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Masonry IS a religion - of the Occult p.1 There are many Masons inside the Church, some do not know what they are involved with, teachings that are in opposition to Christ; others do know and do not care. They are there to cause confusion. Freemasonry speaks of god as the Great Architect of the Universe. At first this may be acceptable until we learn what their definition means. This term "Great Architect," by Freemasonry is not describing the God of the Bible but another, in fact (other) god[s]. As we will learn their understanding and practices are a mix of occult, and metaphysical philosophies, taking portions from nearly everything religious throughout history. The Great Architect of the Universe" (G.A.O.T.U), is above all other gods, all-inclusive and all-embracing. The Great Geometrician is the Supreme Being and is worshiped through various (secret) rituals that are exclusively performed by the Masons in their ‘secret’ lodges. Where they received these rituals is unspoken. I personally have never been a Mason and can only speak of what I have read by their own books and others who left and are willing to speak out on them being deceived. They claim they are NOT a religion but a fraternity. While outwardly to the public they are a social fraternity, within its gatherings is an intricate religion with numerous occult practices hidden in the symbology of their practices. When one goes deeper and deeper (or higher and higher in their degrees) more and more is revealed. That is why most Masons only see the organization as socially, a fraternity, especially as they begin. What they do not know at the start of the journey they learn as ascernd higher in the degrees. Both the Masons and the Eastern Star are Masonic organizations . Youth – Demolay Women - Eastern Star Relatives - Job's Daughters The Masons is for men, and the Eastern Star is for women. To become a Mason, one must go through the Blue Lodge, (called the parent or mother Lodge of Freemasonry) having three degrees. 1. Entered Apprentice. 2. Fellow Craft. 3. Master Mason. There are certain names that are important in their teachings. Manly P. Hall Masonic scholar, author, and mystic; along with Albert G. Mackey and Albert Pike. Most authoritative works on Freemasonry are: ‘ Coil's Masonic Encyclopedia’ by Henry Coil, ‘ Mackey's Revised Encyclopedia of Freemasonry’ by Albert Mackey, and ‘ Morals and Dogma ‘by Albert Pike. There are other works revered as well. Modern Freemasonry dates itself to early 1700s. The first Masonic Lodge was established in the United States on April 13, 1733. As stated, Masons do not want to be known as a religion, Pike, in his book Morals and Dogma, says this about religion i.e. Freemasonry: “Every Masonic Lodge is a temple of religion; and its teachings are instruction in religion.” (Pike, Morals And Dogma, p. 213). He goes on to say“reward is the knowledge of the True God...Masonry is a worship...It is the universal, eternal immutable religion, such as God planted it in the heart of universal humanity." (Liturgy of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite of Freemasonry for the Southern Jurisdiction of the United States, Part Two, pp. 167, 198-99). Occult teacher (of the new age movement) Alice Bailey states, "the Masonic Fraternity...is...the home of the Mysteries, and the seat of the initiation...It is a far more occult organization than can be realized and is intended to be the training school for the coming advanced occultists..." (p. 511, The Externalization of the Hierarchy). To make their rituals sound Christian they use biblical characters, stories from scriptures, and similarities found outside scripture for their illustrations of their rituals, and practices of their beliefs. The god[s] of Masonry
"The true Mason is not creed-bound. He realizes with the divine illumination of his lodge that as a Mason his religion must be universal: Christ, Buddha or Mohammed, the name means little, for he recognizes only the light and not the bearer. He worships at every shrine, bows before every altar, … of all spiritual truth ... They know that all religions are but one story told in divers ways for peoples whose ideals differ …No true Mason can be narrow, for his Lodge is the divine expression of all broadness."(Manly P. Hall, The Lost Keys of Freemasonry. Macoy Publishing and Masonic Supply Company, 1951 p.65) These quote from Hall speaks volumes on their embrace to every religion, for it explains that there is no falsehood to them and is contrary to Jesus saying his Word is THE Truth. From Encyclopedia of Freemasonry,"Masonry is, in every sense of the word, except one, and that its least philosophical, an eminently religious institution - that it is indebted solely to the religious element which it contains for its origin and for its continued existence and that without this religious element it would scarcely be worthy of cultivation by the wise and good."... "Freemasonry is NOT Christianity nor a substitute for it"...."But the religion of Masonry is not sectarian. It admits men of every creed within its hospitable bosom, rejecting none and approving none for his particular faith"..."Masonry, then, is, indeed, a religious institution; and on this ground mainly, if not alone, shouldthe religious Mason defend it." (Encyclopedia of Freemasonry, Albert G. Mackey, Revised Edition, 1921, pages 618, 619) From their own writings, they admit and explain themselves as a religion, a religion that includes all, none appear to be excluded. Yet within their presentation are hidden what is really believed. Whatever honor Masonry gives to the Bible, they also give to all religions; all are treated equally. None are any more knowledgeable or revelatory than another. The individual adept Mason chooses which religion they may hold to. "Masonry ... requires merely that you believe in some deity, give him what name you will ... any god will do, so he is your god" (Little Masonic Library, Macoy Publishing, quote from Masonic authority Carl H. Claudy writes, 1977, 4:32). Clearly, this is more than ecumenical, it is interfaith, as all religions are accepted as the same, much like Rosicrucianism they have a universal approach. The standard for membership is that the candidate believes in "God." This god can be any god of the world’s religions. Krishna, Allah, or any other name, and Jesus Christ is their equal. This should be evident to any Christian how difficult it is to reconcile Masonry with the Bible. Jesus never included himself among others, he asks all who want to be a Christian to follow him ONLY. An open volume of the Sacred Law, “the rule and guide of life,” is an essential part of every Masonic meeting. Pike explains,“The Bible is said to be an indispensable part of the furniture of a Christian Lodge, because it is the sacred book to those of the Christian religion. The Hebrew Pentateuch in a Hebrew Lodge and the Koran in a Mohammedan one, belong on the Altar; and one of these, and the Square and Compass, properly understood, are the Great Lights by which a Mason must walk and work. The obligation of the candidate is always to be taken on the sacred book or books of his religion, that he may deem it more solemn and binding; and therefore it was that you were asked of what religion you were. We have no other concern with your religious creed." (Albert Pike, Morals and Dogma of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite of Freemasonry, p. 11.) This is universalism, offering an inclusive concept about God as being the same god of all religions. Then all false deities whom the God of Scripture states are not him have a place within the Lodge as being the true God? "The true disciple of Masonry has given up forever the worship of personalities. With his greater insight, he realizes that all forms . . . are of no importance to him compared to the life which is evolving within." (Manly P. Hall, The Lost Keys of Freemasonry, 64. Foster Bailey, The Spirit of Masonry , (New York: Lucis Publishing Co., 1979, p.109.) If one reads their main promoters they tell anyone interested what they are really about. The coming ecumenical/interfaith world religion, which all religions will unite by has this premise ingrained in masonry. No wonder John called it Mystery Babylon, mother of harlots. According to the modern day interpreters of Masonry, it presents itself as the unifier of all religions. One such interpreter, Foster Bailey, an occultist and a 32nd-degree Mason, said that “Masonry is the descendant of a divinely imparted religion ” that antedates the prime date of creation. Bailey goes on to say that “Masonry is all that remains to us of the first world religion” which flourished in ancient times. “It was the first unified world religion. Today we are working again towards a world universal religion.”(Bailey, The Spirit of Masonry, 29.) In some respect, this is true as false religion was birthed at Babylon which competed with the religion given by God to Adam and Eve. The Masons trace their origin back to Nimrod in the book of Genesis of the Bible that was the founder of a kingdom that included the city of Babel and the infamous Tower of Babel that God himself confronted and dispersed with confusion. "Masonry, around whose altars the Christian, the Hebrew, the Moslem, the Brahmin, the followers of Confucius and Zoroaster, can assemble as brethren and unite in prayer to the one God who is above ALL the Baalim, must needs leave it to each of its initiates to look for the foundation of his faith and hope to the written scriptures of his own religion." (p. 226) Can the one God tell people of different religions contradictions on who he is, his nature and ways and have their practice be true? I think not. These are not from the same (true) God at all. The Mystery religion One of the greatest authorities on Masonry was Albert Pike, who authored ‘Morals and Dogma’ of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite of Freemasonry for the Supreme Council of the 33 Sovereign Grand Commander of the Southern Supreme Council of Scottish Right Freemasonry in the USA and "an honorary member of almost every Supreme Council in the world" (Albert G. Mackey, 33rd degree, and Charles T. McClenachan, 33rd degree, Encyclopedia of Freemasonry, The Masonic History Company, 1921, rev. ed., 2:564). Albert G. Mackey, co-author of Encyclopedia of Freemasonry, is considered one of Masonry's highest authorities. This compendium of official Masonic lore clearly traces Masonry to Hinduism, Buddhism, Zoroastrianism, and other Eastern religions. In his Manual of the Lodge he traces Masonic teaching back to "the ancient rites and mysteries practiced in the very bosom of pagan darkness”(Albert G. Mackey, Manual of the Lodge, Macoy and Sickles, 1802, p 96). The degrees of deception There are 33 degrees in Masonry’s ascension to illumination. All men who become Masons normally go through the first three degrees of the Blue Lodge. The Blue Lodge is called the parent or mother Lodge of Freemasonry. The first three degrees: 1) the Entered Apprentice, where a man is initiated into the beginning mysteries of the fraternity of freemasonry; 2) the degree of fellow Craft; and 3) the Master Mason degree. In the very first degree, the Lambskin is presented to the initiate representing 'that purity of life and conduct which is necessary to obtain admittance into the Celestial Lodge above, where the Supreme Architect of the Universe presides.' After passing these three degrees in the Blue Lodge, the candidate can choose not to proceed further, or, proceed to higher degree along one or both of the two branches in Masonry. When the initiate arrives at the 7th degree in Masonry it is then you get to know the “lost” name of God. Jah-Buh-Lun (comprising the representation of these three deities names – Yahweh, Baal, and Osiris), again showing their interfaith synthesizing incompatible gods. Furthermore, there is no lost name of God. The 19th degree of Scottish Rite Freemasonry the initiate is told that attachment to Masonry's 'statutes and rules of the order will make him 'deserving of entering the celestial Jerusalem [heaven]. Later the progressive initiate in the 28th degree is told that 'the true Mason’ [is one] who raises himself by degrees till he reaches ‘heaven’ which is illumination and that one of his duties is 'To divest himself of original sin’ .... When entering the 31st degree of the Scottish Rite: "Hear us with indulgence, 0 infinite Deity .... Let the great flood of Masonic light flow in a perpetual current over the whole world and make Masonry the creed of all mankind." (Jay Blanchard, Scottish Rite Masonry Illustrated, Charles T. Powner Co., 1979, 2:320). It becomes clear that Masonry is anti-Christian: its members must swear, on pain of death, never to reveal to anyone what goes on behind the Lodge doors. Within the rituals of the "Blue Lodge" through all 33 degrees of Freemasonry, the candidates are sworn to secrecy by blood oaths. An example is the oath sworn by the entering Apprentice of the first degree, "...binding myself under no less penalty than that of having my throat cut across, my tongue torn out by its roots, and my body buried in the rough sands of the sea, at low-water mark." The Master Mason swears, "...under no less penalty than that of having my body severed in two, my bowels taken from thence and burned to ashes, the ashes scattered before the four winds of heaven..." (Duncan's Ritual of Freemasonry by Malcom Duncan, 3rd Edition, pp. 36, 39, D. McKay Publishing Co., N.Y., N.Y.) Why would such a penalty be employed for a participant to reveal what they themselves believe is the truth? Why say Masonry is to be the creed of all mankind and keep its meaning secret? There is what is called " Worshipful Master: The Head and Chief of the Lodge, the Source of Light, of Knowledge and instruction in Masonry. He personifies the Sublime Art of Masonry and is the Spokesman thereof." (Arthur Waite, A New Encyclopedia of Freemasonry,1970, p. 24) The WORSHIPFUL MASTER is one MASTER source of authority in the Lodge, but he rules his Lodge in an autocratic fashion. The Power of the Worshipful Master is that of an absolute monarch. (quote from Dr. Michael Sunstar) All of this should be a red flag for Christians. Only God should be considered in Worship or be called Master. The many examples in Masonry show that it is a mixture of the occult, and a contortion of scripture to conform to it to make new initiates The Royal Arch degree catechism asks, “Are you a Royal Arch Mason?” To which the reply is made, “I AM THAT I AM.” In the closing ceremonies of the ritual for the Royal Arch degree, the candidate is asked, "Brother Inspector, what are you?" and he replies, "I AM THAT I AM". Consider that when Moses asked God to tell him HIS name, God said, "I AM THAT I AM" and he said, "thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you." (Exodus 3:14). Can a Christian who is a Mason accept man taking the name of the God of Israel for himself? We see many Christians in the public eye doing this without repercussions. This where the adoption of the Occult and new age teachings are adopted, and promoted within the Church. The God of the Scripture asks is there a God beside me? Yea, I know not any !” (Isaiah 44:8, 9) he is not known by the name Baal who was YHWHs enemy, nor by a gods name of other religions. In the seven volume History of Freemasonry, by Albert Mackey, discusses various pagan gods and the people who worshiped them. Among those pagan deities featured in drawings included with the text are Ashtaroth, Abraxas, Vishnu, Dagon, Nergal and Baal (these are specifically named as God and Israel’s enemies). The text states: “They were all Characters of human origin in the Mythologic ages designed as the Saviors of Men, each one emphatically the representative Christos, or Christ of his particular Nation; and the religious system designed to restore the lost and fallen race of Man. (p. 1721, vol. VI) This clearly presents their teachings as a competitor to Christ and the Bible. Those who profess a belief in a higher being, or one God are not necessarily worshiping ‘the one true God.’ The worshippers of Baal learned this truth on Mt. Carmel. The fact is that participants must be enlightened into the mysteries by their Masonic teachings. On page 819 you will find just one example of why there are many people in Freemasonry who believe that it is natural to be a Christian and a Mason. "The Blue Degrees are but the outer court or portico of the Temple. Part of the symbols are displayed there to the Initiate, but he is intentionally misled by false interpretations. It is not intended that he shall understand them; but it is intended that he shall imagine he understands them ." This sound like many of the teachings in the Latter Rain movement, with the outer and inner court symbology. Many who are involved in the new age movement have a spiritual connection to Masonry. From Alice Bailey's book "The Externalization of the Hierarchy” she wrote the words of her "Spirit Guide," Master Dwaj Khul, that, "the Masonic Fraternity...is...the home of the Mysteries, and the seat of the initiation...It is a far more occult organization than can be realized and is intended to be the training school for the coming advanced occultists..."(p. 511). Understand that many in the New age movement and the Occult are Masons or agree with its teachings. Master Dwaj Khul goes on to say, "... Mysteries will be restored to outer expression through the medium of the Church and the Masonic Fraternity...When the Great One comes with His disciples and initiates, we shall have the restoration of the Mysteries..." Freemasonry intentionally misleads the lower degree initiates and hides the truth that the true god of Freemasonry is Lucifer, only those in the 30 th degree and higher is it told to. Luciferian doctrine Freemasonry intentionally hides from the initiates of the lower degree whom the god of Freemasonry truly is. He is Lucifer, it is known to those in the 30th and higher degrees. Masonry guards its secrets and never makes the whole truth known at once, disclosing them slowly (26th Degree, Prince of Mercy, Ritual, p. 384). Albert Pike addressing the 23 Supreme Councils of the world on July 14, 1889: " To you, Sovereign Grand Instructors General, we say this, that you may repeat it to the Brethren of the 32nd, 31st and 30th degrees: 'the Masonic Religion should be, by all of us initiates of the high degrees, maintained in the purity of the LUCIFERIAN Doctrine. . ." When we hear in the New Age movement one must go through Lucifer to get to christ this is what is really meant. "Spiritual qualities are necessary before the real Masonic secrets can be understood by the brethren themselves." (Hall, The Lost Keys of Freemasonry , 69.) What Hall is saying is that one must reach a certain spiritual level to rightly understand the deep symbolic teachings of Freemasonry, before he can be trusted with their twisted truths. From Albert Pike's "Morals And Dogma": "Masonry, like all the Religions, all the Mysteries, Hermeticism and Alchemy, CONCEALS its secrets from all except the Adepts and Sages, or the Elect, and uses false explanations and misinterpretations of its symbols to mislead those who deserve only to be misled; to conceal the Truth, which it calls Light, from them, and to draw them away from it. Truth is not for those who are unworthy or unable to receive it, or would pervert it."(Published by the authority of the "Supreme Council of the Thirty-Third Degree For The Southern Jurisdiction Of The United States" in March, 1919) (pp. 104-105) Within Masonry is contained this secret, which a Mason only comes to understand as he reaches the highest levels. Manly Palmer Hall, one of the greatest authorities on Masonry, writes, "When the Mason ... has learned the mystery of his Craft, the seething energies of Lucifer are in his hands ” and before he may step onward and upward, he must prove his ability to properly apply energy." (Manly Palmer Hall, The Lost Keys of 'Freemasonry, p. 48 Macoy Publishing and Masonic Supply Company, 1951). Mr. Pike believed that Lucifer was not a force of evil, but a force for good, but can be misused for evil. He wrote in Morals and Dogma: "For the Initiates [those initiated into the true secrets of Masonry] this is not a person, but a force, created for good, but which may serve for evil. " (180 62 Chapter 9 LUCIFER) "In all time, truth has been hidden under symbols, and often under a succession of allegories: where veil after veil had to be penetrated before the true Light was reached, and the essential truth stood revealed. "(Pike, Morals and Dogma, 248.) To a higher degree Mason, (a Christian) will learn that Lucifer is not an enemy of God but a revealer of what God does not want you to know. He reveals the hidden secrets to the learned (initiates). Then they 'understand' that the Grand Architect of the Universe is not the God of the Old, New Testaments. " Thus, the doctrine of Satanism is a heresy; and the true and pure philosophical religion is the belief in Lucifer, the equal of Adonay; but lucifer, God of Light and God of Good, is struggling for humanity against Adonay, the God of Darkness and Evil." (Instructions to the 23 Supreme Councils of the World, Albert Pike, Grand Commander, Sovereign Pontiff of Universal Freemasonry, July 14, 1889. Recorded by A.C. De La Rive, La Femme et l'Enfant dans la Franc-Maconnerie Universelle, p. 588) "Yes, Lucifer is God, and unfortunately Adonay is also god. For the eternal law is that there is no light without shade, no beauty without ugliness, no white without black, for the absolute can only exist as two gods: darkness being necessary for light to serve as its foil as the pedestal is necessary to the statue, and the brake to the locomotive.” What we should understand what is taught in Masonry is what is in other occult systems. This concept of light and darkness as a law (yin and yang). Freemasons believe in a duality of opposites present in the entire universe, including man and this shows up continuously in the Occult. Occult is referenced 37 times, kabala over 100 times in their book Moral and dogma. The Occult is about about secret hidden knowledge to those who pursue its light (which is darkness). The Bible identifies Lucifer as becoming Satan, the first rebel against God, known as the prince of darkness who is still an angel of light. The biblical meaning is that he brings lies, he is not a messenger of God, or a god. According to Occult teachings throughout various sects, Lucifer is the bearer of the (false) light that enlightens man's understanding of his Higher Self or his "God Self." The apostle Paul tells us Satan disguises himself,“Transforms into an angel of light (2 cor.11:14)so many who have religious/spiritual writings were Masons, and they challenged no other book as they did the Bible. Giving the very opposite explanation to holy writ. Why would any christian negate their faith in the truth of God’s word for this counterfeit. Master mason Manley Palmer Hall "I hereby promise the Great Spirit Lucifer, Prince of Demons, that each year I will bring unto him a human soul to do with as it may please him, and in return Lucifer promises to bestow upon me the treasures of the earth and fulfil my every desire for the length of my natural life. If I fail to bring him each year the offering specified above, then my own soul shall be forfeit to him. Signed..... {Invocant signs pact with his own blood}" (Manley Palmer Hall 33° The Secret Teachings of All Ages p. CIV)"It (The Principle or Angel of Light) put on the appearance of a human body and took the name of Christ in the Messiah, only to accommodate itself to the language of the Jews. The Light did its work, turning the Jews from the adoration of the Evil Principle, and the Pagans from the worship of the DEMONS. But the Chief of the Empire of Darkness caused him to be crucified by the Jews. Still, he suffered in appearance only..." ( p. 567) It is Islam that teaches that God put Christ’s face on another, someone was made to look like him, even Judas, to be crucified and spared Jesus. The Jesus of Masonry suffered in appearance only when on the cross. Which makes the Bible a lie. We see their reversal, that Lucifer is Christ. We also have a connection to Mormonism, as it teaches that Satan told the truth to Adam and Eve. Those who uphold this you find them tied to Masonic teachings and the Occult. “If we correctly understand the role of Adam and Eve, we will realize that those who have labeled them sinners responsible for the universal depravity of the human family are misguided. The truth is that Adam and Eve opened the door for us to come into mortality, a step essential to our eternal progress.” (chapt.9 the Fall Student Manual) George Q. Cannon stated “Their eyes were opened. They had a knowledge of good and evil just as the Gods have ” (the Gospel Truth, 1:16). The problem is that there no such thing as gods (plural) ,there is only one God, all others are false. And this same concept of the many religions gods is found in Masonry. There is no denying that Masonic teachings constantly quote the Occult. This is why you will not see Masonry explain the last degrees, because they are repulsive, or they should be to a Christian. Freemasonry has their teachings hidden within Allegorical Symbology. The New age movement is replete with quotes like these because many involved are also Masons. Blavatsky’s book was used by the Nazis in making their new world order. And these has not been discarded, the occult influences continue. Pt.2 What does this all mean and where is this headed? |
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Mason’s View: All members must believe in a deity. Different religions
(Christianity, Judaism, Islam, etc. are all acceptable). They believe they
are acknowledging the same God, only by different names. The people of
‘different faiths’ use different names for the
‘Nameless One of a hundred names.’ They claim they are praying to the one God and Father of all. There are
other systems of religion similar to this, such as Bahai. The new age
movement and individuals in it speak the same way (also inclusivists, like
Daniel Kikawa who do the same with the many cultures gods teaching to the Church)