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by John Weldon
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 authority24 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?
MASONRY AND PAGAN RELIGION
The previously mentioned
1992 SBC resolution that encompassed Freemasonry stated: "Be it finally
RESOLVED, That we urge all Southern Baptists to refrain from participation or
membership in organizations with teachings, oaths, or mystical knowledge which
are contrary to the Bible and to the public expression of our faith in the
gospel of Jesus Christ, which must be above all reproach."30 Further,
the Study of Freemasonry submitted to the Baptist Home Mission Board
conceded that "a Christian Mason who takes the higher degrees of the Scottish
Rite will be exposed to beliefs and practices quite different from his own. For
example, the candidate is introduced to Egyptian deities Osiris, Isis, Horus,
and Amun; to Scandinavian deities Odin, Frea, and Thor; to Hindu, Greek, and
Persian deities; and to Jewish Kabbalism [i.e., occultism]....It cannot be
denied that some of the religions studied in these degrees are pagan and that
their teachings are totally incompatible with Christianity" (emphasis
added).31
The Report on Freemasonry concluded that paganism is
not only found in Masonic rituals, but it also discovered paganism in many
readings that Masonry encourages its initiates to pursue: "[Many of] the
recommended readings, in pursuance of advanced degrees, of religions and
philosophies...are undeniably pagan and/or occult..." (emphasis added).32
Among those mentioned are the writings of Masonic authorities or authors Albert
Pike, Albert Mackey, Manley Hall, Rex Hutchins, and W. L. Wilmshurst.
Even some official Masonic Monitors encourage paganism. The
Texas
Monitor, for example, tells us:
These [aspects and teachings of Masonry] were practiced from remote ages, in ancient temples of many nations....The most learned among Masonic scholars...conclude that Masonry is of very ancient origin, and is, in some aspects, the modern successor of, and heir to, the sublime Mysteries of the Temple of Solomon, and of the Temples of India, Chaldea, Egypt, Greece, and Rome, as well as the basic doctrine of the Essenes, Gnostics and other mystic Orders.33
Because the Texas Monitor argues that Masonry is related to ancient paganism, it advises that
every candidate for the Mysteries of Masonry, at the proper time and in an appropriate manner, should be taught the truth that the rite of Initiation means much more than a formal ceremonial progress through the Degrees....Initiation is to be attained only after real labor, deep study, profound meditation, extensive research and a constant practice of those virtues which will open a true path to moral, intellectual, and spiritual illumination.34
In other words, the Texas Monitor itself maintains that the initiate is to be informed as to and/or practiced in the deeper pagan meanings of the Masonic Ritual.
JESUS CHRIST
The Baptist Study comments, "it is not
true that Freemasonry ignores or denies Jesus Christ" (emphasis added).35
The Study nevertheless admits that "Freemasonry today does not see Jesus
as the unique Son of God and Savior of the world."36
The Masonic Ritual of the First, Second, and Third Degrees
never instructs its members that Jesus is the only mediator between God and men.
It never tells them they can't truthfully call God their Father until they have
a relationship with His Son. It doesn't tell initiates that they can't build
their spiritual house until they ask Jesus Christ to forgive them of their sins
and build it for them. No Mason is ever told officially that a man can never do
enough good deeds or live a pure enough life to gain admission into the
Celestial Lodge Above, or that entrance into heaven comes only by faith in Jesus
Christ. The truth is that by its ritual, teachings, and prayers, Masonry does
ignore and deny Jesus Christ.37
IS MASONRY A RELIGION?
One of the key issues in this discussion is
whether or not Masonry is a religion.38 The Baptist Study
concluded: "Strong feelings have been expressed on both sides of this difficult
issue....the overwhelming majority of Masons reject the idea that Freemasonry
is a religion. The various monitors of the Grand Lodges and statements from
the overwhelming majority of Masonic leaders in the past and today deny that
Freemasonry is a religion"(emphases added).39
No one denies that the vast majority of Masons say
Masonry is not a religion, but one must go beyond mere claims. For example,
virtually all Mormons claim their religion is Christian, which is
demonstrably false.40
Masonry claims it has the qualities of a religion but
is still not a religion; or that it is religious but still not a
religion. However, the latter point makes as much sense (as even Coil pointed
out) as to say that a man has no intellect but is intellectual, or that he has
no honor but is honorable. Religious is defined as "imbued with or
adhering to religion or a religion."41
While it is possible for an organization to have a religious
quality and yet not be a religion —
such as Christian groups that specialize in missions or research and have daily
periods of prayer, Masonry is more than this. The religious quality of Christian
organizations is based on Christianity while the religious quality of Masonry is
based on Masonry itself, which qualifies it as a religion.
The Study wrongly concluded that Masonry is not a
religion. Nevertheless it was forced to confess that "many men make the Lodge
their religion."42
The major issue in determining whether Masonry is a religion
is to look at its demands on the candidate. Masonry requires the
candidate to believe in God, obey Him, worship Him, seek His guidance, and so
forth, which qualifies it as a religion. And, as I have already documented,
Masonry claims its members will earn admittance to heaven based on personal
character and good works. This also classifies the Lodge as a religion. In fact,
any standard dictionary or encyclopedia definition of religion proves beyond
doubt that Masonry is a religion.43 Dr. Shildes Johnson is only one
of many scholars of comparative religion who have concluded: "A comparison of
the moral, allegorical, and symbolic teachings of Freemasonry with these
definitions of a religion reveals that the lodge is a theistic, non-Christian,
man-centered, and universal religion."44
All this is why numerous leading Masonic authorities have
publicly confessed that Masonry is, in fact, a religion. For example:
Albert G. Mackey: "The religion of Masonry is
cosmopolitan, universal...."45
Henry Wilson Coil: "Religion is espoused by the
Masonic Ritual and required of the candidate"; and, "Freemasonry is undoubtedly
religion"; and, "Many Freemasons make this flight [to heaven] with no other
guarantee of a safe landing than their belief in the religion of
Freemasonry" (emphasis added).46
Albert Pike: "Masonry...is the universal, eternal,
immutable religion...."47
Joseph Fort Newton: "Everything in Masonry has
reference to God, implies God, speaks of God, points and leads to God. Not a
degree, not a symbol, not an obligation, not a lecture, not a charge but finds
its meaning and derives its beauty from God the Great Architect, in whose temple
all Masons are workmen."48
Doesn't all this constitute evidence that Masonry is a
religion? Yet the Study of the Southern Baptist Home Mission Board
concluded it is not a religion.49
The Baptist Study offered a number of reasons to
allegedly substantiate its claim that Masonry is not a religion. For example, it
points out that in a 1921 decision the Supreme Court of Nebraska ruled that
Freemasonry is not a religion. But all this means is that the Supreme Court of
Nebraska was wrong. State Supreme Courts and even the Supreme Court of the
United States
have frequently been wrong, as can be proven by the number of opinion reversals
enacted by those bodies. The United States Supreme Court has reversed itself no
less than 200 times in its history. These are admissions of error.
The Study next cites the Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts
of America. It points out that not all Scouts are Christians. Yet Christians may
become members of the Scouts without worshipping the gods of those in the Scouts
who follow other religions, such as Mormons and Hindus. "Baptist youth certainly
do not worship the physical god of Mormonism or the impersonal god of Hinduism,
yet they join with youth and leaders from these religions to earn religious
emblems. They have certain rituals that identify them as Scouts anywhere in the
world...."50
What if the Boy Scouts of America claimed it was not a
religion when it was? What if the Scouts had an agenda that they kept hidden?
What if the Scouts had their own plan of salvation? What if the Scouts actively
taught members that they could be saved and go to heaven by good works? What if
the Scouts had bloody oaths requiring secrecy on pain of death?51 Who
would argue that Christian youth should join such an organization?
Next, the Study claims that those individuals who
allow Masonry to become their religion do so only because of their own
misinterpretation or misunderstanding of Masonry and (quoting a Southern Baptist
Mason) "not due to Masonic teaching."52 In The Secret Teachings of
the Masonic Lodge, however, John Ankerberg and I devoted some 200 pages
showing that the reason individuals do make Masonry their religion is
"due to Masonic teaching."
Perhaps it is worth noting that of all the conservative
Christian bodies who have studied Masonry, I discovered almost unanimous
agreement among them that Masonry is a religion and that Masonry and
Christianity are not compatible.53 The conclusion of a Presbyterian
report is only one of almost two dozen denominational inquiries that concluded
Masonry is a religion: "In our study of Freemasonry's promotional literature,
through personal interviews with Masons, and by letters received from Masons, we
were told that Freemasonry is not a religion. However, a close scrutiny of
the ritual of the lodge and books written by authoritative Masons points to the
contrary...(emphasis added).54
In its section on the position of other Christian
denominations relative to Masonry, even the Baptist Study documents that
Masonry has been rejected by the Roman Catholic church, Lutheran Church-Missouri
Synod, the Presbyterian Church in America, the Free Presbyterian Church of
Scotland, the Greek Orthodox Church, the Church of the Nazarene, the Church of
the Brethren, the Orthodox Presbyterian Church, the Assemblies of God, the
Reformed Presbyterian Church, "and other Christian denominations have also taken
positions against Freemasonry, or against secret societies without mentioning
Freemasonry."55
One must wonder, "Didn't this near-unanimous condemnation
tell Baptist committee members something?!" If Masonry and Christianity are
really compatible (as the Baptist Study implies), and if individual
Christians can actually become Masons "in good conscience," then why all the
negative conclusions condemning Masonry and urging Christians not to join
the Masonic Lodge from all these widely varying Christian bodies?
The Study acknowledges that "this issue has divided
Baptists for two centuries."56 But why has it divided Baptists
for two centuries? We think the reason is evident —
because the Baptist tradition has never officially taken a position on Masonry,
thereby allowing individual Christians in every generation to be deceived by its
false claims. This would seem to explain why, as the Study itself
concedes, half a million Southern Baptists (at least) are now Masons
— including many Southern Baptist
pastors, ministers of education, deacons, and directors of missions.57
But even if there were ten million Christians in the Lodge, this fact alone
would not justify Masonry. I can only agree with the conclusion of the
Presbyterian report and many others that say:
a) Joining Masonry requires "actions and vows out of accord
with Scripture."
b) "Participation in Masonry seriously compromises the
Christian faith and testimony."
c) "Membership in Masonry and activity in its Ritual lead to
a diluting of commitment to Christ and His kingdom."58
Certainly the Baptist stress on individual freedom of
conscience cannot be carried so far as to accept the right of Christians to join
the Mormon church or the Baha'i Faith. On what basis, then, can the Southern
Baptist Convention say it is permissible for a Christian to join the Masonic
Lodge? The issue is not individual conscience. The issue is, Can Christianity
and Masonry be logically joined together without violation of scriptural
teaching and Christ's glory? If not, then the verdict of each Christian's
conscience must be to abstain from the Masonic Lodge, and the obligation of each
church body must be to proclaim this basic incompatibility of Masonry and
Christianity.
NOTES
1
In the text and endnotes, the term Study refers to the 75-page analysis,
A Study of Freemasonry (Atlanta, GA: Home Mission Board of the Southern
Baptist Convention, 1993), available from the Home Mission Board, SBC, 1350
Spring Street, N.W., Atlanta, GA 30367-5601 (1-800-634-2462). The term Report
refers to the six-page A Report on Freemasonry, published by the Home
Mission Board, SBC, 17 March 1993.
2 See John Ankerberg and John Weldon,
Bowing at Strange Altars (Chattanooga, TN: Ankerberg Theological Research
Institute, 1993), 10-12.
3 Report, 5.
4 Ibid., 5-6.
5 Code Revision Committee, Masonic Manual of
the Grand Lodge of Georgia, Free and Accepted Masons, 10th ed. (n.p.: Grand
Lodge of the State of
Georgia, 1983), 17.
6 Most Worshipful Grand Lodge Free & Accepted
Masons of
Arkansas, Masonic Monitor of the Degrees of Entered Apprentice, Fellow Craft,
and MasterMason (n.p.: Grand Lodge of Arkansas, 7th ed., 1993), 17.
7 See John Ankerberg and John Weldon,
The Secret Teachings of the Masonic Lodge: A Christian Appraisal (Chicago:
Moody Press, 1991), 86, cf. 78-92.
8 Report, 4.
9 Ibid., 5-6.
10 Study, 34.
11 Report, 5.
12 Ibid., 6.
13 Ibid., 54.
14 Jim Tresner, "Conscience and the Craft,"
The Scottish Rite Journal, February 1993, 23.
15 Study, 2-3.
16 Ibid., 70.
17 Joseph Fort Newton, "The Great Light in
Masonry" (title of the section containing: "The Words of a Great Masonic Divine:
The Bible and Freemasonry," in The Holy Bible: The Great Light in Masonry
(Nashville: A. J. Holman, 1940), 3-4.
18 See Ankerberg and Weldon, Secret
Teachings, 194-95.
19 Carl H. Claudy, Introduction to
Freemasonry, vol. 2 (Washington: The Temple, 1984), 110.
20 Carl H. Claudy, "Belief in God," in "A
Master's Wages," in Little Masonic Library, vol. 4 (Richmond: Macoy
Publishing, 1977), 32.
21 Study, 43.
22 Henry Wilson Coil, Coil's Masonic
Encyclopedia (New York: Macoy Publishing and Masonic Supply, 1961), 516-17.
23 Ibid., 517.
24 Ankerberg and Weldon, Bowing, chs. 7,
9.
25 Albert Pike, Morals and Dogma of the
Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite of Freemasonry (Charleston, SC: Supreme
Council of the 33rd Degree for the Southern Jurisdiction of the United States,
1927), 223.
26 Ankerberg and Weldon, Secret Teachings,
chs. 8-9.
27 Pike, 516; cf. 226, 295-96.
28 Tresner, 18. See also J. N. D.
Anderson, Christianity and Comparative Religion (Downers Grove, IL:
InterVarsity Press, 1977), 11-12.
29 Study, 26.
30 Ibid., 3.
31 Ibid., 32.
32 Report, 5.
33 Grand Lodge of
Texas, Monitor of the
Lodge: Monitorial Instructions in the Three Degrees of Symbolic Masonry
(Waco, TX: Grand Lodge of Texas, A.F.&A.M., 1982), xiii, xiv.
34 Ibid., xv, xvi.
35 Study, 48. See also Ankerberg
and Weldon, Secret Teachings, 126-29; Jim Shaw and Tom McKenney, The
Deadly Deception: Freemasonry Exposed by One of Its Top Leaders (Lafayette,
LA: Huntington House, 1988), 72.
36 Study, 48-49.
37 For further information on Masonic views of
Jesus Christ, see Ankerberg and Weldon, Bowing, ch. 4, and
Secret Teachings, ch. 10.
38 Study, 23.
39 Ibid., 70.
40 See, e.g., John Ankerberg and John
Weldon, Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Mormonism (Eugene, OR:
Harvest House, 1991) for detailed documentation.
41 Macmillan Dictionary for Students
(1984), 842.
42 Study, 26.
43 Ankerberg and Weldon, Secret Teachings,
37-38.
44 Shildes Johnson, Is Masonry a Religion?
(Oakland, NJ: Institute of Contemporary Christianity, 1978), 21.
45 Albert G. Mackey, An Encyclopedia of
Freemasonry and Its Kindred Sciences, vol. 1 (Chicago: Masonic History
Company, 1921), 301.
46 Coil, 512, 158; Henry Wilson Coil, A
Comprehensive View of Freemasonry (Richmond: Macoy, 1973),186.
47 Pike, 219.
48 Joseph Fort
Newton, The Religion of Masonry (Richmond:
Macoy, 1969), 58-59.
49 Study, 70.
50 Ibid., 26.
51 Ankerberg and Weldon, Secret Teachings,
chs. 2, 13-16.
52 Study, 26.
53 Ankerberg and Weldon, Secret Teachings,
269-71; cf. ch. 16, Epilogue; and James Holly, The Southern Baptist
Convention and Freemasonry (Beaumont, TX: Mission and Ministry to Men,
1993), ch. 3.
54 Minutes of the General Assembly, appendix R,
The Report of the Ad-Interim Committee to Study Freemasonry, 16th General
Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in
America, 6 June 1988, 466.
55 Study, 63.
56 Ibid., 64.
57 Ibid., 64-65.
58 Presbyterian Report, 473.
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