FREEMASONRY - My deception and addiction
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Until 2005 I had been a freemason for more than 30 years. For all but the last 18 months they had been enjoyable years and yes, for me it was addictive. Fellowship, good dining, works of charity - it is easy for freemasonry to be addictive. Everyone joins through the same initiatic ceremony involving rolled up trouser legs, a noose around your neck and a dagger presented to their naked left breast. The initiate confirms he puts his trust in God and for me that was OK at the time because I was thinking about my God. |
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I was “good” at Freemasonry, good at
learning ritual, good at ceremonial, good at organisation. As a
consequence I progressed through the various offices - ultimately
Master of my Lodge, Director of Ceremonies, Provincial Senior Grand
Warden, and a Grand Officer of United Grand Lodge. In the Royal Arch
progress was similar being a Grand Officer and Third Provincial Grand
Principal and I was moving upward from that.
The last 18 months of my masonic membership were tough – I
was being harassed by my solid Christian friends, including my wife and
no doubt God. I was of course defensive but continually prayed for a
sign either for God’s blessing or condemnation on my
membership but nothing came. I say nothing came, but that’s
not exactly true – God directed me to very simply study
scripture, compare it to Masonic ritual, and do some evaluation.
There is great debate about whether freemasonry is a religion, but one
thing is for sure - freemasonry is very religious. A mason must confirm
his belief in a "Supreme Being", lodge meetings open with a hymn (or
ode as they call it), there are prayers to God, the Bible and possibly
other holy books are opened and stories and verses are taken from the
Bible and revealed into the ceremonial ritual - I do not think anyone
could deny it is religious. I have heard masons say it is a substitute
for church although it never was for me.
Masons at their initiation are taught that the Bible (or the Holy Book
according to their faith, be it Quran, Gita or whatever) is
“the unerring standard of truth and justice and to regulate
their actions by the divine precepts it contains”. This of
course is highly commendable but perhaps the Sword of Damocles for
freemasonry. Well here is the first part of the deception –
if I consider the Bible as the truth, as I do, then Jesus came into the
world as the Son of God, as the light of the world, as our Saviour
– but some of my friends in freemasonry, Hindus and Muslims
do not believe that to be the truth!! Can a Christian freemason say to
his Muslim or Hindu friend that their holy book is the "unerring
standard of truth and justice" – definitely not - but they do
- and I did.
When a freemason undergoes his third degree the ritual relates a story
about Hiram Abiff. Little can be found in the Bible about this man,
references in 2 Chronicles 2:13 and 1 Kings 7:13-46 is about all that
is mentioned and there is nothing about Hiram's fate. Freemasonry
however adds to this biblical story a legend about Hiram and
particularly his death. The candidate is made to represent Hiram during
the third degree ceremony and is ultimately laid in a representative
coffin. The Worshipful Master then raises the candidate from this
figurative death and is told "It is thus all Master Masons are raised
from a figurative grave to a reunion with the former companions of
their toils." In the final part of the ceremony the candidate is taught
that by doing good works in life he WILL ascend to the "Grand Lodge
above". I think all this is where Christians should face up to some big
problems with freemasonry. First of all they have taken a character
from the bible and added a whole legend, even a legend about
resurrection. Some may say a story not so dissimilar from the
Rosicrusians or the legend of Isis/Osiris. The book of Revelations,
Deuteronomy and Proverbs all deter us from altering or adding to the
bible. In my mind masonry is, in this third degree , indeed giving its
own story about salvation. It does not, indeed it can not, refer to
Jesus Christ the one who came into the world to offer us salvation and
by a faith in whom gives us a relationship with God.
Freemasonry prays for the candidate to be "Endued with a competency of
God's divine wisdom, that, assisted by the secrets of our Masonic art,
he may the better be enabled to unfold the beauties of true godliness".
Can a Christian honestly believe that so called masonic secrets will
help one better attain true godliness?
This biblical evaluation is important but we can not ignore spiritual
effects both on freemasons themselves and their family. This is hard to
understand and believe but I know my wife suffered severe demonic
activity as a result of my freemasonry which had painful effects on her
health and well being. My agonising departure from freemasonry has
brought a spiritual freedom to our family as a whole and for me
personally I have a much closer relationship with God. Masons ask me
what I do with my evenings these days - I tell you, God fills them to
capacity.
I can not do justice in these few words to the many reasons why I no
longer find freemasonry and Christianity compatible. What I do hope and
pray however is that some may be sparked to look for themselves for
these incompatibilities and find, like me, a great and indisputable
freedom in resigning from freemasonry.
