THE BAPTIST EXAMINER
"Cry aloud, spare not, lift up thy voice like a
trumpet, and show my people their transgression:” -Isaiah 58:1.
"Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the
ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the
scornful:” -Psalm 1:1.
"Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season;
reprove, rebuke, exhort with all long-suffering and doctrine:” -II Tim. 4:2.
"Have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of dark ness,
but rather reprove them:” –Eph. 5:11.
"If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in
darkness, we lie, and do not the truth:” -I John 1:6.
It is not pleasant to the flesh to attack that which is held in high esteem by so many people, but the duty of the preacher is very plain in the light of the foregoing Scriptures. Whether it pleases him or not, if he will be faithful to his commission, he must "cry aloud" with reproof and rebuke; and show God'~ people their transgressions. He must preach the Word both in season and out of season. He must declare all the counsel of God.
One of the greatest needs of this
hour is for preachers who, as prophets of God, will cry aloud against the
idolatrous and adulterous evils of secretism. Let every true prophet of God
inform himself, and then let him raise his voice boldly. The preacher who will
do this, needs to have on all
the armour of God; and needs to have unshaken trust in the all-powerful One,
who alone is able to supply courage, grace, and power necessary to enable us
"to root out, and to pull down, and to destroy" this monster of error
and iniquity. He must also be willing to "endure hardness as a good
soldier of Jesus Christ." But for the preacher not to cry out against this
and other forms of evil is for him to put himself in that class of unfaithful
prophets whom the Holy Spirit described when He said: "His watchmen are
blind; they are all ignorant, they are all dumb dogs, they cannot bark;
sleeping, lying down, loving to slumber. Yea, they are greedy dogs which can
never have enough, and they all look to their own way, everyone for his gain,
from his quarter" (Isa. 56:10, 11).
I held aloof from the task of opposing secretism as long as I
could. I anticipated the immensity and the seriousness of the undertaking. I knew
that it would cause me much inconvenience and that it would cost me dearly. I
hesitated to wound the feelings of friends that were members of secret orders.
But finally, like Jeremiah, I can say: "His word was in mine heart as a
burning fire shut up in my bones, and I was weary with forbearing, and I could
not stay" (Jer. 20:9). And having been convinced by a close study that,
beyond the chance of a doubt, this system is perpetrated and indwelt by
"the prince of the power of the air;" and having a deep impression
from God, in addition to the commission
expressed in the Scriptures given at the outset, I can do nothing less than
take a firm stand on this matter. And this I do without fear, "For the
Lord God will help me; therefore shall I not be confounded: therefore have I
set my face like a flint, and I
know that I shall not be ashamed" (Isa. 50:7).
A favorite bit of admonition of
one of my teachers a few years ago was: "Investigate before you
criticize." I have observed this bit of admonition in regard to the matter
under discussion. My investigation of this subject has extended over a period
of many years, and it has led me through thousands of pages of books, tracts,
papers, and pamphlets. I have studied the ritual of some four or five secret
orders, I have read pro and con on the subject, Thus my investigation has been
both extensive and intensive.
And now, before proceeding further, I want to say that in this paper I
am inveighing, not against individuals, but against a system and an institution
in the interest of individuals who have been deceived by it. It will be natural
and needful for me to say some things which are applicable to individuals, yet
this I do through no malice for them, but rather in order to awaken them to a
realization of their sin. I disclaim every motive in discussing this subject
other than a desire to see the truth advanced "for the truth's
sake," and for the sake of those who are walking in error, whom I covet
for the truth.
Also, I wish to say, I am addressing this discourse to those who are
saved, and who believe in the infallible authority of the Bible. It is a waste
of time to discuss this subject with a lost person, or with a person who does
not believe that the Bible is the inerrant, complete, sufficient, and final
authority on all matters of faith and practice.
Much might be said about the evils of secretism in general. The
principle of permanently organized secret- ism is always wholly and
irretrievably wrong. Discreet silence and cautious speech are commendable. And
temporarily organized secrecy may be justifiable under extraordinary
conditions. But permanently organized, oath- bound secretism in a free,
civilized, peaceful country is not necessary for the accomplishment of any
worthy de- sign; and it always tends toward evil. I might go on at length
discoursing upon the general evils of secretism, but I am constrained to forego
that in order to devote this. paper to a discussion of grosser evils existing
under definite forms of secretism.
And, inasmuch as it is impossible in the compass of "this paper to
analyze and discuss all of the multitudinous forms of secretism, it is
expedient that I select the out- standing form and confine myself to it.
According to the words of a respected writer among secretists, this is a
sound policy. This writer says: "The analysis of one secret order is the
analysis of everyone." And he gives as his reason for this statement that
they are "fashioned after the same idea." So while I shall discuss
one form only, yet in a general way my remarks will be more or less applicable
to other forms.
As the one form of secretism upon which we shall center our attention, I
shall select the oldest, most pretentious, and most prevalent one of all, which
is Freemasonry. Freemasonry is the mother of all secret orders. In the world it
enjoys the reputation of being the best and most venerable, but from the
standpoint of God and His truth it is the most perverse and deceitful.
Let it be explicitly understood that the author is unalterably opposed to every form of secretism
from the Knights of Columbus to the Knights of the Ku Klux Klan. Masonry is
singled out only for the reason stated. A member of another secret order will
be able to see that his lodge is enough like its mother to stand condemned.
And now, as I turn to point out the evils of Masonry (by which familiar
name I shall from now on refer to it), I commend myself to Masons on the ground
of the reverence they profess for light and truth. They profess to be in search of the truth, and to be constantly
desiring "more light." And truth and "more light" are in
store for them in this paper. In
fact, I hope that this paper may be used of the Lord to actually bring many
Masons "from darkness to light." God said, "Let there be
light" and "let all the redeemed of the Lord say so." And let
none rebel at light. If any do, then Jesus described them when He said:
"Men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were
evil." "Ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you
free." Then I commend myself to Masons on another basis: the testimony of
one of their renowned and illustrious, often-tried and never-denied brethren,
Mr. Daniel Sickle's. In his General Ahiman Rezon and Freemasons Guide, on page
53, he says: "We are convinced by a long and extensive observation that
Masons need a truer and deeper insight into the nature of our esoteric
work." Considerable observation and the concurrent testimony of several
writers have convinced me of the same thing, and I desire to be used of the Lord
in giving Masons a truer and deeper insight into the real nature of Masonry.
The first evil which I shall charge against Masonry is its false, absurd, and presumptuous claims. One of the seven things which God hates is "a lying tongue" Prov. 6:17). That being true, God must hate Masonry with a perfect hatred" (Ps. 139 :22).
The first one of these false claims which we shall no- ::e is the claim to antiquity. It is a very common thing , hear Masons talking of Masonry going back to Solomon's temple, or even to an earlier time. The ritual of Masonry constantly implies, and in some places explicitly states, that Masonry began with the building of Solomon's temple. Now if this were true, what would it prove? NOTHING! ABSOLUTELY NOTHING! "The hoary head is a crown of glory, if it be found in the way of righteousness," but the hoary head offers no atonement for sin; nor is it a guarantee of righteousness. Suppose Solomon were the founder of Masonry. What would that prove? Nothing more than that he was guilty of devising a cunning scheme for perpetuating the idolatry he engaged in. It would not have surprised me if Solomon had founded Masonry. That achievement would have found a congenial place along with his seven hundred wives, his three hundred concubines, and his worship of heathen gods. I am quite sure, the only reason Solomon did not originate Masonry is that he did not think of it. If someone else had begun Masonry in Solomon's time, no doubt, he would have been one of the first to be "desirous of being brought from darkness to light and receiving a part of the rights and benefits." Masonry would have exactly suited Solomon as a cloak for his sins. And in it he would have found fellowship in heathen worship. See I Kings 11.
But the truth of the matter is,
there was never anything more false and
absurd than the claim that Masonry goes back to the building of Solomon's
temple. SOLOMON DID NOT HAVE ANYTHING MORE TO DO WITH THE FOUNDING OF MASONRY
THAN JULIUS CAESAR HAD TO DO WITH THE DIGGING OF PANAMA CANAL.
Listen to some Masons of high standing who think more of fact than
fancy, and who, consequently, condemn this myth in no uncertain terms.
Dr. Dalcho, one of the leading Masons of the world, and the compiler of
the book of constitutions for South Carolina says: "Neither Adam, nor
Noah, nor Nimrod, nor Moses, nor
Joshua, nor David, nor Solomon, nor Hiram, nor St. John the Baptist, nor St. John
the evangelist, were Freemasons.
HYPOTHESIS IN HISTORY IS ABSURD. There is no record either sacred or profane to
induce us to believe that these holy men were Freemasons; and our tradition
does not go back to those days. To assert that they were Freemasons may make
the vulgar stare, but it will rather excite the contempt than the admiration of
the wise."
Then, in referring to the same, Prof. T. S. Parvin, Past Grand Master
and Grand Secretary of the Grand Lodge of Iowa, and Grand Orator of the Commandery
of Iowa, in an oration before the latter, said, "Now, ill all candor and
with all proper respect to our brethren, to this audience, not overlooking my
own self-respect as a Mason and a man of mature age, I must declare that all
such stuff, while it may possibly be 'told to the marines,' certainly to all
such heresies we may apply the injunction of David in his lament over Saul,
'tell it not in Gath, publish it not in the streets of Askelon.' Such tales
will surely, sooner or later, return to our hurt as they ever should."
Furthermore, George Thornburg, a Past Grand Master and a
thirty-third degree Mason, says on page 7 of his History of Masonry: "The
day of accepting vague traditions is rapidly passing and intelligent Masons are
inquiring for themselves for historical facts, as well as for authentic
traditions. In their zeal for the antiquity of the Fraternity, orators and
writers have traced it back to the Garden of Eden. Less enthusiastic ones have
contented themselves with stopping at the building of Solomon's Temple. The
latter, by reason of the symbols and languages used, are less unreasonable, BUT
THE TRUTH IS, THERE IS NO REAL HISTORICAL RELATION BETWEEN KING SOLOMON'S
TEMPLE AND SPECULATIVE FREEMASONRY ."
Also, from the Illinois Freemason, we read: "It is a mighty hard
thing to get Masons to understand that Freemasonry had nothing to do with the
building of Solomon's temple. Freemasonry cannot longer lay claim to absurd
tradition which they have inherited from a , superstitious past."
Finally, I will refer you to the words of the Grand Lodge Report of
Illinois for 1873 (page 63): "And while it is true that the fools are not
all dead, it may be safely said that he who teaches that Adam, Seth, or Solomon
were Freemasons, sins against light and knowledge and ought to be excluded from
the platform of instruction."
Where and when, then, did Masonry of today actually originate? The
answer is, Speculative Masonry, which is the Masonry of today as distinguished from
Operative Masonry of earlier times, is the product of a gradual evolution from
within the operative guilds; which evolution was consummated in London in 1717.
The following should give a somewhat adequate conception of how modern Masonry
has come about.
First, in one way or another, certain religious and philosophical symbols and principles, which formerly had belonged to ancient secret sun-worship, were adopted by some of the operative guilds.
Second, the religious and philosophical elements seem gradually to have taken the ascendancy to such an extent that at least, as early as the middle of the seventeenth century, there seems to have been Masonic associations composed wholly of devotees of the religious and philosophical elements, with a total absence of the industrial feature.
Third, the full and final transformation of Masonry into an exclusively religious institution, however, did not take place until early m the eighteenth century. This transformation was begun when "selected gentlemen," , who were not Masons by trade, being "accepted" into the operative guilds and not being permitted to take all of the degrees, "chafed under the discrimination." And "they also concluded that Operative Masonry was too narrow in its teachings for men who were not actual Operatives, and they conceived the idea and undertook the work of broadening the teachings and elevating the morals of the Fraternity" (History of Masonry-Thornburg).
Fourth, the final touches were applied in 1717, at which time four lodges of London went into the organization of the first Grand Lodge, and at which time the ritual was revised and elaborated and the legend of the third degree (the real essence of Masonry) was adapted from the Ancient Mysteries (ancient secret sun-worship) by a Scotch Presbyterian preacher by the name of James Anderson.
Masonry's Claim That Jesus, John the Baptist, and John the Evangelist Were Masons Is Spurious, Groundless and False
In connection with this false claim to antiquity it is also falsely
claimed that John the Baptist and John the evangelist, and even that Jesus,
were Masons. This claim is really too absurd and preposterous to deserve
attention. It is nothing less than a wanton slander upon the names of these
holy men. It is a baseless supposition, and, as has been seen already, it is
refuted by those who have regard for facts.
In the first place, it has been shown that Masonry, as it is today, did
not appear on the scene of history until centuries after the time in which these
men lived.
And in the second place, it is rank folly to affirm that they would have been Masons, even if Masonry had existed in their day. Imagine one of the Johns saying to Jews, Buddhists, Confucianists, and Mohammedans: "I'll respect your religion as much as my own, therefore I'll not require that you believe in Jesus as I do; but we will all get together at one common altar and pray to the G. A. 0. T. U.; and if each one of you will follow to the best of his ability the light which he has, and do his very best, living 'on the square' as it were, we'll all meet in the Supreme Lodge by and by ."
And, most of all, can you imagine Jesus, who claimed to be the only way
to the Father, agreeing to a proposition like this? But we have another
conclusive proof that Jesus was not a Mason, nor a member of any other secret
society. He said: “In secret have I said nothing" (John 18:20). No member
of a secret order can say this.
Then the claim is sometimes made that all, or about all, the presidents of our country have been Masons. But the fact is, out of twenty-seven presidents from Washington to Wilson there have been only nine Masons. They are as follows: Washington, Jackson, Polk, Buchanan, Johnson, Garfield, McKinley, Roosevelt and Taft. Roosevelt and Taft evidently joined for political reasons. Of the eighteen that were not Masons, five were pronounced against secret orders.
Washington A
Mason Only Technically
George Washington was a Mason, but was such an indifferent one that he can be called a Mason only technically. On September 25, 1798, just a little over a year before Washington died, he wrote to a preacher by the name of Snyder to correct an error Snyder had run concerning Washington's presiding over the English lodges in this country. In this letter Washington said in part: "The fact is, I presided over none, nor have I been in one more than once or twice within the last thirty' year.”
Washington never really held any office in a Masonic lodge. He was called Master of the lodge at Alexandria, Va., for the space of a year, but it is admitted by Masonic authority that he did not preside a single time during that period.
The records of King David's Lodge, Newport, R. I., show that as early as 1771 it was not agreeable to Washington to be called a Mason even in private. In response to a communication from the Legislature of Pennsylvania, Governor Ritner, among other facts, established that all the alleged letters from Washington to lodges were spurious. In speaking of Masonry, Washington said it was "for the most part child's play," and that it "might be used for the worst purposes." SUCH WERE THE MASONIC PROCLIVITIES OF GEORGE WASHINGTON, OF WHOM MASONS GREATLY BOAST.
Masonry Is Not Based on the Bible
Another
spurious claim, which is often heard, is that Masonry is based on the Bible. IF
THIS WERE TRUE, IT WOULD NOT GUARANTEE DIVINE FAVOR. There are hundreds of sects
over the world professing to be founded on the Bible. Is this proof that all of
them are divinely sanctioned? Most certainly not. An institution or
organization enjoys divine favor only so far as it teaches the truth as it is
in Christ Jesus. For an institution to profess to be founded on the Bible and
then teach heresy, only aggravates the guilt that attaches to the teaching of
false doctrine.
But Masonry is not based on the Bible, and cannot truthfully make that claim. All that can be truthfully said, is that in Christian countries, a copy of the Bible is one of the necessary pieces of furniture; that it is used in the taking of oaths and that parts of it are read in the conferring of degrees.
Mackey, in his Manual of the Lodge, page 49, says: "The furniture of the lodge consists of a Holy Bible, square and compass." These are called "the three great lights of Masonry ."
Then from A Digest of Masonic Law, by Chase, page 207, we read: "The Jews, the Chinese, the Turks, each reject either the New Testament, or the Old, or both, and yet we see no good reason why they should not be Masons. IN FACT BLUE LODGE MASONRY (the first three degrees), HAS NOTHING WHATEVER TO DO WITH THE BIBLE. IT IS NOT FOUNDED ON THE BIBLE; IF IT WAS IT WOULD NOT BE MASONRY; IT WOULD BE SOMETHING ELSE."
"And then from Mackey's Lexicon comes the following enlightening comment: "The Bible is used among Masons (NOT AS AN INSPIRED REVELATION), but only as a symbol of the will of God, however it may be expressed."
This matter is further elucidated
by the following quotation from the same author's Text Book of Masonic Jurisprudence: "It is a landmark that a
'Book of Law' shall constitute an indispensable part of the furniture of every
lodge. I say advisedly a 'Book of the Law' because it is not absolutely
required that everywhere the Old and New Testament shall be used. THE 'BOOK OF
THE LAW' IS THAT VOLUME WHICH BY THE RELIGION OF THE COUNTRY IS BELIEVED TO
CONTAIN THE REVEALED WILL OF THE GREAT ARCHITECT OF THE UNIVERSE. Hence in all
lodges in Christian countries the 'Book of the Law' is composed of the Old and
New Testaments; in a country where Judaism was the prevailing faith, the Old
Testament alone would be sufficient; AND IN MOHAMMEDAN COUNTRIES AND AMONG MOHAMMEDAN MASONS, THE KORAN MIGHT BE
SUBSTITUTED."
Still more light is thrown upon this interesting question by the
following words quoted from J. D. Buck's Symbolism or Mystic Masonry (page 46):
"Masonry is not only a universal science, but a WORLD-WIDE RELIGION, and owes
allegiance to no one creed (then it does not owe allegiance to the Bible, and,
therefore is not founded on the Bible), and can adopt no sectarian dogma (the
Christian doctrine of salvation through the vicarious atonement of Christ, and
of Christ's mediatorial work for instance), as such, without ceasing thereby to
be Masonic. Drawn from the Kabalah, and taking the Jewish or Christian verbiage
or symbols, it but discerns in them universal truths which it recognizes in all
other religions." These quotations are plain enough that any intelligent
person can understand them sufficiently to see that I have established the
statement I made in the beginning of this paragraph. But I have a more serious
charge to make.
NOT ONLY IS IT TRUE THAT MASONRY IS NOT FOUNDED ON THE BIBLE, BUT MASONRY GROSSLY DISHONORS AND PROFANES THE BIBLE.
First, Masonry dishonors and profanes the Bible by making it ONLY ONE OF THE GREAT LIGHTS, when it is THE ONE AND ONLY LIGHT. Proof: Isaiah 8:20.
Second, Masonry dishonors and profanes the Bible by using only such parts of it as suits its purpose, while absolutely ignoring the remainder of it and teaching things that are as antagonistic to it as darkness is to light.
Third, Masonry dishonors and profanes the Bible by considering it AS ONLY A SYMBOL OF GOD'S WILL, and not, as it truly is, THE INFALLIBLE, COMPLETE, AND EXCLUSIVE WRITTEN REVELATION OF GOD'S WILL.
Fourth, Masonry dishonors and profanes the Bible by putting it on a level with the uninspired books of other religions.
Fifth, Masonry dishonors and profanes the Bible by grossly and maliciously misapplying portions of it. Scriptures that refer to Solomon's temple, to the second temple, and to the church are made to apply to Masonry. And Scriptures that were written of and to God's own people, are STOLEN and applied to the mixed and motley multitudes of Masonry.
Sixth,
Masonry dishonors and profanes the Bible by using it in the administration of
BLASPHEMOUS OATHS. This is not all I could say here, but for lack of space it
must suffice.
Would the Bible
Have Been Lost If It Had Not Been for Masonry?
The fifth false claim that we
shall notice is that the Bible would have been lost if it had not been for Masonry. It is not uncommon to hear of this
presumptuous, but empty, boast.
This claim is based, no doubt, on the lying ritual of the Royal Arch Degree. In
this degree it is pretended that in digging in the ruins of Solomon's temple
the vortex of an arch is found; and upon exploring this arch, among other
things, is found a box supposed to be an exact likeness of the ark of the
covenant, placed there by Solomon to be preserved for future ages. In this
bogus ark is supposed to be a pot of manna, Aaron's rod, and the "book of
the law." The supposed finding of this bogus is without the slightest
foundation in Scripture, secular history, or tradition. IT IS JUST ANOTHER
EMPTY MYTH INVENTED BY THE DEVIL FOR THE PURPOSE OF DECEPTION.
These false claims justify the statement of Edmond Ronayne that:
"FREEMASONRY AND FALSEHOOD MIGHT WITHOUT IMPROPRIETY BE USED AS SYNONYMOUS
TERMS." Through these false claims Masonry would pose as a sublime and
wonderful institution and thus ensnare many into its fold.
The Oaths of Masonry Are Anti-Scriptural,
Blasphemous, Profane and Anarchistic
We will take up the oaths of Masonry as a second source of
evil. I have two counts to bring against the oaths.
The first count against these oaths is that they are
anti-Scriptural in several different ways. Jesus said: "Swear not at
all." Whatever else this may or may not forbid, it certainly forbids all
rash and extrajudicial swearing. MASONIC SWEARING IS BOTH RASH AND
ETRAJUDICIAL. It is rash because the candidate is made to take an oath he is
supposed never to have heard before, and is made to take it under conditions
which, to say the least, are not calculated to make him properly considerate of
what he is doing. It is a case of the blind leading the blind.
Masonic oaths are extrajudicial because lodges have no authority either
from God or the state to administer oaths. And the state does not recognize
their validity. Now the state either has divine authority for administering
oaths, or it does not have. If the state does have that authority, then it is
the only institution that has it. For God would not endow two institutions with
authority that would inevitably lead them into conflict. God is not the author
of confusion. If the state does not have that authority, then surely every
thoughtful, candid person will
have to admit that no institution has it. Here is a dilemma for lodges and it
matters not which horn they choose. ALL EXTRAJUDICIAL SWEARING OUGHT TO BE PROHIBITED BY THE STATE.
Again these oaths are anti-scriptural because in the third degree of the
Blue Lodge and in many of the higher degrees, the candidate must put his life
as a forfeit. It is necessary here that I quote the penalties attached to two
of the oaths of the Blue Lodge. Blindfolded, half dressed, and in a kneeling
posture before the altar upon which rests the Bible, square and compass, the
candidate takes the oaths and agrees to penalties. The Entered Apprentice says,
"Binding myself under no less penalty than that of having my throat cut
from ear to ear, my tongue torn out by its roots and buried in the sands of the
sea, at low water mark, where the tide ebbs and flows twice in twenty-four
hours, should I in the least knowingly, or willingly, violate or transgress
this my Entered Apprentice obligation. So help me God and keep me steadfast."
The Master Mason says: "Binding myself under no less penalty
than that of having my body severed in twain, my bowels taken
from thence and burned to ashes,
and this scattered by the four winds of heaven, that no more remembrance may be
had among men or Masons of so vile a wretch as I should be, should I in the
least, knowingly or wittingly violate or transgress this my Master Mason
obligation, so help me God and keep me steadfast.”
These quotations are made verbatim et literatum from "King Solomon
and His Followers," No. 3. This is a cypher ritual, published by Allen
Publishing Company of New York, and was purchased by the author from Ezra A.
Cook, Publisher, Inc., of Chicago. It can be bought by any who desire it. The
reader needs to be informed that there are minor verbal differences in the
ritual and oaths of Masonry in different states, and even in lodges of the same
state. So let no one be disturbed if told that any quotations made in this
paper are not exactly right. All the quotations are given as used in some
states, and are in substantial accord with the usage of all Masonic lodges.
NO CHRISTIAN HAS A RIGHT TO PUT UP HIS LIFE AS A PLEDGE. We read in the
Scripture: "Ye are not your own." I might as well steal money and put
it up as a pledge as to pledge my life, which does not belong to me.
But I am reminded that these penalties are just a matter of ancient form, and are never enforced. We will look into this matter a little later on, so for the present we will let it suffice to consider the words of R. A. Torrey: "Either these frightful oaths are meant to be taken seriously or literally, or else they are not. If they are taken earnestly and seriously and literally, words can scarcely describe my horror that any Christian man should take such an oath upon himself. If they are not taken seriously and literally, and in a large proportion of cases they are not, then THEY ARE PROFANE and BLASPHEMOUS IN THE EXTREME." This presents another nice dilemma. Selah!
Furthermore, the Entered Apprentice must swear as follows: "I
will always hail, forever conceal and never reveal, any of the secret arts,
parts or points of the hidden (?) mysteries of Masonry which may have been
heretofore or shall be at this time, OR AT ANY FUTURE PERIOD committed to me as
such."
And the Master Mason's oath says: "I furthermore promise and
swear that I will keep the secrets of a brother Master Mason when committed to
me as such, murder and treason excepted and these left to my own choice."
Now the point I wish to make here is that in these oaths a
man promises and swears that he will keep secrets which he may not be able to
keep conscientiously, inasmuch as he does not know, at the time he takes the
oaths, what he is going to be called upon to conceal. For that reason such
swearing was prohibited even under the Old Testament dispensation. Lev. 5:4, 5-
"If a soul swear, pronouncing with his lips TO DO EVIL OR TO DO GOOD,
whatever it shall be that a man shall pronounce with an oath, AND IT BE HID
FROM HIM; when he knoweth it, then he shall be guilty in one of these (guilty
of a sin of the kind under discussion in this chapter). And it shall be, when
he shall be guilty in one of these, that HE SHALL CONFESS THAT HE HATH SINNED
IN THAT THING." Even if he has promised to do good, when a man finds that
he has taken an oath without knowing all that was required in the fulfillment
of that oath, he is to acknowledge that he has sinned. EVERY CHRISTIAN LODGE
MAN SHOULD DO THIS.
In a moment we shall pass to the second count which I wish to bring
against these oaths. But before we do that, I want to show fully that these
oaths are morally invalid. Of course it is well known that they are legally
invalid, but I want to show that they are also morally invalid. It has been
shown already that these oaths are anti-Scriptural, rash and extrajudicial. I
have shown that it is impossible that a Masonic lodge have authority from God to administer oaths. Any sound
reasoning, therefore, must lead to the conclusion that lodge oaths are not binding on the Christian, who, after
making them, comes to realize their true nature.
If more proof of the invalidity of these oaths to the Christian is
desired, it can be easily produced. In each of the three degrees of the Blue
Lodge, before the candidate takes the oath, the Master pledges to the candidate
that there is nothing in the oath which can conflict with his duty to God, his
country, his neighbor, or himself. Therefore, if the candidate at any time
finds that his oath binds him to do anything that is contrary to his duty to
God, his country, his neighbor, or himself, THE OATH AT THAT MOMENT BECOMES
INVALID. If he comes to see that he was hoodwinked into taking an oath that is
hateful in the sight of God, as he should see if he is an intelligent
Christian, then the oath has conflicted with his duty to God; therefore he is
privileged to, AND SHOULD PROMPTLY DISAVOW THE OATH. FROM EVERY STANDPOINT
MASONIC OATHS ARE INVALID TO THE INTELLIGENT CHRISTIAN.
Coming now to the second count that I bring against these oaths, I wish to say that THEY ARE ANARCHlSTIC. By this, I mean that they are at variance with good government and that they are opposed to law and order. And since the Bible teaches that civil government is ordained of God, this brings them again into conflict with the Bible. The concealment of crime is anarchistic and lawless. YET MASONS HAVE REFUSED TO TESTIFY IN COURT ON THE GROUND THAT TO DO SO WOULD BE IN VIOLATION OF THEIR OATH. And, moreover, a Royal Arch Mason must swear to "assist a companion Royal Arch Mason, when engaged in any difficulty," and to "espouse his cause so far as to extricate him from the same, WHETHER HE BE RIGHT OR WRONG."
Do you understand now why Masons can do nearly anything under the
sun and get out of it with only a minimum punishment, or none at all? If some
one wants to find out why our laws are not better enforced, let him follow the
above scent and it will probably lead him to where he can find at least a good
portion of the proverbial "something rotten in the state of Denmark."
But there is yet more to come. The penalties attached to these
oaths foster murder. AND MURDER IS ANARCHISTIC. I have already shown that in
the three degrees of the Blue Lodge, the candidate must put up his life as a
forfeit. THEN IN SOME OF THE HIGHER DEGREES MURDER AND REVENGE, UPON THOSE WHO
BREAK THEIR OATHS, ARE INCULCATED, as in the 30th degree of Scotch Rite
Masonry- Knight of Kadosh- where the candidate is made to declare: "I
swear to take revenge on the traitors of Masonry."
We are again called to notice the claim that these penalties are a
mere matter of ancient custom, and are never enforced. BUT THE BLOOD OF MORE
THAN A DOZEN MARTYRS BRANDS THIS A FALSEHOOD.
If these penalties are a mere matter of ancient custom, then why
the murder of Samuel Pritchard, of London, in 1730; that of Noah Smith of
Manchester, Vermont, in 1798; that of Ariel Murdock of Rensselaer, N. Y., in
1803; that of William Michner of Jenkinstown, Pa., in 1809; that of Loring
Simmons of Albany, N. Y., in 1809; that of William Miller of Belfast, Ireland,
in 1813; that of an unknown man in Bristol, Pa., in 1820; that of Oliver Gavit
of Ohio, in 1824; that of William Morgan at Fort Niagara, N. Y., in 1826; that
of Job Hunt of Boston, in 1827; that of Artemus Kennedy, in 1830; that of David
Brounlee, Little York, Ill., in 1840; that of the carpenter by the name of
Forgie in Canada, in 1854; and that of a stranger by the name of Brock:, in
Howard City, Mich., in 1881. All of these were murdered for breaking their
Masonic oaths.
How many more have been murdered and the evidence covered up, we
have no way of knowing. So far as I know, we have no case like the above on
record since 1881. Perhaps Masonry had to put a stop to this in order to save
its life. Whatever may be the cause of their being no modern cases of Masonic
murder on record, it is true that the blood-curdling oaths are still imposed in
nearly every city, town and village in our land. Whether these oaths are
enforced or not today, they are potentially murderous. And Jesus taught that
potential murder is as evil as actual murder. (Matt. 5:22).
Today, the best known of the above martyrs is Captain William
Morgan of Batavia, N. Y. Morgan was abducted from his home and drowned in
Niagara River, near old Fort Niagara, in 1826. He was drowned in order to
suppress the publication of a book he was writing, in which he was exposing
Masonry. The evidence is conclusive and irresistible that the drowning of
Morgan was the result of Masonic vengeance. It is also beyond the pale of
reasonable doubt that his body was found at the mouth of Oak Orchard Creek, in Lake Ontario. I have read
the story of this tragedy from the pens of several men of high integrity, who
were in a position to know the circumstances. I have before me, as I write, a
history of the affair, which was compiled by two committees on investigation.
These committees were composed of citizens and appointed by the citizenship.
One committee consisted of ten. The other consisted of thirty-eight.
The finding of the body of Morgan was too much for those implicated
in this crime. The bloody affair had come to light in spite of all that had
been done to conceal it. Something had to be done. So a contention was
contrived that the body which had been found was not that of Morgan; but that
it was the body of a man by the name of Timothy Monroe, who had been drowned in
Niagara River a short time before the finding of the body. The identification
of the body as that of Morgan was undeniable, with the exception of the
clothing, which neither the wife nor any of the acquaintances of Morgan had
ever seen before. THEN WHEN THE SUPPOSED WIDOW OF MONROE CAME TO IDENTIFY THE
BODY HER DESCRIPTION WENT WILD IN REGARD TO EVERYTHING BUT THE CLOTHING, WHICH
SHE DESCRIBED IN MINUTE AND STRIKING DETAIL. No explanation of this is needed.
It is plain for all to understand it.
Yes, the blood of Captain William Morgan and that of many others
is on the hands of Masonry, and it will remain there until it is avenged at the
judgment of the great white throne.
And the murder of Morgan was not by a few imprudent Masons as some
would have us believe. The records show a general and widespread conspiracy.
The real perpetrators of the murder were never apprehended. Around their
"foibles" was cast "the broad mantle of Masonic charity,"
and beneath this the eyes of the law were unable to pierce. But several that
aided and abetted in the crime were brought to justice. And in sentencing them,
Judge Throop said in part: "YOUR OFFENSE WAS NOT THE RESULT OF PASSION SUDDENLY
EXCITED, NOR WAS IT THE DEED OF ONE INDIVIDUAL. IT WAS PRECONCERTED, DELIBERATED
UPON, AND CARRIED INTO EFFECT BY SECRET COUNCILS AND CONCLAVES OF MANY
ACTORS."
Then Samuel D. Green, Mayor of Batavia at the time Morgan was
abducted, and also a member of the same lodge with Morgan, had this to say:
"The lodge and chapter in this and other places acted in concert and under
the direction of the Grand Lodge of this state, AND SAID GRAND LODGE DID CAST
VOTES who should come out and dispatch Morgan and Miller (Miller was to print
the book) if necessary to prevent the development of Masonic secrets. MY
AUTHORITY IS FROM THE BEST SOURCES AND IS UNQUESTIONABLE. When the acts of the
lodge and the chapter were known, they refused to act as bodies on the deed,
but frequently met in knots of eight or ten to contrive mischief."
Truly did Honorable William L. Strong say: "The garments of
Masonry are stained with blood."
I mention this matter, not because it is pleasant to deal with,
but in order to show the criminal possibilities of the oaths we are now
discussing. When these bloodthirsty oaths are laid aside, we may be able to
forget the murder of Morgan and that of others. BUT UNTIL THEN THEY WILL NOT
DOWN.
Permit me now to give you some striking comments upon these oaths
and the anarchistic spirit of Masonry as fostered by them.
John Quincy Adams, the sixth President of these United States,
said: "I am prepared to complete the demonstration before God and men,
that the Masonic oath, obligation, and penalties cannot by any possibility be reconciled
to the laws of morality, of Christianity or of the land."
Millard Fillmore, the thirteenth President of our country, said:
"The Masonic fraternity tramples upon our rights, defeats the
administration of justice, and bids defiance to every government it cannot
control."
Daniel Webster, in speaking of Masonry, said: “Among the
obligations which are found to be imposed upon its members there are such as
are entirely incompatible with the duty of good citizens."
Benjamin Disraeli, once Prime Minister of England, said:
"Secret societies are hurrying the civil governments of the world to the
brink of a precipice over which law and order will ultimately fall and perish
together." (For the above testimonies see "Opinions on Secret
Societies," by William Dallmann, National Christian Association, Chicago,
Ill.).
Again John Quincy Adams said: "Look at the government of New
York, struggling in vain for five long years to bring the perpetrators of that
murder (murder of Morgan) to punishment. See the judges, sheriffs, witnesses,
jurors, entangled in a net of Masonry, and justice prostrated in her own temple
by her invisible hand. ...Go to the records of the court; you will find witnesses
refusing to testify upon the express grounds of Masonic obligations, avowing
that they considered these obligations paramount to the law of the land."
Finally, R. A. Torrey says: "To my own personal knowledge,
Masonry has been used to protect criminals and other evil-doers from the just
consequences of their wrong doing. In one city where I lived, the proprietor of
the vilest and most notorious place in the city could not be touched by the law
because he was a Knight Templar. Every other place of the sort was run out of the
city but this. I have known of similar things elsewhere that have come under my
personal observation."
Now as pertinent to the matter in hand, I shall give you some
official Masonic utterances. An official of the Grand Lodge of Missouri, in his
report of 1867, said: "We know no government save our own. To every government,
save that of Masonry, and to each and all alike, we are foreigners."
And from the Report on Correspondence to the Grand Lodge of New
Hampshire for 1876 we read: "The municipal law of the land is, as such, of
no binding force in the government of the Masonic institution."
Then Robert Morris, in Webb's Monitor, on page 240, in speaking of
the Masonic covenant, says that it is the covenant (or oath) that makes the
Mason, and then adds: "No laws of the land can affect it."
To become a Mason one must believe in the existence of a supreme
being, and must profess a trust in that supreme being. Then Masonry undertakes
to teach its devotees concerning their relation to that supreme being both in
time and in eternity.
Furthermore, Masonry has its "Worshipful Master," its
"High Priest," its set forms of prayer, its moral and religious
symbols and teachings, its beliefs in immortality and reward in the world to
come, its Scripture readings, and its altar. WHAT ELSE IS NEEDED TO BE ADDED IN
ORDER TO MAKE MASONRY A RELIGIOUS INSTITUTION?
But let us go on further, and note the testimony of loading Masonic writers. Robert Morris says,
in Webb's Monitor (page 231): "A meeting of a Masonic Lodge is a religious
ceremony."
In his Manual of the Lodge, page 46, A. G. Mackey says: "As
Masons we are taught never to begin any great or important undertaking without
first invoking the blessing and protection of deity, AND THIS IS BECAUSE
MASONRY IS A RELIGIOUS INSTITUTION."
On page 57 he says again: "Speculative Masonry, now known as
Freemasonry, is, therefore, the scientific application and the religious
consecration of the rules and principles, the technical language, and the implements
and materials of operative Masons to the worship of God as the Grand Architect
of the Universe, and to the purification of the heart, AND THE INCULCATION OF
THE DOGMAS OF A RELIGIOUS PHILOSOPHY."
From Sickles General Ahiman Rezon (page 57) we road: "Our
rites embrace all possible circumstances of man- moral, spiritual, and social- and
have a meaning as high as the heavens, broad as the universe, and profound as
eternity."
Then in Traditions of Freemasonry, on page 15, A. T. C. Pierson
says of Masonry: "Without any reference to forms and modes of faith, it
furnishes a series of indirect evidences, which SILENTLY operate to ESTABLISH
GREAT AND GENERAL PRINCIPLES OF RELIGION."
It will suffice to call your attention in the last place to the
words of J. D. Buck, as already quoted, and as found on page 46 of his
Symbolism or Mystic Masonry: "Masonry is not only a universal science, but
a WORLD- WIDE RELIGION."
Certainly it is a rival to the church which Jesus built. As George
Hunt has said: "It must be apparent to every lodge member who has a
conscience divinely enlightened by the Word of God and the Spirit of God, that
the lodge is none other than a spiritual counterfeit of the Church of Christ.
It is the devil's church, in which he has a Bible, a deity, a prayer, a form of
godliness, a path in which he claims to lead people into eternal blessedness;
and withal destroys every means God has set forth to attain these blessed
results- God's Bible, His Son, His Holy Spirit, which are His instrumentalities
to bring man into a right relation to Himself. The lodge repudiates God's Son,
and His Holy Spirit, and uses the Bible only to give it the kiss of Judas- not
to study and obey it. May God open your eyes to see that secretism is an
unmixed evil, a deception and a snare, and the enemy of your soul."
Masonry Is Anti-Christian in Thai
If Rejects Jesus Christ Both As Messiah and Saviour
Blue Lodge Masonry is supposed to be substantially the same the
world over. I have twice quoted from J. D. Buck to the effect that Masonry is
"a world-wide religion." And I have also quoted from Buck to the
effect that it teaches only "universal truths, which it recognizes in all
other religions."
And now listen to Robert Morris in Webb's Monitor 8 Freemasonry,
page 280: "So broad is the religion of Masonry, and so CAREFULLY ARE ALL
SECTARIAN TENETS EXCLUDED FROM THE SYSTEM, at the Christian (?), the Jew, and
the Mohammedan, in all of their numberless sects and divisions, may, and do harmoniously
combine in the moral and intellectual work with the Buddhist, the Parsee, the
Confucian, and the worshipper of Deity under every form."
Then from Mackey's Manual of the Lodge, page 215, comes the following:
"Though in ancient times Masons were charged in every country to be of the
religion of that country or nation, whatever it was, it is now thought more expedient
only to OBLIGE THEM TO THAT RELIGION IN WHICH ALL MEN AGREE."
Now it is plain that "that religion in which all men agree,"
and that which is acceptable to the Jew, Buddhist, Mohammedan, Parsee, Confucian,
"and the worshipper of Deity under every form," is essentially and necessarily
anti-Christian.
Masonry Is Anti-Christian in That
the Name oi Jesus Christ Is Excluded
THE NAME OF CHRIST DOES NOT APPEAR IN THE FORMS OF PRAYER FOR USE
IN THE MORE THAN FORTY DEGREES OF MASONRY WHICH I HAVE EXAMINED.
In Sickles' General Ahiman Rezon and Freemasons Guide, in addition
to the prayers used in the conferring of degrees, there are a number of prayers
for use on special occasions, such as funerals, installations, dedications,
laying of corner stones, etc., and the name of Christ does not appear in any of
them. BUT WHAT IS WORSE, IF POSSIBLE, IS THE EXPUNGING OF CHRIST'S NAME FROM
THE SCRIPTURES. This is done in the Mark Master's Degree, which is the first degree
in the York Rite above the Blue Lodge, where 1 Peter 2:5 is used with reference
to Christ omitted. It is also done in the Royal Arch, or seventh degree of the York
Rite and four degrees of Chapter Masonry, where II Thess. 3:6-16 is used; and
the name of Christ is twice omitted.
As against this Jesus said: "No man cometh unto the Father,
but by me."- John 16:32.
Also: "Whosoever therefore, shall be ashamed of me and my
words in this adulterous and sinful generation; of him also shall the son of
man be ashamed, when he cometh in the glory of his Father, with the holy
angels."- Mark 8:38.
And again: "He that honoureth not the Son, honoureth not the
Father that sent him."- John 5:23.
Not only is the name of Christ thus excluded from the ritual, but
it has been declared time and time again to be unmasonic to use the name of
Christ even in extemporaneous prayer.
The author has on file the testimony of many Masons who withdrew
from Masonry for this reason.
INDICTMENT NUMBER TEN
Masonry Is Anti-Christian in That
It Teaches the Universal Fatherhood of God
This is nearly too well known to need any proof, but lest it
should be doubted by some, I pause to vindicate it.
On page 41 of his History of Masonry, George Thornburg, says:
"The Fatherhood of God and the brotherhood of man, the underlying
principles of Freemasonry are as old as the human race."
In Masonic Facts for Masons on page 48, W. H. Russell says:
"The symbolisms of Masonry are used in its peculiar mode of instruction,
inculcating the duties we owe to God and man; and these ethics are founded on the
two great ideas of the Universal Fatherhood of God and the Brotherhood of
Man."
The Masonic Advocate of August, 1873, said: "The theology of
Masonry was established long before the advent of Christ on the earth, and is
based solely upon the Fatherhood of God and the brotherhood of man."
In Haywood's Great Teachings of Freemasonry, on page 120, we read:
"ALL MEN, whatever be their faith or fortune from Plato down to the
African dwarf, HAVE THIS RELATION WITH GOD. What God is to anyone, He is to
every other one; and all that God can be to or do for any man, He is to and
does for all men equally and everlastingly. This eternal and universal Fatherhood
in Him does not come into existence when we begin to believe it; it is already
a fact before we believe it, and remains a fact whether we believe it or
not."
All who will take time to study Masonry, or any other of the
outstanding lodges, will see what these men have said is the Masonic position.
Now let us see how this compares with the teachings of Christ and
the Scriptures. To some Pharisees, who claimed God as their Father, Christ
said:
"Ye are of your father the devil."- John 8:44.
Also note the following passages from the Word of God:
"As many as received him, to them gave he power to BECOME
SONS OF GOD."- John 1:12.
"Ye are all children of God BY FAITH IN CHRIST JESUS."- Galatians
3:26.
"In this the children of God are manifest, and the children of the devil": whosoever doeth not righteousness is not of God, neither he that loveth not his brother."- 1 John 3:10.
In regard to the lambskin or white apron which the Entered
Apprentice receives, the Master of the lodge says: "You are presented with
a lambskin, or white leather apron, because the lamb has in all ages been
deemed an emblem of innocence. He, therefore, who wears the lambskin or white
leather apron as the badge of a Mason, is thereby continually reminded of that
purity of life and conduct, which is essentially necessary to his gaining
admission into the celestial Lodge above, where the Supreme Architect of the
Universe presides."
Then in explanation of the covering of the lodge the following is
said: "The covering of a Lodge is the clouded canopy, or the starry decked
heaven, where all good Masons hope at last, to arrive by the aid of a ladder
called Jacob's Ladder, having three principal rounds denominated faith, hope,
and charity, teaching faith in God, hope in immortality, and charity to all
mankind."
This does not mean what the Scriptures mean by faith in God. In
the Scriptures faith in God is faith in God through Christ, but Masonry is a
universal religion. "The religion in which all men agree," and,
therefore, must scorn such a sectarian tenet as the doctrine of the mediatorial
work of Christ. Faith in God in Masonic parlance means no more than a belief in
the existence of a supreme being, and in his mercy bestowed apart from Christ
and according to personal merit.
Also from the ritual of the same degree we read: "By the
rough ashler, we are reminded of our rude and imperfect state by nature; by the
perfect ashler, of that state of PERFECTION at which we hope to arrive by a
virtuous education, our own endeavors and the blessing of God."
Then from the ritual of the third degree comes the following:
"And now, my brethren, let us see to it, and so regulate our lives by the
plumb-line of Justice, ever squaring our actions by the rule of Virtue that
when the Grand Warden of Heaven shall call for us, you may be found ready."
From the degree of Royal Master which is the eighth degree of the
York Rite we read: "The Supreme Master of the universe before whom we bow
in adoration, and whose all-seeing Eye has marked our labors in this lodge
below, promises to spread before us in the stupendous Lodge above all the joys
and glories of his eternal Sabbath. After the strong hand of death has leveled all
in the humiliation of the grave, the Almighty hand, of the Supreme Master shall
prevail and exalt EVERY BROTHER to the glorious companionship of the undissolving
Lodge above."
I need not continue these quotations from the ritual. These are
sufficient to show that Masonry teaches Satan's gospel of salvation by works
and character. If I had space I should like to quote from the burial ceremony
and show how this false teaching is brought there, and how this ceremony
teaches that unbelievers will be saved.
But I must give you the words of Mr. E. A. Coil, a lodge man and a
Unitarian. In The Relation of The Liberal Churches and the Fraternal Orders he
says on page 10: "The more I learn of the fundamental principles of the
great fraternities, the more interested do I become in the fact that many
people who denounce the churches called liberal (such churches as those of Unitarians
and Universalists) ENTHUSIASTICALLY ENDORSE, AS FRATERNITY MEN, THE VERY PRINCIPLES
FOR WHICH THOSE CHURCHES STAND. I have often thought, in recent years, that I
should like to organize a Sunday School class, and use as a textbook the
monitors of our leading fraternal orders, and show the members of those
organizations THE LOGIC OF THE PRINCIPLES TO WHICH THEY IN THEIR LODGES, ARE
PLEDGED. Nearly all of those monitors have, as their very heart, the fatherhood
of God, the brotherhood of man, immortality, and SALVATION BY CHARACTER,
principles very familiar TO EVERY UNITARIAN SUNDAY SCHOOL SCHOLAR who has been
properly taught the fundamentals of our faith."
Let us contrast the words of Jesus:
"Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot
enter the kingdom of God."- John 3:5.
"As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness,
even so must the Son of man be lifted up; that whosoever believeth in him
should not perish, but have eternal life."- John 3:14, 15.
"I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father but by me."- John 14:6.
Let us note also the words of Paul:
"By grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves:
it is the gift of God: not of works lest any man should boast." - Eph.
2:8, 9.
Do the foregoing quotations from the ritual of Masonry and the Scriptures here given, teach the same thing? If so, then darkness is equal to light. And now lest it might be claimed that I have misinterpreted the meaning of the words quoted from the ritual, I will let a Grand Lodge interpret them for us.
In the proceedings of the Minnesota Grand Lodge, January, 1895, on
page 66, we read: "He who approaches our altar in good faith, and by the
light which we bring him, receives our teaching into a heart already prepared,
and lives a life in conformity with the principles which he here imbues, has
come into an invaluable possession and need have no fear when the word shall
come calling him into the hereafter, but will be received as a living stone fit
for that temple not made with hands."
Masonry Is an Anti-Christian
Religion in That It Is Patterned After and Founded upon the
Heathen Practices of Ancient
Sun-worshippers
On page 27 of his introduction to Symbolism or Mystic Masonry, J.
D. Buck says: "Freemasonry is modeled on the plan of the ancient mysteries
with their glyphics and allegories, and this is no mere coincidence: the
parallels are too closely drawn."
In Pierson's Traditions of Freemasonry, on page 13, we read:
"The identity of the Masonic institution with the Ancient Mysteries is
obvious from the striking coincidence found to exist between them."
And in the same volume, on page 240, we read: "We readily
recognize in Hiram Abiff (whom the Masonic candidate for the third degree is
made to represent) one of the Grand Masters of Freemasons; the Osirus of the
Egyptians (Osirus, and the others which follow, were sun gods), the Mithras of
the Persians, the Bacchus of the Greeks, the Dionysias of the fraternity of the
artificers, and the Attys of the Phrygians whose passion, death and
resurrection were celebrated by those peoples respectively ."
Then Sickles says on page 196 of his General Rezon: "Osirus
and the Tyrian Architect (Hiram Abiff) are one and the same."
Lastly, in speaking of the legend of Hiram Abiff, which is enacted
in the third degree of Masonry, Mackey says on page 112 of his Ritualist:
"The idea of the legend was undoubtedly borrowed from the Ancient Mysteries."
And in his Lexicon, Mackey speaks of the Ancient Mysteries as "truly
Masonic Institutions."
A study of the matter will show that the entire ceremony of Blue
Lodge Masonry is an imitation of the rites performed in ancient idolatrous
sun-worship.
Now we shall ask, what attitude, does the Bible take toward
sun-worship?
(1.) The first testimony I shall give is from Job.
"If I beheld the sun when it shined, or moon walking in
brightness: and my heart hath been secretly enticed, or my mouth hath kissed my
hand: this also were an iniquity to be punished by the judge; for I should have
denied the God that is above."-Job. 31:26-28.
God said of Job:
"There is none like him in the earth, a perfect and an upright man, one that feareth God and escheweth evil."-Job 1:8.
And to this holy man of God, any reference paid to the sun, or any
rite engaged in, in honor of the sun, was a denial of God. SUCH IS EVERY
MASONIC RITE AND CEREMONY FROM THE TIME THE CANDIDATE FOR THE ENTERED
APPRENTICE DEGREE SOUNDS THE ALARM AT THE OUTER DOOR UNTIL HE IS RAISED TO THE
SUBLIME DEGREE OF A MASTER MASON, EVERY RITE AND CEREMONY HE GOES THROUGH IS IN
HONOR OF THE SUN; AND IS, THEREFORE, A DENIAL OF "THE GOD THAT IS
ABOVE."
(2.) In the second place I will call your attention to the fact
(of which every casual Bible reader is aware) that the Old Testament severely
condemns the worship of Baal; and Baal was a sun-god. The New Students Reference
Work says of Baal: "He was the god of the sun, as ruling and giving life
to nature."
Any other standard authority will substantiate this. This,
therefore, makes Baal and Osirus the same. And severe judgments were sent upon
the children of Israel for engaging in the rites of Baal worship. IS GOD ANY
BETTER PLEASED WITH BAAL WORSHIP TODAY THAN HE WAS SOME THREE THOUSAND YEARS AGO?
All Masonic worship is Baal worship.
The point within a circle which is so significant as a Masonic
symbol was borrowed from this heathen sun-worship; and was an immoral glyphic,
whose meaning should not be hard to define. Mackey, in his Lexicon on page 353,
says that the worship to which this symbol belonged "was adopted by the
idolatrous Israelites, who took it from the Moabites in the Wilderness of Sin,
under the name of Baal-Peor."
Reference to the twenty-fifth chapter of Numbers will show that
God killed twenty-four thousand Israelles for this. Yet Masonry today dares to
exalt the same symbol and inculcate the same worship.
(3.) It is quite certain that it was with reference to one form of
the Ancient Mysteries (the Eleusinian, celebrated near Athens) that Paul spoke
when he said:
“Have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them. For it is a shame to speak of those things that are done of them in secret." - Eph. 5:11, 12.
And also when he said:
"Be not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness? and what concord hath Christ with Belial? or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel? or what agreement hath the temple of God with idols?"- II Cor. 6:14-16.
(4) Finally, we will refer to Ezekiel 8:1-18. In the fourteenth
verse it will be seen that the idol of Tammuz is mentioned. In Mackey's Lexicon
of Freemasonry page 19, we read: "The idol of Tammuz, mentioned in the
eighth chapter of Ezekiel, was considered by Jerome, and after him by
Parkhurst, as identical with Adonis."
John Gill and Matthew Henry testify to the same opinion.
Then on the same page of Mackey's Lexicon, and on pages 3 and 4 of
Symbolism of Freemasonry, we are told that Adonis was the same as Osirus.
THEREFORE, TAMMUZ AND OSIRUS, WHOM HIRAM ABIFF REPRESENTS, ARE ONE AND THE
SAME. AND IN THE EIGHTH CHAPTER OF EZEKIEL WE HAVE A PICTURE OF THE ANCIENT
WORSHIP AFTER WHICH MASONRY IS PATTERNED AND UPON WHICH IT IS FOUNDED. The
scene in the fourteenth verse, of women weeping for Tammuz is commemorated in
every well- ordered Masonic lodge by a glyphic consisting in part of a virgin
weeping over a broken column. The virgin represents Isis, the wife of Osirus.
The broken column represents the untimely death of Osirus.
Osirus was the personification of the heating and life-giving
power of the sun. Therefore, when winter came and the sun was seemingly
deprived of much of its heating and life-giving power, Osirus was thought to be
dead. But with the return of the warm and invigorating rays of the sun, he was
thought to revive again. This is what is represented in the so-called Tyrian
legend in the third degree of Masonry. Just as the sun is seemingly gradually
deprived of much of its heating and impregnating power through the three fall
months, so Hiram is slain by the successive attacks of the three ruffians-Jueblo,
Jubela, and Jubelum. And just as the sun seemingly regains its lost power
through the three spring months, so Hiram is raised after three attempts.
Moreover, just as the sun fully regains its seemingly lost power and summer is
ushered in again when the Zodiacal sign is in Leo or Lion, and as Osirus was
thought, there to regain his life through the help of the Lion, so Hiram is at
last successfully raised by the strong grip of a Master Mason, or the Lion's
paw.
Now fancy Christians, and even ministers, going through such
heathenism. No wonder many churches living at a poor dying rate and no wonder
the cause of missions is suffering. Read Ezekiel 8:17, 18 for an explanation of
it.
This was the drama that the women in this fourteenth verse were
enacting. This is more realistically represented in the third degree of
Masonry, when all the brethren catch hands and march in single file around the
candidate, who, representing Hiram Abiff (alias Osirus), is supposed to be
dead, having been slain by Jubelum. As the brethren file around, they sing a doleful
ditty. It is a funeral march; a mourning scene. And it comes from the same
thing as the drama represented in Ezekiel 8:14.
Furthermore, the scene in the sixteenth verse is represented in
each degree of the Blue Lodge when the candidate is conducted to the west and
taught how to approach the east in a very august and impressive way. In the
east sits the Worshipful Master, who represents he sun.
Every person who takes part in a Masonic ceremony, especially in
the Blue Lodge, is committing just such an offense against God as were the
people mentioned in the eighth chapter of Ezekiel.
And now listen what God has to say about it:
"Hast thou seen this O son of Man? Is it a light thing to the house of Judah that they commit the abominations which they commit here? for they have filled the land with violence: and also, they put their branch to their nose. Therefore will I also deal in fury: mine eyes shall not spare, neither will I have pity: and though they cry in mine ears with a loud voice, yet will I not hear them."
The branch mentioned above is the prototype of the Masonic
evergreen and derives its significance from the fact that in the legend of the
ancient mysteries of Egypt the body of the slain Osirus was found "at the
foot: of a tamarind tree." If you ever witness another Masonic funeral, be
sure to note its heathenism as displayed in the dropping of the sprig of
evergreen in the grave. What an abomination this must be in the sight of a holy
and jealous God! Yet even some preachers who are opposed to lodges will
encourage this heathenism (the whole ceremony is heathenism from beginning to
end) by taking part in the funeral service. The practice of such preachers must
be a double abomination in the sight of God. Selah!
MASONRY IS SATAN'S RELIGION. IF THERE IS AN ANTI-CHRIST IN THE WORLD TODAY, MASONRY IS ONE. IT RIVALS ROMAN CATHOLICISM AS AN OPPONENT OF TRUE CHRISTIANITY. IT IS ONE Of' THE DEVIL'S MASTERPIECES. OUR CLOSING APPEAL:
"COME OUT OF HER MY PEOPLE."- REV. 18:4.
MAY GOD GRANT YOU SHALL DO SO!