What is Freemasonry, and what do Freemasons believe?

Freemasonry makes self-effort the way of salvation as a substitute for the gospel of God. In the general run of lodges, with scarcely an exception, the Name of Christ is forbidden, save as on a level with Buddha, Zoroaster, Mohammed, Osiris, and the like. Christian, Deist, Jew, Mohammedan, Theosophist, Heathen, the utterly godless—all are welcome. Nothing is to be said to offend any, so the Name of Christ is ruled out. In the reading of the Scriptures the Name of Christ is carefully suppressed.

Hear how Freemasonry substitutes self-effort for salvation in place of the gospel. Man, according to Freemasonry, can be his own Saviour. In that system there is no need for Christ. Major Powell writes:—

The glory of Christianity is AN OPEN BIBLE. Freemasonry on the contrary has secret signs, and the ritual in the lodges is written in a secret code. Our Lord tells us that there is nothing secret that shall not be revealed, and instructed His disciples: “What I tell you in darkness, that speak ye in light: and what ye hear in the ear, that preach ye upon the housetops.” (Matt. 10:27)

Freemasonry makes self-effort the way of salvation as a substitute for the gospel of God. In the general run of lodges, with scarcely an exception, the Name of Christ is forbidden, save as on a level with Buddha, Zoroaster, Mohammed, Osiris, and the like. Christian, Deist, Jew, Mohammedan, Theosophist, Heathen, the utterly godless—all are welcome. Nothing is to be said to offend any, so the Name of Christ is ruled out. In the reading of the Scriptures the Name of Christ is carefully suppressed.

Hear how Freemasonry substitutes self-effort for salvation in place of the gospel. Man, according to Freemasonry, can be his own Saviour. In that system there is no need for Christ. Major Powell writes: “Before the soul rises again in its glory, there must be Gethsemane and Calvary. There is a loneliness, a desolation of bitterest intensity ere the soul … can be itself, unaided by anything or any being outside itself, alone, aloof, a King in its own right.” (The Magic of Masonry, p. 105)

“UNAIDED BY ANYTHING,” where is there room for the atoning work of our Lord Jesus Christ? “UNAIDED BY … ANYTHING OUTSIDE ITSELF,” where is there room for the Saviour Himself? None whatever! According to Masonic teaching, man “ALONE, ALOOF,” is his own Saviour. He is “A KING IN HIS OWN RIGHT.” Surely this is apostasy. Man is deified.

“Freemasonry in its ritual and official language is of a Deistic nature, simply the creative activity of flood as the Great Architect of the Universe, and the moral obligation of honesty and kindliness The Distinctive faith of Christianity and the Christian message of salvation through faith in Christ is wholly incompatible with the claims put forward by Freemasonry in writing and speech.”

And why should the large Methodist body, at their Conference held at Bradford in 1927, pass two resolutions concerning Freemasonry? The following is an extract from the same: “Freemasonry in its ritual and official language is of a Deistic nature, simply the creative activity of flood as the Great Architect of the Universe, and the moral obligation of honesty and kindliness The Distinctive faith of Christianity and the Christian message of salvation through faith in Christ is wholly incompatible with the claims put forward by Freemasonry in writing and speech.”

The Rev. C. Penney Hunt, B.A., who has written a very striking exposure of Freemasonry, says truly: “Freemasonry is simply Theosophy. It is the perpetuation of the worship of the old pagan gods of Egypt, Greece, India, etc.” (The Menace of Freemasonry to the Christian Faith, 4th edition, p. 8)

We may well ask in astonishment, Where does the fascination lie in such a compound of heathendom and Unitarianism? The answer is twofold. (1) There is the awful and generally very underrated power of Satan, working with extraordinary subtilty, so that even Christians may come under the power of these subtle workings without being in the least aware of it. (2) There is an outward and external reason. SELF-INTEREST is the appeal. Here is a society of men bound to stand by each other, to advance each other’s interests in commerce and in all the affairs of this life. A letter only today is illuminating. My friend writes: “The secret bond of Freemasonry is making itself increasingly felt in these days of economical and business and financial famine. I could cite several businessmen, who have lost much trade, and some others who have failed to get situations, not being Masons. Only one question is asked, ‘Are you a Mason?’ and on reply in the negative no further question is put, and the interview politely closed. I myself have suffered losses on this account.”

The entrance of a candidate to the Masonic Lodge is humiliating in the extreme. Half-stripped, blindfolded, on bended knees with a halter round his neck, he must present a debasing spectacle to every right-minded person. It is certainly symbolic of what happens to them spiritually. Half-stripped, the candidate, if he believes all that he is told, will be WHOLLY stripped of Christianity. Blindfolded, if he believes all that he is told, his mind will be complete darkness as to Christ and His atoning work on the Cross. On bended knee the candidate makes on solemn oath a promise to receive teaching of which he does not fully know the nature. He does not know what his oath implies. It binds him to an abject slavery, which submits his mind to a whole system of teaching, regulations and secrets of an anti-christian cult.

The entrance of a candidate to the Masonic Lodge is humiliating in the extreme. Half-stripped, blindfolded, on bended knees with a halter round his neck, he must present a debasing spectacle to every right-minded person. It is certainly symbolic of what happens to them spiritually. Half-stripped, the candidate, if he believes all that he is told, will be WHOLLY stripped of Christianity. Blindfolded, if he believes all that he is told, his mind will be complete darkness as to Christ and His atoning work on the Cross. On bended knee the candidate makes on solemn oath a promise to receive teaching of which he does not fully know the nature. He does not know what his oath implies. It binds him to an abject slavery, which submits his mind to a whole system of teaching, regulations and secrets of an anti-christian cult.

In answer let us quote Mr. J. S. M. Ward, Secretary-General of The Masonic Study Circle. He has written a number of text-books for the use of candidates preparing for the different degrees in the Masonic body. The introduction to these handbooks is written by Sir John Cockburn, Past Grand Deacon (of England), Past Deputy Grand Master (of South Australia). Surely these are credentials enough to show that he is an authority in Masonic circles, and that what he puts forth is their accepted belief. In one of these books he introduces some lines of his own composition, which run as follows: “Bacchus died and rose again On the golden Syrian plain, Osiris rose from out the grave And thereby mankind did save, Adonis likewise shed his blood By the yellow Syrian flood, Zoroaster brought to birth Mithra from his cave of earth. And we to-day in Christian lands, We with them can join hands.”

According to these lines on entering the Masonic lodge the Christian must leave his Christianity outside, and associate with a system that places Christianity on a level with heathen religions. Can a Christian join hands with Bacchus, the Roman god of wine? In the Bacchanalian festivals “the most horrible immoralities were practised; the wildest frenzy indulged in.” (Smith’s Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities, p. 265)

“Christian saint, Mohammedan Mystic, Indian Yogi, Buddhist Lama, Greek Gnostic, Egyptian Priest—each in his own way has borne witness to the transcendental vision, where self and personality are obliterated where atonement is established.” (The Magic of Freemasonry, 1924, p. 594)

“Freemasonry is simply Theosophy. It is the perpetuation of the worship of the old pagan gods of Egypt, Greece, India, etc.” ( The Menace of Freemasonry to the Christian Faith, 4th edition, p. 8)