Secret Societies and Symbols

What exactly are religious cults? With such a large number of religious organizations and movements in the world today, it’s important to understand what we mean when we start labeling certain groups. The dictionary defines cult as “a system of religious worship or ritual”; “devoted attachment to, or extravagant admiration for, a person, principle, etc.” According to this definition, any believer in any god is a member of a cult. In the popular media, a cult is typically defined as a religious sect whose members are “controlled” by a manipulative organization or individual. This kind of cult is usually portrayed as deceptive, requiring absolute loyalty from its followers. Members are often removed from their prior lives altogether, including their jobs, homes and families. The Hare Krishnas, Sun Myung Moon’s Unification Church, and Moses David Berg’s Family of Love are some popular examples of this type of cult.

source : allaboutcults.org

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     Masonic legend and some tradition is borrowed from the fanciful stories of the Knights Templar, an enigmatic and powerful military Order of fighting monks set up by Hugues de Payens in 1118. Their illustrious history has been the subject of numerous fascinating books and their effect upon the course of world history, religion and commerce is much greater than generally recognised. They were also responsible for the erection of many churches (eg Middle Temple on the Embankment in London ) and the assembly of numerous large estates and would themselves have employed a great many stone masons.
Although their effect upon Freemasonry is very uncertain, they had amassed considerable wealth and influence in London, Scotland and throughout the United Kingdom. Most serious historians dismiss a direct link to the Knights Templars for lack of evidence. However, is it possible that the Knights Templars might have shared some of their knowledge and rituals with their more senior stone masons with whom they employed who later incorporated them into their own traditions?

The Knights Templars ostensible purpose was the protection of pilgrims on their journey from the coastal port of Jaffra to Jerusalem. Initially however, there were too few of them to be an effective escort. In any event, for the first nine years of their existence, they were far too busy purposefully digging under the ruins of King Solomons Temple to be offering any support to Pilgrims. It seems clear that during their excavations they discovered something of immense spiritual or material value for they swiftly became very rich and powerful and enjoyed this position for nearly two hundred years until the fall of the Holy Lands. Evidence of Templar excavations was found by Lieutenant Warren, Royal Engineers in 1867. The Knights Templars were effectively extinguished on Friday 13th October 1307 by King Philippe of France who, broke at the time, stole their lands and possessions (a fate he inflicted upon French Jews two years earlier) and with collusion from the Pope, instructed the Inquisition to torture any Templars he managed to round up to gain evidence to legitimise his grand theft. Many of the fit and able Knights (and their entourage) and most of their wealth managed to escape. It is from their exodus from France and other parts of Europe that much of Masonic folklore stems.

Many Knights possibly settled in the comparative backwaters of Scotland, a land ruled by the excommunicated Robert The Bruce and therefore considered comparatively safe, being largely beyond the reach of the Pope and the Inquisition. No doubt they brought with them their treasures, relics, knowledge and ceremonies as depicted on the ground floor South West window stone carving at Roslin Chapel shown below. Some knights are believed to have travelled much further than the known lands of the times and even managed to find America. Certain corn carvings at Roslin Chapel appear to confirm this.

     Given a background of organised secrecy, could it have been possible that Stonemasons guilds became convenient, if not unwitting, conduits of social refuge through the ages? Templars, who required a degree of privacy from State or Church in their thoughts, discussions or travel arrangements would have found stonemasons guilds attractive. History however, contains virtually no written references linking KT and Freemasonry until the 18th C. Most serious historians believe that a link with the Knights Templars only came about through marketing skills displayed by Ramsay in his Oration in 1737 when he attributed (in error) the origins of Freemasonry to Crusaders and the Knights of St John. Ramsey, a talented self-publicist, would have known that such a pedigree was bound to impress the French audience whom he was addressing. Robert Brydon, in his book The Masons and the Rosy Cross, informs us that Alexander Duechar confused the issue still further by his attempts to revive Scottish Templarism and integrating it within the ambit of Freemasonry.

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Freemasonry - The Nature of God
Although Freemasonry requires members to acknowledge a “god” in order to be accepted into the Lodge, the god of Freemasonry and the God of the Bible are not the same. There is a great difference between the two concepts of God. The Masonic god, “The Great Architect of the Universe” (G.A.O.T.U), or the “Grand Artificer of the Universe,” is an all-inclusive “Life Principle” that lies within all living things. In Freemasonry, god is not a personal being, but an impersonal force, an energy that has no substance. In theistic terms, this belief is known as pantheism.

As the unifier of all religions, Freemasonry holds that “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.” (Pike, Morals and Dogma) In other words, the biblical God is reduced to the level of all the other gods and rendered as equal with the gods of those religions. Therefore, by definition, Freemasonry is a “religion” of plurality that strips all others of there uniqueness.

Freemasonry - The Nature of Jesus
Freemasonry has adopted a pluralist approach toward Jesus Christ. Generally, Masonry teaches, “Jesus was just a man. He was one of the exemplars, one of the great men of the past, but not divine and certainly not the only means of redemption of lost mankind. He was on a level with other great men of the past like Aristotle, Plato, Pythagoras and Mohammed. His life and legend were no different from that of Krishna, the Hindu god. He is the son of Joseph, not the Son of God.” (Jim Shaw, The Deadly Deception, 1988)

In Masonry, Jesus Christ is not to be looked upon as the Savior, Redeemer or God incarnate. He is to be viewed as no different than any other great prophet, spiritual leader or guru. The Lodge does not permit the name of Jesus or Christ to be used in any of its prayers or rituals, and when the Bible is used in ceremonies, all scriptural references to Jesus are removed. “All prayers in Mason lodges should be directed to the one deity to whom all Masons refer to as the Grand Architect of the Universe.” (The Maryland Master Mason, March 1973)

Freemasonry - Are There Any Implications For Christians?
Freemasonry is responsible for many noble causes. Nobody can deny the social and charitable works done by the Brotherhood. However, as a “religious” institution, there are beliefs and practices in Masonry that are incompatible with biblical Christianity. The Mason who professes to be a Christian must decide whom he will serve: the God of the Bible or the god of Freemasonry. He cannot serve both. Ultimately, every Christian who participates in Masonry must ask himself, “What does the Lodge teach us to do with Jesus Christ?” “The Mason who is a Christian is put in a very difficult position. Although his Fraternal Order supported his Christianity in its early years, it now no longer allows for it, as there is no question about the pagan orientation of Freemasonry in our day. Therefore, the Mason must ask himself whether he can, in good faith, remain a part of an organization that devalues the God of Christianity.” (Russ Wise, Freemasonry and the Christian Church, 2002)

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The Mason’s official position states that Freemasonry is not a religion. “Masons who treat it as such are mistaken. Freemasonry strongly encourages its members to belong to an established religion, although this is not a requirement for membership (only that a candidate profess a belief in a Supreme Being). Masonry is a fraternal organization that encourages morality and charity and studies philosophy. It has no clergy, no sacraments, and does not promise salvation to its members.” (Roger Firestone, Difficult Questions About Freemasonry, 2002)

A close assessment of the degrees of Freemasonry uncovers a basic theology that lies beneath everything in the Order. The degrees instruct that: There is a Supreme Being who created the universe, who has established and revealed a moral law, and to whom we must give account in a life after this. Masons argue that nothing in these five points, which are supported by all the materials, lectures and “working tools” of the degrees, conflicts with any of the major religions of the Western world. As such, all religions are welcome to participate in the Brotherhood, and thus, it should not be deemed a “religious” organization. “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.”(Manly Hall, The Lost Keys of Freemasonry, 1976)

Many scholars call Freemasonry the “unifier” of all religions. “It is the universal, eternal, immutable religion, such as God planted it in the heart of universal humanity.”(Albert Pike, Morals and Dogma, 1950) “Every Masonic Lodge is a temple of religion; and its teachings are instruction in religion.” (Pike) “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.” (Foster Bailey, The Spirit of Masonry, 1979)

Documentation source: allaboutcults.org

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