The Gods of the Lodge
Page 15
For Masonry to be compatible with Christianity certain basic beliefs must coincide. First, both must believe in the same God. Second, both must believe in the same plan of salvation, and third, both must be available to all who seek.
The God of the Christian is the Father of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. He is the God who appeared to Moses on Mount Sinai and delivered the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt. He is the God who was called Yahweh, Jehovah and “I AM.” He is the Almighty God of the Universe. He is also the God who gave his only begotten Son to die on the cross of Calvary in order that we might be saved into everlasting life. He is the same now as He was then. The Christian believes that He is living and guiding His children by His Word (The Holy Bible) and by His Holy Spirit. The Christian believes that His Word is true, should be used as instruction, reproof and doctrine.
On the other hand, the Masons teach that there is a Supreme Being that is God of the Universe, and he is referred to as The Great Architect of the Universe. In the first three degrees of the Blue Lodge, which is basic and the last degree of the vast majority of Masons in the world, the name Yahweh, Jehovah, or “I AM” is forbidden. There is no mention that He ever had a Son that was crucified for our sins, and there is no teaching that the Bible is His “Word.” In fact, one of the Secret Oaths require the Initiated to swear that he will pattern his life after Hiram, and not the one called “Jesus.” The oath is in the last portion of the Master Mason degree as you have read in a previous chapter. It reads as follows:
“Your virtue, honor, and reputation are concerned in supporting with dignity the character you now bear. Let no motive, therefore, make you swerve from your duty, violate your vows, or betray your trust; but be true and faithful, and imitate the example of that celebrated artist whom you this evening represent. Thus you will render yourself deserving of the honor which we have conferred, and merit the confidence we have reposed.”
The example that Hiram Abif set was that he chose to die rather than reveal the “ineffable name.” Again, why should one think that God’s name is hidden, because it is not and has never been hidden from the believer. That is, if they were talking about Jehovah, the God of Moses and the God of the Christian. Let’s go further into the “ineffable Name.”
As revealed earlier, the “ineffable name” is “JAH-BUL-ON.” A Blue Lodge Mason, the ordinary Master Mason, has only received a substitute name of “MAH-HAH-BONE.” The real name is not given the Mason until he completes the Royal Arch Degree of the York Rite. Why? Pike at page 819 of his Morals and Dogma offered an explanation that does not make a lot of sense:
“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. Their true explication is reserved for the Adepts, the Princes of Masonry… it is well enough for the mass of those called Masons, to imagine that all is contained in the Blue Degrees; and whoso attempts to undeceive them will labor in vain and without true reward violate his obligation as an Adept.”
The word “adept” means one highly skilled in an art or profession. Consequently, what Pike is saying is that the Master Mason is only a novice, having only completed Blue Lodge, and it is not until he becomes a Prince in Masonry in either the York or Scottish Rite that he is told the truth about the oaths that he has taken. This should explain why, or how, a Bible knowledgeable Christian can take the original teachings of Masonry, and why he is not offended by the Funeral Ritual of Osiris. He has no idea who Osiris is! Yet, he has taken the oaths for whatever they mean or wherever they may lead. The shame, or should I say, the sin of it all is they have taken an oath to a false god, and that is totally incompatible to Christianity. JAH-BUL-On is a false god and is Satan in disguise.
The second essential is that both must believe in the same plan of salvation. This is obviously true because most of us believe that there is only one God and one Heaven. The Christian plan of salvation is simple. “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved.” Further, to be a Christian one must believe in Christ’s teachings and the mandates of the New Testament. And Christ taught that “no one cometh unto the Father, but by me.” To the Christian there is no other way! If you believe there is, then you do not believe in Christ’s teachings, and you are not a Christian. It does not take a great deal of degrees in logic to understand that statement and conclusion.
On the other hand the Masons offer something quite different. This author has recounted to you all the opinions of the Masonic authorities that state unequivocally that only a belief in a Supreme Being is required for a man to be a Mason. They also state that a man can be saved through Masonry alone. That is accomplished by keeping all the oaths and principles of the craft. This doctrine is obviously void of any reference to Jesus Christ. Consequently, the Masonic doctrine is worlds apart from Christianity. I will not belabor this point, but I must repeat Coil at page 512 of his Masonic Encyclopedia:
“A man may be born without religious ceremony; he may be married without religious ceremony; but one moment comes to every man when he feels the need of that missing thing—when he comes to crossing into the great beyond. Freemasonry has a religious service to commit the body of a deceased brother to the dust whence it came and to speed the liberated spirit back to the Great Source of Light. Many Freemasons make this flight with no other guarantee of a safe landing than their belief in the religion of Freemasonry.”
Vindex does not believe that a Freemason can be a Christian because of the narrow views of the Christian concerning the only way to salvation:
“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 this defender of Freemasonry is saying is that Christianity and Freemasonry are mutually exclusive of each other.
The third essential was the availability of the plan and the God. This feature will be discussed at the conclusion of this work under the title “Toleration,” and I will only touch on the basic doctrine under this heading for the time being.
The Christian doctrine, or the Gospel of Jesus Christ, is available to all. The Christian’s Bible states:
“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life” (John 3:16).
“The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to usward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance” (2 Peter 3:9).
Whosoever will may come is safely entrenched in the Gospel of Jesus Christ. There are absolutely no exclusions. It is freely given! The call is to the murderer, the thief, the homosexual, the adulterer, the molester, and the Mason. It is to everyone, every man, woman, and child, regardless of race or condition in life, rich or poor, lame or whole. The true and only God is available to all! Or, He is available to none.
The Mason’s quest, plan, teaching, religion or doctrine, whatever you wish to call it is not available to all. The Masons exclude the black, the woman, the child, the poor, and the physically handicapped from their Temples. They make a call to no one. The man must seek them. Or should I say, the white Protestant middle-to-upper-class male. The Great Architect of the Universe is available through Masonry to but a few well chosen men in this country. A detailed discussion and a full disclosure of the Mason’s oaths concerning those that are excluded by a religion that boasts of its tolerant views, follows this chapter. But, as you shall see, it tolerates only ideas under the definition of enlightenment. It does not tolerate people. A Mason can no more take a black man to his lodge meeting than he could take his wife or child. He is bound not to discuss the “true light” with anyone not his brother in the lodge under fear of a penalty of death.
The Masonic Oaths
Every Christian should be familiar with Christ’s admonition against taking or giving an oath. In Matthew 5:34-37 the scriptures provide:
“But I say unto you, swear not at all; neither by heaven; for it is God’s throne;
“Nor by the earth, for it is his footstool; neither by Jerusalem; for it is the city of the great King.
“Neither shalt thou swear by thy head, because thou canst not make one hair white or black.
“But let your communication be, Yea, yea; Nay, nay: for whatsoever is more than these cometh of evil [the evil one] .”
And, in James 5:12:
“But above all things, my brethren, swear not, neither by heaven, neither by the earth, neither by any other oath: but let your yea be yea; and your nay, nay; lest ye fall into condemnation.”
Without question a Christian is prohibited from taking an oath. Unfortunately, the Mason who believes himself to be a Christian does not consider this to be a serious command of the Lord. He looks at it, or justifies his breach of these scriptures, in many ways. First, and foremost, is the belief that the secrets are harmless and the “secret oaths” are intended only to heighten the interest of prospective members and to amuse the brethren. The secret passwords are to merely exclude the curious from the assemblies. This line of thought is ridiculous. To require an oath, the breach of which is punishable by death, to protect a few passwords, secret grips and lodge rites from the public is foolhardy, especially when the information is available at the public library. A simple gentleman’s handshake would appear to suffice.
Another defense is that a family may keep certain secrets within the family. Can you imagine a father gathering his children around the family altar, blindfolding them, requiring them to place their hands on the Holy Bible and to agree to have their toes split one by one, their hair pulled out by the roots, and their throats cut from ear to ear rather than reveal where the front door key is kept when no one is at home? That is nonsense!
No, the Masonic oaths are solemn, serious, and binding in a religious sense. I have given you the oaths of the three degrees of the Blue Lodge, and I shall not repeat them again. However, the Mason gives- his oath believing that they are sacred, and by the time he has become a full-fledged Master Mason, he has agreed to have his throat cut, tongue torn out by its, roots, his body buried in the sands of the sea, his breast torn open, his heart plucked out and devoured by vultures, his body sliced in two, his bowels removed and burned to ashes, and the ashes scattered to the four winds should he violate his oaths in any degree, or any part of his obligations. He has emphasized, “All this I solemnly swear...without hesitation, mental reservation, or secret evasion of mind...”
The body of the Christian is the Temple of God according to Jesus Christ.
“Know ye not that ye are the Temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?
“If any man defile the Temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the Temple of God is Holy, which Temple ye are” (1 Corinthians 3:16-17).
For a Christian to agree to his own bodily destruction by torture and barbarous mutilation for the sake of an oath to an unbelieving friend, and unknown Buddhists, Moslems, Hindus, etc., is a grievous sin. The Christian’s body is a Temple and should not be defamed in such foolishness and vain nonsense.
But the local Mason does not really mean this in its literal sense. He only means it in its symbolic sense. Nonsense. He has sworn “without hesitation, mental reservation, or secret evasion of mind.” The oaths either mean what they say, or they do not! If they do not mean what they say, then the Christian Mason is swearing schoolboy nonsense on the sacred and Holy word of God, and that is blasphemy!
Up to this point we have only discussed the Blue Lodge oaths and the objections a Christian should have. Probably the most obvious objection to any of the oaths is contained in the oath of the Mystic Shrine. The Shriner’s obligation is taken on the Bible and on the mysterious legend of the Koran and its dedication to the Islamic faith. The (Christian?) Shriner gives his oath “upon this book, by the sincerity of the Moslem’s oath” and concludes by beseeching “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.” Under no circumstances or for whatever reasons could a Christian justify taking this oath. This is an oath that denies the very existence of Jesus Christ and the Triune God we worship. This should also offend the Jewish Shriner as well.
A serious concern for the Christian should be that the Masonic Oaths are extracted from the candidate at a time when he has no idea of what the secrets are, or what the Masonic doctrine or religion encompasses. As an example, the basic oath of secrecy comes at the end of the First Degree of Entered Apprentice. At that point no Master Mason will argue the point that the candidate is not knowledgeable to any significance on Freemasonry. He is said to be still in the dark, and has only been given a small degree of light. But, the candidate swears:
“Finally, keep sacred and inviolable the mysteries of the Order, as these are to distinguish you from the rest of the community, and mark your consequence among Masons. If, in the circle of your acquaintance, you find a person desirous of being initiated into Masonry, be particularly careful not to recommend him, unless you are convinced he will conform to our rules; that the honor, glory, and reputation of the institution may be firmly established, and the world at large convinced of its good effects.”
In short, he has become a partaker of whatever the Craft, Art or Religion is revealed to be. The Bible speaks of such oaths and points out that it is immaterial of the intent of the oath, whether good or evil:
“If anyone utters with his lips a rash oath to do evil or to do good, any sort of rash oath that men swear, and it is hidden from him, when he comes to know it, he shall in any of these, be guilty. When a man is guilty in any of these, he shall confess the sin he has committed ...” (Leviticus 5:4-5).
Consequently, if the man goes no further in Masonry but the first degree of the Blue Lodge, he is bound with the doctrine and all that it means and is founded upon. If it is a false religion to a false god, then he is a partaker and bears the sins, knowingly or not.
The next problem for the Christian is the “Master’s” oath to the candidate that nothing in the oath or in Masonry will interfere with “the duty you owe to your God, your neighbor, your country, or self.” This presents a problem for the Christian because he believes that “no one comes to the Father, but by me” and that in worship he must lift the name of Jesus. The Blue Lodge prohibits any reference to the Christ, the Son of God, and its doctrines are totally void of any reference to Jesus as being the source of our salvation, while the doctrine of Masonry offers salvation.
It doesn’t take Ned and the first grade reader to figure out that an oath to a doctrine that doesn’t teach that the only way you are going to receive eternal life is through Jesus Christ, is not for a Christian, and that such an oath does interfere with a Christian candidate’s beliefs in God. Further, the denomination to which the Christian may be a member of may forbid lodge affiliation. Such denominations as the Lutherans, the Church of the Nazarene, the Assemblies of God and many others have made expressed rules against membership in Masonry. A detailed explanation of what Christian denominations have done in this respect will be discussed at another section of this work.
The assurance that Masonry and the oaths will not interfere with your duty to your “neighbor” presents another separate issue for the Christian. A Christian recognizes that God “is no respecter of persons” and:
“Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and aliens, but fellow citizens with God’s people and membe
rs of God’s household, built upon the foundation of the prophets, with Jesus Christ himself as the cornerstone” (Ephesians 2:19-20).
To a Christian anyone that believes that Jesus Christ is the Son of God and serves Him in spirit and in truth, is a brother. All that believe in the Messiahship of Jesus are members of one household and are the family of God. However, the Christian that has joined the Masons has taken certain oaths that divide this “family” relationship that was created by God, and not man. In the concluding oath of the Master Mason degree of the Blue Lodge the candidate swears upon the Holy Bible (or Koran):
“Further, that I will not aid, nor be present at, the initiation, passing, or raising of a woman, an old man in his dotage, a young man in his nonage... knowing them to be such.
“Further, I will not sit in a Lodge of clandestine-made Masons, nor converse on the subject of Masonry with a clandestine-made Mason, nor one who has been expelled or suspended from a Lodge, while under the sentence, knowing him or them to be such.”
This oath divides brother against brother when a Christian happens to be clandestine Mason, such as a black man. In other words, there is a place on this earth where a Christian white man cannot associate with a Christian black man, and that is in a Masonic Lodge in the United States of America. More will be said under the heading of “Toleration,” but it should also be said here. Again, this oath is a definite hindrance to the Christian and his relationship to a fellow believer who happens to have violated a Masonic rule. It is God’s family that is first and not one established in the darkness of a Masonic lodge. We are brothers in Christ and not because of an oath and certain passwords.