Free Masonry--Not Free, but Bondage

Free Masonry--Not Free, It Will Cost You Your Soul

The views of the Masonic religion are in open conflict with Biblical Christianity, so much so that, in our opinion, a knowledgeable and committed Mason could not possibly be a true Christian.

Like many cults, Masons believe that Jesus Christ is a created being, and that He is the brother of Satan. The Bible, on the other hand, teaches that Jesus is God and Creator, Who created Lucifer. (Lucifer sinned, was expelled from Heaven, and renamed Satan, that is to say, "Adversary" or "Accuser").

Below is detailed what the Masons believe about their source of authority, God, Jesus Christ, sin, and salvation and future life:

1. Source of Authority. Masons refer to the Bible as the "Volume of the Sacred Law" (V.S.L.), and it is considered an indispensable part of what is called "the furniture" in a Masonic Lodge. But the Bible is used only in a Christian lodge--the Hebrew Pentateuch is used in a Hebrew lodge, the Koran in a Mohammedan lodge, the Vedas in a Brahmin lodge, etc. Jim Shaw, a former 33 Mason, says that Masonry is not based on the Bible (referred to as "The Great Light"), but on the Kabala (Cabala), a medieval book of mysticism and magic. Masonic authority Henry Wilson Coil also admits that the Kabala's teachings can be seen in some of the mystical and philosophical degrees of Masonry. Albert Pike (see next), the man responsible for virtually rewriting the Scottish Rite degrees into their present form, said that the Masonic "search after light" leads directly back to the Kabala, the ultimate source of Masonic beliefs (Morals and Dogma ). [HJB]

One of the greatest authorities on Masonry was Albert Pike (1809-1901), Sovereign Grand Commander of the Southern Supreme Council of Scottish Right Freemasonry in the USA and "an honorary member of almost every Supreme Council in the world" (Albert G. Mackey, 33rd degree, and Charles T. McClenachan, 33rd degree, Encyclopedia of Freemasonry, The Masonic History Company, 1921, rev ed, 2:564). He authored Morals and Dogma of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite of Freemasonry for the Supreme Council of the 33rd Degree, which was published by its authority. This compendium of official Masonic lore clearly traces Masonry to Hinduism, Buddhism, Zoroastrianism and other Eastern religions. Albert G. Mackey, co-author of Encyclopedia of Freemasonry , is also one of Masonry's highest authorities. In his Manual of the Lodge, he traces Masonic teaching back to "the ancient rites and mysteries practiced in the very bosom of pagan darkness. ..." (Albert G. Mackey, Manual of the Lodge, Macoy and Sickles, 1802, p. 96).

In the final analysis, Masons do not adjust their beliefs to fit the Bible, the Bible is adjusted to fit their beliefs. A Mason's loyalty is never to God but to the Lodge. Coil has concluded that: "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." Masonry's only concern is that each person must swear by the most holy book he knows, so that he will then keep the oaths of Freemasonry**.

2. God. Masons require one to believe in God to be a member, but the candidate is never required to say what god he believes in --"Masonry ... requires merely that you believe in some deity, give him what name you will ... any god will do, so he is your god" (Little Masonic Library, Macoy Publishing, 1977, 4:32). Masons commonly refer to their deity as the "Great Architect of the Universe" (G.A.O.T.U.) or the Supreme Being. God is further described as Grand Artificer, Grand Master of the Grand Lodge Above, Jehovah, Allah, Buddha, Brahma, Vishnu, Shiva, or Great Geometer. (The "G" in the Masonic ring can refer to God; it can also refer to geometry.) Masons claim that the actual name for God has been lost (cf. Jn. 14:8,9; Phil. 2:9-11; 1 Jn. 5:20) [HJB] .

3. Jesus Christ. The name of Christ is seldom referred to in Masonic literature, apparently due to Masons not wanting to offend their non-Christian members. Some Masonic leaders even teach that the Messiah will not be an individual, but "the perfection of the human race." One such leader thinks that the stories about various Messiahs have their origin in the most ancient of religious beliefs--Solar Worship. Masons, therefore, consider the discussion about the deity of Christ to be an endless, futile argument. When quoting from the Bible, references to Christ are omitted, and prayer is never allowed to be offered (in a "well-ordered" lodge) in the name of Jesus Christ. Masons do not care whether a person privately petitions God or Jehovah, Allah or Buddha, Mohammed or Jesus, the God of Israel or the "Great First Cause," but in the Lodge, the only petition allowed is to the "Great Architect of the Universe." [HJB] Clearly then, Freemasonry does not believe that Jesus Christ is God, nor that salvation is available only through Him (cf. 1 Jn. 4:3). Freemasonry is a religion without a Savior.

At the heart of Masonry is a secret Luciferian doctrine which a Mason only comes to understand as he reaches the higher levels. Manly Palmer Hall, one of the greatest authorities on Masonry, writes, "When the Mason ... has learned the mystery of his Craft, the seething energies of Lucifer are in his hands. ..." (Manly Palmer Hall, The Lost Keys of Freemasonry, p. 48). The Apostle John warned that those who deny that Jesus is the only Christ and that He came once and for all in the flesh have embraced the spirit of Antichrist (1 Jn 4:1-3). That Jesus was not the Christ, but that He had attained to the state of "Christ consciousness" available to all mankind, is again part of Masonry: "Jesus of Nazareth had attained a level of consciousness, of perfection, that has been called by various names: cosmic consciousness, soul regeneration, philosophic initiation, spiritual illumination, Brahmic Splendor, Christ-consciousness (Lynn F. Perkins, The Meaning of Masonry, CSA Press, 1971, 53).

4. Sin. Sin is seldom referred to in Masonic literature. The reality of sin in the Biblical sense is denied (much like the Christian Scientists); Masons think that any "shortcomings" can be overcome by greater enlightenment. Yet in attaining the degree of Master Mason, the symbolism implies that a person is redeemed from the death of sin and sin's pollution. [HJB]

5. Salvation and Future Life. Masons think that salvation refers to being brought from the material to the spiritual; i.e., when man returns to "his forgotten inherent spirituality." Masons believe that the degree of Master Mason is symbolical of old age, which allows a person to happily reflect on a well-spent life and to "die in the hope of a glorious immortality." Because they deny the reality of sin, Masons see no need of salvation in the Biblical sense. They see salvation as a step-by-step enlightenment, which comes through initiation into the Masonic degrees and their mysteries. [HJB]

In the 19th degree of Scottish Rite Freemasonry, the initiate is told that attachment to Masonry's "statutes and rules of the order" will make him "deserving of entering the celestial Jerusalem [heaven]." In the 28th degree, he is told that "the true Mason [is one] who raises himself by degrees till he reaches heaven" and that one of his duties is "To divest [him]self of original sin ..." Masons clearly teach a salvation by works, or character development, not a salvation by faith in Christ alone. Even in the 32nd Degree, a Mason never can nor will find the "light" he is looking for.

* Unless otherwise cited, four primary sources were used for this report: (1) Grolier's 1995 Multimedia Encyclopedia, (2) What They Believe, Harold J. Berry [HJB], BTTB:1990, pp. 71-96); (3) Freemasonry and Christianity, Alva J. McClain, BMH Books:1986; (4) 7/97, The Berean Call.

** Sectarianism is simply the belief that one's faith has an exclusive corner on the Truth and that all others are false. In fact, Christianity is deemed by Freemasonry to be a sect, and Christians who believe in Jesus alone are said by Masons to be sectarian. Since it is revealed that their Masonic "God" hates sectarianism, in effect, Freemasonry's elite is admitting that they hate Jesus Christ. That is why the Masonic institution freely accepts Buddhists, Moslems, Zoroastrians, Voodooists, and even Satanists into its fraternal chambers. All are welcomed so long as each agrees that his particular religion is not exclusive. That would be sectarianism. However, Jesus Christ testified that He alone is the one true God, that He alone is "The Way, The Truth, and The Life." Therefore, all those who believe in Him as Lord refuse to give glory to any other deity. Every true Christian, in the strictest Masonic view, is therefore, necessarily hated and despised as a divisive, sectarian believer. (Source: 1/95, Flashpoint. )

**Most do not realize the terrible oaths that Masons are required to take for each advancing degree in this cult. Each Entering Apprentice, for example, is required to repeat:

"Binding myself under no less a penalty than that of having my throat cut across, my tongue torn out by its roots, and buried in the rough sand of the sea at low water mark where the tide ebbs and flows twice in twenty-four hours, should I ever knowingly or willingly violate my solemn oath and obligation as an Entered Apprentice Mason. So help me, God."

Each succeeding degree has a similar horrible oath and penalty connected with it. But Jesus commanded His followers to "not swear at all" (Matthew 5:34; James 5:12). In addition, Jesus would never sanction these required oaths, for he said: "I have said nothing in secret" (John 18:20). Masonry claims to have found the truth, and yet demands that its members swear never to reveal and always to conceal its teachings! How unlike true Christianity in which believers are commanded to "go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation" (Mark 16:15). Masonry's methods stand condemned by the Word of God.

To read comic about Masonry - "Curse of Baphomet" (not local link)

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