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All non-Masons are in spiritual
darkness and can arrive at the light of truth only through
Masonry. |
"The Masonic Initiate has long been in
darkness, and now seeks to be brought to light" (Malcom C.
Duncan, Masonic Ritual and Monitor, n.d., p.29)
A Christian already has the light
of life (Jn 8:12) because God has rescued him from the
dominion of darkness and brought him into the kingdom of His
Son (Col 1:13). For the Christian to claim still to be
in darkness is to lie and not to live by the truth (1 Jn
1:6). |
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Light is obtainable only through
Masonry because Masonry is of divine origin and, as such, is
the true religion. |
"Masonry is of divine origin" (J.
Blanchard, Scottish Rite Masonry Illustrated)
"Every Masonic Lodge is a temple of
religion; and its teachings are instructions in
religion...reward is the knowledge of the True God...Masonry
is a worship...It is the universal, eternal immutable
religion, such as God planted it in the heart of universal
humanity" (Liturgy of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite
of Freemasonry for the Southern Jurisdiction of the United
States, Part Two, pp. 167, 198-99).
Jesus Christ is the Light of the
world (Jn 1:4; 8:12; 9:5; 12;35-36). Unless Masonry
teaches this truth, it cannot be the true religion, for it
denies that "the true light that gives light to every man"
has come into the world (Jn 1:9). |
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The Bible is affirmed, and even
revered, by Masons, but not as the infallible and inerrant
Holy Word of God. Scripture is nothing more than a
symbol of the will of God. It is no more divine or
inspired than any other "holy" book of other religions. |
"...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...Thus, by the very honor which Masonry pays to
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 (Joseph Fort Newton,
The Bible in Masonry, p.5)
The Bible is the inspired Word of God (2Pe 1:20-22),
written by men who had "the Spirit of Christ in them" (1Pe
1:11) The purpose of this God-breathed revelation is not
merely to be a symbol of God's will, but to make people wise
for salvation through faith in Christ and to train and equip
people for a life of righteousness and good works (2Ti
3:15-16) |
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The Bible is not to be taken
literally. Its contents are not divine |
"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" (Henry Wilson Coil, Coil's Masonic
Encyclopedia, p. 520)
God's Word is truth, not a symbol of truth (Jn 17:17) |
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The Bible cannot be properly
understood except by Masons |
"The Hebrew books were written only to
recall to memory the traditions; and they were written in
Symbols unintelligible to the Profane [non-Masons]" (Albert
Pike, Morals and Dogma, pp. 744-45).
The truth of God is knowable and
intelligible to all who will allow the Spirit of God to
reveal God's truth to them (Jn 8:31-32; 14:26; 15:26; 16:13;
1Co 12:3). |
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The degrees of Masonry are a new
birth, bringing man from darkness into light. The
Mason is reborn into divine truth through rituals,
ceremonies and words. |
"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." --Albert
G. Mackey, Masonic Ritualist, p22-23
"You have entered a new world.
Symbolically and spiritually you have been reborn. This
started the moment you were prepared to become a Mason...
The lodge becomes a symbol of the new world to which you
have been reborn... You learn that your entrance is not a
mere opening of a door. It is accomplished by forms,
ceremonies, actions and words designed to impress upon you
mind wise and serious truths. You know that this is not a
frivolous event, but one of spiritual impressiveness."
--Allen E. Roberts, The Craft and Its symbols, p3, 14-15
We are reborn through the blood
of Jesus Christ. It is through Christ that we walk in
the light.
Then spake Jesus again
unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that
followeth me shall not walk in the darkness, but shall have
the light of life. John 8:12
Wherefore he saith, Awake
thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ
shall give thee light. Ephesians 5:14
But if we walk in the
light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with
another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us
from all sin. 1 John 1:7
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Jesus is just one of many |
"It reverences all the great
reformers. It sees in Moses, the lawgiver of the Jews, in
Confucius and Zoroaster, in Jesus of Nazareth, and in the
Arabian Iconoclast, Great Teachers of Morality, and Eminent
Reformers, if no more: and allows every brother of the order
to assign to each such higher and even Divine Character as
his Creed and Truth require." (Pike, p. 525).
"And there is salvation in no one
else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been
given among men by which we must be saved". (Acts 4:12)
yet for us there is but one God,
the Father, from whom all things came and for whom we live;
and there is but one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom
all things came and through whom we live. (1
Cor. 8:6). |
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Jesus was not God. Belief in
Jesus as God is a manmade doctrine. |
Christian Theologians first made a
fetish of the Impersonal Omnipresent Divinity; and then tore
the Christos from the hearts of all humanity in order to
deify Jesus, that they might have a god-man peculiarly their
own" (J.D. Buck, Symbolism or Mystic Masonry, p. 57)
The belief that Jesus achieved
Christ-consciousness, in a way that we all can do, is a New
Age teaching. Scripture makes clear that Jesus at
birth was the Christ (Lk 2:11) and is still the Christ who
will come again as the judge of all humanity (Tit 2:13; Rev
22:12). |
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The "Christ" is not a title
reserved for Jesus. "Christ" is a higher consciousness
that resides in all men. It can be achieved through
Masonry. |
In deifying Jesus, the whole humanity
is bereft of Christos as an eternal potency within every
human soul, a latent (embryonic) Christ in every man.
In thus deifying one man, they have orphaned the whole
humanity of its divinity" (R. Swineburne Clymer, The
Mysticism of Masonry, p. 47)
The Greek title Christos is the equivalent to the Hebrew
Moshiach or the English Messiah and means one anointed for
God's purpose. Prophecies about the coming Messiah can
be found throughout the Old Testament (Ps22 and Isa 53).
They are very specific in giving His credentials even to the
point of naming the city (Bethlehem) where He would be born
(see Mic 5:2). Jesus is the only Messiah and Christ
who fits the criteria laid out in the Bible. |
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Salvation is obtained apart from
Christ through good works alone |
"If your life is without soil or
blemish, you will be received at the pearly gates of heaven
and there be presented with the pure white robe of
righteousness" (Raymond Allen et al., Tennessee Craftsmen or
Masonic Textbook, p. 61)
"Perform the duties of your respective stations...and you
will receive from your Almighty Father an inheritance
incorruptible and undefiled, that fadeth not away (p. 126).
The Bible makes it clear that
salvation is only by god's grace through faith in Jesus
Christ.
They replied, "Believe in the
Lord Jesus, and you will be saved - you and your household."
(Acts 16:31)
This righteousness from God
comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe.
There is no difference, for all have sinned and fall short
of the glory of God, and are justified freely by his grace
through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. (Romans
3:22-24) |
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Part of the Masonic plan of
salvation includes the ultimate realization that we are not
only basically good, but divine. |
"The great secret of Masonry is that
it makes a man aware of the divinity within him" (Joseph
Fort Newton, The Builders: A Story and Study of Freemasonry
P. 284) "Masonry's purpose is
to reach the spiritual and divine within himself" (Henry C.
Clausen, Clausen's Commentaries on Morals and dogma, p.
157).
Man is not divine. It was
Satan's temptation of man in the Garden of Eden to "be like
God" that led to sin (Genesis 3:5). God alone is God
(Isa 45:5), and He condemns all efforts on man's part to
achieve divinity. (See Isaiah 14:12 and Genesis 11) |
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Masonry promises its members that
if they pursue obedience to the Lodge and good works, they
will dwell with the B.A.O.T.U. for eternity. |
"Let us imitate the good man in his
virtuous and amiable conduct, in his unfeigned piety to God,
in his inflexible fidelity to his trust, that we may welcome
death as a kind messenger sent from our Supreme Grand Master
to translate us from this imperfect to that all perfect and
glorious Lodge above, where the Supreme Architect of the
Universe presides" (Masonic Monitor of the Degrees of the
Entered Apprentice, Fellow Craft and Master Mason, p.68).
The Bible commends us for imitating
the good conduct of others (1Co 11:1; Heb 6:12), but not in
order to earn an eternal reward. Salvation is by faith
alone. |
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It has been asserted that
Freemasonry is racist in that blacks are not allowed to
join. Because those of African descent are barred from
Freemasonry, such persons have established their own Lodges,
known as Prince Hall Masonry. Many white Masons do not
recognize black Masonry as legitimate. |
"The Committee believes that in view
of the existing social conditions in our country, it is
advisable for the official and organized activities of white
and colored Freemasons to proceed in parallel lines, but
organically separate and without mutually embarrassing
demands or commitments" ("Report on Negro Freemasonry by the
M. W. Grand Lodge of Massachusetts," November 25, 1946)
"Regardless of the way and manner that
Negro Freemasonry arose in America it is today regarded as
spurious and illegitimate" (Delmar Duane Darrah, History and
Evolution of Freemasonry, as quoted in Cults Sects &
Religious Movements by H. Wayne House pp. 148)
A Christian is not to be racist
in any way and certainly not in terms of membership in an
organization. Christians are to show love and respect
to all people (Lk 6:27-31) and recognize that in Christ all
are one (Gal 3:28). Therefore they are committed to do
good to all people (Gal 6:10). The Bible is also
insistent that all come from Adam (Ge 2:7), all come from
Eve (Ge 3:20), all come from Noah (Ge 9:18) and that
all are of one blood (Ac 17:26). |
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