MASONRY  


 

MASONRY
What the Christian needs to know

By Ron Wallace

(Summarized From The Secret Teachings of the Masonic Lodge)
by John Ankerberg

1. Basic definition:

Masonry is a divinely appointed institution, designed to draw men nearer to God, to give them a clearer conception of their proper relationship to God as their Heavenly Father, to men as their brethren and the ultimate destiny of the human soul.
(The Iowa Quarterly Bulletin, Apr, 1917)

 

2. Two basic "earthly" goals: (The Builders, by Joseph Fort Newton, 1951)

A. To bring about a universal league of mankind
B. To form mankind into a great redemptive brotherhood.

 

3. Religious view:

A. There is under all the creeds, one universal religion
(The Great Teachings of Masonry, H.L. Haywood, 1971)

B. This one true religion . . . is the very soul of Masonry.
(The Builders, Newton)

C. The true disciple of ancient masonry has given up forever the worship of personalities . . . As a mason his religion must be universal: Christ, Buddha or Mohammed, the names mean 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 . . . No true Mason can be narrow, for his lodge is the divine expression of all broadness. There is no place for little minds in a great work.
(The Lost Keys of Freemasonry, p. 64-65; Manly P. Hall)

D. The candidate for Masonry: 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 uninitiated sight.
(The Manual of the Lodge, Albert Mackey, 1870)

E. (Masonry) is the universal, eternal, immutable religion, such as God planted it in the heart of universal humanity.
Masonry teaches, and has preserved in their purity, the cardinal tenets of the old primitive faith, which underlie and are the foundation of all religions. All that ever existed have had a basis of truth; and all have overlaid that truth with errors. [For example,] the primitive truths taught by the Redeemer were sooner corrupted, and intermingled and alloyed with fictions than when taught to the first of our race. Masonry is thus the universal morality which is suitable to the inhabitants of every clime, to the man of every creed.
(Morals and Dogma, Albert Pike, p. 219, 161, 1906)

 

4. Masonic view of the bible:

A. The bible, so rich in symbolism, is itself a symbol . . . It is a sovereign symbol of the Book of Faith, the will of God as man has learned it in the midst of the years-that perpetual revelation of himself which God is making to mankind in every land in every age. Thus, by the very honor which Masonry pays to the the bible it teaches us to revere every book of faith. . . 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. For Masonry knows, what so many forget, that religions are many, but Religion is one-perhaps we may say one thing. . . Therefore it invites to its altar men of all faiths knowing that, if they use different names for "the Nameless One of a hundred names," they are yet praying to the one God and Father of all; knowing, also, that while they read different volumes, they are in fact reading the same vast Book of the Faith of man.
(Holman Temple Illustrated Edition of the Holy bible, Joseph Fort Newton's preface)

B. The prevailing Masonic opinion is that the bible is only a symbol of divine will, law or revelation, and not that its contents are divine law, inspired or revealed. So far, no responsible authority has held that a freemason must believe the bible or any part of it.
(Coil`s Masonic Encyclopedia)

C. The eminent Masons all contend that there is a veil upon the scriptures, which when removed, leaves them clearly in accord with Masonic teachings and in essential harmony with other sacred books.
(Freemasonry: An Interpretation, Martin L. Wagner)

 

5. Masonic mysticism:

A. It stresses universal brotherhood and is working for a new world order.

B. It offers an esoteric enlightenment stressing "higher" states of consciousness.

C. It believes that all men are in some sense divine.

D. It accepts occult philosophy and practice, including spiritism.

 

6. Masonic morality: The standard of Masonic morality is the law of nature, and so longs as he obeys it, he is a moral man. He may steal, lie, deceive and commit adultery outside of the circumscribed sphere of the fraternity, and not be guilty of any immorality, Masonically viewed. He is under a different moral government, bound by a different moral law, and guided by a different system of ethics. Masonry by its covenant makes the essence of morality consist in the relation of the individual to masonry.
(Freemasonry: An Interpretation, Wagner, p. 536)

 

7. Salvation by works:

A. In all ages the lamb has been deemed an emblem of innocence; he, therefore, who wears the lambskin as a badge of masonry is continually reminded of that purity of life and conduct which is necessary to obtain admittance into the Celestial Lodge above, where the Supreme Architect of the Universe presides.
(Tennessee Craftsmen or Masonic Textbook, Raymond Lee Allen, 1963)

B. "We cannot arrive at the Sanctum Sanctorum but by purity of manners righteousness of heart, and the secrets of the first degrees of which they are the school..."
(From the Fifth Degree of the Scottish Rite,
referenced in Scottish Rite Masonry Illustrated, George Simmons, 1979)

 

8. The god of Masonry:

A. It is faith in this deity that , as a prerequisite for membership, is demanded at the door of the lodge of every candidate for Masonic honors. It is this deity in whose name the covenant is made, and who is invoked for help to keep it inviolate. It is to him that the prayers in the lodge are addressed,...whose praises are sung in Masonic odes and whose divinity is extolled. It is to him that Masonic altars are built, priests consecrated, sacrifices made, temples erected and solemnly dedicated. This great architect of the universe is the "on God" in freemasonry and besides him there is no other in that institution. Freemasonry as such knows no deity save the Great Architect of the Universe.
(Freemasonry: An Interpretation, Wagner, pp. 292-93)

B. Masonry, [is that religion] around whose altars the Christian, the Hebrew, the Moslem, the Brahman, the followers of Confucius and Zoroaster, can assemble as brethren and unite in prayer to the one God who is above all the Baalim.
(Morals and Dogma of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite of Freemasonry, Albert Pike, 1906)

C. Men have to decide whether they want a God like the ancient Hebrew Jahweh, a partisan, tribal God, with whom they can talk and argue and from whom they can hide if necessary, or a boundless, eternal, universal, undenominational, and international, divine Spirit, so vastly removed from the speck called man, that He cannot be known, named or approached. So soon as man begins to laud his God and endow him with the most perfect human attributes such as justice, mercy, beneficence, etc., the Divine essence is depreciated and despoiled...The Masonic test [for admission] is a Supreme Being, and any qualification added is an innovation and distortion.
(Coil`s Masonic Encyclopedia, Henry Wilson Coil, 1961, pp. 516-17)

D. God`s name, Jabulon: In the ritual of the Royal Arch Degree, every Royal Arch Mason is told that the true name for the God he has been praying to throughout the different degrees of Masonry is, "Ja", joined with "Bel" or "Bul" and "On."
(Mackey`s revised Encyclopedia of freemasonry, Albert Mackey, 1966)

 

9. Masonry and Christ:

A. Scripture quotations: Masonry does not allow the ritual to cite the name of Jesus Christ. Therefore, whenever scripture references are used, any mention of Christ's name is deleted.
1 Peter 2:5; 2 Thes. 3:6; 2 Thes. 3:12

B. Prayer: All prayers in Mason lodges should be directed to the one deity to whom all Masons refer as the Grand Architect of the Universe...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.
(Freemasonry: The Invisible Cult in our Midst, Jack Harris, 1983)

C. Witnessing: Though in ancient times Masons were charged in every country to be of the religion of that country or nation, whatever it was, yet `tis now thought more expedient only to oblige them to that religion in which all men agree, leaving their particular opinions to themselves.
(Albert Mackey, Revised Encyclopedia, 1966)

No man has the right to dictate to another in matters of belief or faith; no man can say that he has possession of truth as he has of a chattel.
(Scottish Rite Masonry Illustrated, J. Blanchard, 1979)

D. Deity and savior: Jesus was just a man. He was one of the exemplars one of the great men of the past, but not divine and certainly not the only means of redemption of lost mankind.
(The Deadly Deception, Shaw and McKenney, pp. 126-127)

 

10. Divinity of man: Masons speak of man as being divine or becoming God.

A. The great secret of Masonry: that it makes a man aware of that divinity within him.
(The Builders, Joseph Fort Newton, 1969)

B. God becomes man that man may become God.
(Religion of Masonry: An Interpretation, Newton, 1969, p. 37)

 

11. One worldism:

A. If then we wish order and peace to prevail on earth, we must be united; we must have but one will, but one mind. Both we find in the teachings of Masonry only, and against that compact of unity; tyranny and usurpation, whether religious or political must fall subdued and powerless. Masonry, victorious over all adverse circum- stances, will become the honored medium of uniting all mankind in one vast brotherhood.
(Scottish Rite Masonry, J. Blanchard, 1979)

B. Masonry is a world law destined to change the earth into conformity with itself, and as a world power it is something superb, awe- inspiring, godlike... The doctrines of Masonry will ultimately rule the intellectual world.
(The Great Teachings of Masonry, p.33)

 

12. Masonry and spiritism:

A. The master mason embodies the power of the human mind...His spiritual light is greater because he has evolved a higher vehicle for its expression...For him the Heavens have opened and the Great Light has bathed him in its radiance...The voice speaks from the Heavens, its power thrilling the Master until his own being seems filled with its divinity, saying, "this is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased."... the Master Mason is in truth a sun, a great reflector of light...He, in truth, has become the spokesman of the Most High,...Through him passes Hydra, the great snake, and from its mouth there pours to man the light of God.
(The Lost Keys of Freemasonry, Manly P. Hall, 1976)

B. The Master Mason, if he be truly a Master, is in communication with the unseen powers...He is the spokesman for the spiritual hierarchies of his craft...a Priest-King after the Order of Melchizedek, who is above the law...He wears the triple crown of the ancient Magus, for he is in truth the King of heaven, earth and hell...He seeks to be worthy to pass behind that veil and join that band who, un-honored and unsung, carry the responsibilities of human growth...It is then only, that a true Mason is born. Only behind this veil does the mystic student come into his own.
(The Lost Keys, p.p. 57, 59-60)

C. Masonry is not man-made; it is God-made...Masonry has survived the ages because in truth and fact we have been guided by inspiration and by intuition, by Grand Lodge on High, whose members are not dead Masons, but a living society of Illumined Minds, the knowers of God's plan. (The Spirit of Masonry, Foster Bailey, 1972, p.119)



Return to Religions and Cults Index

Questions and Comments Are Always Welcome


 
     

 

 

İRon Wallace, http://www.biblefragrances.com. Anyone is free to reproduce this material and distribute it,
but it may not be sold under any circumstances whatsoever without the author's consent.

 

Home | Recent Additions | Studies | Commentary

 

Prophecy | Articles | Topical | About Us