What Freemasonry Teaches
by Dr. Stanford E. Murrell
For such are false apostles, deceitful
workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ. 14 And no marvel;
for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light. 15 Therefore it is no
great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of
righteousness; whose end shall be according to their works. 2 Corinthians 11:13-15
Entrance
into the Masons
1.
Freemasonry is entered into
by a petitioner who respectfully prays “…that I maybe initiated into the
mysteries of Freemasonry…”
2.
But what are these
“mysteries” that the Christian petitioner is desiring to be initiated into?
According to Masonic teacher and leader Albert Pike in his definitive work
Morals and Dogma of Freemasonry Masonry is “…a successor of the Mysteries…and
is identical with the ancient Mysteries.”
3.
Turning to the Ancient
Mysteries explained by Albert Mackey in An Encyclopedia of Freemasonry, a thirty-third degree Mason, the Ancient Mysteries were “…the
secret worship rites of the Pagan gods. Each of the pagan gods had, besides the
public and open, a secret worship paid to him, to which none were admitted but
those who had been selected by preparatory ceremonies called Initiation."
4.
The Masonic degree, “Chief of
the Tabernacle” confirms that the mysteries were secret worship rites. “Among
the ancient Nations there was, in addition to the public worship, a private
one, styled the Mysteries; to which those only were admitted who had been
prepared by certain ceremonies called initiations. The most widely disseminated
of the ancient worships were those of Isis, Orpheus, Dionusos, Ceres and
Mithras.”
·
Isis - The pagan god of Egyp
·
Mithras - the pagan god of
Persia
·
Dionysos - the pagan god of
Greece
·
Adoni - the pagan god of
Syria celebrated in the Adonisian Mysteries
Note: If Freemasonry
is a successor of and identical with the ancient mysteries like it claims to be
than the Christian petitioner is asking to be united with pagan.
5.
To attract Christians the
Masons, like very pagan religion and cult, has a moral code and ethical
standard which emphasizes right conduct defined by:
·
unselfishness
·
tolerance
·
brotherly love
·
and kindness
No Ultimate Truth
1.
Masonry contends that no one
has the truth, therefore all creeds are acceptable to Freemasonry.
“No man can say that he hath as sure possessions of the truth…When men
entertain opinions diametrically opposed to each other, and each is honest, who
shall decide which hath the Truth, and can either say with certainty that he
hath it? We know not what is truth.
The cherished dogmas of each of us are not, as we fondly suppose, the pure
truth of God…Perfect truth is not attainable anywhere.
2.
For the Christian this is not
correct thinking. Jesus said “ Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him,
If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed; 32 And ye shall
know the truth, and the truth shall make you free." (John 8:31-32)
The God
of the Mason
1.
The “god” of the Mason is not
the God of biblical revelation. The teachings of the degree of “Elu of Fifteen”
demands that Masons open wide its portals of religious toleration so that all
men may live in peace and harmony, “the Protestant, the Catholic, the Jew, the
Moslem; every man who will lead a truly virtuous and moral life, love his brether,
minister to the sick and distressed and believe in the ONE, All-Powerful,
All-Wise, every where Present God, Architect, Creator and Preserver of all
things…”
2.
From the degree of “Royal
Arch of Solomon” this teaching of universal tolerance in religious unity is
promoted with the caveat that Jehovah God is reduced in stature.
“Among all the ancient nations there was one faith and one idea of Deity for
the enlightened, intelligent, and educated and another for the common people.
To this rule the Hebrews were no exception. Yehovah, to the mass of the people,
was like the gods of the nations around them, except that he was the peculiar
God, first of the family of Abraham, of that of Isaac, and of that of Jacob,
and afterward the National God; and ad, as they believed, more powerful than
the other gods of the same nature worshipped by their neighbors…”
3.
To confirm the diminishing of
Jehovah God there is the degree of "Knight Rose Croix" which teaches
the following:
“The God of nineteen-twentieths of the Christian world is only Bel, Moloch,
Zeus, or at best Osiris, Mithras, or Adonai, under another name, worshipped
with the old Pagan ceremonies and ritualistic formulas. It is the Statue of
Olympian Jove, worshipped as the Father, in the Christian Church that was a
Pagan Temple; it is the Statue of Venus, become the Virgin Mary.”
4.
The Royal Arch degree reveals
the “lost” name of God to be J = Jehovah B = Baal O = Osiris.
Religious "Brethren"
1.
The concept of calling those
outside the sphere of saving faith in Christ “brethren” has always been a
practice not associated with the church. Freemasonry calls all men brethren
regardless of their religious beliefs.
“Masonry, around whose altars the Christian, the Hebrew, the Moslem, the
Brahmin, the followers of Confucius and Zoroaster, can assemble as brethren and
unite in prayer to the one God who is above all the Baalim, must needs leave it
to its initiates to look for the foundation of his faith and hope to the
written scriptures of his own religion.”
2.
The practical and theological
problem is that the god of the Moslem, the god of the Confucian, the god of the
Brahmin is not the God of biblical revelation.
Discourages Evangelism
1.
While religion is definitely
a part of Freemasonry it is a religion of the organizations own dogma part of
which is that one “brother” must not try to convert another and for this
reason: “No man has a right in any way to interfere with the religious beliefs
of another.”
2.
If carried to its logical
conclusion and practice then many will never hear that Jesus said “I am the
Way, the Truth, and the Life” -at least not by a member of the Masonic Lodge
who practices the “ethical” mandates of the fraternity.
3.
Had Peter not seen fit to
interfere with the religion of his racial brethren then he would never have
declared that “there is none other name under heaven given among men whereby we
must be saved” (Acts 4:12).
One Consistent Theme: Universalism
1.
In a not so subtle way
Freemasonry advocates a compromising attitude in the name of tolerance with the
end result being the acceptance by the Christian of false gods, false
doctrines, and practices that please men while dishonoring God.
2.
The one consistent theme of
Freemasonry is the fusion and intermingling of all faiths into one.
Note: It is possible that secret oats and ridiculous behavior
have been abolished. “Suggestions of ridicule or being made to swear
blood-curdling oaths are aspects of fantasy and mischief. Almost every
Freemason will tell you that the night of his entry into Freemasonry was one of
the most enjoyable of his life.”
A Definite Connect with the Occult
David L. Gray presents himself as a Masonic historian currently dedicated to
the cause of spreading the virtues of Freemasonry. His credentials are
impressive.
Perhaps
Mr. Gray can speak with some authority and confidence about the symbolism of
associated with the Masonic rituals. Of one such article I will read the
conclusion.
Conclusion:
An Occultic Connection
Presented before you have been fact after fact after fact. I have attempted
to prove, though fact only, the intimate connection that the degrees of the
Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite share with the Zodiac, Qabalah, and Tarot. I have given you a glimpse of the story that the Camp of
the 32nd Degree tells us. I can’t tell you the Royal Secret - No one can. That
is up to you alone to discover. I stated in my previous book that, "The
first preparation takes place in the heart, the second in a room adjacent to
the lodge, and the third preparation is in the Mind." Is your mind
prepared?
Freemasonry
Teaches Salvation by Good Works
Again we can do no better than to quote Mr. Gray’s understanding of that which
he teaches.
The Arch and the Accepted Scottish Rite tells a story deeper than words. It
tells a story of beginning and ending. A lesson of being prepared for the
coming days when we all will be judged. It guides us along the path of
discovery to the true Laws of Man - Justice, Equality, Respect, and Love of God
and his creations. It is these laws that Man must guard and keep sacred, and by
doing so we will surely arrive in the Mansion that our Father hath prepared for
us. If keeping these Laws intact means creating an Army of Mason, who are
representative of all men, religions sand races, then so mote it be. If the
Armies of Evil begin to wear us down and defeat us - Let the winged animals
ascend into the Heavens and let the Most High God know we have done our best.
Note: The inherent danger of Freemasonry religion is that it
reduces salvation to moral living without the emphasis on sin and grace,
repentance and forgiveness in Christ.
Note: Proof of Masonry's false gospel can be found in standard Monitors -- the official textbooks containing authoritative Masonic
ritual (see also, The Freemasons' Diary)
which are more or less uniform for each state. In the ritual, the Masonic
symbol of the lambskin or white leather apron is explained, in part, to each
candidate as follows: "The lamb has in all ages been deemed an emblem of
innocence; he, therefore, who wears the lambskin as a badge of Masonry, is
thereby _continually reminded of that purity of life and conduct, which is
essentially necessary to his gaining admission into the Celestial Lodge Above,_
where the Supreme Architect of the Universe [God] presides .”
Note: Masonry also teaches that individuals may be saved by
being good members of their respective religions -- whether Hindu, Buddhist,
Muslim, Jewish, or other. For example, Dr. Jim Tresner, director of the Masonic
Leadership Institute, affirmed that Masonry "leaves the member to devote
himself to his own religious faith to receive...salvation."
No
Clear Statement about Jesus Christ
“It is a fact widely ignored, though never with out danger, that error rarely
appears for what it really is. It is by mingling with or attaching itself to
truth that it gains acceptance.” (Steed)
E.M. Storms is right when he says, “Masonry is more than a social club, school
of geometry, or an humanitarian fellowship. It is a religious movement whose
god is not the God of the Christian. It is a “bloodless religion” attacking the
deity of Christ and denying the superiority of the Scriptures.”
Appendices
- The “God” of the Masons
1.
In the "Masonic
Bible," published by the A. J. Holman Press, we are told this
"Almighty Parent" is the one true God that all men worship. This is
so regardless of the name by which He is identified: Jehovah, Krishna, Buddha,
Allah, or some other.
2.
The Masonic Bible is actually
the King James Version bound with a special cover stamped with the Masonic
insignia. In the front of this Bible there is a lengthy preface made up of
articles concerning Masonry and the Bible.
3.
One of these articles is
entitled, The
Great Light in Masonry, written by Masonic
authority Joseph Fort Newton, who states: "For Masonry knows, what so many
forget, that religions are many, but religion is one...therefore, it [Masonry]
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" (emphasis
added).
4.
But when a Hindu prays to
Vishnu or Shiva, is he really praying to Jesus? When a Muslim prays to Allah,
is she really praying to Jehovah? When Buddhists, Jehovah's Witnesses, and
Mormons pray, are they really praying to the same God the Christian prays to?
The answer is no, because all these
concepts of God are opposed to the concept of God as revealed in the Bible.
5.
Another Masonic authority,
Carl H. Claudy, writes: "[The Mason] must declare his faith in a Supreme
Being before he may be initiated. But note that he is not required to say, then
or ever, what God. He may name him as he will, think of him as he
pleases; make him impersonal law or personal and anthropomorphic; Freemasonry
cares not...God, Great Architect
of the Universe, Grand Artificer, Grand Master of the Grand Lodge Above,
Jehovah, Allah, Buddha, Vishnu, Shiva, or Great Geometer" (emphases
added).
6.
And, Masonry does not specify
any God of any creed; she requires merely that you believe in some Deity, give
him what name you will....A belief in God is essential to a Mason, but...any God will do, so [long as] he is your God (emphasis added).
7.
Masonry thus argues that all
people of varying faiths are really praying to the one true God, the universal
Father of humankind, regardless of the name they give him.
8.
Nevertheless, this
"Almighty Parent" of Masonry is a different God than Christianity
teaches -- a fact conceded by both Masonic sympathizers as well as Masons
themselves. The Baptist Study agreed that the
Great Architect of Masonry is not the Jehovah of the Bible: "The Masonic
Great Architect of the Universe appears more like the Aristotelian 'First
Cause' than the personal God who has revealed Himself in the Bible."
9.
In his encyclopedia on
Masonry, Masonic authority Henry Wilson Coil refers to the biblical God as "a
partisan, tribal God" and implies that such a God-concept is far inferior
to the God of Masonry, which is 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 membership] is a Supreme Being, and any qualification
added is an innovation and distortion
(emphasis added).
10.
Coil even admits that "monotheism...
violates Masonic principles, for it requires belief in a specific
kind of Supreme Deity" (emphasis added).
11.
Of course, at this point Coil
has just excluded the God of biblical teaching and Christian faith for being
too specific despite the fact that
he has ascribed a specific doctrine of
God (eternal, unknowable, etc.) to Masonry.
12.
Masonic authority Albert Pike
also denies the biblical God. He argues that "if our conceptions of God
are those of the ignorant, narrow-minded, and vindictive Israelite...we feel
that it is an affront and an indignity to [God]...."
13.
Anyone who has ever read what
Albert Pike and other Masons have taught about God in the higher degrees of
Masonry knows that the God of Masonry has nothing whatever to do with the God
of the Bible.
14.
For example, Pike categorized
the God of Scripture as a false god and an idol when he wrote that "every religion and
every conception of God is idolatrous,
insofar as it is imperfect, and as it substitutes a feeble and temporary idea
in the shrine of that Undiscoverable Being [of Masonry]..."(emphasis
added).
15.
If Masonry rejects the God of
Christianity, however, how can it logically claim to be the true friend of
Christian faith?
16.
Further, if it offers an
unknowable, unapproachable, and undiscoverable God beyond the different
concepts of God found in other religions, how can it appropriately or logically
ask the men of those religions to join its local lodges?
17.
Masonry does this because it
seeks to develop a worldwide religious brotherhood beyond
the sectarian religious beliefs of humankind.
18.
To further this goal it must,
at one level, accept all religions, while simultaneously pointing and leading
to a "higher" truth beyond separatist religion -- a truth that is
capable of uniting all men in a common universal brotherhood, that is, the
fraternity of Masonry.
19.
Masonry therefore encourages
all members of different religions to pray to and worship their own respective
gods: Brahma, Krishna, Allah, Buddha, Jehovah, Vishnu, Jesus, and so forth.
20.
This is the means by which
Masonry can appeal to the members of all the different religions in the world
and attempt to unite them in a universal "common brotherhood."
21.
But then Masons cannot possibly
all be praying to the same God because all
these gods are different in nature and in what they expect of humans (if they
expect anything). In other words, the Masonic doctrine of the spiritual
"Fatherhood of God and Brotherhood of man" is only valid if there is
some larger God beyond the contradictory lesser gods that people
worship.
22.
On the one hand Masonry
claims it is an organization of tolerance that accepts the different religions
of all people; on the other hand, it offers a supreme God that is supposedly
the one true God that all people are really praying to, who is beyond the
inferior, primitive concepts of individual religion -- whether Christian,
Hindu, Islamic, Buddhist, or any other.
23.
At whatever level Masonry
approaches God, however, its theology presents irresolvable conflicts for the
Christian. If the Christian God is merely an inferior and false concept, then
Masonry denies that the God of the Bible is the one true God.
24.
Further, if Masonry points
Christians to an unknowable "Almighty Parent" beyond all religion,
then it encourages Masons to worship a false
god, and this is idolatry. This violates the first commandment in which God
warned His people, "You shall have no other gods before Me" (see Exod. 20:4-6; Deut. 13:1-5).