Freemasonry
Freemasonry Defined
Ordinarily, the word “masonry” literally refers to the
work of a stonemason; Freemasons call this “Operative Masonry” to
distinguish
it from their practices, which they call “Speculative Masonry.”
Freemasonry is
supposed to have developed from trade guilds or unions of actual masons.
Origin of Freemasonry
Masonry official position respecting the origin of
Freemasonry differs substantially from factual data about the beginning
of
Freemasonry. Despite claims by Freemasons that their organization dates
to
antiquity, there was no Freemasonry before the early 18th century. The
guilds
or lodges of stonemasons in England dwindled to four, comprised almost
entirely
of persons who no longer were acquainted with actual masonry skills and
who
were referred to as “gentlemen” Masons.
With
all but a few operative Masons left, the gentlemen Masons
sought to revive festivals of the old guilds, and formed the
Institution of
Speculative Masonry in 1717. Rev. James Anderson [a Presbyterian
minister,
1680-1739] and Rev. John T. Desaguiliers [1683-1744] took the tools of
the
builders’ trade and applied symbolic meanings to them for moral
instruction in
a Masonic life. At the same time they disguised in Biblical terminology
the
ancient pagan mysteries of Egypt and other rites used in the Masonic
rituals.
(Harris 23)
After Anderson and Desaguiliers, Albert Mackey and
Albert Pike contributed the most to the development of Freemasonry.
Mr.
Albert Pike and Albert G. Mackey (1807-1881) were considered
the two best interpreters of all Masonic ritual. Albert Mackey,
desiring to
contribute to the elevation of the order, spent some 35 years
interpreting the
degrees of Freemasonry, and produced a book entitled Encyclopedia
of
Freemasonry. …Albert Pike (1809-1891) …held the highest office in
Scottish
Rite Masonry and rewrote all Scottish Rite rituals which still are
practiced
today. These rituals are pagan and occultic in design. Mr. Pike was an
admitted
Luciferian, believing that two co-equal Gods exist in the universe;
Lucifer,
the god of good and light, and Adonay, the Christian god, who rules
evil and
darkness. (Harris 23-24)
Masonic writer, J.D. Buck, acknowledged in The
Genius of Free-Masonry, Vol. I on page 141 the futility and
duplicity of
projecting the origin of Freemasonry into the ancient past.
Various
Masonic writers have endeavored to trace the history of
Masonry beyond such records, charters and constitutions as have been
accepted
and verified, with little more than conjecture for evidence. To discern
the
origin of the present Institution as a growth from the guilds or
trade-unions
existing prior to 1700 A.D., is justified by neither fact nor reason.
(qtd. in
Hobbs 12)
Branches of Freemasonry
The
only pure forms of Freemasonry are the Blue Lodge with the
Royal Arch degree. All other degrees are “add-on” degrees, and are not,
as
such, a part of the original plan of Masonry. …The word “Freemasonry”
encompasses every group under the direct influence of Freemasonry,
whether
originated or controlled by the Freemasons. Such groups include (and
this list
is by no means exhaustive): Blue Lodge of the three degrees, Scottish
Rite,
York Rite, Job’s Daughters, Rainbow Girls, Tall Cedars, DeMolay,
Daughters of
the Nile, Ancient Order Nobles Mystic Shrine (A.A.O.N.M.S.) and Square
clubs.
(Harris vii-viii)
Dates of origin and primary characteristics of various
branches of Freemasonry are: Blue Lodge (1717); York Rite with its
Chapter of
Royal Arch (1750), Council Royal and Select Masters, Commandery of
Knights
Templar (1816); Scottish Rite “composed of 30 degrees along with the
first
three degrees of the Blue Lodge which equal 33 degrees” (1854); the
Shrine
“…[A] candidate must be a 32 degree Mason or Knights Templar to apply.
It is
Muslim oriented with a Muslim death oath”; Tall Cedars of Lebanon; De
Molay
“for boys 14 to 21”; Eastern Star “for women whose relatives are
Masons”; Job’s
Daughters “for daughters of Masons”; Rainbow Girls and Daughters of the
Nile
“for the daughters of Masons”; Square clubs “organizations to which any
Mason
can belong” (Harris 27).
Unlike other branches of Freemasonry, the Commandery of
Knights Templar claims a Christian orientation. However, actually, “the
Knights
Templar present a pseudo-Christianity which deludes many people”
(Harris 30).
The nature of the oath associated with this branch of Freemasonry
confirms its
anti-biblical character. Drinking from the upper part of a human skull,
the
inductee recites:
This
pure wine I now take in testimony of my belief in the
mortality of the body and the immortality of the soul and, may this
libation
appear as a witness against me both here and hereafter, and as the sins
of the
world were laid upon the head of the Saviour, so may all the sins
committed by
the person whose skull this was, be heaped upon my head in addition to
my own,
should I ever knowingly or willingly violate or transgress any
obligation that
I have heretofore taken, taken at this time, or shall at any future
period
take, in relation to any degrees of Masonry or order of Knighthood. So
help me
God. (Harris 29)
If said
seriously and soberly, this oath makes more fatal
the defection from or infraction of Freemasonry than compromise of the
Christian faith, for which a person can be forgiven upon repentance. If
said
discounting the seriousness and soberness of the oath, it amounts to
profane
and ungodly references to Jesus Christ and God the Father.
The attire associated with the Knights Templar Degree
of the York Rite exhibits anything but a Christian demeanor.
The
special garb worn in this degree consists of an Apron, sash,
and cordon. The center of the Apron displays a hand holding a severed
head,
dripping blood. …The sash is white with a yellow fringe. It is
illustrated with
gory severed heads, arms, and legs, mixed in with knives, crosses, and
crowns.
The cordon, which goes around the neck, is dark satin with severed
heads down
the side and includes a small, ceremonial sword as the breast ornament.
Along
with these grotesque items is a human skull cut and pinned so that the
top of
the skull can be detached to use as a drinking vessel. (Decker)
Nature of Freemasonry
First, Freemasonry is exclusively a male-oriented
organization, for “no woman can be made a Mason” (Harris 26). Masonry
has its
auxiliaries that accommodate women or children, but no female can
actually be a
Mason. Second, Freemasonry excludes from membership certain physically
handicapped men as well. “The Mason must be a man, free born, at least
21 years
of age and not physically impaired as to prevent him from making the
various
due guards and signs with his hands and feet” (Harris 26).
Freemasonry considers itself a secret organization
accented with secret passwords, oaths and grips. Oaths typical of
Freemasonry
include murderous penalties for serious infractions of Masonry,
including, in
the first degree, “having my throat cut from ear to ear, my tongue torn
out by
its roots, and with my body buried in the rough sands of the sea…”
(Harris 35);
the second degree, “having my left breast torn open, my heart plucked
out, and with
my body left to the vultures of the air…” (Harris 57); the third
degree,
“having my body severed in twain, my bowel taken thence, and with my
body
burned to ashes” (Harris 51); 10th degree of the Scottish Rite, “to
have my
body opened perpendicularly, and to be exposed for eight hours in the
open air,
that the venomous flies may eat of my entrails, my head to be cut off
and put
on the highest pinnacle of the world and I will always be ready to
inflict the
same punishment on those who shall disclose this degree and break this
obligation, so help me God…Amen” (Harris 51-52); Shrine, “having my
eyeballs
pierced to the center with a three-edged blade, my feet flayed …my
Allah the
God of Arab Muslim and Mohammedan…Amen, Amen, Amen” (Harris 52). These
oaths far
exceed the biblical prohibition by Jesus Christ in Matthew 5:33-37.
These oaths are terrorist incantations and criminal
acts contemplated. Following his publication of his expose of
Freemasonry in
1826, Captain William Morgan was kidnapped and murdered by Masons
(substantiated by a published deathbed confession of one of the
conspirators).
“After his murder, it is estimated that 45,000 Masons quit Masonic
lodges,
leaving probably less than 10,000. More than 2,000 lodges were
disbanded”
(Harris 114). No one was ever brought to justice, owing to the
saturation of
Freemasonry among law enforcement, judiciaries and potential jurors.
In addition to secret passwords, oaths and grips,
Freemasonry has both a cunning physical gesture of distress as well as
a verbal
expression for the same. The mason “is instructed (if he can be seen)
to throw
up both arms over his head and let them fall by three distinct motions.
…At
times when this sign could not be seen, such as in the dark, a spoken
signal is
substituted: ‘O Lord, My God, is there no help for the widow’s son?’”
(Harris
87).
Masonic Salvation
Freemasonry preaches salvation through good works and
secret rites, humanistic through and through with its mentality of
earned
salvation; humanism is the theory where in essence man defies himself,
permitting him to save himself. The God of the Bible has no place in
Masonic
salvation; it is wholly of human doing. Further, Freemasonry purports
to be the
means by which a person prepares for habitation in “that spiritual
building,
that house ‘not made with hands, eternal in the heaven’” (Maryland
Masonic
Manual qtd. in Harris 17). “In other words, character and good
deeds
determine the destiny of the Mason, not the finished work of Jesus
Christ”
(Harris 18). With the sentiment of Mr. Slater we must heartily concur:
“The
Christ-less salvation of Masonry is a cruel deception, for Jesus said,
‘no one
cometh unto the Father, but by me’ (John 14:6)” (12).
To further illustrate erroneous notions within
Freemasonry respecting the saving powers therein, notice a part of the
first
degree of Masonry (Entered Apprentice).
There
he stands without our portals, on the threshold of his new
Masonic life, in darkness, helplessness and ignorance. Having
been
wandering amid the errors and covered over with the pollutions of the
outer and
profane world, he comes inquiringly to our door, seeking the new
birth,
and asking a withdrawal of the veil which conceals divine truth
from his
unititated (sic) sight. (Harris 33 emphasis added)
The
religious nature from this excerpt alone is undeniable;
but, especially observe references to spiritual darkness, the new birth
and
divine truth, the latter two Masonry purports to provide to diffuse
spiritual
darkness. This is blasphemous that Masonry, this product of human
imagination,
would set aside the redeeming efficiency of the vicarious death of
Jesus Christ
and annul the divinely given and preserved Gospel (Galatians 1:6-9;
Revelation
22:18-19). Humanity already had in its possession all the divine
revelation God
intended for mankind to have well over 1,500 years before Freemasonry
came on
the scene (2 Peter 1:3; Jude 3). The new birth pertains to the Gospel
of Jesus
Christ, not to Freemasonry (John 3:3-5).
Freemasonry proposes a Christless salvation! Masonic
writers J.D. Buck and R. Swinburne Clymer wrote respectively in their
books Symbolism
or Mystic Masonry and The Mysticism of Masonry that Jesus
Christ is
not Deity, but that every man has the potential of being a Christ
(Harris
101-102). W.L. Wilmhurst wrote regarding salvation:
Our
science in its universality limits our conception to no one
exemplar. Take the nearest and most familiar to you, the one under
whose aegis,
you were racially born, and who therefore may serve you best; for each
is able
to bring you to the center, though each may have his separate method.
To the
Jewish brother it says: Take the father of the faithful, and realize
what being
gathered to his bosom means. To the Christian brother, it points to him
upon
the breast lay the beloved disciple. To the Hindu brother, it points to
Krishna. To the Buddhist, it points to the Martreya of universal
compassion.
And to the Muslim it points to his Prophet, and the significance of
being
clothed in his mantle. (qtd. in Harris 107-108)
James
Pilgrim cites the Kentucky Monitor on pages
26-27 on how Masonry displaces Jesus Christ as Savior for leaders of
other
world religions. “For example, they say Jesus is the Christian’s
savior,
Krishna the Hindu’s, Kioun-tse the mediator of the Chinese, and Hiram
Abiff the
redeemer of Masons” (3).
Is Masonry a Religion?
Some uninformed or less than forthcoming Masons will
deny that Freemasonry is a religion. “All Mason’s do not know all
Masonry.
Hence, for some Mason to deny some point of Masonry does not disprove
it”
(Hobbs 1). However, Freemasonry authorities plainly acknowledge Masonry
as a
religion¾the
only universal religion as far as they are concerned. Albert Pike wrote
on page
718 in Morals and Dogma: “Masonry propagates no creed except
its own
most simple and sublime one; that universal religion, taught by nature
and
reason” (qtd. in Harris 101). “The religion, then Masonry, is pure
theism…”
(Albert Mackey, A Lexicon of Freemasonry 402 qtd. in Harris
99). J.S.M.
Ward wrote in Freemasonry: Its Aims and Ideals (185, 187): “I
consider
Freemasonry is a sufficiently organized school of mysticism to be
entitled to
be called a religion. …each man can, by himself, work out his own
conception of
God, and thereby achieve salvation” (qtd. in Harris 100).
Albert Pike in his book, Morals and Dogma
(213-214) penned: “Every Masonic lodge is a temple of religion, and its
teachings are instructions in religion…this is the true religion
revealed to
the ancient patriarchs; which Masonry has taught for many centuries,
and which
it will continue to teach as long as time endures” (qtd. in Harris 99).
Another
Mason wrote: “It is true that Freemasonry is the parent of all
religion” (Frank
C. Higgins, Ancient Freemasonry 10 qtd. in Harris 100). Yet
another
Mason resource records: “All our ceremonies of our order are prefaced
and
terminated with prayer because Masonry is a religious institution” (Mackey’s
Lexicon 35 qtd. in Pilgrim 2).
Freemasonry employs its own symbolism, howbeit borrowed
from various sources. The “G” in Masonic symbolism represents Geometry,
which
Masons view as the most important science, at least in its relationship
to
literal masonry. The Grand Masonic word is (“Mah-Hah-Bone”), though
until 1779
it was the word “Jehovah” (Harris 95). Regarding the eye associated
with
Freemasonry, Albert Mackey wrote, “on the same principle, the Egyptians
represents Osiris, their chief deity, by the symbol of an open eye, and
placed
hierglyphics (sic) of it in all their temples” (qtd. in Harris 78).
The white, leather apron that Masons where symbolizes
spiritual purity¾a
badge of innocence. Masons anticipate, in their words, the “celestial
lodge
above.” Hobbs observes, “Masonic hope of salvation is apart from
Christ, his
name, his blood, and his church” (5). How, then, could a faithful
Christian have
anything whatsoever to do with Freemasonry?
Like many religions attempting to project a degree of
biblical flavor without actually adopting biblical language,
Freemasonry
essentially uses several biblical words as little more than symbols.
There
is Biblical terminology used in the lodge room, such as,
“Jacob’s ladder, Holy Bible, Almighty God, Jehovah, Savior, I Am that I
am,
from darkness to light, ask and ye shall receive, seek and ye shall
find, knock
and it shall be opened unto you,” and many more. …All through Masonry
there is
Biblical terminology used contrary to God’s Word. (Harris 98)
Despite the apparent religious overtones of Masonry,
Harris writes that “…[T]he Scottish Rite is not only pagan but the most
demonic
and occultic branch of Freemasonry” (Harris 27). Decker illustrates:
A
clue to the true identity of the Masonic Deity is given in the
seventeenth degree of the Scottish Rite, or The Knights of the East and
West.
After the candidates have completed the initiation they are given the
secret
password, “Jubulum,” and the Sacred Word, “Abaddon.” …Revelation 9:11
teaches,
“They [the demons and workers from hell] had a king over them, which is
the
angel of the bottomless pit, whose name in the Hebrew tongue is
Abaddon.” One
must ask, “How could any true Christian dare take that evil name as a
sacred
word?”
Freemasonry Incompatible with Christianity
The ways in which Freemasonry is incompatible with true
Christianity are innumerable. In Freemasonry, the leader of a local
Masonic
Lodge is called Worshipful Master; this is counter to instruction by
Jesus
Christ regarding religious titles (Matthew 23:8-10); only God can be
worshipped
correctly (Matthew 4:10; Revelation 22:8-9). Further, “[n]o one is
required to
take oaths to be found worthy to receive spiritual truths” (Harris 36).
In
truth, Christianity, based on the Gospel, is supposed to be a whole,
new way of
life, whereas Masonic theology purports that “Freemasonry is a way of
life”
(Grand Lodge of Maryland 1976 pamphlet qtd. in Harris 37). Freemasonry
claims
to be the foundation without rival for human moral development, whereas
the
Bible claims that for Jesus Christ and his church, discernible
exclusively in
the Gospel (New Testament) (1 Corinthians 3:11; Ephesians 2:20). “No
institution was ever raised on a better principle or more solid
foundation, nor
were ever more excellent rules and useful maxims laid down, than are
inculated
(sic) in the several Masonic lectures” (charge given toward an Entered
Apprentice Mason, qtd. in Harris 38). Whereas Masonry demands of its
adherent’s
secrecy, true Christianity demands that its adherents publish the good
news of
the Gospel throughout the world (Mark 16:15-16; Acts 8:4; 1
Thessalonians 1:8).
Freemasonry teaches that hell will end whereas heaven is eternal (Morals
and
Dogma 847 qtd. in Pilgrim 3), clearly contrary doctrine,
conflicting with
clear Bible teaching (Matthew 25:41, 46; Mark 3:29). Freemasonry
teaches a
preference for Freemasons over other people, whereas Christians are
obligated
to prefer other Christians (Romans 12:10; Galatians 6:10).
I
furthermore promise and swear, that I will assist a Companion
Royal Arch Mason when I see him engaged in any difficulty, and will
espouse his
cause so far as to extricate him from the same, whether he be right or
wrong. (Duncan’s
Ritual of Freemasonry 230 qtd. in Hobbs 14)
Freemasonry does not have the proper view of either the
Bible or the God of the Bible. In fact, Freemasonry embraces
polytheistic
idolatry, not monotheism and the one, true God.
The
Bible is used among Masons as the symbol of the will
of God, however it may be expressed, and therefore, whatever to any
people
expresses that ill may be used as a substitute for the Bible in a
Masonic
Lodge. Thus in a lodge consisting of Jews, the Old Testament alone may
be used
upon the altar, while Turkish Masons may use the Koran. Whether it be
the
Gospels to the Christians, the Pentateuch to the Israelites, the Vedas
to the
Brahman, it everywhere conveys the same idea, that of the symbolism
of
the Divine Will revealed to men. (Mackey, Encyclopedia of
Freemasonry
qtd. in Harris 47 emphasis added)
Note also
poem cited by J.S.M. Ward:
Bacchus
died and rose again, on the golden Syrian Plan. Osiris
rose from out of his grave and thereby mankind did save; Adonis
likewise did
shed his blood, by the yellow Syrian Flood; Zoroaster brought to birth
Mirthra
from his cave of earth. And we today in Christian lands, we them, can
join
hands. (qtd. in Harris 108)
Nothing could be a starker and
more
blatant admission by Freemasonry of its total disregard of the rightful
place
of Jesus Christ in human redemption than this paragraph from The
Lost Keys
of Freemasonry by Manly Palmer Hall.
The
true mason is not creed-bound. He realizes with the
divine illumination of his lodge that as a Mason his religion must be
universal: Christ, Buddha, or Mohammed, the name means very little, for
he
recognizes only the light and not the bearer. He worships at every
shrine, bows
before every altar, whether in temple, mosque or cathedral, realizing
with his
truer understanding the oneness of all spiritual truth. (qtd. in
Decker
emphasis added)
Notice the official low view of the Holy Bible in
Masonry: “The doctrines of the Bible are often not clothed in the
language of
strict truth” (Morals and Dogma 224 qtd. in Pilgrim).
Freemasonry
reduces the Bible to the polluted plain of the uninspired sayings of
world
religions. Decker summarizes from The Ancient Arabic Order, Nobles
of the
Mystic Shrine on pages 35-39 that, “The Holy Bible as the Word of
God is no
better or worse than any other holy book.” He then introduces the
Bible’s own
testimony regarding itself, “The Bible says it is truly the inspired
Word of
God (2 Timothy 3:16; Matthew 5:18; 1 Peter 1:25; Psalm 119:89; 12:6,7;
19:7,8).”
Further, Joseph Fort Newton’s article, “The Bible and
Masonry,” appears in the front of the Masonic Bible. It reads, in part:
The
Bible, so rich in symbolism, is itself a symbol…thus, by the
very honor which Masonry pays to the Bible, it teaches us to revere
every book
of faith in which men find help for today and hope for tomorrow,
joining hands
with the man of Islam as he takes oath on the Koran, and with the Hindu
as he
makes covenant with God upon the book that he loves best. (qtd. in
Harris 101)
Freemasonry
views the God of the Bible on par with the
various gods of Hindus, Muslims, etc., and Freemasonry views the
religious
creeds of Hindus and Muslims as equal to the Bible. The lone
theological
requirement for becoming a Mason appears in the Encyclopedia of
Freemasonry
at the pen of Albert Mackey: “a belief in God and, by implication, in
the
immortality of the soul as the only religious test” (Harris 47).
“Masonry’s god
[Grand Architect of the Universe] is a force in nature, not a personal
‘Supreme
Being’” (Harris 62).
All
prayers in Mason lodges should be directed to the one deity
to whom all Masons refer as the Grand Architect of the Universe. He is
addressed as Heavenly Father, Eternal God or Almighty living God.
Prayers in
the lodges should be closed with expressions such as “in the Most Holy
and
precious name we pray,” using no additional words which would be in
conflict
with the religious beliefs of those present at meetings. The brother
who offers
up the prayer does so for all members and visitors present, rather than
just
for himself. (Maryland Master Mason magazine March 1973 qtd. in
Harris
112)
Far worse than equating the God of the Bible with
polytheistic gods, Freemasonry is outwardly blasphemous against
Almighty God.
The true God of the Bible is portrayed in Masonry as “a cruel,
bloodthirsty,
savage,” “cruel, short-sighted, capricious, and unjust; as a jealous,
an angry,
a vindictive Being,” “The Deity of the Old Testament is everywhere
represented
as the direct author of Evil, commissioning evil and lying spirits to
men,
hardening the heart of Pharaoh, and visiting the iniquity of the
individual
sinner on the whole people” (Albert Pike, Morals and Dogma 196,
223, 687
qtd. in Slater).
Summary
Freemasonry is humanistic from its origin to its
doctrines. Worse, Freemasonry is modeled after pagan and satanic
rituals.
Freemasonry is decidedly antagonistic toward the true God of the Bible
and
toward genuine Christianity. No child of God can be a Mason and a
faithful
Christian at the same time! “Masonry is a collection of the pagan
rites,
initiations and religions of Egypt, and the worship of the sun god,
sprinkled
with enough Biblical terminology to deceive the unsuspecting” (Harris
49).
Freemasonry disbelieves in the triune God of the Bible.
Why would anyone with religious conviction based on the
Holy Bible encourage or count it as inconsequential that religious
people
become Freemasons? “Nazarene churches forbid members to join the
lodges, as do
the Mennonites and many branches of the Lutheran Church. The Christian
Reformed
denomination has denounced the lodge also, and forbids members to join
the
lodge” (Harris 111). Surely, the churches of Christ who earnestly
attempt to
duplicate primitive Christianity and decry denominationalism ought to
reprove
any of their members who would attempt to be Masons also.
With J.M. Ward in Freemasonry: Its Aims and Ideals
(187) we must concur respecting that true Christianity (since it is
exclusive,
2 Corinthians 6:14-17; Revelation 18:4) definitely conflicts with
Freemasonry.
“I boldly aver that Freemasonry is a religion, yet no way conflicts
with any
other religion, unless that religion holds that no one outside of its
portals
can be saved” (qtd. in Harris 104). Whereas many denominations do not
view
themselves as exclusive but ecumenical, they may experience little
concern
about their members being Masons. However, the churches of Christ do
not view
themselves as denominational, are not ecumenical and attempt to
duplicate first
century Christianity. Therefore, we cannot be Masons and faithful
Christians at
the same time.
Freemasonry is not essential to mortal man as promoted
by Albert Pike: “The religious faith thus taught by Masonry is
indispensable to
the attainment of the great ends of life” (Morals and Dogma 196
qtd. in
Slater 5). God’s Holy Word, though, is essential and by it alone will
mankind
face the Great Judge in Final Judgment (Ecclesiastes 12:13-14; 2
Corinthians
5:10).
Works
Cited
Decker, Ed. The Masonic Lodge: What You Need
to Know. Quick
Reference Guide. Eugene: Harvest House, 1997.
Harris, Jack. Freemasonry: The Invisible Cult
in Our Midst.
Chattanooga: Global Publishers, 1983.
Hobbs, A.G., Jr. What About Masonry? Third
Printing. Kansas
City: A.G. Hobbs, Jr., n.d.
Pilgrim, James. “7 Things Wrong with Masonic
Doctrine.” Light
for Living. 8 May 1988. Corinth: East Corinth church of Christ, 2-3.
Slater, Joe. Masonry Unmasked. Augusta,
KS: Joe Slater,
n.d.
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