Secret Sins
http://www.withoneaccord.org/store/SecretSins.html
By William Schnoebelen
1. If Masonry is not a religion, why does it have all the trappings of a religion?
Though Masons are told it is not a religion, that claim does not bear close scrutiny. By any dictionary definition, Freemasonry has all the distinctive qualities of a religion. It demands a belief in a Supreme Being as a requirement for membership. It also has a chaplain, rituals of initiation, prayers and funeral services and teaches a plan of salvation. It also has an organized body of philosophical and ethical teachings. Thus, Masonry is indeed a religion.
2. If it is a religion, which one is it?
First in concern, it is not the Christian religion. Masonic authorities openly deny it is Christianity, (1) and this is further evidenced by the fact that the Lord Jesus Christ is accorded no special worship in the Lodge. He is presented as just one of many great sages and no Mason is allowed to present Jesus to fellow Lodge members as Almighty God in the flesh (1Timothy 3:15, John 1:14) or to witness Jesus to unsaved fellow Masons. Beyond that, Masonry is alternately depicted (2) as a kind of universalistic religion “upon which all men can agree.” Universalism is a theological doctrine holding that eventually all people will be saved.
This categorically means it cannot be Christian, for Jesus taught that no one could be saved except through Him (John 14:6). The other face of Masonry, seen in the writings of its greatest teachers (Pike, Mackey, Hall, etc.). These men taught is that it is a modern revival of “ancient mystery religions” (the worship of Baal) and that its core philosophy is Kabbalism, a system of post-exilic Jewish occultism.(3) Stripped of all the verbiage, this means that the philosophical core and pedigree of modern Freemasonry is basically akin to that of witchcraft. (Both are called “the Craft”).
3. Can a professed Christian be a part of a non-Christian religion?
Hopefully, this answer is self-evident. Jesus Himself warned that no one can serve two masters (Matthew 6:24). Yet the Christian Mason is attempting to serve his true Master, Jesus; and also the “Worshipful Master” of the Lodge (Matthew 23:10). The Bible’s message is clear. God does not want his people trying to worship two different gods at the same time (Exodus 20:3, 1 Kings 18:22). You cannot mingle Masonry and Christianity, anymore than you could be a Christian Muslim or a Christian Hindu. (4) How can you, as a follower of Jesus, be part of an institution that demands that you break God’s commandments?
Doubtless this question may shock most Masons. However, in several obvious places, Masons are required to break the commandments of Jesus or His Father. For example, Masons are required to swear blood oaths on the Bible in the name of God, yet Jesus commanded His disciples never to swear oaths (Matthew 5:34-37) and this command was repeated by James (James 5:12). Should the Mason claim that the oaths are only “in fun” and not to be taken seriously, then he has taken the name of the Lord in vain, another commandment broken (Exodus 20:7). If he says the oaths are serious, then he has violated the commandment which forbids murder by consenting with an oath to his own murder (Exodus 20:13). Other commandments broken will be mentioned below.
5. How can you ignore 2 Corinthians 6:14-18 by being “bound” to countless nonbelievers and occultists who are Masons?
Though not widely known, some of the premiere witches and occultists of this century were prominent Freemasons—both here and in England.(4) Their names would include Aleister Crowley, Gerald Gardner and Alex Sanders. Additionally, there are thousands of Masons of various other non-Christian faiths (Judaism, Islam, etc.). Contrary to the command of 2 Corinthians 6 forbidding us to be “unequally yoked” to unbelievers, the Mason is bound by a spiritual “tie” (5) to all other Masons, Christian or not. This is mentioned in the first degree work in the context of removing the cabletow from about the Initiate’s neck. This bond is sealed with an oath in the name of God. This is a clear violation of this commandment.
6. How can you be a part of an institution that makes you deny Jesus within the First Degree?
The Bible teaches that when a person genuinely becomes Born Again, the Lord Jesus comes in and takes residence within us. Bear this precious truth in mind as you are reminded of this: at the door of the Lodge as an Entered Apprentice candidate, the initiate is made to knock three times on the door and then say in response to the challenge from within:
“Mr.______, who has long been in darkness now seeks to be brought to light and receive a part in the rights and benefits of this worshipful Lodge, erected to God and dedicated to the Holy Saints John as all brothers and fellows have done before him.” (6)
How can a genuine Christian agree that he has “long been in darkness” when he has the Light of the World within him? How can he think that Masonry can add anything to the light of Christ in whom are “hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge” (Colossians 2:3) and in whom “all fullness dwells” (Colossians 1:19)? Is this not denying Christ?
7. How can you be a part of an institution that does not acknowledge Jesus as God and yet exalts a minor Bible character to be “the greatest Mason, if not the greatest man, who ever lived”?
Freemasonry, as a matter of official policy, does not acknowledge the unique claims of Jesus.(7) This would destroy their universalistic religion which claims that all religionists are welcome at the altar of Masonry. However, the Bible makes clear that Jesus’ name is above every other name (Philippians 2:9, Ephesians 1:21) and that without confessing Him as Lord no one can be saved (John 14:6, Romans 10:9-13). Jesus Himself states that all other religious leaders who came before him (Buddha, Zoroaster, etc.) were “thieves and robbers.” (John 10:8)
The Bible points to Jesus Christ! It is supposed to be one of the “three great lights” of Masonry and the “rule and guide of our [the Masons’] faith” Yet this same Bible, which so lifts up the name of Jesus, barely mentions the central figure of Masonic myth, Hiram Abiff. This obscure craftsman, who is barely mentioned in the context of the building of Solomon’s temple, is treated like a god-figure in Masonry. He is lionized above all other men in the Old Testament and even made to be as great—or greater—than Jesus. His murder by three ruffians before he could finish the work on the temple is the center of the Masonic “mystery,” and yet from the Bible’s perspective, it is a lie. The Bible clearly states that Hiram “made an end of doing all the work that he made king Solomon for the house of the Lord.” (1 Kings 7:40)
8. How can you be a part of an institution that will not acknowledge that Jesus rose from the dead and which conducts blasphemous parodies of the Lord’s Table?
Albert Pike, Grand Commander of the Scottish Rite, wrote that Jesus’ bodily remains have now been reduced to dust motes in the earth that we eat as they have been absorbed into the earth through the centuries. (8) The Scottish rite ritual, the “Feast of the Paschal Lamb” also refuses to acknowledge that Jesus rose from the dead. (9)
In the York Rite, a blasphemous parody of the Lord’s Supper is conducted as part of the Knight Templar degree in which the candidate is made to stand before a sinister triangular table draped in black velvet and illuminated by candles. In the center is a Bible atop which rests a human skull. From this skull, the candidate takes “communion,” swearing most solemnly that if he ever breaks his oath, all his own sins and the sins of the man from whose skull he is drinking will come back on his own head. (10) Talk about crucifying the Son of God afresh and bringing Him to an open shame (Hebrews 10:28-29)!
9. How can you be a part of an institution whose teachers proclaim that it is descended from a fertility cult and that the god of Freemasonry is the male reproductive organ?
Though this would shock most Masons, the fact is that the greatest teachers of Masonry make it clear that the central symbol of deity in the Lodge is the phallus or penis. (11) This is why so many Masonic memorials (tombstones or the Washington monument) are, in fact, phallic symbols. This is why the male genitals are “veiled” by the Masonic apron, just like a veil covered the Holy of Holies in Solomon’s temple. This is what the Letter G stands for in Masonry; not for God or “Geometry” as the Fellowcraft is told in the second degree lecture, but rather for the power of “Generativity” or reproduction.
10. How many things have to be sinful about an institution before you, as a Christian, need to separate yourself completely from it?
My brothers, this is but a brief list of things that most Masons either know, or could readily find out. It is just that most Masons have never bothered to put these things together because they were told that Masonry was noble. Now you know these things, and how contrary they are to the Bible. The answer to this question ought to be: only one! If even one of these questions raises a valid secret sin within the Lodge, then that should be reason enough to quit. This is just a men’s club! Is it worth destroying your testimony and your power as a Christian man? You need to get on your knees right now and ask the Lord to forgive you for your involvement in the Lodge and renounce it forever as a sin. Then you need to write a letter requesting a demit from the Lodge. If you write to us, we can even provide you with a sample letter. You must not delay. Remember Paul’s words: “What fellowship hath light with darkness?”
Endnotes:
1. Albert Mackey, 33°, Revised Encyclopedia of Freemasonry, 1966, p. 618.
2. Albert Pike, 33°, Morals and Dogma of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite of Freemasonry, 1966, , p. 226.
3. ibid., p. 389.
4. ibid., pp. 744, 771.
5. William Schnoebelen, Masonry: Beyond the Light, 1991, p. 204-205.
6. Duncan’s Ritual Monitor, 1974, p.36.
7. ibid., p. 29.
8. Pike, p.525, also Henry Clausen, 33° , Practice and Procedure for the Scottish Rite, 1981, pp. 75-77; R.S. Clymer, The Mysticism of Masonry, 1900, p. 47; and J.D. Buck, Symbolism of Mystic Masonry, 1925, p. 57; and Manly P. Hall, 33°, The Lost Keys of Freemasonry, 1976, p. 90-91.
9. Pike, p. 539.
10. Clausen, op. cit., pp. 75-77.
11. Illustrated Ritual of the Six Degrees of the Council and Commandery, Charles Powner Co., 1975, p. 227-28.
12. Pike, p. 401; Albert Mackey, 33°, The Manual of the Lodge, 1870, p. 156; and Mackey, Encyclopedia, p. 560.
