What Church Members Should know about MASONRY by Jack R. Elliott EDITORS NOTE: An intensive and extended examination and thorough research into the FACTS was necessary to reveal the TRUTH, too long concealed from the Church. The facts brought to light from many authentic sources are astounding. This startlingly revealing book was written as a Thesis, in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Theology conferred on Mr. Elliott, June 6th, 1958, by Ambassador College. You will find it to be an astonishing and eye-opening revelation. We feel it is breathtaking in interest, intriguing, and shocking-but it is all the TRUTH, carefully documented. We feel it is high time these little known facts be published for Our Church members. We need to know HOW it came about that, even in our modern times, as the Word of God foretold: all nations were deceived! Is MASONRY a Christian organization? Do they have the truth? Why are they so secret? Is it all right to remain in the Lodge? Is it all right to join the Masons? This dissertation is designed to help you answer these questions, give the reasoning behind the answer, and produce the evidence to back it up! It is important that members of the Church know something about the Masonic Lodge-its teachings and its beliefs-so that they can answer questions on the subject with understanding. Many persons who are interested in the WAY OF LIFE ask questions that need a true and accurate answer, not the evasion they get when they ask information from a Mason. The Mason cannot answer most of your questions because he has sworn, under penalty of death, not to reveal Masonic secrets. Since the details cannot be revealed, he merely assures you that Masonry is a Christian organization based on the Bible. He further assures you that Masonry is in accordance with Gods laws and a candidate is not required to take any action against nation, state or family. Is this true? You had better make sure before you gamble away your life on it. Part I BEGINNING OF A DILEMMA WE HAVE all heard a lot about Masonry and Masons. Many of the things we hear are contradictory. What are the REAL FACTS about Masonry? Definitions of Freemasonry have been numerous. Seldom do you find two alike. Here are quoted some of the most celebrated ones which were composed by influential Masons and, as you might expect, they heap much praise upon the Lodge. Freemasonry is a beautiful system of morality, veiled in allegory, and illustrated by symbols. Hemming. Masonry is an art, useful knowledge and learning, and stamps an indelible mark of pre-eminence on its genuine professors, which neither chance, power, nor fortune can bestow. Preston. The grand object of Masonry is to promote the happiness of the human race. - George Washington. If such statements can be made of the Lodge by such noted people, then surely it is a worthy organization! How can belonging to it be a discredit to anyone? they ask. Take a closer look and you will see that while these definitions are impressive, they still leave the reader in the dark as to the what, why, and how of Freemasonry. Confusion in Doctrine Masonic doctrine is very pliable because it is so loosely knit together and embodies such a tremendous scope of Christian as well as pagan ideas. Furthermore, it is cushioned with allowances for those members who wish to disagree with either or both because the Lodge embraces men of all religions. These allowances also absorb or explain away any accusations brought against Masonic doctrine. It makes no difference whether the accusation is pro-Christian, pro- Mohammedan, pro-Pagan, or pro-any- thing. To be more specific, Masonic philosophy is very inexact, vague in principle and so devious in application that it can mean almost anything to any-one. Its basic teaching method is by subtle suggestion which allows the candidate to warp his former beliefs into the Masonic framework. Masonry can be more revealingly defined as a group of men, banded together in an exclusive lodge to advance, first and foremost, their PERSONAL INTERESTS and second, the interests of certain others of their fellowmen. They set as their guide, morals that are as high as other man-made codes. The fact that they are man-made is not considered a degradation by the brotherhood. They set as the highest and simplest of these morals brotherly love- (the brother referred to, however, is a brother Mason). The spirit of Masonry is that of mystery, feigned pomp and ceremony, and intemperate revelry. They search ancient writings, Christian and pagan, in order to find the mysterious secrets of life. The teachings of the Holy Bible and the ancient (pagan) mysteries are accepted alike and constitute their main sources of information. From these they select the principles which most appeal to their desires. They have worked out ten of their own commandments which are an amalgamation of some of Gods laws, and some gleaned from the ancients. Membership Is Lucrative Belonging to the Lodge is profitable for a number of reasons. Among these is the fact that a Mason is usually better informed than the average person on community and civil affairs. Masons are of every profession imaginable. They have a vast storehouse of knowledge at their command which they share with one another at refreshment and during special meetings. Furthermore, they do not content themselves with the knowledge that is already among them, but certain members make a life work of seeking out the uncommon, and pro-claiming it from lodge to lodge at special meetings. Not all information is edifying, however. Much error is introduced by the informed (Among these is the erroneous teaching about the construction and architecture of King Solomons Temple. Illustrative drawings of the structure while very impressive usually show it adorned with objects of pagan worship). Another helpful principle is that of extending aid to a brother Mason. Each member is dedicated to help a needy brother wherever or whenever he is able. Membership in the Lodge is therefore very useful to those who seek political office, political favor, employment opportunities, business connections, travel accommodations, or a privileged position in the community. So pronounced are some of these aids that all who do not enjoy them are greatly handicapped when they compete for certain offices or favor. Political office is a good example, and the Presidency of the United States is not excepted. Most of our Presidents have been Masons, either active or honorary. Secrecy Our definition could not be complete without mentioning the secrecy of Masonry. Symbolism, which means nothing to the average person, is used to remind the Mason of his duties and morals while hiding the allegoric meaning and beauty from the vulgar eye of the uninformed. Lodges meet in secret behind guarded doors. Secret signs, handshakes and utterances reveal one Mason to another regardless of his lodge, rite, or country. Membership in the Lodge is, there- fore, a ticket to favoritism in any city or any state or any country, and is a Masonic promise to happiness and prosperity. In actuality, Masons find that altruistic ideals of the Lodge break down in practice. Brother Masons are not much more trustworthy than the unenlightened. Some do not find the oaths they take binding enough to keep them from defrauding even a brother. At least two Church of God brethren have confided to this author that they have been seriously defrauded at the hands of brother Masons. One put it this way: In swearing to give aid and assistance to a brother Mason, an up-right member falls prey to dishonest members of the Lodge and is frequently defrauded. I have found the word of most Masons is just so much wind, and they would not hesitate to defraud if they could do so successfully. They follow Masonic teachings just as far as is conducive to their own gain. Size and Importance One does not ordinarily realize the scope or importance of Freemasonry in our country. Its different rites, all in an interdependent system, boasted 4,-175,000 members in 1939-3,300,000 of which were in the United States. There are probably between five and six million members in the United States today. The various rites have upon their rolls the names of emperors, kings, Princes, priests, and governors, together with scholars, statesmen, and men of lesser stations in church and state. Here are a few famous men who have been Masons in the United States: Benjamin Franklin, Presidents Washington, Jefferson, Monroe, Adams, Jackson, Polk, Fillmore, Harrison, Buchanan, Johnson, Garfield, McKinley, Taylor, Pierce, Taft, Theodore Roosevelt, and Truman. Other Prominent members were Lafayette, Fulton, Montgomery, Sherman, Burr, Rush, Whipple, Paine, Hamilton, Gerry, Steubon, Stark, Livingstone, Dekalb, Warren, Paul Jones, Witherspoon, Revere and Hancock. Most of these are proclaimed Masons by no lesser authority than the Encyclopedia Americana. Most local, state and federal officials are Masons. Realize that when you apply for employment, the man who may or may not employ you is likely to be a member of the Lodge. By handshake or other Masonic sign, you would be able to greatly increase your chances of securing that job because he has sworn an oath to extend aid and comfort to a fellow Mason if it is within his means to do so. You are, likewise, in a much better position to have a favor granted from a public official who belongs to the Lodge when you are a member. Throughout the United States, many Masons admit that they know or have heard of brothers guilty of a crime against society who were never brought to trial because of their affiliation with the Lodge, and because of aid rendered by an official who was a Mason. Others who have been brought to trial were either acquitted by a jury containing Masons or were given light sentences. In one such instance which occurred recently, a man killed one of his close friends. He was convicted of premeditated murder without malice, and sentenced to only two years in prison. After two months imprisonment he was out on a 30 days leave. The man was a Mason and so were a number of the jurors and law enforcement officials. Anti-Masonic Literature One seldom sees anti-Masonic literature, even though much has been written. Because printers are often Masons, dedicated to conceal the secrets of the Lodge, it has little chance. Bookstore owners or librarians seldom stock books either pro-or anti-Masonic. Laymen who are Masons are unwilling to divulge secrets because they have been sworn to secrecy. Nevertheless, even in the face of all these obstacles, anti-Masonic literature does exist. Certain organizations have been very zealous in their fight against the Lodge. Today, though their zeal is gone, some continue to publish lodge secrets. Masons, more than anyone else, buy their books because they find them a convenient aid to learning the long list of lodge secrets. This is against lodge rules, however, because Masons are not allowed to write down these secrets, but new members are supposed to be taught by word of mouth only. The arduous and grueling task of instructing the uninformed is simplified greatly by this underhanded method of using available written material. One example is the Ezra A. Cook Publications, Inc., P.O. Box 796, Chicago 90, Illinois. A letter to the Ezra A. Cook Company requesting publications on the subject of Freemasonry will bring you a lengthy list of available books which accurately reveal Masonic secrets. These books are available to anyone. Structure of Masonry Figure 1 is the symbolic representation of Freemasonry in America. It is represented by a square and compass supported by two pillars, Jachin and Boaz. The illustration has been considered highly secret and was allowed only to Masons of high degree. It was given to me by a church member who had formerly been a Mason. Recently however, an article appeared in Life magazine (October 8, 1956, pages 104-122) in which the structure of Freemasonry was represented in similar manner. The fact that Masons decided to let the vulgar eye of the public see the different but accurate illustration, demonstrates their inconsistency. The apprentice enters the structure, symbolically, between the two columns, Jachin and Boaz, which are said to represent the two columns of Solomons Temple (see II Chron. 3:15) and progresses by degrees toward perfection. All this happens under the All-Seeing Eye shown at the top of the figure, whom (they say) the sun, moon and stars obey and under whose watchful care even the comets perform their stupendous revolutions, (who) pervades the inmost recesses of the human heart, and who will reward us (Masons) according to our merits. (Lightfoot, page 33.) The reward supposedly comes after death releases him from this world and his soul progresses upwards toward heaven and perfection. When the apprentice enters Masonry, he is compared to a rough ashier (or rough building stone), and as the ashier is shaped and polished before it is ready for use, so must the candidate become perfected during the first three degrees until he becomes a perfect ashler and may be used as a building block in the house of God (the house of God as symbolized by the Masonic Temple ). Thus perfected the Master Mason may enter into and work within the Holy of Holies. The Holy of Holies is symbolized by the central part of the structure surrounding the letter G. The letter G stands for God; therefore work in all degrees from the masters up is done symbolically in the presence of God, in His most holy place. After one has successfully mastered the first three degrees, or the Blue Lodge, he proceeds up through the Grand Lodge by way of either the York or the Scottish Rite. The Scottish Rite accepts members of all faiths, so long as they profess a creator God and believe in a life after death. The York Rite is just as liberal, except in its higher orders an oath has to be taken that affirms a belief in Christ, thus excluding conscientious Jews from degrees beyond that point. More information can be attained from the Encyclopedia Britannica by those who wish to pursue the technical organization of Freemasonry in the United. States. Masonic Interest Very few Masons understand or care about the technical aspects of the Lodge or about its symbolic teachings. They are interested instead in such questions as how important it is to be a member; therefore, how big, important and righteous Masonry is; how to join; how to climb to the top; how to keep others from getting to the top without due process; how to keep enemies out, et cetera. The great majority embrace Free-masonry for the purpose of enhancing their business prestige. As long as they can pass themselves as Masons and make use of the secret language which Masonry puts within their reach, they are perfectly satisfied and desire nothing more. A Mason is not required to know about the structure and organization of Masonry mentioned above unless he sits in one of the governing councils. It is only when his ambitions spur him in that direction that a Mason is willing to expend the effort to learn it, plus a mass of other laws, doctrines, and philosophies. The following information is concerned with what the candidate for the various degrees is exposed to and what he is forced to learn. Every attempt will be made to show you Masonry as the candidate sees it. Therefore, few remarks will be made to expose fallacies or to criticize the Lodge at this phase. As the candidate proceeds thru the degrees, no one points to any of the facets of Masonry and says, That is condemned by God Almighty. On the contrary, each aspect is drawn up in beautifully phrased allegories-the high (human) morality being greatly emphasized. Who would dare question this holiness? Who Can Belong? If a person wishes to become a member of the Masonic Lodge, he must be freeborn, under no bondage, of at least twenty-one years of age, in the possession of sound senses, free from any physical defect or dismemberment, and of irreproachable manners, or, as it is technically termed, under the tongue of good report. No atheist, eunuch, cripple, or woman can be admitted. Even those who possess all these necessary qualifications can be admitted only under certain regulations. Masons wives or children may not attend the regular meetings, but only such special functions as may be planned for them. To satisfy the desires of wives and children to take part in Masonic functions, special or side orders were adopted-such as the Eastern Star ritual, the De Molay for boys, and the Rainbow Girls. These orders have their own secrets and functions apart from the regular Lodge, but follow its general pattern. They are supervised by Masons. Indeed, their meetings cannot be held without a Mason present to supervise. Joining the Lodge Because Masons are forbidden to solicit new members, a man must re-quest admission for himself. The usual procedure for petitioning the Lodge is to have another Mason recommend the candidate. He does so by presenting a formal petition, signed by the candidate, to the particular lodge which he wishes to join. The applicant must be vouched for and recommended by one or more Masons. Once submitted, his petition is read before the assembly, and a committee is appointed to inquire into his character. If nothing is found to disqualify him and the committee gives him a favorable report, his petition is again presented to the assembly one month later and voted upon by the brethren. Once the applicant has been accepted, he becomes a candidate for the first, or Entered Apprentice, degree. Preparation for Initiation Before attending any meetings or taking any part in Masonic rituals, the candidate must be initiated. On his first visit to the Lodge, he is kept outside in the anteroom (see Figure 2) while the first part of the meeting takes place. Neither he nor anyone else has a chance to know what is going on in the meeting because the door is closed and a guard-usually with drawn sword-is standing beside it. Finally, three raps are heard at the door and the guard (whom he will later come to know as the TYLER) returns them in like manner. A short silence follows, then three Masons emerge to interrogate him. All wear short white aprons. These men are the Secretary and the two Stewards. The Secretary then proceeds to question him in a routine manner and to charge him with the great importance of belonging to the Lodge and the seriousness of his undertaking. At the same time the candidate is promised that he will not be required to do anything contrary to the laws of God or duty to his king, country, state, family or self. The reader must keep in mind that the candidate knows nothing of the rules and customs of the Fraternity. He can only take the word of Masons that there is nothing in those rules contrary to the laws of God, etc. After the Secretary leaves, the Junior Deacon, another official who had served as inside door keeper, joins the candidate and the Stewards and takes charge of preparing the candidate for initiation. He is taken into the preparation room, is divested of his coat, vest, pants, boots, stockings, drawers, neck-tie, collar-in fact, everything except his shirt. He is then handed a pair of drawers (always furnished by the Lodge) which he puts on. All the studs, sleeve-buttons and other furnishings are taken off his shirt. Everything of a metallic kind is taken away. The left leg of the drawers is rolled above the knee, so as to make the left foot, leg, and knee bare; the left sleeve of his shirt is raised above the elbow, so as to make the left arm bare; and the left breast of the shirt is tucked back, so as to make his left breast bare. A slipper is put on his right foot, with the heel slipshod; a hoodwink (blindfold) is fastened over his eyes; a blue rope, called a cable-tow, is put around his neck, and he is then duly and truly prepared to be made a Mason. The candidate has no idea why this is done, except he is told that it is necessary - the explanation must come later. The candidate is kept in a state of profound darkness and all is calculated to confuse and bewilder him. Once the hood-wink is placed over his eyes, he can see nothing and must rely totally on his other senses. Next, the candidate is conducted by the Junior Deacon to the door, where he is caused to give, or the Junior Deacon gives, three distinct knocks, which are answered by three from within. What goes on behind the closed door is still an enigma to the candidate-all this for the purpose of filling him with awe and cultivating an air of mystery. The door is then partially opened. Senior Deacon (from behind the door) calls, Who comes there? Who comes there? Who comes there? The Junior Deacon answers, A poor blind candidate who has long been desirous of having and receiving a part of the rites and benefits of this worshipful lodge, dedicated (some say erected) to God, and held forth to the holy order of St. Johns, as all true fellows and brothers have done who have gone this way before him. Thus the initiation begins and the gullibility of the candidate is taxed to its extreme in the performance of weird rituals. During the initiation ceremony, the candidate is also required to solemnly swear never to reveal any of the secrets of Masonry under any less penalty than having his throat cut across, his tongue torn out by the roots and his body buried in the rough sands of the sea. To add solemnity to this gruesome oath, the candidate is made to kneel before an altar with both hands on the Holy Bible. The entire program for this initiation is included in the Handbook of Freemasonry by Ronayne available through the Ezra A. Cook Publishing Company. Once initiated, the new brother is allowed to attend meetings of the first, or Entered Apprentice, degree only. He is not allowed to attend or to learn any of the secret work of the higher degrees. To attempt to do so is a grievous sin in Masonry. A Lodge meeting consists of three parts: The opening, the closing, and the General Lodge business in between. The opening is an elaborate, monotonous routine primarily concerned with excluding all but bona-fide members from the meeting. The close, also routine and lengthy, must surely tax the patience of Lodge members. The central portion of the meeting is concerned with Lodge business such as lodge dues, finances, charities, passing, raising, initiating candidates, and finally work in each of the first three degrees. Secret Work The first part of Lodge business is the reading of the minutes by the secretary. The second is the reading of petitions of applicants for admission into the fraternity, and the assigning of a committee to search into the character of the applicant. Third order of business is the consideration of reports made by committees assigned one month earlier to look into petitions entered then. Fourth, is the report from standing committees. Fifth part is the business of voting on a prospective candidate on which the committee has reported favorably (after one months consideration). Voting is done by secret ballot, worked out by placing black or white balls into a box. A white ball is a vote for admitting him, and a black ball is a vote against admitting him. If a candidate receives only one black ball, he is rejected. The seventh order of business is unfinished business from the last meeting. The eighth is new business. The ninth is the work of the individual degrees. This is work of a SECRET NATURE, and proceeds through the first three degrees. If there is work to be done in the first degree, all remain present since all members are of the first degree or higher. The Worshipful Master simply traduces the Lodge down to the first, or Entered Apprentice, degree. The members then proceed to initiate the candidate. Once finished with work in the first degree, all first degree Masons are discharged because they are not allowed to see what goes on in a higher degree. Then follows the ~ to the second, or Fellow Craft, degree. This is done in similar fashion to the act of lowering to the first degree. Once finished with work in this degree, the officers discharge all but Master Masons (the officers, especially the Worshipful Master, hold much higher degrees). Finally, when the initiation of Master Masons and all other work is completed, the Lodge goes through the elaborate close ceremony. Advancement Once our candidate has become a member of the Entered Apprentice degree, he is eligible to become a candidate for the next or Fellow Craft. Before he can do so, however, he must master the art of giving the secret signs, pass-words, and the examination. The part referred to as the examination is often called by other names such as lecture. The word examination will be used here to keep from confusing it with the lecture delivered by the Worshipful Master. The examination is a ritualistic catechism of the signs, tokens, and working tools of the degree. There is an examination to be memorized for each of the first three degrees, but none for the degrees beyond that. The degrees above the third or Master degree are very recent in origin and are in actuality adoptive - the first three originally comprising the total of Freemasonry. Because the examination must be taught orally, a bright member of the Lodge is assigned to post the candidate in the examination. That means that one who has already mastered it must teach the candidate, supposedly without the aid of written material, the whole examination. This examination is so long that when written out it covers seven typewritten pages. When the candidate has learned the examination of the first degree, he is ready to apply for the Fellow Craft degree. Here he is initiated, introduced to new working tools, taught the new handshake, due-guard, distress sign, secret words, and given a lecture on their symbolic meaning. Then he is required to memorize another examination. The same is true when he becomes a candidate for the Master Mason degree. It is only after a man has completed the Master Mason degree that he is a Mason in the true sense. Before he has received the Masters secrets, he is considered an apprentice or learner. These secrets are drawn around a legend about a man named Hiram Abiff, and its setting is supposed to be Solomons Temple. It is interesting to see what the Masters secrets are, and for those who care to take the trouble they can be found in Ronaynes Handbook of Freemasonry. Grand Lodge Masonry Progress becomes easier for the candidate after he passes the first three degrees, or the Blue Lodge. There are no examinations to learn, and he can take whole blocks of degrees at one time. In fact, one brother in the Church related to me that he took all the degrees from the fourth through to the thirty-second in four days. In the case of the brother above, he and a group of Master Masons received the fourth through the fourteenth degree the first day after arriving in the city in which the Grand Lodge was located. After a night of fun and revelry (and very little sleep), they went through the conferring of the Chapter of Rose Croix, which is the fifteenth through the eighteenth degrees for the Scottish rite (Southern Jurisdiction). After another night similar to the first, he received the Council of Kadosh, or the nineteenth through the thirtieth degrees. Finally, on the fourth day, he received the Consistory, or the thirty-first and the thirty-second degrees. The fact that they received little sleep at night seemed to be planned on the part of the officials, perhaps for the purpose of dulling the candidates senses during the rituals. A clear head would seem inappropriate for receipt of these honorable mysteries. The brother related that he had a hard time even remaining awake. After a man has reached the thirty-second degree, he can, if he chooses, become a Shriner. The Shriners are probably familiar to you. They are that group of jolly individuals who take over whole towns at convention time, wearing red hats adorned with tassels and sausage knives. They engage in much celebration and revelry. Shriners, as you probably also know, can point with pride to their hospitals for crippled children, which open their doors to all the underprivileged, no matter what race or creed. The Shrine is the order, above all others, which attracts the publics attention to Masonry. As an advertisement, it is very effective. The Shrine, then, is a side order of the thirty-second degree. There remains only one degree higher than the thirty-second: that is the thirty-third or Inspector General, which is honorary. It can only be conferred for some act of benevolence, endeavor, or esteem far and above the line of duty. It is usually conferred on presidents and kings and certain other dignitaries. With this introduction we are ready to plunge into an expose of the mystery and deceit of Masonic philosophy and practice. Continue to Part 2
Posted on: Fri, 23 Jan 2015 22:05:37 +0000
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