Copyright 1994 by the Christian Research Institute.
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"The Masonic Lodge and the Christian Conscience" (an article from the Christian Research Journal, Winter 1994, page 20) by John Weldon.
The Editor-in-Chief of the
Christian Research Journal is Elliot Miller.
-------------
Summary
The Masonic Lodge in America
is a highly influential organization claiming some four million
members. Masonic leaders argue the lodge is not a religion but
merely a fraternal body that seeks to better society and also
assist the Christian church. It does this, they claim, by helping
Christians become better members of their own faith.
The truth is that Masonry
is a distinct religion that espouses teachings incompatible with
Christian faith in the areas of God, salvation, and other important
doctrines. It is therefore inconsistent for any Christian to swear
the oaths of Masonry to uphold and support the Lodge when Masonry's
own ritual, doctrines, and impact in history have denied and opposed
biblical teaching.
This is so despite the 1993
recommendation of the Southern Baptists at their annual convention
that membership in the Lodge can be left to the Christian's individual
conscience.
"Because of your support,
the vote of the Southern Baptist Convention is a historic and
positive turning point for Freemasonry. Basically, it is a vitalization
of our Fraternity by America's largest Protestant denomination
after nearly a year of thorough, scholarly study. At the same
time, it is a call to renewed effort on the part of all Freemasons
today to re-energize our Fraternity and move forward to fulfilling
its mission as the world's foremost proponent of Brotherhood of
Man under the Fatherhood of God." The Scottish Rite Journal,
Aug. 1993.
Millions of men throughout
the world, including four million Americans, look to the Masonic
Lodge for brotherhood and fellowship. They are proud to be part
of an organization that engages itself in worthwhile causes, such
as children's hospitals. Many of them feel strongly about the
Masonic tenets of the Fatherhood of God, the brotherhood of man,
and the immortality of the soul.
Masonry (or Freemasonry) claims
to be the friend of Christianity, and yet it contains doctrines
that are contrary to biblical teaching. As unpleasant as it may
be, it is the obligation of the discerning Christian to point
this out, both for the sake of the hundreds of thousands of Christian
Masons and for those who might yet become Masons.
The relationship of Masonry
to Christian faith has been controversial for at least 200 years,
and over that period the different sides have attempted to defend
their positions to the best of their abilities. Therefore, confusion
often befalls the layperson who must carefully wade through the
arguments on both sides before he or she can hope to resolve the
issue responsibly. While this article cannot relieve such laypeople
of the task of discerning the matter, its purpose is to provide
them with a strong yet concise presentation of the case against
Christian involvement with Masonry. (Further documentation and
analysis of the claims and arguments of Masonry can be found in
Bowing at Strange Altars [an evaluation of the Southern
Baptist Study on Masonry] and The Secret Teachings of the Masonic
Lodge: A Christian Appraisal, both of which I coauthored with
Dr. John Ankerberg. I urge interested readers to secure these
volumes for further study in dealing with this issue. This article
is primarily excerpted, with some changes, from Bowing at Strange
Altars.)
This article was planned for
the JOURNAL long before controversial publications on Masonry
were released by the Southern Baptists. However, because the Southern
Baptist publications bring all of the concerns I intended to address
into sharp focus, and because they are of significant contemporary
concern, they will play an important role in my evaluation of
Masonry.
MASONRY AND THE SOUTHERN
BAPTISTS
A committee of the Southern
Baptist Convention, the largest Protestant denomination in America,
concluded in its two 1993 publications, A Study of Freemasonry
(hereafter Study) and A Report on Freemasonry (hereafter
Report) -- and at its annual convention the same year --
that it cannot frankly state it is wrong for a Christian to join
the Masonic Lodge.[1] In so doing the Southern Baptists are perhaps
the only conservative Christian denomination in America not to
warn their constituents that membership in the Masonic Lodge is
not compatible with biblical teaching.
In the coming years many other
churches and denominations will face the question of whether their
members should participate in the Masonic Lodge. What happened
in the Southern Baptist Convention's examination of Masonry points
to the necessity for churches and denominations examining this
subject to carefully select their investigative committees. Such
committees should be composed of individuals who not only accept
the authority and inerrancy of Scripture, but who will also not
uncritically accept Masonic claims of compatibility with Christianity
or be influenced by political pressures -- as was true for the
Southern Baptists.[2]
In its six-page Report,
the Baptist Home Mission Board listed numerous reasons why it
is wrong for a Christian to be a member of the Masonic Lodge.
For example, it cited several illustrations from the first three
degrees of Masonry (the Blue Lodge degrees) concerning the taking
of bloody oaths by the Masonic initiate. It warned, "Even
though these oaths, obligations and rituals may or may not be
taken seriously by the initiate, it is inappropriate for
a Christian to 'sincerely promise and swear,' with the hand on
the Holy Bible, any such promises or oaths, or to participate
in any such pagan rituals" (emphases added).[3] The Report
also stated, "Many tenets and teachings of Freemasonry are
not compatible with Christianity and Southern Baptist doctrine...,"
and again cited examples such as the teachings of salvation by
personal character/good works and the doctrine of universalism.[4]
In fact, both the Study
and the Report offered solid reasons why Masonry and Christianity
are incompatible and why Christians shouldn't participate in the
Lodge. But then, illogically, they gave the contradictory advice
that membership in a Masonic Order should be a matter of personal
conscience. In what follows I demonstrate the problems with this
conclusion.
MASONRY AND SALVATION
It is my contention that the
Masonic ritual (i.e., Masonry's ceremonial rites of initiation
that all Masons must pass through) of the First, Second, and Third
Degrees teach all Masons exactly what God condemns as a false
gospel, namely that a person is saved and goes to heaven as a
result of his or her personal character and good works. As all
Christians know, the Bible places such a teaching under God's
curse. Paul said in Galatians 1:8-9: "But even though we,
or an angel from heaven, should preach to you a gospel contrary
to that which we have preached to you, let him be accursed. As
we have said before, so I say again now, if any man is preaching
to you a gospel contrary to that we have preached to you, let
him be accursed." The Bible clearly teaches how a man is
saved: "For by grace you have been saved through faith; and
that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God; not as a result
of works, that no one should boast" (Eph. 2:8-9. Cf. John
3:16; 5:24; 6:47; Rom. 3:28-4:6; 11:6).
Proof of Masonry's false gospel
can be found in standard "Monitors" -- the official
textbooks containing authoritative Masonic ritual 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 (emphasis
added).[5]"
Please keep in mind that the
instruction concerning the lambskin can be found in the Ritual
book of all the Lodges in all 50 states. None exclude it,
although it may be placed in different rituals in the manuals
of different states.
When a Mason is told that
his purity of life and conduct is necessary to his gaining admission
into the Celestial Lodge Above (i.e., heaven), how can anyone
deny that Masonry is teaching another way of salvation than what
the Bible teaches? How can anyone deny that this is a works
gospel?
In the Second Degree (the
Fellow Craft Degree) and elsewhere the candidate is instructed
further in the importance of the lambskin as follows: "You
are to wear it as an emblem of that purity of heart and conscience
that is necessary to obtain for you the approval of the Grand
Architect of the Universe" (emphasis added).[6] Moreover,
as even some Masonic authorities have admitted, Masonry has, in
all, some 40 degrees implying or teaching its candidates salvation
by personal merit.[7]
What did the Southern Baptist
Report conclude on this issue? The Committee that engaged
in the study agreed that such teachings were "not compatible
with Christianity or Southern Baptist doctrine."[8] The Report
likewise concluded that Masonic writings and rituals imply that
"salvation may be attained by one's good works," and
therefore that some "Masons...may be led to believe they
can earn salvation by living a pure life with good conduct."[9]
In addition, the Study confessed that Masons "insist
the lambskin [i.e., lambskin apron, used in Masonic ritual] does
not bring salvation, but rather, 'the purity of life' it symbolizes
brings salvation" (emphasis added).[10]
The Committee stated that
there was "the prevalent use of the term [Masonic] 'light,'
which some may understand as a reference to salvation rather than
knowledge or truth."[11] The Report further conceded
that "the heresy of universalism (the belief that all people
will eventually be saved), which permeates the writings of many
Masonic authors...is a doctrine inconsistent with New Testament
teaching."[12]
In its mention of former Mason
Jack Harris, the Study noted that "Harris was typical
of other Masons who hope Freemasonry will take them to heaven"
(emphasis added).[13] Here it is acknowledged that Masons can
indeed believe that Masonry alone is sufficient for salvation.
But 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."[14]
In light of the above confessions
I am perplexed. In 1992 the Southern Baptist Convention passed
a resolution entitled, "On Christian Witness and Voluntary
Associations," encouraging Christians everywhere to (1) "maintain
Christian witness openly before the world"; (2) avoid
"any association which conflicts with clear biblical teaching";
and (3) "affirm that biblical doctrine is to be open and
public knowledge and that the Christian faith is to be a clear
and public expression of the truth that Jesus Christ is the
only means of salvation, that the Bible is our infallible
guide..." (emphases added).[15]
By stating such confessions
and conclusions in its resolution in 1992, the SBC had effectively
prohibited Christians from joining the Masonic Lodge. In
light of these admonitions to Christians everywhere, how can the
Home Mission Board and the Southern Baptist Convention a year
later conclude that Freemasonry does not ultimately oppose
Christian doctrine and that individual Christians are free
to join the Masonic Lodge?[16]
THE MASONIC GOD
During the ritual, Masonry
has its candidates swear that they believe in God, typically called
the "Great Architect of the Universe." It also informs
them that all Masons are to bow before the sacred name of Deity,
and explains that all Masons of every country, religion, and opinion
are united in the belief that they have been created by one Almighty
Parent. The question is, Is this Almighty Parent or Great Architect
-- the God of the Masonic Lodge -- also the God of the Bible?
The answer is clearly no.
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.
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.
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).[17]
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.[18]
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).[19]
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).[20]
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. 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."[21]
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)."[22]
Coil even admits that "monotheism...
violates Masonic principles, for it requires belief in
a specific kind of Supreme Deity" (emphasis added).[23] 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.
Masonic authority[24] 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]...."[25] 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.[26] 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).[27]
If Masonry rejects the God
of Christianity, however, how can it logically claim to be the
true friend of Christian faith? 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?
Masonry does this because
it seeks to develop a worldwide religious brotherhood beyond
the sectarian religious beliefs of humankind. 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.
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. 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."
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.
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.[28]
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. 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).
Even at a surface level Masonry
actively encourages idolatry. The Baptist Study, for example,
cites The Freemasons' Diary as setting "this priority
for a Mason concerning his faith and religious practice: a Freemason
is encouraged to do his duty first to his God (by whatever
name he is known) through his faith and religious practice..."
(emphasis added).[29]
To encourage Masons to do
their religious duty to their various gods is to encourage the
Muslim Mason to worship and serve Allah; the Hindu Mason
to worship and serve Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva;
the Buddhist Mason to worship Buddha and various Buddhist
deities; the Mormon Mason to worship Mormonism's own gods; and
the pagan Mason to worship any variety of additional gods. This
is unacceptable for the Christian in that it promotes spiritual
deception under the guise of alleged spiritual brotherhood.
Jesus emphasized, "Now
this is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true
God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent" (John 17:3).
God Himself declares, "I, even I, am the Lord; and there
is no savior besides Me....I am the Lord and there is no other;
besides Me there is no God" (Isa. 43:11; 45:5). Jesus also
emphasized that "God is Spirit, and those who worship Him
must worship Him in spirit and truth" (John 4:24).
How, then, can Christian Masons logically join and swear allegiance
to actively support Masonry when it encourages people to believe
in false gods and to deny the truth that God has revealed in the
Bible?