Degree XIV — Question Set 3
1. Write down your own thoughts about:
- the Masonic idea of God;
- the role of Hiram Abi;
- truth, love, faith, reason, and certainty.
2. If you were to interpret "moral law" as an expression of "filial duty", how would this affect your thinking about:
- pain and suffering?
- crime and punishment?
- education?
3. "We should toil and die, not for Heaven or bliss, but for Duty." — Albert Pike.
- Write down a statement of your personal concept of "duty"?
- What are the implications if you aspire to a more satisfying earthly future for:
- yourself?
- your family and dependents?
- mankind in general?
4. "Thy brother shall live again." — Albert Pike.
- What are your views about immortality?
- Say why you consider belief in a doctrine of reincarnation would increase or diminish your zest for life on earth?
5. "If he [the Mason] does not like to live in the furnished lodgings of tradition, he must build his own house, his own system of faith and thought, for himself." — Albert Pike.
- To what extent do you consider religious, educational, and political systems are designed to be "furnished lodgings" in which we shall feel too comfortable to bother to think for ourselves?
- Is such a comfortable existence compatible with the advancement of mankind?
- If not, how might you be able to modify your personal circumstances so as to enable you to advance to a higher state of being and thus help "to prepare the way for the future advent of some great amendment"?
- In such an endeavour, would you welcome the support of an organisation such as Free-Masonry?
6. If this Fourteenth Degree was "the last degree in Ancient Masonry", why do you think a further nineteen degrees were included in the Scottish Rite?
