The Tenets;

Brotherly Love, Relief, and Truth.

The principal tenets of Freemasonry are Brotherly Love, Relief, and Truth. It is necessary not to overlook the word “principal”, for it signifies that, while our fraternity lays the greatest emphasis on these three teachings, yet there are others which must not be overlooked.

By a “tenet” of Freemasonry is meant some teaching so obviously true, so universally accepted, that we believe it without question. Examples lie everywhere about us. Good health is better than illness; a truthful man is more dependable that a liar; it is better to save money than to waste it; an industrious man is more useful than an idle one; education if to be preferred to ignorance. These are but a few of the countless examples of teachings that no intelligent man can possibly question. Everybody takes them for granted. They are Tenets.

Freemasonry considers Brotherly Love, Relief and Truth to be teachings of this kind, true in the sense that no man can question them; they are obvious, self-proving, and axiomatic. It is not uncommon for men to consider Brotherly Love, while highly desirable, as not practicable, and therefore but a vision, to be dreamed of but never possessed. It is challenging for Freemasonry to call these “tenets” thus stating that they are plainly and obviously and necessarily true. Unless you grasp this, and see that the teachings of Freemasonry are self-evident realities, not visionary ideals, you will never understand Masonic teachings. For Freemasonry does not tell us that the principles of Brotherly Love, Relief, and Truth ought to be true, that it would be better for us all if they were true – it tells us that they are true. They are tremendous realities in human life, and it is as impossible to question their validity as to question the ground under our feet, or the sun over our heads. Our question is not whether to believe them or not, but what are we going to do with them?

Love places the highest possible valuation on another person. A man’s mother or father, his wife or sweetheart, his children, his intimate friends, he values not for advantages he may gain form them, not for their usefulness, but each one in his own person and for his own sake. We work for such persons, we make sacrifices for them, we delight to be with them; that in detail and practice, is what is meant by love.

What then, is Brotherly Love? Manifestly, it means that we place on another man the highest possible valuation as a friend, a companion, an associate, a neighbor. “By the exercise of Brotherly Love, we are taught to regard the whole human species as one family.” We do not ask that, from our relationship, we shall achieve any selfish gain. Our relationship with a brother is its own justification, its own reward. Brotherly Love is one of the supreme values without which life is lonely, unhappy, and ugly. This is not a hope or dream, but a fact.Freemasonry builds on that fact, provides opportunity for us to have such fellowship, encourages us to understand and to practice it, and to make it one of the laws of our existence, one of our Principal Tenets.

Relief is one of the forms of charity. We often think of charity as relief from poverty. To care for the helpless or unemployed is deemed usually a responsibility resting on the public. As a rule, the public discharges that responsibility through some form of organized charity financed by general subscriptions or out of public funds.

Our conception of relief is broader and deeper than this. We fully recognize the emergency demands made by physical and economic distress; but we likewise understand that the cashing of a check is not necessarily a complete solution of the difficulty. There sometimes enters the problem of readjustment, of rehabilitation, of keeping the family together, of children’s education, and various other matters vital to the welfare of those concerned and through the whole process, there is the need for spiritual comfort, for the assurance of a sincere and continuing interest and friendship, which is the real translation of our principal tenet: Brotherly Love.

Masonic relief takes it for granted that any man, no matter how industrious and frugal he may be, through sudden misfortune, or other conditions over which he has no control, may be in temporary need of a helping hand. To extend it is not what is generally described as charity, but is one of the inevitable acts of Brotherhood. Any conception of Brotherhood must include this willingness to give necessary aid. Therefore, Relief, Masonically understood, is a tenet.

Truth, the last of the Principal Tenets, is meant something more than the search for truths in the intellectual sense, though that is included. “Truth is a divine attribute and the foundation of every virtue. To be good and true is the first lesson we are taught in Masonry.” In any permanent Brotherhood, members must be truthful in character and habits, dependable, men of honor, on whom we can rely to be faithful fellows and loyal friends.  Truth is a vital requirement if a brotherhood is to endure and we, therefore, accept it as such.

Brotherly Love, Relief, and Truth are the principal Tenets of Masonry. There are other tenets, also – Teachings so obvious that argument is never necessary to sustain them. With this in mind, we urge you to ponder the teachings of the craft as you progress from Degree to Degree. You may not find them novel, but novelty is unimportant in the light of the knowledge that the truths upon which Freemasonry is founded are eternal. The freshness of immortality is on them because they never die; in them is a ceaseless inspiration and an inexhaustible appeal. They are tenets of Freemasonry because always and every where they have been tenets of successful human life.

Excerpted from “The Masonic Scholar: A Manual of Masonic Education for Candidates”

Printed by the Grand Lodge F.&A.M. of California.