Fast Facts on False Teachings

Freemasonry (Masons, the Masonic Lodge)

Matthew 5:34 "But I say to you, do not swear at all: neither by heaven, for it is God's throne;

Matthew 5:35 "nor by the earth, for it is His footstool; nor by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King.

Matthew 5:36 "Nor shall you swear by your head, because you cannot make one hair white or black.

Matthew 5:37 "But let your 'Yes' be 'Yes,' and your 'No,' 'No.' For whatever is more than these is from the evil one.

The journey into Freemasonry begins at what is known as "The Blue Lodge." The Blue Lodge is the foundation of all Freemasonry. These are the many local lodge groups scattered across the country in almost every little town and city. When a man goes into it he is initiated into The Blue Lodge through three degrees: the first, or "Entered Apprentice Degree," the second, or "Fellowcraft Degree," and the third, or "Master Mason Degree."

After going through the three degrees of The Blue Lodge, the Mason has the choice to stay in The Blue Lodge or to seek the advanced degrees through either the Scottish Rite or the York Rite. Many Masons will go through both.

Within the Scottish Rite there are the fourth through the thirty-second degrees, plus the thirty-third honorary degree. The York Rite has thirteen degrees. Once the Mason has attained the thirty-second degree, through either higher arm of the craft, he has the option of petitioning to join the Shriners.

Many people think that Masons and Shriners are one and the same, but actually the Shrine is a separate body of the craft. Shriners are Masons who have achieved the highest degrees of The Blue Lodge, and Scottish or York Rites Masonry, who enter into what is known as "The Ancient and Arabic Order of the Nobles of the Mystic Shrine."

Every step of Masonry has its ritual initiation, the mildest being at The Blue Lodge level. Even this is bizarre, to say the least. In order to join the Lodge, each Mason must first be initiated through an initiation ceremony which is similar throughout the world.

The typical ceremony begins with the initiate being first divested of his jacket and his tie and any money or metal articles he has. His left trouser leg is then rolled up over the knee, his shirt is opened to expose his left breast, and his right shoe is removed and replaced by a slipper. Then the person who is to be initiated will have a blindfold put on him and a noose put around his neck. This is called a "Cable Tow." The blindfolded initiate (they call this being "hoodwinked") is brought, with the noose around his neck, to the outer door of the Lodge.

The candidate thus attired is said to be in darkness, an allegory of Masonry that signifies that everyone outside of Masonry is in darkness and that only Masons have the true knowledge that will bring light to the world.

The new Mason is brought to the outer door seeking the light of the Lodge, and there the Doorkeeper, or Tiler, will put a sword or a sharp point to his breast and lead him into the lodge room, where an altar sits in its center. The lodge members await the candidate in the darkness that surrounds the altar, which is lit from a single light above. Behind the altar stands a man called "The Worshipful Master." He is the master of the Lodge and presides over the initiation.

When the initiate is brought before him, he bows before "The Worshipful Master" and says something like this:

"I am lost in darkness, and I am seeking the light of Freemasonry."

He is then told he is entering into a secret organization and that he must keep the secrets he is going to be taught. At this time he is required to take a blood initiation oath. Every Mason who joins the Lodge takes his thumb or his hand to his throat and repeats an oath that has been repeated by every Mason who has joined the Lodge. In the Entered Apprentice or first level of The Blue Lodge, this includes the following words:

"Binding myself under no less a penalty than having my throat cut across, my tongue torn out by its roots, and buried in the rough sands of the sea ...."

When the new Mason goes into the second degree, or the Fellowcraft Degree of Masonry, the oath includes the following words:

"Binding myself under no less a penalty than that of having my left breast torn open, my heart plucked out and given as prey to the wild beasts of the fields and the fowls of the air..."

Then, in the third degree, or the Master Mason's Degree, every Mason must swear an oath that includes the following:

"Binding myself under no less a penalty than that of having my body severed in twain, my bowels taken from thence and burned in ashes…"

Most people see Freemasonry as a fraternal organization dedicated to furthering the good of society. For example, the Massachusetts Grand Lodge describes Freemasonry in part as a

"society for the joint effort of its members towards individual self-improvement, a fraternity for learning and cultivating the art of living and the building of character."

Many Masonic publications claim that Freemasonry is dedicated to the principles of brotherly love, relief, and truth. Perhaps the most popular definition is taken from the English Lectures, which states that

"Freemasonry is a peculiar system of morality veiled in allegory and illustrated by symbols."

Let’s look at the background, then the beliefs, of Freemasonry.

Though the origin of the term Freemason is not exactly known, there are theories. One of the most widely accepted theories is that Freemasonry stems from the time when medieval stonemasons, who cut stones for walls, edifices, etc., accepted men into their guilds. Another theory traces Masonry's origin to the ancient mystery religions of Egypt, Rome, and Greece. Yet another theory, very popular, fixes the origin at the building of King Solomon's Temple, the key Masonic figure at that time being Hiram Abif, who is mentioned in the Old Testament.

Regardless the confusion, you see that it obviously has a connection to stonecutters. Masons believe that these men were required to learn certain hand signs and grips to identify their level of trade or skill as they traveled from place to place practicing their trade. The trade group eventually became a fraternity and its secrets those of the trade. Eventually non-tradesmen were accepted into the membership.

Though the debate on origins continues, all Masonic scholars agree that the First Grand Lodge was formed in London in 1717. Freemasonry spread to the colonies while we were still a British territory.

I was amazed at the influence of the Masonic Lodge on the founding of our nation. Bear with me for a moment as I summarize some things I came across.

One great event that hastened the American Revolution was the Boston Tea Party. Three British ships lay in that harbor laden with tea. On the night of December 13, 1773, at a large Masonic meeting, it was decided that the tea should not be landed. When the decision was announced, Samuel Adams, the great patriot, arose and gave the word. That word was answered from outside with a war whoop, and at a signal from John Hancock (a Mason), Paul Revere (also a Mason), and a questionable band of Indians, the members of the Boston Masonic Lodge left the tavern in which they met and cast the tea overboard.

On April 18, 1775, British troops were sent to arrest Samuel Adams and John Hancock for treason. Joseph Warren, a Mason, rang the alarm bells of Boston, and Paul Revere, a Mason, rode to Lexington and fame and called the Minutemen to arms and thus began the Revolutionary War.

On April 19, 1783, eight years to the day after the war began, George Washington, a Mason, proclaimed that the war was ended, and a treaty of peace was signed. The Revolution was fought and won under the First Continental Congress, with Peyton Randolph, a Mason, at its head. John Hancock, a Mason, was President of the Second and Third Congresses. The Third Congress, almost all Masons, adopted the Declaration of Independence.

That Declaration was written upon a white lambskin, a Mason's apron. Thomas Jefferson, a Mason, was a member of that Continental Congress and was the Chairman of the committee that wrote and presented the Declaration of Independence.

Ed Decker writes,

"In every corner of American history the Masons were present. We recently celebrated the hundredth year birthday of the greatest modern statue on earth, the Statue of Liberty, a supposed gift of the French to commemorate the Franco-American union. I noticed an intense effort on the part of the Masons to raise funds for its restoration. In checking further, I discovered that its sculptor was the French Freemason, Frederic A. Bartoldi. It was financed through Masonic efforts and dedicated by the Paris Lodge, Alsace-Lorraine, Bartoldi's home Lodge, a gift from the French Masons to their American brothers. It was received and its cornerstone laid on August 5, 1884, by the Grand Lodge of New York, which Lodge also recently rededicated the restored Lady of the Harbor" (What You Need To Know About Masons, p. 14).

A curious piece of the Masonic influence in the founding of America is the actual street layout for our capital city, Washington D.C. The city was laid out in the form of the central Masonic symbols: the Square, the Compass, and the Rule. Winding about the streets of D.C. are a hundred such applications of the Masonic symbols. They are there by design.

Take any good street map of downtown Washington D.C. and find the Capitol Building. Facing the Capitol from the Mall and using the Capitol as the head or top of the Compass, the left leg is represented by Pennsylvania Avenue and the right leg by Maryland Avenue. The Square is found in the usual Masonic position with the intersection of Canal Street and Louisiana Avenue.

The left leg of the Compass stands on the White House and the right leg stands on the Jefferson Memorial. The circle drive and short streets behind the Capitol complete the picture to form the head and ears of what Satanists call the Goat of Mendes or Goat's head.

On top of the White House is an inverted fivepointed star, or pentagram, which is one of the highest-level symbols of witchcraft and Satanism. The point rests squarely on the White House and is facing south in true occult fashion. It sits within the intersections of Connecticut and Vermont Avenues, north to Dupont and Logan Circles, with Rhode Island and Massachusetts going to Washington Circle to the west and Mount Vernon Square on the east. The center of the pentagram is 16th Street where, 13 blocks due north of the very center of the White House, the Masonic House of the Temple sits.

The Washington Monument stands in perfect line to the intersecting point of the form of the Masonic Square, stretching from the House of the Temple to the Capitol building. Within the hypotenuse of that right triangle sit many of the headquarter buildings for the most powerful departments of government, such as the Justice Department, the U.S. Senate, and the Internal Revenue Service.

Most federal buildings, from the White House to the Capitol Building, have had a cornerstone laid in a Masonic ritual and had specific Masonic paraphernalia placed in each one. The cornerstones of these buildings contain Masonic documents showing that these buildings have been dedicated to the god of Masonry, Jubulum.

Still, what’s the problem? Let’s look at its beliefs.

A widely read and influential book among Masons is the book written by Joseph Ford Newton entitled The Builders. In it he says that the goal of Masonry is

"to bring about a universal league of mankind and to form mankind into a great redemptive brotherhood."

Newton declares that as Masonry expands, all religious dogmas will cease to be, all individual creeds and doctrines will be done away with, and what remains will be "The One Eternal Religion" that Masons are bringing to the world. Newton goes on to say:

"Why does Masonry seek to change the world? Because Masonry teaches that all non-Masons are living in spiritual darkness. The ritual of Masonry for the first degree, the Entered Apprentice, teaches a candidate that he is long been in darkness and now wishes to be brought to the light of Masonry. The Lodge teaches that only true Masons are enlightened and live in the truth."

The goal of Masonry, according to its own leading authorities, is to do away with religions and their creeds and doctrines, and to establish a one-world, universal religion free from the confining dogma of such narrow scope as is found in Christianity.

Two teachings form the foundation of all Masonry. The first is a belief in the universal Fatherhood of God and brotherhood of man. By this, Masons teach that all men, whether Muslims, Jews, Hindus, Mormons, Buddhists, Christians or whatever, regardless of their personal religious views, are the spiritual sons of God.

Masonry's second foundational belief is that the reform of personal character and the practice of good works will secure God's favor. In other words, the Masonic Lodge clearly teaches that the good character and good works of a Mason will earn him a place in heaven, which is called the "Celestial Lodge Above."

Here are definitions and descriptions of Masonry as given by Masonic authorities themselves. In Albert G. Mackey's Revised Encyclopedia of Freemasonry he states,

"All [Masons] unite in declaring it to be a system of morality, by the practice of which its members may advance their spiritual interest, and mount by the theological ladder from the Lodge on earth to the Lodge in heaven.''

Other respected Masonic authorities define Masonry in the following words:

1. "Masonry is the realization of God by the practice of Brotherhood" Joseph Fort Newton, The Religion of Masonry: An Interpretation).

2. "It is a science which is engaged in the search after Divine Truth, and which employs symbolism as its method of instruction." (Mackey’s Revised Encyclopedia of Freemasonry).

3. "[Masonry is] that religious and mystical society whose aim is moral perfection on the basis of general equality and fraternity" (Mackey’s Revised Encyclopedia of Freemasonry).

"Establish three things: 1)that the Bible is only a symbol, 2) that a Mason is not required to believe its teachings, and 3) that some other book may be substituted for it" (Little Masonic Library, Vol. 1, p. 132).

Though the Bible is one of the three great "lights" of Masonry it is a "light" only in the sense that it is a mere symbol of divine truth or of the will of God as individually interpreted by a Mason. For example:

"When our rituals and Monitors tell us the Bible is one of the Great Lights of Masonry and that as such it is the rule and guide to our faith, it can only be speaking symbolically as it certainly is when speaking of the other two Great Lights, the square and the compass" (Little Masonic Library, Vol. 1, p. 129-30).

But the square and compass are universal symbols throughout Masonry. The Bible is not granted such status. That is why the Masonic Volume of Sacred Law (the religious Scripture appropriate to a given culture) and not the Bible is the true "great light." The Bible is only a limited symbol. It is only a localized "light" for Christian lands.

Masonry teaches the general concept of God as the Creator, Sustainer and Creative Principle (Architect) of the universe. This is why Masons refer to God as the Great Architect of the Universe (G.A.O.T.U.). Without doubt, this is the God of Masonry.

It is faith in this deity (G.A.O.T.U.) that, as a prerequisite for membership, is demanded at the door of the lodge of every candidate for Masonic honors. It is this deity in whose name the covenant is made, and who is invoked for help. It is to him that the prayers in the lodge are addressed, whose praises are sung in Masonic odes and whose divinity is extolled. It is to him that Masonic alters are built, priests consecrated, sacrifices made, temples erected and solemnly dedicated. This Great Architect of the Universe is the "one God" in Freemasonry and besides him there is no other in that institution. Freemasonry as such knows no deity save the Great Architect of the Universe.

The supposed quest of The Blue Lodge Masons is the search for "the Lost Word." Most Masonic ritual is concerned with the recovery of this 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 Jahbulon:

"Jah" is the short form of the Hebrew name of God, "Yahweh" or "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:

"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."

The ‘god’ of the Masons is an idolatrous combination of the God of the Bible and pagan deities.

Freemasonry teaches universalism – that in the end, all men will be saved. It rejects the concept of original sin. They simply believe that Freemasonry is the best way to live and die and the best way to have a correct relationship with God.

They teach a step-by-step journey to perfection, which is a religion of good works. Each Masonic degree is one of those steps. They teach reformation, not regeneration.

Perhaps the most distinguished article of Masonic symbolism is the Lambskin Apron. In the ritual of the first degree the initiate is presented with the Apron and is told that "it is an emblem of innocence and the badge of a Mason, more ancient than the Golden Fleece or Roman Eagle, more honorable than the Star and Garter, or any other order that can be conferred upon you."

Later in the ritual the Apron is mentioned again, this time hinting at the afterlife.

"The Lamb has in all ages been deemed an emblem of innocence. He, therefore, who wears the Lambskin as the Badge of a Mason is constantly reminded of that purity of life and rectitude of conduct so essentially necessary to his gaining admission into the Celestial Lodge above, where the Supreme Architect of the Universe presides" (Coils Masonic Encyclopedia, p. 517).

The apron is essentially a symbolism of putting on good works for your eternal salvation.

We hear about the Shriners' Hospital, about Masonic homes for Masons, about all the good works they do. Everyone knows about the Shrine Circus and the many people who are helped by them. Their public image is that of a fun-time group pouring out millions of dollars into charity, all the while dressed up in a party spirit, wearing their red fezzes.

The fez itself is an example of the double meaning behind most of Freemasonry's facade. Worn by every Shriner and even carried to the grave with dignity, the history of the fez is both barbaric and anti-Christian. In the early eighth century, Muslim hordes overran the Moroccan city of Fez, shouting, "There is no god but Allah, and Muhammad is his prophet." There they butchered the Christian community. These men, women, and children were slain because of their faith in Christ, all in the name of Allah, the same demon god to whom every Shriner must bow in worship, with hands tied behind his back, proclaiming him the god of his fathers in the Shrine initiation, at the Altar of Obligation.

In occult fashion, the initiate swears that he will be inseparably obligated to this "most powerful and binding oath" in advance, and that he may never retract it or depart from it.

The Shriners' blood oath and confession of Allah as God is documented in the secret Lodge document The Mystic Shrine: An Illustrated Ritual of the Ancient Arabic Order Nobles of the Shrine, 1975 Edition (pages 20-22). Remember that Allah is not just another name for God. Allah is the name of another god.

During the butchering of the people of Fez, the streets literally ran red with the blood of the martyred Christians. The Muslim murderers dipped their caps in the blood of their victims as a testimony to Allah. These bloodstained caps eventually were called fezzes and became a badge of honor for those who killed a Christian. The Shriners wear that same red fez today, with the Islamic sword and crescent encrusted with jewels on the front. The greatest tragedy is that the fez is often worn by men who profess to be Christians themselves.

There are over six million Masons worldwide today. There are about 33,700 lodges, the meeting places for the Masons. In the United States we have four million members and 15,300 lodges. Most Masons get into Freemasonry for business or social reasons, while others see it as a philanthropic organization of good works, or as a fraternal organization and a brotherhood. Many go into it out of pride, in the belief that through their good works they can save themselves.

It is, in fact, a mixture of ancient pagan mystery religion, medieval trade unions, and the occult. It seeks to unite all men in fellowship under the Fatherhood of God, the brotherhood of man, and the immortality of the soul. It emphasizes good works, not faith in Jesus Christ alone.

Can a Christian be a Mason? Yes; some are. Should a Christian be a Mason? No!