Reasoning from the Scriptures with Masons

Ron Rhodes

Description

Did you know that: The name of Jesus is removed from Masonic rituals to avoid offending anyone? The "secret" name of Masonry's god specifically includes Jehovah, Baal, and Osiris? Many people are unaware of the far-reaching impact the Masonic Lodge has today. Ron provides accurate information on the structure and beliefs of Masonry, then carefully contrasts its practices with Scripture. Continuing the easy-to-follow question-and-answer format of the Reasoning from the Scriptures series, this informative guide reveals the occultic symbolism, secret oaths, and hidden rituals that are an integral part of Masonic tradition. Readers will discover honest, fact-based insights on the dangers of this fraternal order and specific suggestions for sharing biblical truth with Masons.

Sujets

• Philosophie et théologie

Informations

• Publié par: Harvest House Publishers, Inc.
• Date de parution: 15 février 2001
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9780736954341
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 1 Mo

Extrait

Unless otherwise marked, all verses are taken from the Holy Bible: New International Version®. NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by the International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House. The "NIV" and "New International Ver- sion" trademarks are registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by Inter- national Bible Society.

Verses marked NASB are taken from the New American Standard Bible ®, © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission.

Verses marked KJV are taken from the King James Version of the Bible.

Cover by Dugan Design Group, Bloomington, Minnesota

REASONING FROM THE SCRIPTURES WITH MASONS Copyright © 2001 by Ron Rhodes Published by Harvest House Publishers Eugene, Oregon 97402 www.harvesthousepublishers.com

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Rhodes, Ron. Reasoning from the scriptures with Masons / Ron Rhodes p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-0-7369-0467-4 1. Freemasonry—Controversial Literature. 2. Freemasonry—Religious Aspects— Baptists. I. Title.

HS459 .R44 2001 366’.1—dc21

00-047126

All rights reserved.No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means—electronic, mechanical, digital, pho- tocopy, recording, or any other—except for brief quotations in printed reviews, without the prior permission of the publisher.

Printed in the United States of America

To pastors everywhere who are bold enough to speak the truth in love to those in their congregations who have been deceived by the Masonic Lodge.

Acknowledgments

Kerri, David, and Kylie— you are the greatest blessings in my life! I couldn’t do my work of ministry without you. You are deeply, deeply appreciated.

Contents

The Masonic Lodge . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1. Dialoguing with Masons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2. Masonic Families . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3. Understanding Freemasonry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4. Becoming a Mason . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5. Is Masonry a Religion? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6. The Bible: A “Great Light” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7. God: The Great Architect of the Universe . . . . . . . . 8. Masonry’s Connection to Paganism and the Mystery Religions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9. Whatever Happened to Jesus? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10. Redefining Sin and Salvation: Part 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . 11. Redefining Sin and Salvation: Part 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . 12. Masonry’s Great Omission: The Judgment and Hell . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13. Occultism in Masonry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14. Should Christians Be Masons? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15. Evangelism Among Masons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Appendices A. An Invitation to Believe . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B. A Comparison of Yahweh and Jesus . . . . . . . . C. Victory over Satan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Bibliography . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Subject Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Scripture Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

7 13 21 31 53 75 87 105

131 151 173 189

207 225 235 247

253 259 263 267 285 289 299

The Masonic Lodge

asonry is a centuries-old fraternal order and secret society M that is deeply entrenched in symbolism, secret oaths, and secret rituals. Key themes, according to Masons themselves, include the universal fatherhood of God and the brotherhood of man. Some very famous people have been Masons throughout American history: 14 presidents (including George Washington), 18 vice presidents, five chief justices of the Supreme Court, Gen- eral Douglas MacArthur, John Philip Sousa, John Wayne, Clark Gable, Norman Vincent Peale, Ernest Borgnine, Cecil B. DeMille, W.C. Fields, Henry Ford, Barry Goldwater, J. Edgar Hoover, Harry Houdini, J.C. Penney, Roy Rogers, and Red Skelton. In earlier days, people from all over the world were masons, including: Benjamin Franklin, James Monroe, Alexander Hamilton, Oscar Wilde, Mark Twain, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, 1 Francois Voltaire, Franz Joseph Haydn, and Paul Revere. The majority of the 56 signers of the American Declaration of Inde- 2 pendence were Masons. Most of the American generals in the 3 Revolutionary War were Masons. Many people have assumed that with such intelligent and respectable people joining a Masonic Lodge, there must not be anything wrong with such membership. Today, millions of people are involved in the various orders within Freemasonry. There are approximately 3 million Masons in the Blue Lodge, over a quarter of a million in the York Rite, close to a million in the Scottish Rite, and perhaps another million in the 4 various other orders. There are presently 33,700 Masonic Lodges (meeting places for Masons) in 164 countries in the world, with approximately 15,300 of these in the United States. Bible apolo- gists John Ankerberg and John Weldon provide these details:

In the Philippines there are 211 Lodges and 15,037 Masons. England has more than 8,000 7

8 • The Masonic Lodge

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. Even communist Cuba has 324 Lodges and 19,728 members! In Canada, there are 183,000 members in 1,600 Lodges, and the U.S. boasts at least 4 million Masons in 15,300 Lodges. More Masons live in California (188,535) than in Canada. There are 90,000 Masons in Georgia, 83,000 in Florida, 146,000 in Illinois, 88,000 in Massachusetts, 111,000 in Michigan, 220,000 in Ohio, 206,000 in Pennsylvania, 75,000 in South Carolina, 206,000 in Texas, and 96,000 in Ten- 5 nessee.

In view of such staggering statistics, it is not surprising that some 80,000 Masonic books have been published in Europe and 6 20,000 in America. This is obviously a subject of great interest to many people. Indeed, as Michael Baigent and Richard Leigh put it in their bookThe Temple and the Lodge: “One need only pronounce the word ‘Freemasonry’ in a pub, restaurant, hotel lobby or other public place to see heads twitch, faces swivel atten- 7 tively, ears fine-tune themselves to eavesdrop.” People seek membership in a Masonic Lodge for a variety of reasons. Some like the idea of belonging to a secret society where they are privileged to learn secret mysteries rooted in ancient times. Some are fascinated by all the rich symbolism. Some people join because they appreciate the emphasis on the brother- hood of man and the accompanying humanitarianism (such as involvement in various charities, including burn centers for chil- dren). Many join because they think it is a good place to network 8 and make business contacts. Still others join simply because a relative or acquaintance they know and respect is a Mason. Researcher Ron Campbell observes: