HOUSMAIL HM#033 - CAN A CHRISTIAN BE A FREEMASON? 27 August 1999 __________________________________________________________________________
If any of my readers are FREEMASONS let me hasten to assure you that I have no wish to offend.
But I AM exercising my right to freedom of speech, to say here that I do not believe that membership of the Freemasons is in any way compatible with the TRUE Abrahamic Faith revealed in the Bible.
Some Masons may disagree with my generalised description of the "craft" given here. Given the wide variations in emphasis and practice encountered from place to place, it is inevitable that this short paper cannot satisfy all of them. Its purpose is simply to highlight a few of the issues which I believe should be regarded as totally inconsistent with being a disciple of Jesus. _______________________________________________________________________________________
IS FREEMASONRY A RELIGION?
Freemasons will claim that it is not. Personally, I think they are
confused about what constitutes a religion! However the point is not worth
arguing. Religion or not, there are "Rituals" in Freemasonry, and things
associated with those Rituals, which are totally incompatible with the
religion of those who espouse the Abrahamic Faith. Just a few of these
are discussed below.
GOD AND FREEMASONS
It is a condition of entry to membership that applicants believe in
a "supreme being" of some sort.[1]
It does not matter which "god" that is, so long as there is one! It is
possible to encounter lodges where the membership is exclusively "christian".
There are others where the mix can include christians, jews, moslems, buddhists
and anyone else who believes in a "god" of some sort as a supreme being.
An atheist cannot become a Mason!
To avoid giving offence to a membership comprised of mixed faiths, Masons refer to "God" as "Supreme Architect of the Universe". It is left to the individual member to decide in their own heart which "god" they mean by the term. For some, it could be the Christian God, but for others in the same lodge, it could just as easily be Buddha, Ra, Molech, Baal, or even Satan!
For a Christian to place himself in a situation where it is a condition of membership that all "gods" are assumed to be of equal worth, is a denial of Abrahamic Faith! It falls far short of our calling to proclaim the Father of Jesus as the ONE TRUE GOD, (John 17:3) and Jesus as the ONLY NAME under Heaven whereby salvation can be found. (Acts 4:12)
Personally I regard THAT as a VERY serious "unequal yoking". (2 Cor 3:14)
PRAYER IN THE NAME OF JESUS
Prayers are said as a regular part of Masonic rituals. In most lodges,
except those which are exclusivly "christian", prayer "in the name of Jesus"
is forbidden, to avoid giving offence to members who are not Christian.
OATHS
Applicants are required to take an OATH of secrecy, before admittance
to
membership ..... AND BEFORE THEY KNOW WHAT THOSE SECRETS ARE! The oath
must be sworn on the Bible, or whatever other book is held sacred in the
religion of the applicant. The usual oath contains terrible consequences,
including DEATH, for those who break it.
Masons today will claim that the penalties of the oath, are "symbolic only", and that no one is killed for violating the oaths of Masonry. However that is not the real issue!
For anyone committed to follow Jesus, the swearing of any oath at all, is a breach of a prior covenant. And that SIN is doubly compounded when it is known that an oath sworn before God, is only "symbolic". THAT makes it an intentional UNTRUTH, which is a far cry from "let your yea be yea"! (Matt 5:37)
THE IMMORTALITY OF THE SOUL
Whether or not Freemasonry acknowledges itself as a religion, one Masonic
source I found confirms that belief in the "Immortality of The Soul" is
a condition of membership![1]
In Lodges where that is so, any who profess Abrahamic Faith in Conditional Immortality, could only become members by denying their faith!
Belief in the Immortality of the Soul is built in to Masonic Funeral rites.[2]
CHURCH ELDERS AND FREEMASONRY
I have read statistics which claim that in some parts of the world,
as many as 15% of Church members, are also members of a Lodge. That indicates
widespread ignorance of the incompatibilities between Christianity and
Freemasonry. It also means that those who preach and teach, are certain,
sooner or later, to encounter some for whom acceptance of the Gospel will
mean severing their membership in a Masonic Lodge. It pays to be prepared
in advance to help new converts with that decision.
Church Elders who become aware of Masons in their own Churches, will need to consider very seriously, just how that could compromise the witness by their Church, for the Gospel Of the Kingdom Of God.
Occasionally one hears of cases where Church elders, and even pastors, are active members of the Freemasons. I find that very sad. I certainly don't want to start a war about this! But it is my personal conviction that shepherds who do not know what is wrong with that, fall short of the qualifications described by Paul in 1 Timothy 3:1-7, and Titus 1:5-9. _______________________________________________________________________________________
CONCLUSION
Freemasonry claims that it is not a religion. However it insists that
all "gods" are equal.
Religion or not, that is support for a FALSE GOSPEL. The only real Gospel is about THE SON OF THE ONE TRUE GOD. Worship of all other "gods" leads only to eternal death.
And when that is coupled with the Immortality Of The Soul, it offers a FALSE HOPE, which is no hope at all. The only real hope of immortality offered by the Gospel, depends on the resurrection of our bodies.
Allon
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Notes
1. "Masonry makes only a simple
religious demand on a man -- he must believe that he has an immortal soul
and he must
believe in God, for no atheist can become a Mason."
Quoted from
- http://winmason.org/faq.htm
2. During a typical Masonic Funeral
Service a sprig of evergreen is deposited on the coffin, accompanied by
these words:
"This Evergreen
is an emblem of our faith in the immortality of the soul. By this we are
reminded that we
have an immortal
part within us which shall survive the chilling blast of death and, springing
into newness
of life in realms
beyond the grave, shall never, never die."
Quoted from
- http://thelonious.mit.edu/Masonry/Misc/funeral-svc.html
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