THE QUESTION OF FREEMASONRY

INTRODUCTION

The question of the Christian stand regarding Freemasonry seems to confront our ministry at every turn lately. Because I have seen the exact parallels of the Masonic legends and rituals carried throughout the "mysteries" of Mormonism, I have had to study deeply into Masonic origins, purposes and doctrine.

In doing so, I have had to come to grips with the sad fact that the esoteric doctrines of Freemasonry separate it, just as unequivocally as do those of Mormonism, from the Christian theology. This holds true for every branch of Masonry, from the Shriners to the Blue Lodge, the Eastern Star, the Demolay, Job’s Daughters and the Rainbow Girls! It holds true for the Scottish rite or York rite!

I know that this will cause offense to many Masons, and for that I am truly sorry. But I would rather that the Mason be offended at me and be restored to true fellowship with Jesus Christ than to remain silent any longer. This word of warning is not to the Masonic fraternity at large, but to those Masons who claim to be both Masons and Christians!

A recent newspaper insert, called "FREEMASONRY - A WAY OF LIFE" appeared in many metropolitan areas. It pictured Freemasonry as a family-centered, fraternal, benevolent organization, "as American as apple pie!" (page 7). Not only does the article demonstrate the strength of Freemasonry among our political leaders (both past and present), but makes much of its use of the Holy Bible and its foundational belief in God. Masonry has a very strong representation in the Christian denominations throughout the world. In many of the churches we visit, I find Masons involved as deacons, elders, board members and even pastors.

Their claim and the claim of every Mason tot he outside world is that Masonry and Christianity are totally compatible. They tell me that religion is the experience of relating to God, and Masonry the experience of relating to mankind. While separate, they can and do naturally coexist.

The article mentioned above explains its "religious" position this way, "Masonry is NOT a religion in any sense of the word, yet it is religious. Church membership is not a requirement, yet membership in ANY church is no bar to admission. There is nothing in the requirements of Masonry to prevent a Catholic, a Mohammedan, a Jew, a Buddhist, a Protestant, a Mormon, or any member of any religion from becoming a member." (page 3)

On the surface, this might seem quite reasonable. I find no offense in being involved in social, civic and benevolent activities with people of other religious backgrounds. In fact, it’s really an integral part of the excitement of life! But, when it comes to my own personal worship of God, and His revelation to me of His Word, there are some very clear guidelines! If Freemasonry is truly what it professes publicly, then "Bravo!"; it is a welcome fellowship. If it is being deceptive, then it should be exposed. It is simple.

Let’s see what Masonry TRULY teaches within its closed doors, and through its own published documents. NO "anti-Masonic" publications will be cited in explaining their TRUE theological position.

The key document from which I quote is the most readily available and universally approved doctrinal book of Freemasonry, "Morals and Dogma of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite of Freemasonry," By Albert Pike, Grand Commander, 1859-1891. Its title page states that it was prepared for the "Supreme Council of the Thirty-Third Degree and Published by its Authority." Originally published in 1871, I have used the 1966 Edition. Except where other sources are noted, I cite page numbers only when using this work. Emphases within quotes are my own.
MASONRY DESCRIBED

CUSTODIAN OF TRUTH
(Masonry)..."The custodian and depository (since Enoch) of the great philosophical and religious truths, unknown to the world at large, and handed down from age to age by an unbroken current of tradition, embodied in symbols, emblems and allegories." (page 210)
A RELIGIOUS INSTITUTION
"Masonry is, in every sense of the word, except one, and that its least philosophical, an eminently religious institution - that it is indebted solely to the religious element which it contains for its origin and for its continued existence and that without this religious element it would scarcely be worthy of cultivation by the wise and good."..."Freemasonry is NOT Christianity not a substitute for it"..."But the religion of Masonry is not sectarian. It admits men of every creed within its hospitable bosom, rejecting institutions; and on this ground mainly, if not alone, should the religious Mason defend it." (Encyclopedia of Freemasonry, Albert G. Mackey, Revised Edition, 1921, pages 618,619)

THE FOUNDATION OF RELIGION


"It [Masonry] is the universal, eternal, immutable religion, such as God planted it in the heart of universal humanity. No creed has ever been long-lived that was not built on this foundation. It is the base and they are the superstructure."

(page 219)


TEMPLE OF RELIGION


"Every Masonic Temple is a Temple of Religion, and its teachings are instructions in religion." (page 213)

BUDDHA THE FIRST LEGISLATOR

"The first Masonic legislator whose memory is preserved to us by history, was Buddha, who, about a thousand years before the Christian era, reformed the religion of Manous."

(page 277)

REVERENCES ALL REFORMERS


"It [Masonry] reverences all the great reformers. It sees in Moses, the lawgiver to the Jews, in Confucius and Zoroaster, in Jesus of Nazareth, and in the Arabain 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 characteristics as his creed and truth require."

(page 525)

NOT CREED-BOUND


"The true Mason is not creed-bound. He realizes with the divine illumination of his lodge that as a Mason his religion must be universal: Christ, Buddha or Mohammed, the name means little, for he recognizes only the light and not the bearer. He worships at every shrine, bows before every altar, whether in temple, mosque or cathedral, realizing with his truer understanding the oneness of all spiritual truth." (The Lost Keys of Freemasonry, Manly P. Hall, 33rd, page 65, Macoy Publishing and Masonic Supply Co. Richmond, Va., 1976.)

THE BAALIM


"Masonry, around whose altars the Christian, the Hebrew, the Moslem, the Brahmin, the followers of Confucius and Zoraster, can assemble as brethren and unite in prayer to the one God who is above ALL the Ballim, must needs leave it to each of its initiates to look for the foundation of his faith and hope to the written scriptures of his own religion." (page 226)

The word, Baalim, is simply defined as "false god or idol." The Masonic author has included the God of the Christian in that category.

THE SOURCE OF ALL GOOD


"Everything good in nature comes from OSIRIS - order, harmony, and the favorable temperature of the seasons and celestial periods." (page 476)

Osiris was the ancient Egyptian god whose annual death and resurrection personified the self-renewing vitality and fertility of nature. "The All Seeing Eye" is a Masonic representation of Osiris.

MASONRY CONCEALS ITS TRUTHS


"Masonry, like all the religions, all the Mysteries, Hermeticism and Alchemy, CONCEALS it secrets from all except the Adepts and Sages, or the Elect, and uses false explanations and misinterpretations of its symbols to mislead those who deserve only to be misled; to conceal the Truth, which it calls Light, from them, and to draw them away from it. Truth is not for those who are unworthy or unable to receive it, or would pervert it."(pages 104-105)

THE BLUE LODGE TO BE DECEIVED!


"The Blue Degrees are but the outer court or portico of the Temple. Part of the symbols are displayed there to the Initiate, but he is intentionally misled by false interpretations. It is not intended that he shall understand them, but it is intended that he shall imagine he understands them."

(page 819)

WORSHIPFUL MASTER

THE SOURCE OF LIGHT


"Worshipful Master: The Head and Chief of the Lodge, the Source of Light, of Knowledge and instruction in Masonry. He personifies the Sublime Art of Masonry and is the Spokesman thereof."(Arthur Waite, A New Encyclopedia of Freemasonry, 1970, page xxiv)

OBEDIENCE THE FIRST RULE


"The first duty of every Mason is to obey the Mandate of the Master...The order must at once be obeyed; its character and its consequences may be matters of subsequent inquiry. The Masonic rule of obedience is like the nautical, imperative: ‘Obey orders, even if you break owners’."(Encyclopedia of Freemasonry, Albert Mackey, page 525)

THE INCOMPREHENSIBLE BIBLE


"The teachers, even of Christianity, are, in general the most ignorant of the true meaning of that which they teach. There is no book of which so little is known as the Bible. To most who read it, it is as incomprehensible as the Sohar."

(page 105)

THE INCOMPLETE BIBLE


"All truly dogmatic religions have issued from the Kabalah and return to it. Everything scientific and grand in the religious dreams of the Illuminati, Jacob Boehme, Swedenborg, Saint-Martin, and others, is borrowed from the Kabalah; all the Masonic associations owe to it their secrets and their symbols.

"The Kabalah alone consecrates the Alliance of the Universal Reason and the Divine Word...

"The Bible, with all the allegories it contains, expresses, in an incomplete and veiled manner only, the religious science of the Hebrews. The doctrine of Moses and the Prophets, identical at bottom with that of the ancient Egyptians, also had its outward meaning and its veils.

"The Hebrew books were written only to recall to memory the traditions; and they were written in symbols unintelligible to the profane...thus was a second Bible born, unknown to, or rather uncomprehended by, the Christians; a collection, they say, of monstrous absurdities.

"One is filled with admiration, on penetrating into the Sanctuary of the Kabalah, at seeing a doctrine so logical, so simple and at the same time so absolute."(pages 744-745)

The "Kabalah" is a book of ancient Jewish mysticism and magic.

DEITIES OF MASONRY

THE ENERGIES OF LUCIFER


"When the Mason learns that the Key to the warrior on the block is the proper application of the dynamo of living power, he has learned the Mystery of his Craft. The seething energies of LUCIFER are in his hands and before he may step onward and upward, he must prove his ability to properly apply [this] energy."(Lost Keys of Freemasonry, Manly P. Hall, page 48)

YES, LUCIFER IS GOD


"That which we must say to the crowd is - We worship a God, but it is the God that one adores without superstition.

"To you, Sovereign Grand Inspectors General, we say this, that you may repeat it to the Brethren of the 32nd, 31st, and 30th degrees - The Masonic Religion should be, by all of us initiates of the high degrees, maintained in the purity of the Luciferian Doctrine.

"If Lucifer were not God, would Adonay (The God of the Christians) whose deeds prove his cruelty, perfidy and hatred of man, barbarism and repulsion for science, would Adonay and his priests, calumniate him?

"Yes, Lucifer is God, and unfortunately Adonay is also god. For the eternal law is that there is no light without shade, no beauty without ugliness, no white without black, for the absolute can only exist as two gods: darkness being necessary for light to serve as its foil as the pedestal is necessary to the statue, and the brake to the locomotive.

"Thus, the doctrine of Satanism is a heresy; and the true and pure philosophical religion is the belief in Lucifer, the equal of Adonay; but lucifer, God of Light and God of Good, is struggling for humanity against Adonay, the God of Darkness and Evil."(Instructions to the 23 Supreme Councils of the World, Albert Pike, Grand Commander, Sovereign Pontiff of Universal Freemasonry, July 14, 1889. Recorded by A.C. De La Rive, La Femme et l’Enfant dans la Franc-Maconnerie Universelle, page 588)

The Word of God, the Bible, clearly puts Lucifer in his proper place, and gives God’s reasons. "How Art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! How art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations! For thou hast said in thine heart, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God; I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north. I will ascend above the clouds; I will be like the most High. Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit."(Isaiah 14:12-15)

THE GRAND ARCHITECT

OF THE UNIVERSE
Masonic ritual is concerned with the recovery of the "Lost Word," presumed to be the name of God - supposedly lost through the murder of the architect, Hiram Abiff, during the building of Solomon’s Temple. This quest is attained during the ritual of the ROYAL ARCH DEGREE. It is here that the SECRET NAME of the DEITY OF MASONRY is revealed. That name is "JAOBULON." "JAO" is the Greek word for Jehovah. "BUL" is a rendering of the name, BAAL. "ON" is the term used in the Babylonian mysteries to call upon the deity "OSIRIS"! The secret ritual book of the Craft prints the letters J.B.O. It states that: "We three do meet and agree - in peace, love and unity - the Sacred Word to keep - and never to divulge the same - until we three, or three such as we - do meet and agree." Thus, no Royal Arch Mason can pronounce the whole sacred name by himself!

What you see represented, then, as the god of Freemasonry, is a three-headed monster so remote from the Christian Trinity and so blasphemous as to damn the eternal soul of anyone who would dare to pronounce its name in a ritual of worship!

THE GOD OF THE MYSTIC SHRINE


The candidates for this ritual kneel at the ALTAR OF OBLIGATION with arms bound, leaning upon the top, heads bowed. There they are required to "assume a most powerful and binding oath, inseparably uniting yourself with us, and once taken, it can never be retracted or departed from."

The oath itself is curse enough, being four pages in length. Its penalty includes "having my eyeballs pierced to the center with a three-edged blade."

The revelation of truth is in the candidates’ sealing of the oath, revealing the true nature of the Masonic god of the "Mystic Shrine":

"...and may ALLAH, the god of Arab, Moslem and Mohammedan, the GOD OF OUR FATHERS, support me to the entire fulfillment of the same, Amen, Amen, Amen.

(The Ancient Arabic Order, Nobles of the Mystic Shrine, pages 35-39, Allen Publishing Co. NY, NY.)

I AM THAT I AM


During the ceremonies of the ritual for the Royal Arch degree, the candidate is asked, "Brother Inspector, what are you?" and he replies, "I AM THAT I AM." Can you imagine that? When Moses asked God to name Himself, God said, "I AM THAT I AM" and He said, "Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you." (Exodus 3:14)

Tell me how a Christian can take to himself the Biblical name of the God of Israel? The God of the Christian faith said, "Ye are even my witnesses! Is there a God besides me? Yea, I know not any! They that make a graven image are ALL of them vanity; and their delectable things shall not profit; and they are their own witnesses; they see not, nor know; that they may be ashamed." (Isaiah 44:8,9)

THE MASTER MASON -

A GOD IN THE MAKING


"Man is a god in the making, and as in the mystic myths of Egypt, on the potter’s wheel he is being molded. When his light shines out to lift and preserve all things, he receives the triple crown of godhood and joins that throng of Master Masons who, in their robes of Blue and Gold, are seeking to dispel the darkness of night with the triple light of the Masonic Lodge."

"The glorious privileges of a Master Mason are in keeping with his greater knowledge and wisdom...For Him the Heavens have opened and the Great Light has bathed him in its radiance. The Prodigal Son, so long a wanderer in the regions of darkness, has returned to his Father’s house. The voice speaks from the Heavens, its power thrilling the Master until his own being seems filled with its divinity, saying, ‘This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.’ He [The Master Mason], in truth has become the spokesman of the Most High. He stands between the glowing fire light and the world. Through him passes Hydra, the great snake, and from its mouth there pours to man the light of God." (The Lost Keys of Freemasonry, Manly P. Hall, pages 92, 54-55, Macoy Publishing and Supply Co., Richmond, Va, 1976)

Friend, there is only one for whom the Father uttered those words and it wasn’t a Master Mason...nor will it ever be so. Jesus Christ is God’s only mediator for you and me. Do not let any MAN ever tell you that he is, or you may become, the spokesman of the Most High! Further, if you think that God speaks through HYDRA, the great snake, your god comes right out of the pit!

OTHER TEACHINGS AND PRACTICES

USURPING THE PRIESTHOOD OF JESUS



In the 19th level of Scottish Rite Freemasonry, the Initiate receives the degree of GRAND PONTIFF. It is during this ritual that the candidate swears an oath of secrecy and an oath of total obedience "to any Chapter of this degree to which I may belong; and the edicts, laws and mandates of the Grand Consistory of Sublime Princes and Commanders of the Royal Secret, as well as those of the Supreme council of the 33rd degree..."

It is then that the "Thrice Puissant" anoints him with oil on the crown of his head and says "Be Thou a Priest Forever, after the order of Melchizedek."

After receiving the password (Emanuel) and the sacred word (Alleluia), he is dressed in a robe of white linen and given a cordon (a ribbon or sash of honor worn across the breast) of crimson color, with 12 starts representing "the 12 gates of the "new city," and the twelve signs of the Zodiac, the twelve fruits of the tree of life, the twelve tribes of Israel and the twelve Apostles." (Scottish Rite Masonry Illustrated, The Complete Ritual, Vol. 2, pages 26-27, E. Cook Publications, 1974)

It must be pointed out that what has taken place here, is the Masonic priesthood taking upon itself the Holy Priesthood of Jesus Christ. That is a Priesthood that can be held by only one person and that one person is clearly defined in scripture as Jesus Christ!

Chapters 7 and 8 of the Book of Hebrews clearly explains that it was ANOTHER priest to be raised up, not a group of priests! This Priest would be our HIGH PRIEST and would be able to save from the Uttermost! He would have "endless life"! The holder of THIS Priesthood would be "holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners and made higher than the heavens." (7:26) This is Jesus, our Holy Lord and God!

This "ritual" takes Christ’s Holy Priesthood from Him, and the Grand Pontiff boldly puts it upon his own breast! Even the use of "Biblical" words fails to cover up the adding in of the "signs of the Zodiac," a direct alliance with the powers of darkness and a demonstration of disobedience to God’s Word. In Deuteronomy 18:10-12, it says that he who "useth divination" (consulting the signs of the Zodiac to tell the future), "or is and observer of times" (which is an ancient description for Augury or Astrology - again dealing with the Zodiac) "is an abomination unto the Lord"!

Again, we see a mirror image of Biblical truth. The Priesthood power of Jesus is given to the deceiver, Lucifer, the true god of Masonry, who hides behind its mystery, ritual and allegory to snare his prey.

WASHED IN THEIR OWN BLOOD


In the seventeenth degree, or Knights of the East and West, after the candidates have completed the initiation and after revealing the password (Jubulum) and the Sacred Word (Abaddon), "the Senior Warden conducts the Candidate to the elevated vacant canopy at the right of the All Puissant."

"This is supposed to represent the end of the world when all good masons receive their reward by being conducted to a throne at the right hand of the All Puissant, having been purified by washing their robes in their own blood."

In the lecture which follows between the All Puissant and the Senior Warden, the Book with Seven Seals - which none but one can open (Rev. 5:5) - is twisted to represent "A Lodge or Council of Masons which the All Puissant alone has the right to convene and open."

The Fourth Seal is represented by a skull or "Death’s Head" and Masons are told it "is the image of a brother who is excluded from a Lodge or Council." The Fifth Seal is represented by a "Cloth Stained with Blood." The All Puissant identifies this as a symbol "that we should not hesitate to spill ours for the good of masonry." (Scottish Rite Masonry Illustrated, The Complete Ritual, Vol. 1, Pages 453, 457, E. Cook Publishing, 1974)

What a gross misrepresentation of God’s Holy Word! First and foremost, It is Christ and He alone who "hath prevailed to open the book and loose the seven seals thereof." To presume that honor and power is to deny Christ, or yet in deeper perversity, to replace his power and authority with that of the All Puissant, even in the representation of the power to save and to enthrone. This is the very spirit of the AntiChrist!

Again, another clue to the true identity of the Masonic deity is revealed in the "Sacred Word" of this ritual, "Abaddon." In Revelation 9:11, we learn that "they [the demons and workers from hell] had a king over them, which is the angel of the bottomless pit, whose name in the Hebrew tongue is ABADDON!"

BLOOD OATHS NOT OF CHRIST!


Throughout the initiation rituals of the "BLUE LODGES" and through all 33 degrees of Freemasonry, the candidates are sword to secrecy by bloody oaths. Such as is the oath swore by the Entered Apprentice of first degree, "...binding myself under no less penalty than that of having my throat cut across, my tongue torn out by its roots, and my body buried in the rough sands of the sea, at low-water mark." The Master Mason swears, "...under no less penalty than that of having my body severed in two, my bowels taken from thence and burned to ashes, the ashes scattered before the four winds of heaven..." (Duncan’s Ritual of Freemasonry by Malcom Duncan, Third Edition, pages 36, 39, D. McKay Publishing Co., N.Y., N.Y.)

RAISING THE DEAD


It is in this final "Blue Lodge" degree that that candidate is laid out "in death" and is raised from the dead by the "Worshipful Master" of the Lodge (representing King Solomon), using the "strong grip" (or "Lion’s Paw") of the Master Mason.

Let no Mason deceive you! We again face this replacement of our Savior by the power and authority of Lucifer. Paul said that if anyone should preach any other gospel "than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed." (Gal. 1:8,9)

The simplicity of the Gospel is this, "Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand; By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I have preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain. for I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; and that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures." (1 cor. 15:1-5)

The infinite power of Jesus was confirmed by Him when He said, "ALL power is given unto ME in heaven and in earth." (Matt. 28:18) This power is His alone! "For if by one man’s offense death reigned by one; much more they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ!" (Romans 5:17)

Jesus was the one who rose from the dead. Jesus is the only one with the power to raise from the dead. Jesus is the only one who frees us from the sting of death!

How can a Mason who calls himself Christian allow himself to partake of a ritual resurrection by the power of Lucifer? This is Satanic! He stands, having been born again and raised from the dead as a Master Mason, through the power of the Masonic god, whom the God of Israel cast into the pit!

MASONIC OATHS ABOVE THE LAW


One the "five points of fellowship," he and his "savior" pass the sacred word, Mah-Hah-Bone.

Also, while in this position, the new Master Mason solemnly vows "3d, Breast to Breast: that you will ever keep in your breast a brother’s secrets, when communicated to you and received as such, murder and treason excepted." (Duncan’s Rituals, Revised and Complete, pages 35, 96, 120, 121, E. Cook Publications, 1974)

It should further be noted that in the Royal Arch Degree, the candidate swears to protect the "brethren," "Murder and treason not excepted!" This places the Masonic oath above that of our courts and our country. What hope would you have against a Mason in a Criminal or Civil court with a Judge who is a 32nd or 33rd degree Mason? None, by the nature of their oaths!

PAGAN COMMUNION -

EATING THE DEAD


"QUESTION: What is to us the chief symbol of man’s ultimate redemption and regeneration?

"ANSWER: The fraternal supper, of bread which nourishes, and of wine which refreshes and exhilarates, symbolical of the time which is to come, when all mankind shall be one great harmonious brotherhood; and teaching us these great lessons: that as matter changes ever, but no single atom is annihilated, it is not rational to suppose that the far nobler soul does not continue to exist beyond the grave: that many thousands who have died might claim to be joint owners with ourselves of the particles that compose our physical bodies; for matter ever forms new combinations; and the bodes of the ancient dead, the patriarchs before and since the flood, the kings and the commonpeople of all ages, resolved into their constituent elements, are carried upon the wind over all continents, and continually enter into and form part of the habitations of new souls, creating new bonds of sympathy and brotherhood between each man that lives and all his race. And thus, in the bread we eat, and in the wind we drink tonight may enter into and form of us part of us the identical particles of matter that once formed parts of the material bodies called Moses, Confucius, Plato, Socrates, or Jesus of Nazareth. In the truest sense, we eat and drink the bodies of the dead; and cannot say that there is a single atom of our blood or body, the ownership of which some other soul might not dispute with us." (page 539)

I EXHORT YOU! COME OUT FROM AMONG THEM IN THE NAME OF JESUS CHRIST, AND HIS SHED BLOOD AT CALVARY, I EXHORT YOU WHO CLAIM TO BE A MASON AND A CHRISTIAN, "Come out from among them and be ye separate, saith the Lord and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you." (2 Cor. 6:17)

"This is the stone which was set at nought of you builders, which is become the head of the corner. Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved." (Acts 4:11-12)

"For there is One God and One Mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus." (1 Tim. 2:5)

"According to the grace of God which is given unto me, as a wise masterbuilder, I have laid the foundation and another buildeth thereon. But let every man take heed how he buildeth thereupon. For other foundation can no man lay that that is laid, with is Jesus Christ." (1 Cor. 3:10-11)

"Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him and given him a name which is above every name: That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father." (Phil. 2:9-11)

"Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers; for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hat light with darkness? And what concord hath Christ with Belial? or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel?" (2 Cor.6:14,15)

ONE OR THE OTHER


Even as Elijah called out "Ye have forsaken the commandments of the Lord and thou has followed Baal!" I cry out "How long halt you between two opinions? If the Lord be God, follow Him. But if Baal, then follow him!" (1 Kings 18:18,21)

I am sorry, but there is no other choice for you right now. If you are a Mason who professes to be a Christian either renounce your Christian faith or renounce Masonry. One is from on high and the other is from the pit! You cannot cling to both!

Dare YOU risk laying your good works before the Lord on that last day only to be told, "I never knew you, depart from me!" (Matt. 7:21-23)

Every "Blue Lodge" member who reads this can no longer maintain his defense of ignorance. Today, it stands revealed! Today, you must make your choice! Every Mason, through the highest degree, has had the mask of secrecy ripped away. You are without defense. Choose Jesus or choose Lucifer. Renounce Jesus if you must, but do not stand in the assembly of His saints and mock Him! Your unrepentant presence in the congregation of a Christian body is a grieving of the Holy Spirit.

I pray that you will choose Jesus, repent, and be set free from this wicked power unto whom you have submitted your very soul! If this is your desire, remember that we have this promise, "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." (1 John 1:9)

"And he said, Hear ye now, O house of David; Is it a small thing for you to weary men, But will ye weary my God also?"

ISAIAH 7:13





A PASTOR AND FREEMASONRY

WHAT’S A PASTOR TO DO?

Harmon R. Taylor

International Director H R T Ministries, Box 12, Newtonville NY 12128


I write this article as a pastor and as a former Mason. I served as head of Welcome Lodge in Amsterdam, New York in 1980, and as Grand Chaplain of the Grand Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons of the State of New York from 1983. Then a Christian brother’s witness caused me to flee and to study the roots of Freemasonry. The more I have studied since November 25, 1984 when I renounced Freemasonry, the more embarrassed I have become that I was ever a member, much less spiritual supervisor of 150,00 Masons in New York State.

Pastors need to consider the relationship of their church, their ministry and their flock relative to Freemasonry. Masons are in the pulpits, in other positions of leadership in the church and in the pews. In every case they are either grossly deceived as I was for eleven years, or they are not truly Christians.

Charles G. Finney, the greatest of the 19th Century evangelists, left Freemasonry when he acknowledged Christ as Savior and Lord of his life. He wrote a book on the subject of Freemasonry. It has been reissued by Crown Publication, Burlington, Ontario, Canada under the title, The Antichrist of the Masonic Society. On page 139 he states correctly: "God hold the church and every branch of it, responsible for its opinions and actions in accordance with the best light, which, in His providence, is afforded them.

"While Masonry was a secret, the church had no light, and no responsibility respecting it ... Hence God did not require the church to bear any testimony on the subject as long as Masonry was secret. "Freemasonry is now revealed. It is no longer a secret from any who wish to be informed.

"Since these revelations (the rituals) have been made, and both the church and the world can know what Masonry really is, God demands, and the world has a right to expect, that the church will take due action and bear a truthful testimony in respect to this institution. She cannot now innocently hold her peace. The light has come. Fidelity to God, and to the souls of men, require that the church, which is the light of the world, should speak out, and should take such actions as will plainly reveal her views of the compatibility or incompatibility of Freemasonry with the Christian religion.

"...How can we fail to pronounce Freemasonry an anti-Christian institution? ... Its morality is unchristian, ... its oath-bound secrecy is unchristian, ... taking of its oaths are unchristian, ... Masonic oaths pledge its members to commit most unlawful and unchristian acts, deliver each other from difficulty whether right or wrong, favor Masonry in political action and business transactions, sworn to retaliated, to persecute unto death the violators of Masonic obligations, ...its oaths are profane, the taking of the name of God in vain, ...the penalties of these oaths are barbarous and even savage, ...its teachings are false and profane, ...its design is partial and selfish, ...it is an enormous falsehood.

"Every local branch of the Church of Christ is bound to examine this subject, and pronounce upon this institution, according to the best light they can get. God does not allow individuals, or churches, (or pastors), to withhold action, and the expression of the opinion, until other churches are as enlightened as themselves.

"If churches who are known to have examined the subject withhold their testimony; if they continue to receive persistent and intelligent Freemasons; if they leave the public to infer that they see nothing in Freemasonry inconsistent with a creditable profession of the Christian religion, it will be justly inferred by other branches of the church, and by the world, that there is nothing in it so bad, so dangerous and unchristian as to call for their examination, action, and testimony.

"It is almost universally conceded that persistent Freemasons, who continued to adhere and cooperate with them, ought not to be admitted to Christian churches."

WHAT CAN PASTOR DO?


What shall we as pastors say to our flocks that contain perhaps a great number of professed Christians who are Freemasons? Again we look to Brother Finney:

"Let them (Freemasons) have no more to do with it. Let Christian men labor with them, plead with them, and endeavor to make them see that their duty is to abandon it."

To these words of Brother Finney I can lend an "AMEN!" What can pastors do? They can receive this article into their hands, perhaps from one of their lambs, and prayerfully consider it. They can study at their library. Albert Pike, Albert Mackey, 33rd degree, Henry Wilson Coil, 33rd degree, and Arthur Edward Waite are all recognized authorities by State Grand Lodges. They may contact me or this ministry for further information. They can read an excellent sermon, "Freemasonry and Christianity" by Dr. Alva J. McClain, founder and first president of of Grace Theological Seminary.

You will find and excellent resource in a six-part series on Freemasonry which aired across the country in April and May of 1986. The series is entitled, "THE MASONIC LODGE; Behind closed doors." It is available through The John Ankerberg Show, Box 8977, Chattanooga, TN 37411 in audio or VHS cassettes as well as in written transcript form.

THE ONE THING THAT PASTORS CAN’T DO, IS NOTHING!


A pastor is accountable to God Almighty for Christ’s sheep in their flock. I would never become involved in Freemasonry if a pastor had preached even the poorest of sermons against Freemasonry in my youth. If he even whispered in my ear! I spent eleven years in Masonry. I defended it to my family, my church, my colleagues. God forgive me!

Thank God my teenagers didn’t swallow my line. One went and educated himself and both of them prayed, one for four years, and one for two years, that I might be set free from the abomination of the cult of Freemasonry. The day came when a Christian brother and former Mason, had the courage to risk our friendship. He opened up his Masonic bible and shared the Light as he there had found it in Jesus, the Light of the World. That Light showed the light of Freemasonry to be darkness and deception. Each verse he shared brought out Masonic debris like "Salvation by Works" from the closets of my life. With the living room of my life now cluttered with the false doctrines of Freemasonry, I renounced it that very day! I will never forget the joy in the voices of my children as I told them over the phone! I will never forget the tears on my mother’s cheeks as she exclaimed, "Another prayer answered! One more to go before I die!" Yes, and the joyous embrace of my obedient wife!

WE MUST RENOUNCE IT


In the year after I renounced Freemasonry, I personally sat with each Mason in my congregation and shared my testimony. Most defended the Fraternity. Some even began a campaign against their pastor. So be it! "Greater is He that is in me than he that is in the world!" Some left their positions of authority in the church without ever being asked. On October 13, 1985 I delivered a sermon entitled, "Mixing Oil With Water—Christianity & Freemasonry." That light exposed the darkness of Masonry and unrenouncing Masons still in positions of authority fled in shame. In their place God sent new people literally from across this country to take up the slack. Finances that were threatened by these Masonic families, instead, increased by 40%! The pledging units increased by 25%! Pastor, stand for God and He will bless!

I thank God for Bible-believing pastors. If you are one, know that in love I say to you, "Pastor, you preach the Word with me! Yes, there will be opposition. In the world you will have tribulation, said Jesus, but be of good cheer because I have overcome the world."

Preach boldly as we are instructed in Acts 18:9, Col. 1:28, 2 Tim. 4:2-5, Heb. 2:11. Know that there will be rewards for any persecution that you may face as recorded in James 1:3, 12.

Pastor, did you know that Freemasonry will not permit the Name of Jesus to be used in any regular and well governed Lodge? Did you know that when they use a passage such as 1 Pet. 2:5 or 2 Thes. 3:6, they delete the phrase that includes the name of our blessed and only Saviour, Jesus Christ? That is not just an oversight, as reference to it states (*slight, but necessary modifications have been made). Would you call deleting Jesus Christ a "slight" or "necessary" modification? No! No Christian should! 1 John 2:22-23 says "Who is a liar but he who denies that Jesus is the Christ? He is Antichrist who denies the Father and the Son. Whoever denies the Son does not have the Father either; he who acknowledges the Son has the Father also." Read also 1 John 4:2 in relation to this same thought.

Pastor, Hosea 4:6 declares, "My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. Because you have rejected knowledge, I also will reject you from being priest for Me; Because you have forgotten the law of your God, I also will forget your children."

LET NONE PERISH


As fellow pastors, we must agree that we do not want to see anyone perish. Certainly, not the lambs in our own flock! Labor with me. As I share with you, 433 men have renounced Masonry and are living more productive Christian lives. They discovered that the "friendships" of the Lodge were based on a Masonic bond and not upon genuine friendship. In every instance they found Christians coming forward who had held back from fellowship with them, not knowing how to confront their Christian brother in his error. Without exception, they have confessed that their present friends are more genuine and more fulfilling to their lives than what they thought they had in the fraternity.

If you have Masons in the membership of Christ’s church, you, as pastor, need to become educated and confront them in love. I was delivered from my love of Freemasonry and left with an abiding love for Masons. I pray daily for their release from the cult of Freemasonry. With prayer, preparation, and sharing, they will come out of either Freemasonry or the Church.

DWIGHT L. MOODY SPEAKS OUT


Dwight L. Moody said, "I do not see how any Christian, most of all a Christian minister, can go into these secret lodges with unbelievers. They say they can have more influence for good: but I say they can have more influence for good by staying out of them, and reproving their evil deeds. Abraham had more influence for good in Sodom than Lot had."

For this, D. L. Moody was challenged, "If you talk this way, you will drive all the members of secret societies out of your meetings and out of our churches."

To this the bold pastor proclaimed, "But what if I did? Better men will take their places. Give them the truth anyway, and if they would rather leave their churches than their lodges, the sooner they get out of the churches, the better. I would rather have ten members who are separated from the world than a thousand such members. Better one with God than a thousand without Him."

WHAT’S A PASTOR TO DO REGARDING FREEMASONRY?


- Pray for guidance and direction.

- Study Freemasonry together with your Bible.

- Write down your thoughts.

- Share them with Masons when you’re sure enough not to be deceived by their uninformed or misinformed tales.

- Proclaim from your pulpit the dangers of the double walk of a Christian in Freemasonry. Let your flock know again that they cannot serve two masters, nor can they have any other God before them. (Masonry permits any and every god at the altar.)

If you are a pastor, thank you for listening and may God bless you as you serve Him and your flock for the glory of God. If you are a layman, your pastor needs your support and your help. Pray for your Pastor; then share this article. Continue to pray with expectation for your pastor and be ready to assist your pastor in proclaiming the Truth and setting free the oppressed.







FREEMASONRY

A GRAND CHAPLAIN

SPEAKS OUT

GRAND LODGE

FREE AND ACCEPTED MASONS

OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK

GRAND CHAPLAIN 1983-1984

REV. HARMON R. TAYLOR

NOVEMBER 25, 1984

Dear Servant of God,

Knowing that you desire to serve the Lord with all your heart, I share this letter with you. Perhaps you have been struggling with the same situation. On November 22nd, I sent the facts contained in this letter to all Masonic bodies of which I am a member. I invite you to prayerfully read it. It will explain why I as a Grand Chaplain of the Grand Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons of the State of New York am requesting a demit from all bodies of the Masonic fraternity. There is much more that I could share. I would be happy to share more if it will help you in the Lord’s service.

Many have asked me if Freemasonry is a religion. I have always responded "No". Others have told me that it is a religion. Study has revealed the act that learned writers in the fraternity say MASONRY IS A RELIGION. The Lord Jesus Christ said, "In the mouth of two or three witnesses, every word is established" (Matthew 18:16). In order to be brief, I will quote only four Masonic authorities that masonry is a religion.

Albert Mackey, one of the most well known Masonic authorities, wrote in A LEXICON OF FREEMASONRY (Pg. 402): "The religion, then, masonry, is pure theism...".

Albert Pike, the most important of all American Masonic authorities wrote in MORALS AND DOGMA (Pg. 213-214): "Every Masonic lodge is a temple of religion, and its teachings are instructions in religion...this is true religion revealed to the ancient patriarchs; which masonry has taught for many centuries, and which it will continue to teach as long as time endures.

J.S.M. Ward, a Masonic authority who has written several important books on masonry, wrote in his book FREEMASONRY: ITS AIMS & IDEALS (Pg.185): "I consider freemasonry is a significantly organized school of mysticism to be entitled to be called a religion." Ward continues on page 187, "Freemasonry...taught that each man can by himself, work out his own conception of god and thereby achieve salvation." It holds that there are many paths that lead to the throne of the all-loving father which all start from a common source. Freemasonry believes, according to Ward, "that though these paths appear to branch off in various directions, yet they all reach the same ultimate goal, and that to some men, one path is better and to other, another.

"Frank C. Higgins, a high mason, wrote in ANCIENT FREE MASONRY (Pg.10), "It is true that Freemasonry is the parent of all religionl"

These Masonic witnesses all agree in their doctrine that masonry is, indeed, a religion. It is necessary now to ascertain whether masonry is a true religion or a false religion. In an article entitled, "HOW TO RECOGNIZE A FALSE RELIGION" (Faith for the Family Nov/Dec 1974), a prominent Christian leader wrote: "All false religions, have some things in common. Here are three simple tests by which any religion should be judged;

FIRST: What is its attitude toward the Bible?

SECOND: Any religious teaching should be tested by this question; What is its attitude toward Jesus Christ?

THIRD: In judging a religious system, we should ask, What is its attitude toward the blood of Jesus Christ!"

According to these three tests, masonry is a false religion manifesting a satanic attitude toward the Bible, the Deity of Jesus Christ, an the below atonement of Jesus Christ. In order to establish this charge, keep in mind the Words our Lord Jesus Christ who said, "In the mouth of two or three witnesses every word shall be established. Please consider now the testimony of Masonic authorities which reveal masonry’s satanic attitude toward the Bible, the Deity of Jesus Christ and the vicarious atonement for the sins of mankind by the shedding of Christ’s blood on the cross.

Joseph Ford Newton, a famous authority and writer, in an article entitled "The Bible and Masonry" wrote "The bible so rich in symbolism is itself a symbol...thus, by the very honor which masonry pays the Bible, it teaches us to revere every book of faith in which men find help for today and hope for tomorrow, joining hands with the man of Islam as he takes his oath on the Koran, with the Hindu as he makes covenant with God upon the book that he loves best."

Albert Pike, in Morals & Dogma, wrote (Pg.718) "Masonry propagates no creed except it’s own most simple sublime one; that universal religion, taught by nature and reason."

One who is truly born-again can see from the above statement that masonry totally rejects the doctrine of an infallible, God-breathed, inerrant Bible.

According to the Second Test, masonry is a false religion because it totally rejects the crucial doctrine of the Deity of the Lord Jesus Christ.

J.D. Buck, M.D., another Masonic writer of importance, in his book Symbolism of Mystic Masonry wrote (Pg.57) "In the early Church as in the secret doctrine, there was not one Christ for the world but a potential Christ in every man. 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 particularly their own."

One would have to look far and wide in the writings of false teachers to find statements more blasphemous than this about the person of Jesus Christ, my Lord.

According to the Third Test, masonry is a false religion because masonry dogmatically rejects the doctrine of salvation from the penalty of sin by faith in the vicarious atonement of Christ’s shed blood on the cross.



Thomas Milton Steward, another Masonic author, in his book Symbolic Teaching on Masonry and Its Message, to support his doctrine quoted favorable an apostate Episcopal minister who wrote (Pg.177), "Did Jesus count Himself, conceive of Himself as a proprietary sacrifice and of His work as an expiation? The only answer possible is, clearly, He did not...He does not call Himself the world’s priest, or the world’s victim."

Salvation by Faith in the vicarious atonement are not "ignorant perversions of the original doctrines" as masonry teaches, but they are vital ingredients of the Glorious Gospel of Christ, which is the power of God unto Salvation to everyone who believes. THEREFORE, masonry fails all three tests. It manifests a satanic attitude toward the Bible, the Deity of Christ, and the vicarious atonement. In addition to failing these tests, there is much more proof that masonry is a false religion.

For instance, Henry C. Clausen, 33 decree, Sovereign Grand Commander of the Supreme Council 33 Decree mother council of the world, in the NEW AGE, November, 1970, (Pg.4) wrote regarding masonry, "It is dedicated to bringing about the Fatherhood of God, the Brotherhood of Man, and making better men in a better world."

The doctrine of the Fatherhood of God and the Brotherhood of Man is not found in the Bible. It is a doctrine taught consistently by apostates. Also, the Bible makes it crystal clear that no organization, masonry included, can make better men. Only God can make better men!

According to a Masonic creed, found in the Masonic Bible, masonry teaches that "character determines destiny."

The teaching that character determines destiny is a false doctrine of the Arch Deceiver of Souls. The Bible says, "There is none that doeth good," and "For by Grace are you saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is a gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast."

Masonry is anti-Christian in its teachings. For example, J.M. Ward in FREEMASONRY - ITS AIMS AND IDEALS wrote (Pg.187), "I boldly aver that freemasonry is a religion, yet it no way conflicts with any other religion, unless that religion holds that no one outside its portals can be saved." Ward, in his statement, reveals the fact that masonry has no conflict with any apostate religion on the face of the earth, but he also reveals that masonry is in conflict with Christianity. The Bible says, "Neither is there salvation in any other, for there is none other name under heaven given among men whereby we MUST be save" (Acts 4:12). Jesus said, "No man cometh unto the Father but by Me." (Jn. 14:6). The Bible is plainly teaching that there is only one way to heaven and the is Christ.

A prominent college president said of masonry, "It is a luciferian religion. We are fully aware of its diabolical origin and purpose. I believe that any born-again Christian, when the facts from the lips of Masonic writers themselves are presented showing that masonry is a religion and is the worship of Satan, will immediately withdraw." To this I must add my hearty agreement!

The God and Father of the Lord Jesus Christ, the only True and Living God, has clearly commanded Christian, "Be ye not unequally yolked together with unbelievers, and swear not at all, and have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them."

Charles Finney, the famed evangelist who God used to bring a revival in America in the 1830’s, in his book, FREEMASONRY wrote (Pg.115), "Surely, if masons really understood what Masonry is, as it is delineated in these books, no Christian Mason would think himself to remain at liberty to remain another day a member of the fraternity. It is as plain as possible that a man knowing what it is, and embracing it in his heart, cannot be a Christian man. To say he can is to belie the very nature of Christianity."

For me, the signs of the time compared with prophetic Scripture, make it apparent that we are living in the last days prior to the Rapture of the Church. Satan is hard at work trying to hinder believers’ spiritual growth, as well as trying to keep the unsaved from entering God’s Family. Freemasonry, I have come to believe, is one of Satan’s master deceptions. Many ministers, elders, deacons, trustees, and Sunday School teachers belong to this cult. Today, my membership ends! Today, a new ministry begins. There is a tremendous need to scrutinize the cultic nature of Freemasonry in view of the massive infiltration of its effects on the working body of the Church. It should be exposed to the True Light - Jesus Christ!



WHO SAID A CHRISTIAN CAN’T BE A MASON?


The Hebrew word "Messiah" and the Greek word "Christ" both mean anointed; usually a consecrated person. When applied to Jesus, it means "God’s anointed one." The Bible clearly teaches that Jesus is the Christ in many places but the most definitive statements are found in Mark 14:61,62;Matthew 16:15-17; and John 4:25,26.

To deny that Jesus is the Christ is to condemn oneself to eternal damnation. 1 John 2:22,23 says, "who is the liar but the one who denies that Jesus is the Christ? This is the Antichrist, the one who denies the Father and the Son. whoever denies the Son does not have the Father, the one who confesses the Son has the Father also." Revelation 21:8 says that the unbelieving and liars will all be in the lake that burns with fire and brimstone.

Masonic tradition teaches the worship of the supreme God, the Great Architect of the Universe. Who is this God? Investigate the words of Albert Pike, 33rd degree Mason and author of Morals and Dogma, p.226:

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 Ballim, must needs leave it to each of its Initiates to look for the foundation of his faith and hope to the written scriptures of his own religion.

God teaches in Exodus 20:3-5, that "You shall have no other gods before Me, you shall not make for yourself an idol...you shall not worship them or serve them..."

In Judges 1 and 2, the Israelites did not drive out the followers of false gods and God’s verdict was, "They shall become as thorns in your sides, and their gods shall be a snare to you." (Judges 2:3) God’s commandment to us as Christians is not only should we not be bound together with unbelievers, (2 Corinthians 6:14-17) but we should seek to make disciples of all nations (Matthew 28:19-20) by preaching the saving gospel of Jesus Christ.

Freemasonry is in direct conflict with the Bible in that Masonry condones communal worship of a generic deity:

To respect all forms of worship, to tolerate all political and religious opinions; not to blame, and still less to condemn the religion of others; not to seek to make converts; but to be content if they have the religion of Socrates; a veneration for the Creator, the religion of good works, and grateful acknowledgment of God’s blessings . (Morals and Dogma, p.333)

In order for Masonry to be acceptable to all faiths, it is necessary to relegate the Bible to a position of equality among all religious books:

The Book of the Law shall be an indispensable article of the lodge furniture. This book, however, need not necessarily be the Holy Bible; but according to the religious faith of the members of the lodge. It may be the Koran, the Zend Avesta, or the Vedas or Shasters. (The Freemasons Pocket Companion, p.44-45)

This statement, by implication, makes Jehovah God one god equal to many; an interesting situation for the Masonic Christian whose all-knowing God knows of no others (Isaiah 44:8).

The final straw is laid on the proverbial camel’s back when the deity of Jesus is denied by Albert Pike. On page 524 of Morals and Dogma, he states,

We do not undervalue the importance of any Truth. We utter no word that can be deemed irreverent by anyone of any faith.

(Jesus, in John 14:6, declares Himself to be the Truth, exclusively.) In the same paragraph, Pike make the blasphemous statement,

And as little do we tell the sincere Christian that Jesus of Nazareth was but a man like us, or His history but the unreal revival of an older legend.

In one paragraph, he destroys the very foundation of Christian beliefs and then, as if he was totally oblivious to his own writings, states on the facing page,

Thus Masonry disbelieves no truth, and teaches unbelief in no creed, except so far as such creed may lower its lofty estimate of the Deity, degrade Him to the level of the passions of humanity. (Morals and Dogma, p.525)

The Gospel of the Bible is a gift to us from God and available to all who simply believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Redeemer, the one who died for, sins and is resurrected. Christianity does not require a special meeting place to conduct secret rituals that are sealed with blood oaths. (Matthew 5:34-37; Luke 12:1-3) At your next lodge meeting, ask yourself if you are worshipping the Great Architect of the Universe, the God of all religions, or are you truly worshipping Jehovah God, the one true God of the Bible. If your answer is the latter, then you must ask yourself if your presence in the lodge is truly honoring and glorifying your God.

In answer to the question, "Who said a Christian can’t be a Mason?", a modern paraphrase could be made from the words of God’s prophet Elijah:

How long will you go limping with two different opinions? If the Lord is God, follow Him; but if the "Great Architect of the Universe" is God, follow him." (1 Kings 18:21)

And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name (besides Jesus) under heaven given among men by which we must be saved. He who has ears to hear, let him hear. (Acts 4:12; Mark 4:9)






THE F.A.T.A.L. FLAW


"They he brought me to the gate of the LORD’s house which was toward the north; and behold, there sat women weeping for Tammuz." Ezekiel 8:14

Since 1868, thousands of decent Christian women have innocently taken part in pagan rites around an altar to the gods of witchcraft. They have been deceived into bowing the knee to gods so vile and ancient that even the pagan priests of Egypt blotted them out from their history. Women who would blush with shame at the mention of satanism have been led to Satan’s altar by people they trusted. Often their own husbands, who were given stewardship over them by Jesus Christ have violated that trust t by leading them into paths of idolatry.

Alarming accusations! Yet this altar of idolatry is nestled right in the bosom of Christianity - The Order of the Eastern Star! Much has been written on the spiritual dangers of Freemasonry. Yet the "Star," is equally perilous.

SPIRITUAL "ADOPTION"


The Star is known as "Adoptive" Masonry. This means mothers, daughters, wives and sisters of Freemasons my be spiritually "adopted" into the Masonic order. Hence, they come under its spiritual authority. Now since Lucifer is the acknowledged god o f Masonry, what does this "adoption" mean for the woman who joins the Star? She is submitting herself to the spiritual headship of Lucifer? Even a Christian woman is surrendering herself, however innocently, to the gods of Masonry - and this will give Satan an entry point into her life, regardless of how devout she is.

When anyone, man or woman, becomes a Christian they are adopted into the family of God (Rom.8:15-17). Yet when they kneel at a Masonic altar and take those oaths, they are entering Satan’s dominion, whether then know it or not. This opens the door to all manner of problems. We have dealt with women who entered the Star and then found their nights troubled by strange dreams and demonic activity. As soon as they repented of their involvement in the Star and renounced their oaths in the name of Jesus, the oppression ceased.

This is why we are told by Paul to avoid all contact with idolatry because of what it can bring to our very door: "Do not be yoked together with unbelievers. For what do righteousness and wickedness have in common? Or what fellowship can light have with darkness? What harmony is there between Christ and Belial? ...Therefore come out from them and be separate , says the Lord." - 2 Cor.6:14-15,17.

HOOFPRINTS ARE EVERYWHERE!

We need not look far into the Star to find evidence of Satan’s presence. His hoofprints are everywhere! To begin with the most obvious, we look at the "signet" of the Order, which is an inverted five-pointed start- called a pentagram in witchcraft. The fact is that this inverted pentagram is so deeply and unmistakably associated with satanism that many witches fear to use it for fear of the demons they attract. This star is used to draw down the kingdom of Satan into manifestation on earth! (MAN, MYTH AND MAGIC, vol.16,p.2159)

This star can be drawn with the goat’s-head inside. It then becomes the badge of the Satanist, the infamous Goat of Mendes! This goat’s name is Baphomet, and it is the blasphemous god of the 12th Century Knights Templar (the ancestors of today’s Fr eemasons).

Here is this sinister star, exalted as the very centerpiece of the Chapter! Not only is the star inverted, by the colorful attributes of the 5 points are even the correct colors for the four magical elements, air (blue), earth (yellow), water (green ) and fire (red); plus the fifth point, the bottom, represents "akasha," the spiritual power of the "astral plane" which is the fusion of all the other "rays" of the star into white.

It is evident that the person who designed the Eastern Star had more than a passing knowledge of black magic. That, in itself should make Christians nervous. The Bible forbids any involvement with sorcery:

"Let no one be found among you who sacrifices his son or daughter in the fire, who practices divination or sorcery, interprets omens, engages in witchcraft, or who is a medium or spiritist or who consults the dead. -Deut.18:10-11 Worship of starts is especially condemned:

The houses in Jerusalem and those of the kings of Judah will be defiled like this place, Topheth - all the houses where they burned incense on the roofs to all starry hosts and poured out drink offerings to other gods. -Jer.19:13 He (King Manassah) built altars to all the starry hosts. He sacrificed his own son in the fire, practiced sorcery and divination, and consulted mediums and spiritists. -2 Kings 21:5-6

Please note the grievous sins associated with star-worship. "Tophet" is a place where during the days of deepest sin in Israel, parents sacrificed their children to the god Molech! It is a "place of burning" which later on came to be known as Gehenna , the word often used by Jesus for hell! (EERDMANS’ CONCISE BIBLE HANDBOOK, P.203). Manassah sacrificed his own son in the fire!

If you lay out a satanic star and offer devotions at it, the moral and spiritual consequences are ominous! You may say that you have been in the Star for years and you are still a good member of your church and that you aren’t making sacrifices of y our children - but think! Are our children not being sacrificed every day through abortion? Are not the generations reared under the influence of the Star the first mothers to lay their babies willingly upon the altars of the abortion clinic by the millions? Are we not seeing ng the dividends of this pagan worship in the corruption of the very ideals of motherhood? Are we not witnessing the moral destruction of whole generations of children because of the mothers’ participation in these "harmless rituals"?

Perhaps it is too much to blame the moral decay of our children on the Star, but remember how in the Bible, the people of Israel kept falling into disaster because they allowed a ""little" idolatry to creep into their culture. If you wish to corrupt a culture, corrupt its mothers - and the spiritual leprosy of Masonry is doing just that!

"HIS STAR IN THE EAST"


At this point you may protest and say that the Star is based on biblical stories and that the star of the altar is intended to represent the "star in the east" mention in Mt.2:2 which heralded the birth of Jesus. You may point out that the motto of the order is: "We have seen his star in the East and are come to worship Him." This sounds very pious, but actually it is misdirection!

First of all, the star of Bethlehem could not have been an "eastern star," since most biblical expositors agree that the magi came form the east, and that therefore a star over Judea would be in the western sky to their viewpoint. Some scholars feel that the passage means that the magi were "in the east" when they saw the star - others say that the term "in the east" can also be translated alternately as "seen when it rose," meaning that they saw the star as it rose.

STRONG’S CONCORDANCE, in fact, gives the primary meaning of the Greek word there, Anatole, as a rising of light; with "eastern" as only a figurative meaning. VINE’S EXPOSITORY DICTIONARY concurs. The "Eastern Star" cannot be the star of Bethlehem! Then whose star is it?

In reality, the Eastern Star is a term among sorcerers for the star Sirius. (See CITY OF REVELATION by John Mitchell, p.4) This fits perfectly because in black magic, the inverted pentagram is the sign of Sirius or Set. (See ALEISTER CROWLEY AND T HE HIDDEN GOD by Kenneth Grant, p.12). But who is Sirius, or Set?

Sirius is the "Dog Star", the first star to rise in the east in the latitudes of Egypt. It is sacred to Set, the satanic figure of Egyptian religion. The Egyptians celebrated Sirius’ ascendancy in the skies with horrible, obscene rituals! In fact, the rites of Sirius or Set were so debased that later rulers of Egypt deface their temples and obelisks and tried to drive them from the land (See Grant, pp.70-71).

"THE F.A.T.A.L FLAW"

When the ladies of the Star say, "We have seen His Star in the East and are come to worship Him.", who is "Him?" Is it the Jesus of Calvary or is it some dogheaded, obscene god named Set? What does the evidence tell us?

The Biblical elements in the Star ceremony are suspect to say the least - based as they are upon dubious actions and mythical additions to the Bible. Yet the occult elements in the Star’s symbolism are obvious for anyone to see! The Eastern Star is not the star which heralds Jesus, but the star which heralds Set - the most ancient form of Satan in recorded history!

But you may say that you don’t believe in Set, and that you believe that you are performing pious exercises. You say that you thought the Star was a order which worships the true God. But my dear friends, every person believes that the god they worship ship is the true God. The important they is that if you are a Christian, the Bible tells you to "avoid even the appearance of evil." -1 Thess. 5:22 and to "keep yourselves from idols." -1 Jn.5:21. How can you keep yourself from idols when every other week or so you gather around the most ancient and evil idol in human history?

Is your presence in the Chapter really pleasing to the God who thundered from Mt. Sinai and said, "I am the Lord your God..you shall have no other gods before me." You can no longer protest innocence. You know the evil origins of the symbols of the star and you know that the Lord Jesus forbade the taking of oaths of any kind (Mt.5:33-37). What more do you need than the knowledge that you are breaking the commands of the Gentle Master Whom you serve?

That is the F.A.T.A.L. flaw of the Star. The very term "cabalistic word" refers to an ancient system of Jewish magic—the Quabalah! The Star’s "word" may be "Fairest Among Thousands Altogether Lovely," but it is asking you to choose between the sta r of the evil and One who is your beloved Bridegroom, "...dazzling and ruddy, outstanding among ten thousand." - Cant.5:10 Flee the headship and authority of Satan, and return to the arms of Him who should be your Head, your Bridegroom, and your Savior or, Jesus Christ!





FREEMASONS

THE SECRET AGENDA OF THE MANAGERS OF HISTORY


For many people recalling their school days seldom includes fond memories of the history class. Boring lists of dates and names, who, when and where but rarely ever why; it was all seemingly disjointed and almost contrived to be instantly forgettable.

The two-hundredth anniversary of the founding of America was celebrated in 1976 and the same anniversary is being celebrated by the people of the French Republic in 1989. There, is of course, an historical connection which may not be too clear in many minds but even less clear is why each celebration has been attended by some harsh criticism. A glimpse behind the scenes of textbook history, however, reveals a hidden agenda and exposure of this not only enables many historical episodes to fall into place but provides a very clear picture of where present-day world events are taking us.

We begin early in sixteenth century Europe where the invention of the printing press had made both Bibles and the works of the Greek philosophers available to many would-be scholars. The Background Ever since the fourth century when the Roman emperor Constantine I made Christianity the official religion, the Latin Church had gained increasing power and by the sixteenth century the Western world was virtually ruled by the priest. The Latin clergy in Europe, and the Pope in particular, had tremendous power. But power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely with the result that although Christian principles were generally the basis for law, they were enforced more by the letter than by the spirit.

The old Latin Church had governed by providing the people with all the schools, universities and hospitals and ensured that everyone received Christian instruction; most knew Scriptural principles and many, though poor, tried to live by them. The ruling classes, however, received a more extensive private education, often paid mere lip service to Christian principles and believed it was their God-given right to keep the poor in submission. The feudal working classes were thus submitted to both priest and landowner who was in turn submitted to the King. But then we find the shadowy figure of the priest standing behind every throne!

The corruption in the Latin Church eventually became so extreme that a revolt was finally triggered against the papal system in Germany led by Martin Luther; the date was 1517. England rejected the Latin pope about a decade later only to make King Henry VIII pope of the Church of England. These were the beginnings of the Protestant Church.

The Latin Church continued and, after the Council of Trent (1545-1563), became the Roman Church we know today. The Protestant Church dominated Britain, Holland and parts of Germany and, at first, tried to adhere to Biblical principles but power corrupts... Protestants generally regarded the Roman Church as the root of all evil although in England by the Seventeenth century, the Protestant Church itself was as full of hypocrisy as the Roman Church was of superstition; both were filled with corruption and each went to war against the other.

Certain free-thinking men in England and in Europe perceived that it was not just the Roman Church but Christianity itself which was responsible for all the wars, corruption and inequality which had besieged Europe for the past several hundred years. These men, who became the founders of the "Enlightenment", wanted a total change. But it was dangerous to speak openly against the Church and the King and organized discussion had to be in secret. It happened that there were a number of secret societies already in existence including the Rosicrucians and the Freemasons.

The latter were the builders of the great cathedrals and other major buildings across Europe and England; they were a kind of early trade union. In most parts of Continental Europe their numbers dwindled after the Reformation and the Wars of Religion but in England they were still very active. Then, in the late seventeenth century, they took on a very different character. The free-thinkers, who were for the most part Protestant, educated and influential, joined the Freemasons and, since most of these gentlemen would not have known a square from a compass, they were enrolled as "Speculative Masons" to distinguish them from the original "Craft Masons".

The distinction was of little consequence to the gentlemen of the Enlightenment who had cuckooed their way into the secret society and could now make their plans and network their intentions across Europe with little fear. The dissatisfaction with Church and King had produced four literary works on the Utopia theme: Thomas More began the trend with his Utopia in 1516, Sir Francis Bacon followed with his New Atlantis published posthumously in 1627; in Italy, Tommaso Campanella produced his City of the Sun about 1634 and later, in France, Jean Jacques Rousseau published his Social Contract in 1762.

The authors of these works were well aware that the Greek philosopher, Plato, writing in the 5th century BC, had also been dissatisfied with corruption in the various systems of government. He had proposed a Republic in which a team of "wise men" ruled the people. Plato’s Republic then became an ideal for the humanist free-thinkers in England and Europe; the objective adopted by the speculative Masons was to replace the existing order of rule by Church and King with a Republic.

They realized that in order to bring this form of government into existence, they had to continue to work secretly and internationally with the aim of first destroying the existing order. The long-term aim was world peace through the elimination of wars between nations. But, this would only be possible by dissolving all national sovereignty and introducing a new world order under der one Republican World government. The Masonic organization became world-wide from India to the Americas under the old British Empire and, as we shall see, has been dedicated to these lofty aims ever since.

Who are the Masons? Although the history of Masonry has been deliberately obscured, much work has been done in recent years by non-Masonic historians to restore a reasonable measure of truth. However, far worse than distorted Masonic history is the fact that Masonic involvement in the affairs of nations has been completely erased from the textbook. Thus, textbook history has been left as a series of disjointed episodes without an agenda. Proof of this is the fact that the early accounts of such leading historical characters as Benjamin Franklin or Giuseppe Garibaldi make it very clear that Freemasonry played a central part in their lives. However, by the time history was written up in formal and scholarly tomes by the fellows of Trinity College, Cambridge, there is not one hint that anyone was ever a Mason! Cambridge historians George Trevelyan and his son, Sir George, were in all likelihood fellow Masons and their censorship has, in a sense, been too complete; the absence of any reference to Masonry is quite noticeable. Masonic historical works are available in public libraries and they like to claim many eminent names as their own; this is a starting point but caution is necessary because some, like Voltaire, entered the brotherhood virtually on their deathbed. Nevertheless, the point of persuading eminent men to join, even though they may not be active, is that their names can legitimately be used later to influence others. Rousseau, Goethe, Mozart and Kipling to name a few, were all Masons. In this way, many kings and presidents have become Masons. In England, for example, we find Kings Charles I and II, William III, George IV, William IV, Edward VII, George V and George VI were all Masons and several were masters of the Grand Lodge. We will also find an impressive list of Church of England Bishops among them (Calvert 1917).

Then, in America, we will find that most signers of the Declaration of Independence, including Franklin and Hancock, were Masons together with practically every president since George Washington; president Reagan was elected into the Scottish rite just before he left office and president Bush has been a senior Mason for a many years. Some of these men will have been aware of the ultimate aims of the brotherhood, others will have been duped in by association with the great names in history and remain blissfully unaware of the real objectives; president Reagan was probably one of the latter.

The roots of Masonry are closely allied with Sir Francis Bacon (1561-1626) and Sir Elias Ashmole (1617-1692) in England. Both were associated with the Rosicrucians and the Freemasons (Gould 1904, 243 and Webster 1924, 120). Ashmole was the founder of the Asmolean Museum at Oxford and Bacon has been credited with today’s "scientific method". Perhaps of greater interest is Bacon’s New Atlantis which describes the land of Bensalem in which there is a co-operative college of science called Solomon’s house. The house is essentially a religious community in which the men must all take an oath of secrecy; there are 33 orders of tasks. The similarity between this and modern Masonry with its emphasis on Solomon’s temple and 33 degrees is surely more than coincidental. But wait, careful reading of New Atlantis shows that there were three more orders making a total of 36 and these last three are called "Interpreters of Nature". Theirs is the most important and secret task since all the others report to them.

Is it possible that there are three higher orders in Masonry who oversee the grand plan? From the number of Shriners in North America, each of whom is a 32nd or 33rd Mason, it is amazing that not one, as far as is known, has ever broken down and confessed all. The most likely explanation is that most of the Shriners have no idea of the grand plan. The effort to convince the public (but not the Inland Revenue Service) and their own members that the Masonic objectives are charitable works has evidently been highly successful. Many of the Rosicrucian and Masonic groups were fused in 1717, the year of the inauguration of the Grand Lodge, and their ritual standardized and canonized at this time. John Toland is said to have been responsible for introducing the legend, ritual and theology of speculative Masonry which he took from the Hermetic and ancient Egyptian religions.

Masonry itself is a religion while their own publications admit this; they meet in a "temple", worship the "Grand Architect", use the King James Bible but are very careful not to mention the name of Jesus. The name is omitted from 1 Peter 2:3-5 which is their opening prayer. This alone should indicate that their religion is anti-Christian by nature. Bernal (1987, 173) has shown more recently that although the Masonic objective was to create a band of illuminati who would lead the world to a better, more peaceful and more tolerant way of life, many millenarians within their ranks believed that knowledge had to be reassembled before the coming thousand-year reign. It was this thinking added to the thought that "wise men" needed to be trained in readiness for the first Republic, that resulted in the establishment of the Royal Society in 1662.

Founded by King Charles II, a Mason, the first president was Sir Isaac Newton who was a Deist and most probably a Mason. The original craft Masons always had a strong attachment to Egypt. The route is perhaps tenuous but in the recognition that the ancient Egyptians were indeed masters of building in stone, amythology was built up in which the Masons saw themselves in the image of Hiram, the half-Phoenician craftsman builder of Solomon’s temple. The Phoenicians were firmly linked to the Egyptians in the Bible—both are listed as sons of Ham—and Hiram Abif is at the core of Masonic mythology. The name Hiram Abif appears only in the Coverdale translation of the Bible published about 1540 and becomes simply "Hiram King of Tyre" in the King James version (1 Kings 5:1). Every Masonic temple is patterned after the Egyptian temples, aligned East to West with the main entrance at the East end and the altar at the West end so that at the vernal equinox the rising sun will cast a shaft of light through the entrance to the altar. This is a vestige of pagan sun worship.

The Egyptian obelisk has been adopted as a symbol of Masonic victory over traditional Christianity and, once recognized, serves as a very useful guide. In Egypt, the obelisk was a phallic symbol of the resurrection through procreation, that is, the phallus was the means by which man lived again through his off-spring. Thus, as a symbol of the resurrection the obelisk has been used as a grave marker by the Masons, particularly those in the senior ranks, since the sixteenth century. It seems that the bodies of most of the English humanist thinkers gravitated to Westminster Abbey in London and the place fairly bristles with obelisk tomb markers. A few cemetery obelisks will contain a Masonic square and compass to leave no doubt as to the connection but it will be found that the personal graves of many an influential man is topped by an obelisk: the grave of George Washington and of Sir John A. MacDonald, first prime minister of Canada, are classic examples. The craft Masons also tend to use the broken column as their marker but very seldom will the empty cross be found marking a Masonic grave.

As far as their use as victory markers, an obelisk was erected to mark the battle of the River Boyne in Northern Ireland where Protestant William of Orange defeated Catholic King James II in 1690. There is no evidence that William II was a Mason but the obelisk was erected in the following century to celebrate the victory of Protestantism over Catholicism. The Masonic organization has always opposed the Roman Church while the Roman Pontiffs have known this and have forbidden their people to join the Masonic Order. In recent years, however, Masons have infiltrated the Vatican and there now seems to be some sort of unholy alliance. The largest stone obelisk in the United States is the 550 ft. tall Washington Monument purportedly to commemorate George Washington’s birth place. There was a great scandal when it was erected because it was done so at public expense and the people of the time knew its real purpose was to commemorate Masonic victory over King George III and even victory over Christianity itself in 1776. The monument was completed in 1884. Various other victories, real and perceived, will be found to be marked by obelisks such as that at Bunker Hill in Charleston. The French Revolution was even more successful than the American and they had to have an even larger obelisk to celebrate their victory.

There is a genuine obelisk stolen from Egypt to mark the victory of the Bastille in Paris and then there is the daddy of them all, the Eiffel Tower, just twice as tall as the Washington Monument and completed in time for the centenary celebrations in 1889.

These victory markers will be found world-wide and enquiry will usually show that the loser in the battle will have been some sort of Christianity while the victory will have been asignificant step towards the establishment of a Republic. For example, on a hill in Sicily there is an obelisk to commemorate the Masonic victory at Gibilrossa under Garibaldi (A Grand Orient Mason) in 1860 which led to today’s Italian Republic.

Masonic Objectives Achieved The plans had been made, the location was sufficiently remote from Old World authority and a mildly oppressive opportunity presented itself to justify the beginning of arevolution. The place was Philadelphia and the date was 1776.

Benjamin Franklin, journalist and publisher, was also shuttle diplomat between like-minded revolutionaries in England and in Paris. Franklin had persuaded Englishman and fellow-Mason, Thomas Paine, to return to Philadelphia to help liberate America by inciting the common man to revolt against King George III. Paine produced his Common Sense and, after a successful revolution, this booklet was used a few months later to form the basis for the now famous Declaration of Independence. Of the fifty-six signatures, eight of the signatories are known to have been Masons while twenty-four others are also claimed by the Masons to be of their own (Knight 1983, 34).

America was no longer a British colony but a Masonic Republic: Plato would have been delighted. The problem with Plato’s Republic however, is that the "wise men" form a one-party government in which there are no checks and balances. Many people in America at this time knew that this was simply inviting trouble and insisted on an opposition party. A right-wing Democratic party was formed, however, since that time, both parties have slipped progressively further to the left and today the Democratic party has overtaken the Republican in its quest for the left.

It was mentioned earlier that the craft Masons looked to the early Egyptians as masters of their craft but at the same time the speculative Masons saw in early Egyptian government an ideal closely approaching that of Plato’s republic. The Egyptian pyramid epitomized both ideals: extreme skill and a hierarchy of power. In choosing the Great (Cheops) pyramid for the reverse side of the Great Seal of America. Would it be idle speculation to suggest that the missing capstone of this pyramid representsthe elite, the three final and secret degrees, seeing but not being seen? The Great Seal of the United States was designed in 1789 and it was American President and 32-degree Mason, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, who commissioned the Great Seal to be placed on the back of the one dollar bill in 1935. The reverse side of the Seal shows the Great pyramid with the capstone replaced by the all-seeing eye and the Latin caption which proclaims: "1776:


In this year began the New World Order". The French Revolution was a contrived affair from the beginning with many of the same prime movers as in the American Revolution thirteen years earlier. The difference was that by 1789 every Protestant had been driven from France and the Roman Church was fully in control whereas America had become the home to many of the persecuted Protestants. A food shortage was engineered in Paris and the people incited to revolt against authority. The focal point was a great prison house, the Bastille, which was said to contain many hundreds of their compatriots. On July 14th, 1789 the mob stormed the Bastille only to find it occupied by seven dirty old men; one of them was the Marquis De Sade who well deserved to be there! A hollow victory but one which has been celebrated by Frenchmen now for 200 years.

The story of the French Revolution ha s been told many times and has been vilified and glorified according to every writer’s viewpoint. For those who find comfort in the thought of living in a Socialist Republic, the French Revolution was the most wonderful thing that could have happened. Liberty, equality and just fraternity were promised but what did the promises really mean? Liberty from God, equality for all except the ruling elite and fraternity such as may be found in a thieve’s kitchen! We might also recall that the Russian people have lived under a Socialist Republic ever since their revolution in 1918. Royalty was beheaded and the church defrocked and drummedout. Priests had the choice: publicly renounce their faith or accept the guillotine. Churches were closed, bibles publicly burned and within three short years the country had moved from Catholicism to atheism to paganism. Pantheism and Nature worship had replaced whatever vestige of Christianity there was in France in a matter of months. With a zeal to completely change th eentire order of things, the Metric system was introduced in 1793 and attempts were also made at this time to metricate time itself with a ten-day week. Fortunately, the long-suffering Frenchman refused this but the idealists have been trying to introduce the ten-day week with every revolution since; it has never been successful.

The first French Republic was a failure and so was the second; eventually, the ‘wise-men’ turned out to have feet of clay and Napoleon Bonaparte was invited to rule over the brave new Republic. He was not even a Frenchman and was generally regarded by the Christian world as the Antichrist himself.

Napoleon was a diabolically clever megalomaniac and Mason who knew just what he was about. He led thousands of the best of the nation ‘s young men to their death in a futile attempt to bring the World under one Republican rule. Lord Acton in his Essays on the French Revolution wrote: "The appalling thing in the French Revolution is not the tumult but the design. Through all the fire and the smoke we perceive the evidence of calculating organization. The managers remain studiously concealed and masked; but there is no doubt about their presence from the first" (Webster 1969, ix).

The managers are still there, still manipulating with one steadfast purpose: to destroy the existing order and install in its place a one World Republic. If we have any doubts about the identity of the managers we have only to look to the statue of Liberty in New York harbour. Presented in 1884 as a gift from the Masons of France to the Masons of America in celebration of the centenary of the first Masonic Republic and liberty from the laws of God. At the great bicentenary celebrations in Paris on July 14th 1989, it was no coincidence that the G7 Conference was held there at the same time. Today’s managers were there: M.JacquesDelors, the President of the ECC, Helmut Kohl, President Bush and the others, many known to be Masons, lined up for the publicity photograph. A typical Masonic touch was the backdrop to the picture: a large pyramid especially erected for the occasion.

1992 will see the dissolution of European and British national sovereignty and the making of one monolithic European Republic. Government will no doubt still have the appearance of being democratic with opposition parties but, in fact, there will be only token opposition because every party, no matter what the name, will be as it is today, stacked with like-minded individuals and with one Masonic objective. Welcome to Plato’s Brave New World.

REFERENCES


Bernal, Martin. 1987. Black Athena .Volume 1. London: Free Association Books.

Calvert, Albert. 1917. The Grand Lodge of England:1717-1917. London: Herbert Jenkins Ltd.

Gould, Robert F. 1904. A Concise History of Freemasonry. London: Gale and Polden.

Knight, Stephen. 1983. The Brotherhood . London: Grenada Publications.

Webster, Nesta. [1919] 1969. The French Revolution . Reprint. Hawthorne, CA.: Christian Book Club of America.

Confirmatory evidences are invited, please send them to: TFE Publishing P.O. Box 5015, Station F Toronto, Ontario CANADA M4Y 2T1

Copyright TFE Publishing 1989






A MASONIC HISTORY OF AMERICA

by Albert James Dager


There is much speculation on the religious nature of the United States of America as it was founded. Many Christians assert that the United States was founded as a Christian nation and, therefore, it is not only right but our duty to reclaim it for God. but is America a Christian nation in the true sense of the word?

To call anyone or anything "Christian," whether an individual or a nation, certain criteria must be met. If we are speaking of an individual, the biblical requirements are that he must be born again by the Spirit of God, understanding all that this entails.

If we are speaking of a nation, its purpose must be that of ministry in the name of Jesus Christ alone, without regard to any other gods. It’s primary charter must be the Bible, and all who hold positions of authority must be individuals who meet the criteria necessary to call themselves Christians. A true Christian nation would be a theocracy governed by God through His prophets. His law would reign supreme in the hearts and minds of that nation’s founders, and all who founded the nation would have to meet the criteria necessary to call themselves Christians. Just as important, the nation would have to have been created in response to a covenant initiated by God with those who founded it.

As a point of information, the Pilgrims did not found the United States; they founded a small colony that eventually got swallowed up by the states and the newly formed federal government.

The belief that the Mayflower Compact was the basis for a Christian nation has caused many to attempt to reestablish what never existed: a Christian nation based upon biblical precepts and founded upon a covenant relationship with God. What is overlooked is that the Mayflower Compact reaffirmed loyalty to the King of England; its former never intended to found an independent state.

Ignoring, and even twisting the facts of history, Christian dominionists quote some of the founding fathers whose words seem to indicate faith in Jesus Christ. But many quoted were freemasons who highly regarded Jesus as a man who attained the highest degree of moral enlightenment.

The words of many freemasons might lead the uninformed to believe that they are true brethren in Christ. An example is this statement from a Masonic publication:

God may have other words for other worlds, but His supreme Word for this world, yesterday, to-day, forever, is Christ! He is the central Figure of the Bible, its crown, its glory, its glow-point of vision and revelation. Take Him away and its light grow dim. He fulfilled the whole Book, its history, its poetry, its prophecy, its ritual, even as He fulfils our deepest yearning and our highest hope. Ages have come and gone, but He abides - abides because He is real, because He is unexhausted, because He is needed. Little is left to-day save Christ - Himself smitten and afflicted, bruised of God and wounded - but He is all we need. If we hear Him, follow Him, obey him, we shall walk together into a new world wherein dwelleth righteousness and love - He is the Word of God. [1]

Unless we recognize that the theosophical philosophy of Freemasonry attributes its won definitions to biblical language, we won’t understand the author’s meaning. We might welcome him as one of our own.

Only the most naive would not know that many who claim to be Christians do not meet the required criteria. Such is the case with Freemasons. While Freemasonry has an outward show of religious faith, the tenets of Freemasonry preclude any truly born-again believer from belonging.

Space doesn’t allow for a full treatise on Freemasonry’s religious philosophy, but true Christians will recognize from another statement in the same publication that the Faith is not compatible with Freemasonry: Into Freemasonry have been poured the irradiations of the mystical schools of antiquity. Particularly is this so in the higher degrees of the Order, such as the Scottish Rite, where undeniable traces of Cabalism, neo-Platonism, Rosicrucianism, and other mystical cults are plainly discernible. I do not personally contend that Freemasonry is the direct descendant of the Mysteries, but that our ritual makers of the higher degrees have copied the ancient ceremonies of initiation so far as the knowledge of those ceremonies exists. [2]

Because most Christians today are unaware of the manner in which Christianity was melded with the esoteric philosophies of theosophy and Jewish Cabalism to produce a hybrid mystery religion known as Freemasonry, they offer quotes from many of our founding fathers as evidence that they were Christians. Indeed, some were even clerics. But just as one of today’s most famous clerics, Norman Vincent Peale, is a Freemason (prelate of the Grand Encampment of the Knights Templar of the United States), [3] many of the nation’s founding fathers were also Freemasons who used peculiar definitions of biblical language in asserting their beliefs.

This is not to say that they were not noble men. Freemasons pride themselves in their noble attitudes and adherence to strict moral codes. These are not "evil" men in the classical sense. But they are blinded to the true revelation of God’s Word, and their religious philosophy embraces all religions as valid. To be a Freemason, one must believe in a supreme being, but he need not be a Christian.

Based upon the evidence of Masonic influences in the establishment of this nation, there is no doubt that the criteria necessary to classify the United States as a Christian nation were not met. An objective study of the Masonic affiliations of the founding fathers must cause Christians to reevaluate their own political philosophy. For if the United States is not a Christian nation then we must choose to whom we will commit "our lives, our fortunes and our sacred honor" - our Lord or our country.

20 GREATEST NAMES OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION

John Adams - (Spoke favorably of Freemasonry - never joined)

Samuel Adams - (Close and principle associate of Hancock, Revere & other Masons)

Ethan Allen - Mason

Edmund Burke - Mason

John Claypoole - Mason

William Daws - Mason

Benjamin Franklin - Mason

Nathan Hale - No evidence of Masonic connections

John Hancock - Mason

Patrick Henry - No evidence of Masonic connections

Thomas Jefferson - (Deist with some evidence of Masonic connections)

John Paul Jones - Mason

Francis Scott Key - No evidence of Masonic connections

Robert Livingston - Mason

James Madison - (Some evidence of Masonic membership)

Thomas Paine - Humanist

Paul Revere - Mason

Colonel Benjamin Tupper - Mason

George Washington - Mason

Daniel Webster - (Some evidence of Masonic connections)

Summary: 10 Masons

3 Probable Masons

1 Humanist

2 Advocates of Freemasonry

4 No record of connections


SIGNERS OF THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE


Known Masons (8):

Benjamin Franklin

John Hancock

Joseph Hewes

William Hooper

Robert Treat Payne

Richard Stockton

George Walton

William Whipple

Evidence Of Membership And/Or Affiliations (7):

Elbridge Gerry

Lyman Hall

Thomas Jefferson

Thomas Nelson, Jr.

John Penn

George Read

Roger Sherman



Summary:

15 of 56 Signers were Freemasons or probable Freemasons.

It’s true that this represents only 27% of the total signers. But this 27% included the principal movers of the Revolution, most notably Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Jefferson, the primary authors of the Declaration. The former was a Freemason, the latter a deist and possible Freemason. As we analyze the Declaration we will see their humanistic influences.

In any event, there is no evidence that even 27% of the signers were true Christians. In considering whether or not this is a Christian nation, it isn’t the number of Masons that is as important as the number of founders overall who were non-believers.

SIGNER OF THE CONSTITUTION

Known Masons (9):

Gunning Bedford, Jr.

John Blair

David Brearley

Jacob Broom

Daniel Carrol

John Dickinson

Benjamin Franklin

Rufus King

George Washington



Evidence Of Membership And/Or Affiliations (13):

Abraham Baldwin

William Blount

Elbridge Gerry

Nicholas Gilman

Alexander Hamilton

Thomas Jefferson

John Lansing, Jr.

James Madison

George Mason

George Read

Robert Morris

Roger Sherman

George Wythe



Those Who Later Became Masons (6):

William Richardson Davie, Jr.

Jonathan Dayton

Dr. James McHenry

John Francis Mercer

William Patterson

Daniel of St. Thomas Jenifer


Summary:

28 of 40 signers were Freemasons or possible Freemasons based on evidence other than lodge records.

MASONIC INFLUENCES IN EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY

* Lafayette, French liaison to the Colonies, without whose aid the war could not have been won, was a Freemason.

* The majority of the commanders of the Continental Army were Freemasons and members of "Army Lodges."

* Most of Washington’s Generals were Freemasons.

* The Boston Tea Party was planned at the Green Dragon Tavern, also known as the Free-mason’s Arms, and "the headquarters of the Revolution."

* George Washington was sworn in as the first President of the United States by Robert Livingston, Grand Master of New York’s Masonic lodge. The Bible on which he took his oath was from his own Masonic lodge.

* The Cornerstone of the Capitol building was laid by the Grand Lodge of Maryland.


CONCLUSION



Even if the initiators of the Revolution had been Christians, the fact remains that the Revolutionary War and the nation’s government were structured by the tenets of Freemasonry, not God’s Word. It was an unholy alliance at best.

Scripture tells us that God has made one nation of all: the Church. It is the Church that is our "Christian nation," not the social and political institutions of the world.

We can thank our heavenly Father that we enjoy the freedoms that this republic grants us. But as citizens of Heaven, our allegiance is first to our brethren in foreign countries. Otherwise we may find ourselves killing Christians for political causes.

We must be vigilant to the dangers of becoming embroiled in political and social causes in the name of Christ. Else we will find ourselves unequally yoked, storing up for ourselves wood, hay and stubble for the day of judgment.

NOTES

1] Joseph Fort Newton, "The Great Light In Masonry," Little Masonic Library, Vol.3, (Kingsport, TN: Southern Publ.), p.177.

2] Henry R. Evans, "A History of the York and Scottish Rites of Freemasonry," Ibid., p.8.

3] California Freemason, undated, p.21.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Albert Pike, Morals and Dogma of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite of Freemasonry (Richmond, VA: L.H. Jenkins, Inc., 1928).

Encyclopaedia of Freemasonry (Chicago: The Masonic History Co., 1921).

Robert F. Gould, The History of Freemasonry (New York: John C. Yorston & Co., 1886).




A BIBLICAL ANALYSIS OF THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE

The Declaration of Independence:

When in the course of human Events, it becomes necessary for one People to dissolve the Political Bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the Powers of the Earth, the separate and equal Station to which the [1]LAWS OF NATURE and of [2]NATURE’S GOD entitle them, a decent Respect to the Opinions of Mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the Separation.

We hold these Truths to be self-evident, [3]THAT ALL MEN ARE CREATED EQUAL, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, [4]THAT AMONG THESE ARE LIFE, LIBERTY, AND THE PURSUIT OF HAPPINESS-that to secure these Rights, Governments are instituted among Men, [5]DERIVING THEIR JUST POWERS FROM THE CONSENT OF THE GOVERNED, that whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these Ends, [6]IT IS THE RIGHT OF THE PEOPLE TO ALTER OR TO ABOLISH IT, AND TO INSTITUTE NEW GOVERNMENT, laying its Foundation on such Principles, and organizing its Powers in such Form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be charged for light and transient Causes; and accordingly all Experience hath shewn, that Mankind are more disposed to suffer, while Evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the Forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long Train of Abuses and Usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object, evinces a Design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their Right, it is their Duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future Security. Such has been the patient Sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the Necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. [7]THE HISTORY OF THE PRESENT KING OF GREAT-BRITAIN IS A HISTORY OF REPEATED INJURIES AND USURPATIONS, all them having in direct Object the Establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid World.

He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public Good.

He has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of immediate and pressing Importance, unless suspended in their Operation till his Assent should be obtained;

He has refused to pass other Laws for the Accommodation of large Districts of People, unless those People would relinquish the Right of Representation in the Legislature, a Right inestimable to them, and formidable to Tyrants only.

He has called together Legislative Bodies at Places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the Depository of their public Records, for the sole Purpose of fatiguing them into Compliance with his Measures.

He has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly Firmness his Invasions on the Rights of the People.

He has refused for a long Time, after such Dissolutions, to cause others to be elected; whereby the Legislative Powers, incapable of Annihilation, have returned to the People at large for the exercise; the State remaining in the mean time exposed to tall the Dangers of Invasion from without, and convulsions within.

He has endeavored to prevent the Population of these States; for that Purpose obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their Migrations hither, and raising the Conditions of new Appropriations of Lands.

He has obstructed the Administration of Justice, by refusing his Assent to laws for establishing Judiciary Powers.

He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone, for the Tenure of their Offices, and the Amount and Payment of their Salaries.

He has erected a Multitude of new Offices, and sent hither Swarms of Officers to harass our People, and eat out their Substance.

> The Bible


The Laws of Nature pertaining to fallen man dictate survival of the fittest. Man’s sin nature precludes any "separate and equal Station." There is no biblical basis for the idea that any nation is equal to all others. At various times God’s sovereignty has granted certain nations preeminence.

2) WHO IS "NATURE’S GOD?"

This is an "all-inclusive" term that is not found in Scripture. It is a theosophic term which relates to any and all concepts of God held by sundry religious persuasions, and reflects the elements of Freemasonry that dominated the thinking of many of the nation’s founders.

3) ARE ALL MEN CREATED EQUAL?

"Therefore hath he mercy on whom he will have mercy, and whom he will he hardeneth. Thou wilt say then unto me, Why doth he yet find fault? For who hath resisted his will? Nay but, O man, who art thou that repliest against God? Shall the thing formed say to him that formed it, Why hast thou made me thus?

Hath not the potter power over the clay, of the same lump to make one vessel unto honour, and another unto dishonour?

What if God, willing to shew his wrath, and to make his power known, endured with much longsuffering the vessels of wrath fitted to destruction:

And that he might make known the riches of his glory on the vessels of mercy, which he had afore prepared unto glory,

Even us, whom he hath called, not of the Jews only, but also of the Gentiles?" (Romans 9:18-24)

4) ARE THE RIGHTS OF LIFE, LIBERTY, AND THE PURSUIT OF HAPPINESS "UNALIENABLE" AND ENDOWED UPON ALL MEN?

LIFE: "For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness. ...Who knowing the judgment of God, that they which commit such things are worthy of death, not only do the same, but have pleasure in them that do them." (Romans 1:18-32)

LIBERTY: "Servants (doulos: bondslaves), obey in all things your masters according to the flesh; not with eye-service, as men-pleasers; but in singleness of heart, fearing God." (Colossians 3:22)

THE PURSUIT OF HAPPINESS: "And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life; Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field; In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return." (Genesis 3:17-19)

"As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one: There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God...Destruction and misery are in their ways." (Romans 3:10-16)

"Take, my brethren, the prophets, who have spoken in the name of the Lord, for an example of suffering affliction, and of patience. Behold, we count them happy which endure." (James 5:10-11a)

"But and if ye suffer for righteousness’ sake, happy are ye." (1 Pe.4:14a)

"In the world ye shall have tribulation upon this earth. True happiness comes only in surrender of our self-life to God for His purposes. The happiness that man pursues is self-gratification. This is not his inalienable right before God. Yet the happiness that Jesus spoke of is available to all His people even under persecution.

He has kept among us, in time of Peace, Standing Armies, without the consent of our Legislatures.

He has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil Power.

He has combined with others to subject us to a Jurisdiction foreign to our Constitution, and unacknowledged by our Laws; giving his Assent to their Acts of pretended Legislation:

For quartering large Bodies of Armed troops among us:

For protecting them, by a mock Trial, from Punishment for any Murders which they should commit on the Inhabitants of these States:

For cutting off our Trade with all Parts of the World:

For imposing Taxes on us without our Consent:

For depriving us, in many Cases, of the Benefits of Trial by Jury:

For transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended Offenses:

For abolishing the free System of English Laws in a neighbouring Province, establishing therein an arbitrary Government, and enlarging its Boundaries, so as to render it at once an Example and fit Instrument for introducing the same absolute Rule into these Colonies:

For taking away our Charters, abolishing our most valuable Laws, and altering fundamentally the Forms of our Governments:

For suspending our own Legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with Power to legislate for us in all Cases whatsoever.

He has abdicated Government here, by declaring us out of his Protection and waging War against us.

He has plundered our Seas, ravaged our Coasts, burnt our Towns, and destroyed the Lives our People.

He is, at this Time, transporting large Armies of foreign Mercenaries to complete the Works of Death, Desolation, and Tyranny, already begun with circumstances of Cruelty and Perfidy, scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous Ages, and totally unworthy the Head of a civilized Nation.

He has constrained our fellow Citizens taken Captive on the high Seas to bear Arms against their Country, to become the Executioners of the Friends and Brethren, or to fall themselves by their hands.

He has excited domestic Insurrections amongst us, and has endeavored to bring on the Inhabitants of our Frontiers, the merciless Indian Savages, whose known Rule of Warfare, is an undistinguished Destruction, of all Ages, Sexes and Conditions.

In every stage of these Oppressions we have Petitioned for Redress in the most humble Terms: Our repeated Petitions have been answered only by repeated Injury. A Prince, whose Character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the Ruler of a free People.

Nor have we been wanting in Attentions to our British Brethren. We have warned them Time to time of Attempts by their legislature to extend an unwarrantable Jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of the Circumstances of our Emigration and Settlement here. We have appealed to their native Justice and Magnanimity, and we have conjured them by the Ties of our common Kindred to disavow these Usurpations, which, would inevitably interrupt our Connections and Correspondence. They too have been deaf to the Voice of Justice and Consanguinity. We must, therefore, acquiesce in the Necessity, which denounces our Separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest of Mankind, Enemies in War, in Peace, Friends.

We, therefore, the Representives of the United States of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the World for the Rectitude of our Intentions, do, in the Name, and by the Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly Publish and Declare, That these United Colonies are, and of Right ought to be, Free and Independent States: that they are absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political Connection between them and the State of Great-Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as Free and Independent States, they have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace, contract Alliances, establish commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which Independent States may of right do. And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the Protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred Honor.

Signed by Order and in Behalf of the Congress,

5) WHERE, IN GOD’S WORD, ARE THE POWERS OF GOVERNMENTS DERIVED FROM THE CONSENT OF THE GOVERNED?

All government is established and ordained by God. Additionally, "the most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomever he will, and setteth up over it the basest of men." (Daniel 4:17b)

6) WHERE DOES GOD’S WORD GIVE US THE "RIGHT" TO ABOLISH ONE FORM OF EARTHLY GOVERNMENT FOR ANOTHER?

It is He who will come to His people’s aid if we are living lives of obedience to Him. Yet He may also desire that we suffer persecution at the hands of the unrighteous. We are commanded to obey all governments unless their decrees would cause us to sin. In that case, we are to decline in a spirit of humility, willing to suffer the consequences of obedience to Christ. There are no commands for us to overthrow governments for the sake of a better lifestyle for ourselves, let alone for the ungodly.

7) ALL THESE ABUSE MAY BE SEEN AS THE KING’S RIGHT TO PROTECT HIS DOMAIN.

While this in itself does not justify the abuses, it is up to God’s people to pray for their magistrates and to suffer in quiet dignity in order that their testimony not be sullied as lawbreakers. Peter’s instructions to servants is that they serve their masters faithfully, not only if they are good and kind, but even if they are ungodly and unjust (1 Peter 2:13-21). These instructions were given within the same context as his instructions to be submissive to government and kings.

At the time Jesus was on the earth the nation of Israel was suffering under these same abuses. His response was not to incite insurrection, but to proclaim the Gospel to all who had ears to hear. His Kingdom is not of this world, nor is our who serve Him. Ours is a heavenly citizenship in His Kingdom. Ambassadors do not attempt to take over the governments of the nations to whom they are sent. Yet they are expected to lay down their lives in the service of their native government. This is what Jesus calls us to do in representing Him to the nations of the world.

If God wants a government overthrown He will do it through the non-believers. It is, after all, their world system.

In the present condition of things, we can thank God that He saw fit to use the ungodly, rebellious, yet noble-hearted patriots of the early colonies to throw off the oppression of the King of England.

But had He chosen not to divest us of that oppression, we would be constrained to accept whatever condition He has ordained for us in which to serve Him. Personal liberty is fine for those who know how to use it in righteousness and service to God. But to those who do not know Him, it becomes a license to vent every evil desire of their evil hearts. History has proven that self-government panders to the self-life of fallen men. Benevolent monarchies are closer to the pattern of the Kingdom of God.

Even so, we who are Christs must support our present government since it, too, is ordained by God. We are to refrain from criticizing magistrates. Yet in our present form of government we are given a voice in the political process. Therefore, it would not be wrong to make our voices known and to work for legislation that would benefit the Kingdom of God while not imposing a religious state upon the rest of the citizens.

We must be careful, however, that our political and social action not interfere with the work God has called all His people to: to proclaim the Kingdom of God and salvation in Jesus Christ. In other words, our primary mission in this world is to lead souls to Christ Jesus.

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This study was assembled by Greg Killian.

Comments may be submitted to:

Greg Killian

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Kent, WA. 98032

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