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Freemasonry: Sodality or Separation?

Episode 16

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Hosted by
Carl Joseph

Carl is a biblical scholar, minister, husband, father and life coach. In his mid-twenties he had a powerful encounter with God and saw miraculous healings as a result. He passionately shares these stories and empowers others to fulfill their God-given potential.

On the surface freemasonry poses as a benevolent fraternity of brothers doing good deeds within the community, however a careful evaluation of the source documents of this secret society reveals a spiritually dark genesis. With over three million worldwide members and counting, freemasonry or ‘the lodge’ is by far the most popular secret society. Join Carl now as shares the beliefs of freemasonic doctrine and the gods which are esteemed by the founders of this sodality. Does this brotherhood honor the God of the Bible? Tune in to find out now…

Here is a complete transcript of the podcast…(below)

“Friend, I want to talk today about something so subversive, so subtle, so pervasive, so prolific that it has infiltrated some of the largest organizations in modern society, including the highest levels of government today. People that you encounter in everyday life are members of this secret society, but you would never know unless you knew their secret handshake. This organization of which I speak has secretly guided the hand of nations because within each nation is an undercurrent of men bound to each other by secret oaths, who acknowledge the brotherhood of man and are even willing to sacrifice their morals for the sake of another brother within their organization. I am of course speaking of Freemasonry. The Bible explicitly warns us against taking oaths in secrecy but simply let your yes be yes and your no, be no. Jesus did nothing in secret, he had nothing to hide, and He is our example.

Friend, let me start out by saying that within this organization there are some wonderful people who do numerous charitable works. Most of its members view their membership as a brotherhood of man doing good works for the community and that is a noble trait, but the trouble is, the vast majority of members don’t realize what they’ve gotten themselves into and it’s only at the higher levels of the organization do they really come to find out, just how far down the rabbit hole they really are. But don’t take my word for it; I’m going to quote documents from the very founders of and writers for the organization itself, so stay tuned.  

Masonry exists in 164 countries of the world. According to the Encyclopedia Britannica, its membership of 6 million qualifies Masonry as “the largest worldwide secret society.” At least 15,300 Lodges operate in the U.S., and more than 33,700 Lodges exist around the world. England has more than 8,000 Lodges with a membership of more than 600,000. West Germany has 388 Lodges with 21,000 members, and Italy has 562 Lodges with 24,000 members. The Order of the Eastern Star is specifically intended for the wives, daughters, and female relatives of Master Masons.

The Scottish Rite publication estimated that “between one in five and one in 10 of the adult thinking population come directly within the circle of Masonic influence.” Masonry (also known as Freemasonry or “The Lodge”) is a powerful, old fraternal order that began early in the eighteenth century. It boasts of providing ‘illumination’ to its members but only those of the higher degrees or orders within its organization. Friend, you need to know this illumination or ‘greater light does not come from the ‘Father of lights,’ but Lucifer the light bearer himself. According to most Masonic ‘authorities, modern Masonry can be traced to the founding of the first Grand Lodge in London in 1717. The Lodge is also a secret society. To maintain its secrets, Masonry uses symbolism, secret oaths, and secret rituals to instruct new members called “Initiates.” Each new member swears during these secret ceremonies to remain loyal to the Lodge and its teachings. The teachings instruct each new candidate how he is to serve and the rewards he can expect.

Freemasons believe in the universal fatherhood of God and brotherhood of man. By this, Masons teach that all men—Muslims, Jews, Hindus, Mormons, Buddhists, and Christians—regardless of their personal religious views, are the spiritual sons of God. Masonry’s second foundational belief is that reforming personal character and practicing good works will secure God’s favor. In other words, the Masonic Lodge clearly teaches that the good character and good works of a Mason will earn him a place in the “Celestial Lodge Above” (i.e., heaven). Some Masons have no interest in the history and doctrines of their organization. For them it is merely a fraternity that allows them fellowship and a means to further their careers or businesses. Some are unfamiliar with its occult aspects. But for others, Masonry is a religious world view that dominates their life and their work. Now in order to find out the inner workings of the lodge there have been various expose’s by former members who’ve divulged its secrets. Some of these men have even achieved the illustrious level of 33rd degree mason.

Albert Pike should be listed among leading Masonic authorities. His book Morals and Dogma endures as the most complete exposition of Scottish Rite philosophy. After passing the three degrees of the Blue Lodge, the candidate may choose not to proceed any further. Or the candidate may choose to proceed higher along one or both of two branches in Masonry. One branch is known as the Scottish Rite, and the other, the York Rite. For many Masons, the first three degrees of Masonry, then, are merely a stepping-stone to the higher “truths” of the Lodge. In fact, as in the ancient pagan mystery cults (which were also divided into the “lesser” and “greater” mysteries), many Masons will admit that the Blue Lodge teachings are purposely deceptive. They are intended to hide the real truths of Masonry from the initiate until such a time as he is “worthy” of receiving them. Under his discussion of the Third Degree of the Blue Lodge in his famous book, Morals and Dogma, Albert Pike observes that “Masonry, like all the Religions, Hermeticism and Alchemy, conceals its secrets from all except the Elect [or worthy], and uses false explanations and misinterpretations of its symbols to mislead … to conceal the Truth, which it calls Light, from them, and to draw them away from it.”

Truth for the Mason is not for those who are unworthy, but Christ revealed truth to all who were willing to listen. In other words, according to Pike, many Masons are uninformed about Masonry because the Craft has purposely kept the truth from them. Anokan Reed, a former top-level York Rite Mason pointed out the morality of such secret oaths by commenting: “It’s okay to seduce another man’s daughter, or steal his car, as long as he’s not a Master Mason.… In the higher degrees, Masons deny the reality of evil.” Men who swear extremely solemn oaths of secrecy to the Lodge not only conclude that the information received is important but that it must be protected at all costs. The ritual of the 17th Degree of the Scottish Rite divulges that “a Mason should not hesitate to spill his blood for the support of Masonry“. Another oath reveals that, “You must conceal all the crimes of your brother Mason, except murder and treason, and these only at your own option, and should you be summoned as a witness against a brother Mason be always sure to shield him.” Friend, these are sinister oaths and doctrines indeed.

The goals of Masonry are to unite the world under the umbrella of Masonic doctrine that teaches the fatherhood of God, the brotherhood of man, and the immortality of the soul. The most widely read and influential book in Masonry is Joseph Fort Newton’s The Builders, who states its primary goal is to; “To bring about a universal league of mankind.” In particular, modern Masonry owes a great deal to several medieval occult practices and religions. Freemasonry owes very much to certain occult societies or groups that flourished—often in secret—during the late Middle Ages, and even into the after-Reformation times. Chief among these were the Rosicrucian’s and the Knights Templar. Scholar Dr. Shildes Johnson lists such groups as the Rosicrucian’s, and two other occult orders, the Golden Dawn and the Illuminati, as having influenced Masonry.

Freemasonry is a religion no doubt and fits the Webster’s definition of religion in that it requires belief in a Supreme Being, obedience to this Supreme Being, and worship of him as the creator and ruler of the universe. In their initiation ceremonies Mason’s use Bibles certainly, but this is merely a symbol to represent a higher power or supreme being and pay no particular allegiance to the God of the bible. The deism of Masonry denies both the personal revelation of God in the Bible and His ongoing personal involvement in the world of men. Again, the reason for this is that, in order to promote “universal brotherhood,” Masonry requires a deity that is nonspecific, unknowable and unapproachable—a deity that men in fact, can say very little about.

One thing is for sure my friend, after much study, Freemasonry is definitely incompatible with Christianity. In fact, it’s sufficiently influential within the church that most major conservative Christian denominational bodies in both Europe and America have issued official declarations condemning Masonry as an anti-Christian religion. The Baptist Union of Scotland published an official report, endorsed by the Baptist Unions of Great Britain and Ireland, that stated a “clear conclusion”, “that there is an inherent incompatibility between Freemasonry and the Christian faith” and that “there is great danger that the Christian Mason may find himself compromising his allegiance to Jesus.” An official report issued at the Ninth General Assembly of the Orthodox Presbyterian Church meeting at Rochester, New York, June 2-5, 1942, concluded that “Masonry is a religious institution and as such is definitely anti-Christian.… Membership in the Masonic fraternity is inconsistent with Christianity.”

At its core “Freemasonry is a system of doctrines which is taught by allegories and symbols.” This is why use of symbols is interwoven throughout Masonic Ritual. At one level of initiation a symbol may mean one thing, but at a higher level of initiation it may mean something else entirely. In the beginning, most Masonic symbols have certain more or less universally accepted meanings. But in the end, after a Mason is “enlightened,” each symbol can mean virtually anything a Mason wants it to mean. Masonry is really a form of “New Age” mysticism offering an individual Mason the potential for cultivating an altered state of consciousness and developing occultic powers. In reality Masonry is part of the tradition of the ancient mystery schools, or gnostic religions whose “outer form” preserves the genuine secrets of “true” Masonry from the profane or the unenlightened lower degrees, whether non-Mason or Mason. The “genuine” Mason thus seeks the ancient gnosis or secret knowledge—an ultimate spiritual enlightenment through both ritual and consciousness. This is why many some Masons confess that many other Masons live in spiritual ignorance.

Masonry is in fact a Trojan horse that joins men with false Gods. It connects the one true and righteous God of the Bible with the evil and pagan deities Baal and Osiris. In the ritual of the Royal Arch Degree, every Royal Arch Mason is told that the true name for the God he has been praying to throughout the different degrees of Masonry is “Ja” (for Jehovah), joined with “Bel” or “Baal”, the ancient Canaanite god, and “Osiris, the Egyptian mystery god. With one hand freemasonry comes bearing gifts and offers friendship, but in the other hand it conceals a deadly weapon, and this weapon is another false Gospel, namely that of works instead of saving grace through faith. Masonry teaches exactly what God condemns as a false gospel, namely, that a man will be saved and goes to heaven as a result of his good works and personal self-improvement. Friend, I have given the spiritual repercussions today for joining this organization and clearly one cannot claim to be a true Christian and follow the tenets laid down in this organization.

If you are someone who is already a member of the fraternity, I urge you to seek out the truth for yourself and read the many books which contain the beliefs of your organization by men like Henry Wilson Coil, Albert Mackay, Carl Claudy and Albert Pike amongst other. You will quickly realize your allegiance should be to Christ only and not the false gods or statutes that these men claim will offer a place in heaven. Friend, I believe God is a merciful God and I believe He can get us out of any situation we are in. Seek the Lord today while he may be found.”

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Scottish Rite
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Anokan Reed
Morals and Dogma
Joseph Fort Newton
The Builders
Henry Wilson Coil
Albert Mackay
Carl Claudy


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