory in the center refers us to that Grand Luminary the Sun, which enlightens the Earth, and by its genial influence dispenses blessings to mankind.”

In those lectures the Sun represents an emblem of Prudence. The word Prudentia means, in its original and fullest signification, Foresight: and accordingly the Blazing Star has been regarded as an emblem of Omniscience, or the All-Seeing Eye, which to the Ancients was the Sun.

A case can be made to call the common gavel a symbol of prudence, in that, it is used in the same manner by the operative Mason to knock off the corners of rough stone, thereby better fitting them for the builders use, as prudence is used by the speculative Mason to regulate the vices and superfluities of life, thereby better fitting the soul for God’s use.

While living a prudent life does not guarantee happiness, it does increase the chances of living a long, healthy, and happy life. As seen below under the section for fortitude, sometimes no matter how prudent and temperate a person lives, that person may still suffer the miseries, calamities, and tragedies of life.

It is certain that by living a prudent and wise life a person will improve their quality of life. It is not difficult to look around and see those who have made poor decisions. Those who have chosen to use drugs, drink excessively, eat excessively, engage in immoral sexual behavior, break the civil laws, and engage in destructive behaviors, and see the disastrous results reflected in their life.

In general, these people will never recognize failures within themselves, but will blame others and society for their self-imposed misery. Poor decisions result in heartache, sickness, disease, poverty, and incarceration.

Freemasonry teaches to make good decisions, and if a Brother makes an unwise decision, Freemasonry cannot take responsibility for that decision, however, insists that the Brother is to own that decision and do all he can to make it right.

Temperance (Tolerance) – Symbol is the compasses.

Temperance is to pursue all things in moderation. Live life balanced, avoiding extremes. The old saying that “too much of anything is bad,” holds true for eternity.

Pythagoras states this about temperance:

“Luxury therefore should by all possible means be excluded and expelled, and men from birth should be accustomed to living temperately, and in a manly fashion.”

While this applies to luxury, food, drink, housing, cars, sex, etcetera, it also applies to all things. Water is a good thing, however, too much and you drown.

Apply temperance not only to passion for physical goods, but also the passions of the mind: ambition, lust, jealousy, fear, and superstition.

Temperance in Pythagorean philosophy intrinsically links his theory of Dualism and more especially the “Table of Opposites.” Pythagoras taught that for the universe to be in harmony, opposites need to be in balance.

The most critical of the opposites: limited and unlimited. To live an orderly, happy, and healthy life one must limit the vices and superfluities of life.

“The word kosmos, in addition to its primary meaning of order, also means ornament. According to Pythagoras, order ornamented the world. This is another way of saying how God beautifully ordered the universe. The idea of order is intimately connected with Limit (peras), the opposite of which is the Unlimited (apeiron), and these are the two most basic, and hence most universal, principles of Pythagorean cosmology.”

Tolerance is often confused with acceptance. To be tolerant of another’s views or actions does not mean accepting them. In modern society, the civil authorities tell us that we are to be tolerant by accepting others’ views or actions.

There is confusion between forgiving the sinner and forgiving the sin. Forgiving a thief for his stealing because the civil authorities changed the definition of theft, violating the moral code, does not change the fact that the sin of a non-repentant thief remains unforgivable.

One may forgive a repentant thief, but the act of stealing itself remains unforgivable. A just and upright man should never deviate from his virtues and values in the name of toleration.

He may forgive those who do not share his virtues and values, but he must stand firm and uphold the virtues and values he holds true.

Joesph Fort Newton says about toleration:

“Toleration does not mean indifference to truth or weakness in defending it. The indifferent man is not tolerant; he is merely indulgent. No toleration is not indifference.

It is not neutrality, a refusal to take sides. Nor is it approval of error. In short, a tolerant man is one who, realizing the dignity of truth and the worth of the human mind, grants to every man the right which he claims himself, to shape his own ideas and beliefs in his own way to advocate them, and make them prevail if he can.

Put in another way, toleration is the middle way between the falsehood of extremes, a balance between bigotry and indifference.”

Temperance and tolerance control a person’s desires, thoughts, and emotions. They recognize the extremes of the spirit and the desirous parts of the soul and maintain harmony and balance.

They use the plumb to judge righteousness, the square to judge virtue, and the compasses to enclose and restrain the passions. They maintain the soul traveling upon that level of time toward that destination from whose bourn no traveler returns.

The ancients recognize this delicate balance and its importance in all things: personal desires, thoughts, and emotions, mental and physical, and from the smallest atom to the universe in its entirety.

Without the dualism of gravity verses centrifugal force, the universe decays into chaos with tiny bits of matter flying in all directions at once. So also, without the dualism of good and bad, right and wrong, truth and falsehood; the human condition decays into chaos with war, death, and destruction prevailing.

Only through God’s balance does the universe become in the words of Pythagoras beautifully ordered.

Pythagoras was so concerned about temperance that it was a prime consideration in the admission of a candidate to his school.

He spent a significant amount of time watching and studying potential students for their ability to live temperately and tolerantly. He believed that attempting to teach his divine lessons to students distracted by earthly pleasures was to dilute and waste divine wisdom.

Guthre states:

“The intellect and heart of those whose initiation has not proceeded by disciplines, are surrounded by thickets dense and thorny, which obscure the mild, tranquil, and reasoning power of the soul, and impede the development and elevation of the intellective part.

Intemperance and avarice , both of which are prolific produce these thickets. Intemperance produces lawless marriages, lusts, intoxications, unnatural enjoyments, and passionate impulsions which drive headlong into pits and abysses.

The unbridling of desires has removed the barriers against incest with even mothers or daughters, and just as a tyrant would violate city regulations, or a country’s laws, with their hands bound behind them, like slaves, they have been dragged to the depths of degradation.

On the other hand, avarice produces rapine, robbery, parricide, sacrilege, sorcery, and kindred evils. Such being the case, these surrounding thickets, infested with passions, will have to be cleared out with systematic disciplines, as if with fire and sword; and when the reason will have been liberated from so many and great evils, we are in a position to offer to it, and implant within it something useful and good.

So great and necessary was the attention which, according to Pythagoras, should be paid to disciplines as introductions to philosophy.

Moreover, inasmuch as he devoted so much care to the examination of the mental attitudes of prospective disciples, he insisted that the teaching and communication of his doctrines should be distinguished by great honor.”

In Freemasonry, when a candidate requests to be accepted into the fraternity, first his moral, ethical, and financial fitness to be accepted must be proven, then he must swear before the Lodge and God, his obedience to those high and ennobling principles taught within the Lodge.

The Lodge fortifies within his mind that to break his vow and violate those principles, he will bring shame and repute upon himself as well as his brothers.

Fortitude (Courage / Strength) – Symbol is the Columns.

Fortitude is the courage to stand up for a person’s virtues and values in the face of overwhelming adversity, even to the ultimate sacrifice of a person’s life. To deviate from a person’s virtues or values is to condemn a person’s soul to eternal falsehood.

Throughout man’s history there has been many examples of the civil authority executing men who have stood firm with great fortitude rather than sacrificing their virtues and values before God.

Ancient accounts state Zoroaster the founder of Zoroastrianism the precursor of modern religion, died when killed by a priest of the old religion. He died teaching the word of God as revealed to him along a riverbank, when he saw a shining being, who revealed himself as Vohu Manah (Good Purpose), and taught him about Ahura Mazda (Wise Lord).

God selected Zoroaster to teach the new word to the people who had misunderstood and deviated from the true word.

Zoroaster being faithful to Ahura Mazda, allowed himself to die rather than deviate from the direction given him by Ahura Mazda.

Zoroaster demonstrated unwavering fortitude by his obedience to God even at the cost of his own life.

Pythagoras demonstrated courage or fortitude in his life:

“Pythagoras himself showed it (courage or fortitude) in the generous deeds he performed when travelling everywhere alone, undergoing heart-breaking labors and serious dangers, and in choosing to leave his country and to live among strangers.”

Pythagoras demonstrated the ultimate courage, when he refused to retract his values and virtues and therefore sacrificed himself and allowed himself to die at the hands of his enemies.

​In Plato’s dialogue entitled “Citro,” Plato describes the events leading up to Socrates execution.

According to Plato, Socrates stood firm on his virtues and values, not once deviating from his beliefs. When imprisoned by his enemies, on unsubstantiated charges, he maintained his beliefs and teachings.

Citro paid for and provided an escape to another land where he could live safely, however, Socrates believed that it was better for a person to maintain his values and die, then live at the expense of forgoing his values.

Citro attempted to convince Socrates to leave Athens and save his life. In this dialogue by Plato, Socrates carefully lays out one’s responsibility not only to himself but to his fellowman to maintain his values at all costs.

Citro finally acquiesced to Socrates logic and left him to his pending execution. Many friends and citizens admired and respected Socrates fortitude, however in the end he died at the hands of his enemies for maintaining his virtues and values.

The Holy Bible, Old Testament, Book of Job demonstrates great fortitude under great adversity. Job possessed much power and wealth and experienced all the worldly pleasures.

God challenged Job by taking away all he had and leaving him destitute. Job’s friends tried to turn him away from God, but Job stood fast.

In the end, God was pleased with Job’s faith and rewarded him many fold and God returned to him all that he took in great abundance. For Job’s unyielding fortitude in maintaining his faith in God in the face of great adversity, God blessed him with a long and happy life.

The Holy Bible, New Testament, describes the fortitude and courage required of the early Christians. The civil authorities persecuted and eventually put Jesus to death for preaching God’s will.

The Romans put Paul, Peter and many other disciples, and followers of Christianity, to death for practicing their faith. The story of early Christianity reveals the courage, fortitude, perseverance, and faith required of early Christians.

Dualism and the battle between good and evil continue today as well as in the past. Currently, the conflict between legal and illegal, male and female, right and wrong, moral and immoral, fills the news with the persecution of good people standing firm in their beliefs.

The good and righteous must always stand firm on their morals, virtues, and values, testing by the square, level, and compasses, demonstrating fortitude, even when oppressed by populist opinions and oppressive governments.

The persecution of good and righteous will always prevail in the physical world and good people will always suffer for their beliefs. Only when the soul returns to the metaphysical world will truth and justice prevail, and balance and harmony exist.

Justice (Truth/Righteousness) – Symbol is the Plumb Line and the Measuring Line (24-inch gauge).

Pythagorean philosophy links “Justice” and “Truth.” Sometimes they interchange justice and truth, as both are determined by the perspective of the viewer more so than by physical data, and it is difficult to define by either reasoning or logic.

Justice and truth are more of a feeling, driven by superstition, fear, greed, and jealousy. This primordial drive, the deepest most animalistic drive for survival from deep within the soul to determine a person’s own justice and truth can outweigh the reasoning and logic of the more rational portion of the brain.

Even when faced with irrefutable facts and mathematical proofs, most people will allow superstition, fear, greed, and jealousy to determine what they believe.

Socrates and Plato struggled to prove justice, as they believed that one person’s justice was another person’s injustice. Plato’s “Republic” focused on creating a just system with justice for all.

When reading the Greek philosophers, particularly, Plato’s “Republic,” one must constantly remind oneself that in Greece at the time, the system reserved rights and privileges in the court system for wealthy and powerful men.

When the Greek philosophers discussed rights, privileges, and justice, the discussion applied only to the aristocrat class. The women, poor, indentured, and slaves, had few if any rights.

In the “Republic” Plato describes a perfect society, in which the most intelligent of the philosophers would rule the social structure. These ruling elite would determine all aspects of a person’s life, down to the very basics such as work, marriage, children, housing, food, and education.

These ruling elite selected women and men to mate and produce the best offspring for the society. The state would raise all the children and place them in their assigned social place.

These ruling elite would have absolute authority to determine truth and justice. Justice would be determined by the individual’s worth to society. The ruling elite would determine a person’s worth to society, and each person would receive in accordance with his worth.

The great flaw in Plato’s “Republic” was his lack of consideration of the imperfection of man. Just because a man is intelligent and well educated does not mean that he is a just and upright man. Intelligent and educated men may be among the evilest.

Pythagoras, Socrates, Plato as well as the Pythagoreans believed that if man was to be just, he must first be proficient at prudence, temperance, and fortitude.

To achieve Justice the soul needs harmony. Thus, the three parts of the soul, reasoning, spirted and desire must be in harmony.

To achieve this harmony the reasoning part of the soul must be in control of the spirit and desire parts of the soul.

The reasoning part of the soul consists of Prudence, Temperance, Fortitude and Justice, and only through the application of these virtues can the soul achieve harmony.

Pythagoras believed that to achieve justice a person needs to apply the execution of prudence, temperance, and fortitude.

The Holy Bible defines justice as a verifiable measurement much in line with Pythagoras.

In Isaiah 28:17, God declares,

“I will make justice the measuring line and righteousness the plumb line.”

Here, the measuring line represents God’s standard of justice against which God measures all mankind.

Similarly, in 2 Kings 21:13, God speaks of stretching over Jerusalem

“the measuring line of Samaria and the plumb line of the house of Ahab,”

indicating impending judgment and destruction. These biblical statements are in line with Pythagoras’ belief that truth and justice may only be determined using numbers.

In the biblical case, God maintains the only true scale or measurement of truth and justice, which he will use to measure the truth and justice of a person’s soul.

Pythagoras states truth and justice may only exist in numbers. Arithmetic and geometric proofs are irrefutable and must result in truth and justice, however, every day we see scientists and others manipulate the numbers to create incorrect but desired results.

Mathematicians created the science of statistics to manipulate numbers to prove what they want. Lawyers swear to uphold the law; however, they work extremely hard to circumvent it, all for a few pieces of gold.

In the physical world today as through the ages, in even the best court systems, the scales of justice tilt toward the person with the most gold coins in their pockets or who carries the heaviest swords.

Man cannot obtain truth and justice in the physical world, but only in the metaphysical universe.

Man’s desire for truth and justice lies deep within his soul, and only by the application of prudence, temperance, fortitude, and God’s justice will he discover them.

Once he master’s these virtues, he may move onto the practice of faith, hope, and charity for the good of mankind and the glory of God.

We learned that dualism, or the battle of opposites is always in play in this physical world, and Freemasonry is no exception.

These opposites pull on a man’s soul his entire life, ever pulling him to live his life for physical pleasure.

Freemasonry teaches its members to practice prudence, temperance, fortitude, and justice in their everyday lives. By the application of these virtues a person’s life will be happier and more successful.

In reverse if a person practices imprudence, intemperance, a lack of fortitude, and injustice, suffering and pain will fill that person’s life. From the moment that a candidate steps foot into the Lodge room, Freemasonry is leading him toward the light, that blazing sun, that knowledge and truth of God.

A Freemason achieves truth and justice when he becomes a master of prudence, temperance, and fortitude.

Plato says about prudence:

“If then virtue is a quality of the soul, and is admitted to be profitable, it must be wisdom or prudence, since none of the things of the soul are either profitable or hurtful in themselves, but they are all made profitable or hurtful by the addition of wisdom or of folly; and therefore if virtue is profitable, virtue must be a sort of wisdom or prudence.”

A well-ordered life based on prudence and temperance is a balanced life and in harmony with God.

Hinduism is the oldest non-pagan religion in the world, and while it still practices some of the pagan environmental religion, God has enlightened the prophets of Hinduism with his true plan for mankind.

Out of Hinduism came Zoroastrianism and the other modern religious theologies. In Hinduism, the first theology of what Hindus call “law of karma,” which states that one’s actions will affect one’s present and future life.

In other words, one’s actions determine one’s destiny or future, which occurs without God’s intervention.

That evil in the world is due to man’s actions alone and not by any influence from God. This theology carried down through Zoroastrianism, Pythagoreanism, Judaism, and Christianity in one form or another.

Theologians currently describe this theology as “Free Will” verses “Predestination,” and hotly debate the topic. Zoroaster clearly believed in the free will side of the debate as demonstrated in his writings.

Recently a third perspective has been advanced by the civil authorities stating that one’s life choices are not their own but determined by one’s environment. This third perspective removes any personal accountability for a person’s actions as his actions are determined by others, therefore someone else is always to blame.

Freemasonry stands firmly on the principle that a Freemason is responsible for his own decisions and choices.

The Volume of Sacred Law for each of the great religions tell story upon story of when man does not follow prudence, temperance, fortitude, and justice, and makes poor decisions and choices, his life becomes filled with tragedy.

Those who follow prudence, temperance, fortitude, and justice, and make good decisions and choices will live a happy and fulfilling life.

Freemasonry and the search for truth.

The secret of Freemasonry is that every Freemason is on a personal quest for truth, the true light, the true knowledge, that metaphysical universe where good or evil, write or wrong, pleasure or pain, does not exist, where there is only the soul living in the eternal presence of God.

Over the ages, God revealed himself to mankind through prophets who intern taught mankind the true knowledge. These prophets understood the importance of concealing the knowledge they had obtained using allegories, signs, symbols, and numbers to keep it safe from destruction by those who choose to follow falsehood, injustice, imprudence, intemperance, and cowardice.

A Freemason searches through the ancient allegories, signs symbols, and numbers for the hidden wisdom, thus building his knowledge and understanding of God’s purpose.

He also understands the importance of keeping what he has found safe from those who would destroy it.

Every person must make his own choice, whether he lives his life as taught by Freemasonry or not, and then he is responsible for his own decisions.

The Freemason learns to practice prudence in his life by suppressing the fears, vices and superfluities of life and making good well-reasoned decisions.

Freemasonry teaches us to perform certain duties of a high and ennobling character toward our brothers and all mankind, and to give help, aid, and assistance to worthy distressed Brethren.

This does not mean we are responsible for our brothers’ decisions. As stated above even good men will suffer the trials and tribulations of this physical world through no fault of their own.

When our brethren or neighbors, who have made good and correct decisions and lived a true and faithful life happen to fall into tough times, and tragedy inflicts their life, we are duty bound to assist them.

However, for those who have;

“buried the truth beneath the rubbish of Sabaism , and the idolatrous adoration of the sun and stars takes the place of the olden worship of the true God, a moral darkness spreads over the face of the earth, as a dense, impenetrable cloud, which obstructed the rays of the spiritual sun, and covered the people as with a gloomy pall of intellectual night,”

there is no requirement for Freemasons to give charity.

Freemasonry does not require charity for a brother or the public, who do not follow the values, virtues, and teaching of Freemasonry.

Those who choose to follow falsehood, injustice, imprudence, intemperance, and cowardice are responsible for their own poor decisions and choices.

God does not offer charity to those who choose to practice the physical pleasures of life and choose not to follow His truth and light, but He in His justice allows them to suffer the results of their own decisions, and disassociates them from His love and light.

Freemasonry teaches a Freemason to live a temperate life and keep his desires within due bounds as defined by the compasses.

Freemasons demonstrate tolerance toward all religious and civil groups and cultures. In the twenty-first century some parts of society place pressure on all of society to accept all cultures in the name of inclusivity and diversity.

While Freemasonry recognizes this diversity and culture, and the enrichment and value it can bring, we also recognize our responsibility to ourselves and our values and virtues.

Just because something is different or diverse does not mean it is good or better. Some cultures demonstrate values that are opposite those we find acceptable.

In some cultures, it is acceptable to treat women as property and treat them as their owners see fit, up to torture, imprisonment, and execution.

Other cultures may find slavery and human trafficking acceptable. Some cultures divide the population into classes with the poor treated as disposable while the rich and powerful receive the benefits of society.

Gangs rule some cultures, where murder and oppression are acceptable. Sexual deviance, drug use, debauchery, and lawlessness are acceptable in some cultures.

Although Freemasons demonstrate and practice tolerance, it does not mean we will accept values incompatible with our own values.

As our ancient brethren at Jerusalem built a physical temple to worship God, where the pagans were kept without its physical walls, followers of God’s truth were allowed within the outer court, those proficient in God’s truth were permitted within the inner court, and only the most dedicated and skilled in the application of God’s truth were allowed within the holy of holies; so should we as builders of that spiritual temple not made with hands, keep the pagans without our spiritual walls and allow in the spiritual temple only those who worship and practice the virtues of God’s truth.

We must use fortitude to stand up for our values, even at the cost of great loss to ourselves.

We must continue to follow light, truth, and justice, to achieve that balance and harmony with God.

Freemasonry understands that only God determines truth and justice, and man can only receive the light through the practice of prudence, temperance, and fortitude.

The true test of truth and justice is how it stands up over time. History has proven that the vices and superfluities of life only bring pain and suffering.

Over millennia physical temptations, civil authorities, and pagan religions have seemed to win. Freemasonry leads us in the footsteps of the great prophets such as: Zoroaster, Pythagoras, Socrates, Jesus Christ, and our own Hiram Abif, who never deviated from their beliefs, values, and virtue even at the cost of their lives.

These prophets understood that it is better to pursue the light of truth than to succumb to the evils of the physical universe.

The metaphysical or spiritual universe will always prevail and bring the light of God’s truth and justice.

Ancient Operative Freemasons used the gavel, square, level, compasses, 24-inch gauge, and trowel to turn rough stones into magnificent structures to praise and glorify God.

Speculative Freemasons use truth, prudence, temperance, fortitude, and justice to turn the souls of man into that spiritual temple that house not made with hands eternal in the heavens, there to praise and glorify God.

The Square Magazine Podcast

The Square Magazine Podcast