Freemasonry - is it compatible with the Gospel?

Many years ago, I gave a series of lectures on "Cults and Heresies".  The best-attended of those evenings was the one on which I dealt with Freemasonry!  I was reminded of that series, and that particular lecture, this morning as I listened to the BBC Radio 4 programme 'Sunday'.

It was reported that, having been elevated to position of  Bishop within the Church of England, the Rev. Jonathan Baker has resigned from "the Craft".  This, it would appear, is actually in line with the stated position of the Anglican Church, that Freemasonry and Christianity are incompatible.

However, it was the affirmation by a retired Anglican clergyman, the Rev. Dr. John Railton, who was interviewed on the programme, that caused my ears to prick up.  Freemasonry, he contended, is a secular organisation, akin to the Rotary Club, Round Table, Probus, etc.  I would wish to take the reverend doctor to task!  To the best of my knowledge, Rotarians and the others do not refer to their meeting place as a 'temple'; they do not 'pray' to any deity; they do not have a 'holy' book centrally displayed at their meetings; they do not appoint a chaplain; they do not claim to have been founded by a character - Hiram Abiff - alleged to have played a part in the building of Solomon's Temple; they do not have signs and rituals that are (very) loosely based on Biblical events and characters.  All of these have a clearly religious element - and all are part and parcel of Masonic ritual, structure, and history!

So is Freemasonry incompatible with the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ?  The audio recording of my lecture is available below, and will provide those who are interested with a considerable amount of material (there was a set of handouts provided and, as soon as I find the master copy, I will publicise the fact, and make them available to anyone who requests them) but the simple answer is "Yes!"  Here are just three of many reasons to support that contention.

1. Freemasonry speaks of "the great Architect of the Universe".  To many, this may appear to be just an alternative name for the Triune God.  However, the teaching of the Bible is that Almighty God is not the architect of the universe, but its Creator!
 
2. Freemasonry expressly forbids the use of the Name of Jesus.  Yet it is only through the Name of Jesus that His disciples have "... boldness and access ..." (Eph.3:12) to approach the Creator.  It is through Him, and Him alone, that we my obtain salvation.  He, and He alone, is the All-sufficient One.

3. Freemasonry is, in essence, occultic and satanic.  One of the most highly-respected Masons of recent times is the late Albert Pike.  He has written: "The Masonic Religion (sic) should be by all of us initiates of the higher degrees, maintained in the purity of the Luciferian doctrine ... yes, Lucifer is God." (Maconnerie Universalle, p.588); while another Masonic author writes: "When later he (the Mason) is given Light, it means really that he is taught the principles of Occultism." (Arthur H. Ward; Masonic Symbolism and the Mystic Way; p.149-150)

The Church of Scotland is not, nowadays, renowned for its theological conservative evangelicanism.  However, even that 'broad' church, in a booklet produced by the Panel on Doctrine states, for example, concerning the use of 'prayer' in Freemasonry: "... our complaint is not just that the name of Jesus is suppressed in them, our complaint is that He doesn't seem to be required." (The Church and Freemasonry, p.4).  The main section concludes with the statement: "In the light of the foregoing we invite you to reconsider your involvement in Freemasonry." (p.9).

It is an invitation that is worthy of the most serious consideration.


Lecture