“The Instruction Lectures associated with each Degree of the Craft purport to expound the doctrine of the system and interpret the symbols and rituals. But these Lectures themselves stand in similar need of interpretation. Indeed, they are contrived with very great cunning and concealment. Their compilers were confronted with the dual task of giving a faithful, if partial, expression of esoteric doctrine and at the same time of so masking it that its full sense would not be understood without some effort or enlightenment, and should convey little or nothing at all to those unworthy of or unripe for the ‘gnosis’ or wisdom teaching. They discharged that task with signal success and in a way which provokes admiration from those who can appreciate it for their profound knowledge of, and insight into, the science of self-knowledge and regeneration.”
Then on page 183 of Wilmshurst:
“Hence it is that in Masonry an installed Master is still called a ‘Master of Arts and Sciences,’ for he is supposed to have mastered the art of living in accordance with the theoretic gnosis or science imparted to him in the course of his progress.”
Now turn back to the chapter that revealed the “23rd Psalm.” Wilmshurst on page 134:
“The Vital and Immortal Principle within me is my Initiator; and is all-sufficient to lead me to God... It provides me with the means of overcoming my inner enemies and weaknesses; It anoints my intelligence with the oil of wisdom; the cup of my mind brims over with new light and consciousness...”
That, my friend, should convince you that the closest term for the Masonic religion is “Gnosticism.” However, this writer does not deny that the Masonic worship is built around the sun, moon, and the stars, and could easily be classified as a religion that worships nature as the Catholics contend.
Having labeled it to some degree we should discuss its roots. I have no problem in my conclusions. The shadows of Egypt are all over it. The gods that King Solomon chased after are in the rooms of the lodge. They destroyed Israel and they are ruling in this country today. The Great Architect of the Universe is not Jehovah!
Let’s begin with the “ineffable name.” In the ritual of exaltation, the name of the Great Architect of the Universe is revealed as JAH-BUL-ON. This is not a term or name open for any interpretation of the local Mason. This is a name that has a precise designation that describes a specific supernatural being—a compound deity composed of three separate personalities fused into one. Each syllable of the “ineffable name” represents one personality of this Trinity. They are:
“JAH—Jahweh, the God of the Hebrews.
BUL—Baal, the ancient Canaanite fertility god associated with ‘licentious rites of imitative magic.’
ON—Osiris, the Ancient Egyptian god of the underworld.
Shocked? Albert Pike was when he was confronted in 1873, and he wrote his reaction:
“No man or body of men can make me accept as a sacred word, as a symbol of the infinite and eternal Godhead, a mongrel word, in part composed of the name of an accursed and beastly heathen god, whose name has been for more than two thousand years an appellation of the Devil.”
I doubt that the average local Blue Lodge Mason is aware that the name of The Great Architect of the Universe is JAHBULON and not JEHOVAH. It is only in the higher degrees that the “ineffable name” is communicated to him. He has only been given the name of MAHABONE as a substitute.
If the Masonic deity is composed of Baal and Osiris, then do we not have a serious problem for Christian Masons? Is there any question that Baal is the false god that led the children of Israel to destruction? Is there any doubt that Baal was just another name for “other” gods? The first mention of Baal in the history of mankind comes from ancient Babylon. The New Standard Encyclopedia describes Baal as:
“The name of many gods worshiped by early Semetic peoples. The name meant ‘owner’ or ‘lord.’ In early Palestine the people had a Baal for each locality, and they had Baal’s or Baalism [plural] for objects such as trees, springs, and mountains. The Baal of each locality was the local god of fertility, and the people brought offerings to him in the hope that he would make the crops grow. The Baal was the male element in creation, and his female counterpart was Astoreth or Astarte.”
Israel gave him many names as well. In Judges 8:33 Israel adopted a god known as “Baalberith,” which means “Baal in covenant.” They worshiped Baalism in Judges 2, and “Baal-Peor” was called a god of the Moabites. In 1 Kings 18 Baal was called the “god of fire.”
In 1921 the ancient ruins of Beth-Shan in the valley of Jezreel were excavated and Temples to a god known as “Mekal” were unearthed. The importance of this find was the inscription identifying the deity as “Mekal, the Baal of Beth-Shan.” This find confirmed the belief that Baal was not one certain god but “whatever god you may choose to serve, other than Jehovah.”
In the excavations at Ras Shambra, known in the ancient world as “Ugarit,” a great religious center forty miles, from Antioch, Temples were revealed honoring Baal and the “Egyptian hawk god.” In the 1910 excavation of the ancient city of Samaria the palace of King Ahab of Israel produced ivory images honoring the gods, Isis and Horus. Remember those from previous chapters? They are the sister, wife and son of Osiris. Thus, one can see the strong influence that the Egyptian deity had on the people of Israel. With Baal was Osiris and his wicked family. Read 1 Kings 16:30-33:
“And Ahab the son of Omri did evil in the sight of the Lord above all that were before him.
“And it came to pass, as if it had been a light thing for him to walk in the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, that he took to wife Jezebel the daughter of Ethbaal king of the Zidonians, and went and served Baal, and worshipped him.
“And he reared up an altar for Baal in the house of Baal, which he had built in Samaria.
“And Ahab made a grove; and Ahab did more to provoke the Lord God of Israel than all the kings of Israel that were before him.”
In the excavations of Baalbek, renamed “Heliopolis” by the Greeks, temples were uncovered honoring Baal and Bacchus. The same is true at the site of Sidon. The temple there is named the Temple of Baal of Sidon. But, by far of greater importance was the temple of Baal found on Mount Hermon. Perhaps it would be more meaningful to you if I quote direct from my source. In the 1982 edition of the Thompson Chain Reference Bible, Fourth Improved Edition, the Archaeological Supplement was provided by G. Fredrick Owen, D.O., Ed.D. Doctor Owen wrote on page 376 of his supplement the following:
“Mount Hermon, the ‘Chief of the Mountains’ of Palestine, is five miles wide and twenty miles long. It has three peaks, the tallest of which “is 9,166 feet above the Mediterranean Sea. For centuries before Abraham’s time the mountain had been venerated in connection with Baal.
“Baal worship was the leading religion of Canaan. On most of the high peaks of the country were shrines known as ‘high places’—the higher the holier. Here groves were planted and shrines erected for worship. Since Mount Hermon towered above all other mountains in the region, it was the chief high place, the shrine of shrines. Canaanites looked to Mount Hermon much as the Moslems face Mecca when they pray.
“In contrast to this practice, David asked the question, ‘Shall I lift up my eyes unto the hills? From whence cometh my help?’ He then answers, ‘My help cometh from the Lord, which made heaven and earth’ (Psalm 12:1-2).
“During the summer of 1934, Dr. Stewart Crawford and the present writer led a small expedition in which we studied the ancient Baal shrines surrounding Mount Hermon. We located many ruins and in each case the shrine was so oriented that when the priest and the devotees were at the altar they faced the chief Baal sanctuary, or Quibla, located on the highest of the three peaks of Hermon.
“We then ascended the mountain and found the ruined temple of Baal, constructed of Herodian masonry, which dated it just previous to and during the early Christian era. In a low place near the northwest corner of the temple, we excavated and found loads of ashes and burnt bone which had been dum
ped there as a refuse from sacrifices. This Baal temple evidently was in full use when Jesus Christ was transfigured on the summit to the south.”
This discovery contradicts a lot of Bible scholars that had contended that Baal was the false god that plagued the nation of Israel only in the Old Testament. No, Baal or Baalism, is still going strong today. Baal and Osiris are two of the trinity of the Great Architect of the Universe. Their names make up the “ineffable name” of Freemasonry, and JAHBULON is their god, not Yahweh (Jehovah).
But, why Baal? Prior to this chapter there is no mention of a god named Baal in the history or legend of Masonry. To answer this we must just look to the real meaning of the name “Baal.” Remember that it means “the names of many gods,” “lord,” or “any other god or gods.” With Baal in the trinity of the Great Architect a man may believe in Jehovah or any other god, hence, the meaning of Baal. Whatever supreme being you believe in can come within the great umbrella of the Masonic religion.
In The Brotherhood written by Stephen Knight at page 233, a good discussion of this concept of Masonry is put forward by an author who approached this question impartially:
“This ‘Total God’ which Masonry claims for itself is not presented to potential initiates as such. Thousands of practicing Christians in Britain today worship the Freemasonic God, believing it to be precisely the same as the Christian God, if they will it. This is the most prevalent misunderstanding by the average Freemason of his own Brotherhood.
“Candidates for initiation are told that one of the basic qualifications for membership is belief in a Supreme Being of some kind—Jehovah, Allah, the Trinity of Christianity, it does not matter. So long as this belief is present, then whichever divine creator an individual Freemason wishes to follow can be accommodated under the Masonic umbrella term for all Supreme Beings [the impossibility of more than one Supreme Being is ignored], that of Great Architect of the Universe, or sometimes the Grand Geometrician, who created everything with one sweep of His divine compasses.”
An Anglican vicar, a Mason, and writing under the pseudonym Vindex, wrote a pro-Mason book entitled Light Invisible. As Vindex puts it in his general downgrading of all the Faiths as mere parts of the Masonic Whole:
“As Masons, we believe in God, the Father, Almighty. As Christian Masons we may believe in a symbolical triune essence, and that Jesus Christ is His Son, Our Lord. As Moslem Masons we are equally entitled to believe that Mahomet is His prophet. With these subsidiary and secondary beliefs Masonry has nothing to do, giving her members a perfect liberty to interpret the Godhead as they please.”
Vindex adds further:
“I for one can never understand how anyone who takes an exclusive view of Christ as the only complete revelation of God’s truth can become a Freemason without suffering from spiritual schizophrenia.”
What kind of religion is Freemasonry? A quick review of its doctrine should give us the answer:
The Brotherhood of man is the great work of life.
One does not have to believe in Jesus Christ in order to attain eternal life with God...
The Muslim, the Hindu, the Jew, the Buddhist, etc., can all attain eternal life with God through Masonry.
That man is fully capable within himself and through his own intellect to attain Divine Wisdom and eternal union with God.
That regardless of your beliefs and spiritual walk, you were lost and undone prior to becoming a Mason. This applies to the Christian minister who chooses to be a Mason.
It provides a way of justification by works which, if followed, will lead to salvation.
It inculcates the practice of virtue, but requires no redemp-. tion of sin or forgiveness to attain salvation.
Human reason becomes the only guide to religious belief, and the Gospel of Jesus Christ stands on equal footing with the scriptures of Hinduism, the Koran, and the Book of Mormon.
That the Mason attains salvation not through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, but through the mystical assassination and resurrection of Hiram Abif.
The Bible is one of many acceptable Volumes of the Sacred Law.
Jesus Christ was a great religious teacher, but so were the founders of Islam and Buddhism and the other world religions.
That every man pre-existed in heaven, is sent to earth because of Adam’s sin, then must find his way back (pre-existence).
That a man is born again upon achieving or becoming a Master Mason (the third degree of the Blue Lodge).
Believes that the Egyptian god Osiris was the beginning of the Masonic teaching on death, resurrection and the immortality of the soul.
That the images, symbols and mysticism of ancient Egypt are important today in the great quest of man’s soul for eternal reunion with the Great Architect of the Universe.
That the Great Architect of the Universe is the father of all men.
What kind of religion? It should be plain by now, but let’s go to the scriptures of the Bible for a direct answer. To the Christian that should be the primary source.
“Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of this world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life” (John 8:12).
“I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live” (John 11:25).
“Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me” (John 14:6).
It couldn’t be plainer. Jesus Christ is the only way to eternal life with the Father. NO MAN COMETH UNTO THE FATHER, BUT BY JESUS CHRIST! Any other doctrine, religion or philosophyis a deception of the devil! And, is terminal. The Apostle Peter gave this message to the leader of the Jews 2,000 years ago and it applies more so today:
“Then Peter filled with the Holy Ghost, said unto them, Ye rulers of the people, and elders of Israel.
“Be it known unto you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom ye crucified, whom God raised from the dead, even by him doth this man stand here before you whole.
“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 4:8, 10-12).
The ancient gods and myths of Egypt have nothing to do with the salvation of man. Osiris, Bacchus, Isis, Horus, Baal, etc., have nothing to do with life or immortality. They have to do with death for those who believe that a way has been made through their teachings and myths, Freemasonry notwithstanding. Such a doctrine or religion is false!
To say that God is the Father of all men sounds good, but that too is a lie from the pits of hell. Only those who believe in and love the Christ, the Son of God, can call God their Father. Listen to what the Savior told the Jews that questioned Him in John 8:42-47:
“Jesus said unto them, If God were your Father, ye would love me: for I proceeded forth and came from God; neither came I of myself, but he sent me.
“Why do ye not understand my speech? even because ye cannot hear my word.
“Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.
“And because I tell you the truth, ye believe me not.
“He that is of God heareth God’s words: ye therefore hear them not, because ye are not of God.”
The same is true today. The Jew must accept Jesus Christ as his Savior or he will not see God. Joining the Masons will not help him gain immortality. Jesus was an offense to the Jew, because He offended them by telling them that if they did not believe that He was their Messiah, they would perish. They did not, and they killed Him. The fact that Masonry is not an offence to the Jew should tell the Christian that he is in the wrong “Holy” assembly
.
No, God’s children have accepted His only begotten Son and have been truly born again, and not through some ritual of man and through wisdom of words. He has been born again through the blood of Jesus Christ. Those who have not accepted His Son are not the children of God and are not in communication with Him. Their father is the devil, the god of this world.
What kind of religion is Masonry? A deception of Satan. It is an ingenious way to fool wise men through wisdom teaching. It is a way to keep good and wise men from not accepting the only way to an eternal union with Jehovah and His blessed Son. It is a way to lukewarm the world and to take the fire and power from the Body of Christ, the Church. It is a way to sell a different god, a Baal, to a world that exalts wisdom. It is Satan’s way to punish the true God, by destroying His creations. It is still the temptation as in the Garden of Eden, and he is winning. But, only for now. Freemasonry is a great tool in this warfare and good men and Christians are falling every day. It is directed toward Christianity and not at the Moslem or Jew as the next chapter will reveal. It is against Christ!
Chapter 12: Its Compatibility With Christianity
By now the reader is familiar with what Freemasonry believes, teaches and requires of its members or brothers. The member that calls himself a Christian should have a lot of questions in his mind as to whether Masonry lines up with what he believes concerning Jesus Christ. If the member is only a member of a church and not born again, then these words will probably not provoke any serious thought. However, if he is a true Christian and a member of the real Church (the body of Christ), then the following issues will move him to make a decision concerning Masonry.
The Gods of the Lodge Page 14