Freemasonry: Good, Bad, Indifferent

I just stopped paying my dues. Took them two years to stop sending me calendars.

But this is what I mean by it being secular. I wouldn't expect them to affirm Jesus is God, and at the same time I really didn't expect them to deny it.

When I finished the 18th degree I asked one of the guys about that remark. Come to find out he was Jewish. Anyway, his response was like nailing jello to a wall . In a "not Yoda" voice he said "it means what it means to you".

Oh...here's one that concerned me as well. They had one about judging impartially. In this one, all the actors were judges (or so I was told)..... and I met a DA and the Adjutant General at that degree.

Ahhhh.....fun times with the Freemasons, killing goats and playing with tarot cards.

 

What you are talking about is the "Scottish rite", specifically "Master of the Royal Secret" or 32nd degree Mason. I also went through that degree. And no, there are no "deeper" aspects of "Masonism" to be revealed - only a different interpretation of the thing as a whole. The "Scottish Rite" focuses on justice (as a whole) with all religions generally striving for the same thing (in humanistic terms). It narrows down to tolerance of all religions. There is an honorary degree (33rd degree or "Inspector General" within the Scottish Rite as well), but it is not a "working degree".

The York rite (the Royal Arch, Cryptic Masons, and Knights Templar) stays within a Christian theme (which is bad in itself, I suppose). A non-Christian cannot go beyond Cryptic Masons as to do so would equate to "teaching" religion (Knights Templar degree has the candidate affirming Christ as Lord and pledging to defend the Christian faith even to death). But here also, Freemasonry remains secular as this is nothing but nominal Christianity.

Your mistake here is that that you've determined one of the two rites (which were secondary additions to Freemasonry...e.g., fraternal orders within the fraternity) define Freemasonry even though they were later additions. I found both rites "dark"...but the whole thing seems at least a bit dark to me.

The Scottish Rite and the York Rite are not original to Freemasonry.

 

I find it problematic as well. It is secular trying to unite men to solve the issues of mankind. By that alone it can be viewed as worldly and "anti-Christ".

My objection has never been an argument for Freemasonry but instead an argument from truth rather than urban legend. As much as we may disagree with Masonry the fact remains that we have brothers in the fraternity who do worship God and who hold to the real gospel of Christ. When our arguments stray from the Cross and Christ alone to "fix what needs fixin" and devolves into propaganda then we become ineffective.

 

I had that book. If you take the time to read the introduction it tells you those are Pike's ideas alone, not representative of any one else's view much less the Scottish Rite. In fact, if you are really that interested you can go to a Scottish Rite library and find the same type of thing by different authors offering different meanings.

I am just trying to keep it honest.... even without all the superstition and witch hunting we can see the problems with Masonry.....again, no need to stray from the Cross. But dishonest rebuttals (even with the best intentions and out of honest ignorance) damages our witness.

I'm the same with politics as well. I think when we remain grounded in Christ we avoid the pitfalls of all these distractions.

 

Frermasons have different ideas about heaven (depending on their religion). Freemasonry itself offers no concept of Heaven or the afterlife.

 

Here is where we HAVE to be careful. You just declared that thousands of Christians (and about all who founded our nation) denied Christ as Lord and were not really saved. Having left the security of Christ you ventured into gossip and accused me, and @Berean of denying Christ when we were members of a lodge. How is this falseness any better than the Gnosticism of Freemasonry? Looks like you are Just as bad....maybe worse as I have yet to see a lodge campaigning against a church.

 

Actually....let's make this real:

I was a Master Mason, 32 degree Scottish Rite Mason, Knights Templar York Rite Mason, and Past Master. I served a year in each office before being nominated for master of the lodge. I presided over the lodge for a year. Several years later I quit the fraternity.

When did I ever claim to have Gnostic knowledge about God? When did I ever claim that one can be made ready for heaven by Masonic rites or practices? When did I deny Jesus as Lord? When did I deny the Christianity of the Bible?

The answer is NEVER as a Freemason did I deny Christ. Except for being asked to affirm Jesus as Lord in the York Rite, I was never encouraged or discouraged to obtain or hold any type of faith at all.

Do you see why it is so damaging when Christians take the propaganda route to address Freemasonry? You damage the validity of your message (that Freemasonry is not good) when you couple it with things the Mason knows by experience to be false.

Stick to the gospel and the work of the Kingdom. Take the high ground. Avoid idle talk and conspiracy theories...."old wives tales". As a Christian you don't need to go there.

 

No, it doesn't.

 

Please stop posting dishonestly.

I know that Freemasonry tries to unite people who already have their own religious beliefs under a philosophy comprised of symbols. I know that you have read some things about Masonic rituals but have no clue as to their meaning within the lodge. I know that you are wrong to tell me what I know, and I know by experience that your ideas are gossip and that when you repeat them as charges you are sinning (even though you don't realize this).

I know that I have been, up to this point, as open and honest as I know how. I have told you my experience and you have called me a liar. I know that you prefer gossip because it is more interesting (and I agree it is).

But most of all I know that people like you are no less dangerous to the church than is Freemasonry. And I know that I can reject both you and Masonry on biblical grounds, without incorporating an ounce of propaganda. And I know I will stand with you in your opposition to Freemasonry only when you return to biblical ground.