Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
(headquartered in Salt Lake, City, Utah) and
Reorganized Church of Latter-day Saints
(headquartered in Independence, Missouri)
WHO ARE THE MORMONS?
Weren't they cute: Donny and Marie Osmond? Such pictures of Christianity. Only problem is they are not Christians. They are Mormons.
Mormonism is a religion founded upon the teachings of Joseph Smith (1805-1844). It boasts a membership of 11 million with tens of thousands of active missionaries proselytizing throughout the world. It is estimated there will be 265 million by the year 2080 -- second only to Roman Catholics. It is also a multibillion dollar institution.
Mormonism begins with the "first vision" of Joseph Smith in 1820. There are at least six contradictory versions of this key event. On September 21, 1823, an "angel" appeared to Smith telling him the location of certain "gold plates." These plates contained the historical records of a tribe of Jewish people known as the "Nephites" concerning their supposed early migration to the Americas. He dug up the plates near the top of the Hill Cumorah, near Palmyra, New York. They were inscribed in "Reformed Egyptian." The obliging angel also supplied him with a pair of magic spectacles called the Urim and Thummim which enabled him to decipher the hieroglyphics. Enlisting the aid of others, he sat behind a blanket and with the use of the magic glasses, dictated the Book of Mormon in beautiful King James English from the golden tablets written in Egyptian. (In fact, some 27,000 words from the King James Bible are found in the Book of Mormon. If the Book of Mormon were written as it is alleged, between 600 BC and AD 421, how could it contain extensive quotations from the King James Bible, not to be written for another 1,200 to 2000 years? It even contains King James Bible translation errors!) Actually, this is the most believable of this magnificent tale of ancient people which I will not go into further. However, few religions have such a wealth of historical, archaeological and other data arrayed against them as the Mormon religion.
From 1831 to 1844, Smith allegedly received 135 direct revelations from God, Jesus, Peter, James, John the Baptist, and a host of others helping the new movement to grow and solidify itself. Mormons claim to be the only true Christian religion on earth, even though they are not Christian. This is because in his "first vision", Jesus supposedly condemned Christian religions as corrupt abominations. Christians accept the Mormon claim of being Christian without determining whether those claims are true. Most Christian authorities, however, point out that it is not only non-Christian, it is anti-Christian and anti-Biblical.
Mormons use the same words that Christians use, but they use them with different, or even opposite, meanings. In any discussion with a Mormon, the following redefinition of biblical and Christian terms must be kept in mind.
Christianity: sectarianism; a false and damnable apostate religion.
God: "Elohim"; one of innumerable self-progressing bodily deities; formerly a man, a finite creature. In early Mormon theology, Adam (of the Garden of Eden) was considered by many Mormons as the true earth deity.
Jesus Christ: a self-progressing deity ("Jehovah" of the Old Testament) and the first spirit child of "Elohim" and his wife.
Holy Ghost: a man with a spiritual body of matter.
Trinity: tritheistic; coordinated under general Mormon polytheism; thus the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost are separate deities.
The Gospel: Mormon theology.
Born-again: water baptism into Mormonism.
Immortality: salvation by grace (the universal resurrection of all men).
Atonement: the provision God has supplied for individuals to earn their own salvation "by obedience to the laws and ordinances of the Gospel" (Articles of Faith, 3).
The Fall: a spiritual step upward; a blessing permitting the production of physical bodies for preexistent spirits to inhabit and thus have the possibility of attaining their own 'exaltation" or Godhood.
True salvation/eternal life/redemption: Exaltation to Godhood in the highest part of the celestial kingdom based upon individual good works and personal merit; exaltation incorporates ruling a new world and sexual procreation in order to produce spirit children who will eventually be embodied and inhabit that world, each then having the opportunity to be exalted or deified.
Death: generally a step upward; death represents the possibility of a form of salvation (if not exaltation) for those who have never heard of Mormonism.
Heaven: three "kingdoms of glory" comprising various spiritual gradations.
Hell: generally purgatorial; possibly eternal for a very few (primarily apostate Mormons).
Virgin birth: the birth of Christ through the physical sex act between God the Father (the Mormon earth god "Elohim") and Mary (hence, not a virgin birth).
Man: a preexistent spirit with the potential to earn Godhood by obedience to Mormon dictates.
Creation: the reorganization of eternal matter.
The Scriptures: the Book of Mormon; Doctrine and Covenants; The Pearl of Great Price; and the Bible "as far as it is translated correctly" (Articles of Faith, 8).
The Bible: an erring and often unreliable inspired record, properly interpreted only by Mormons and only in light of Mormon theology.
OKAY THE WORDS ARE DIFFERENT. HOW DO THE TEACHING DIFFER?
Mormon view of the Bible:
The Bible
+ unreliable
+ incomplete as it is
+ adds new revelations to God's Word
+ unbiblical theological presuppositions utilized in interpretation
Christian view of the Bible:
The Bible
+ reliable
+ complete as it is
+ rejects new revelations
+ normal hermeneutics utilized in interpretation
Mormon view of God:
God
+ Tritheism/polytheistic
+ Physical (evolved man)
+ Finite
+ Morally questionable
+ Organizer of eternal matter
+ Sexual polygamist
Christian view of God:
God
+ Trinity/monotheistic
+ Spirit
+ Infinite
+ Holy
+ Creator of matter from nothing
+ Nonsexual
Mormon view of Jesus:
Jesus
+ A god
+ Created
+ Earned salvation (exaltation to Godhood)
+ Not virgin born
+ Polygamist
Christian View of Jesus:
Jesus
+ God
+ Eternal
+ As eternal God neither salvation nor exaltation required
+ Virgin born
+ Unmarried
Mormon view of salvation:
Salvation
+ By works
+ Denies biblical atonement
+ Possible after death
Christian view of salvation:
Salvation
+ By grace (Protestant)
+ By works and grace (Catholic)
+ Affirms atonement
+ Not possible after death
Mormon view of Death:
Death
+ "Purgatorial"
+ Three celestial kingdoms
+ Almost universalistic
Christan view of death:
Death
+ Earned heaven or hell
+ (Catholics include purgatory)
+ Not universalistic
SO THE VIEW OF GOD DIFFERS?
Yes it does! Although they claim to believe in the Biblical God and the Holy Trinity, that is not true.
MORMON GOD
+ Many (polytheistic)
+ Evolving (changing)
+ Material (physical)
+ Sexual
+ Polygamist
+ Morally imperfect (requiring salvation)
CHRISTIAN GOD
+ One (monotheistic)
+ Immutable (unchanging)
+ Immaterial (spirit)
+ Nonsexual
+ Celibate
+ Eternally holy
You decide. Is this the same God?
WHAT ABOUT JESUS CHRIST? Mormonism claims that it believes in the true, biblical Jesus Christ. They teach: "Christ is our Redeemer and our Savior. Except for him, there would be no salvation and no redemption. . . ." Statements like this confuse Christians. But consider this comparison:
THE MORMON JESUS CHRIST
+ A created being; brother of Lucifer
+ Earned his own salvation (exaltation)
+ Common (one of many gods and of minor importance in the larger Mormon cosmology
+ Conceived by the physical sex act of the Father (Adam or Elohim) and Mary
+ A married polygamist
THE BIBLICAL JESUS CHRIST
+ Uncreated God
+ As God, Christ required no salvation
+ Unique (the Second Person of the one God head) and of supreme importance throughout eternity and in all creation
+ Conceived by the Holy Spirit who overshadowed Mary, a true virgin
+ An unmarried monogamist
IS MORMONISM A CULT?
Yep. Their founder, Joseph Smith, was an occultist. He was arrested in 1826, tried and found guilty of fortune-telling in Bainbridge, New York. He would employ a "Jupiter Talisman"--an amulet supposedly possessing supernatural powers intended to bring wealth, influence, and power to its possessor. He would also place "peepstones" or "seer" stones into a hat, place his face into the hat, and see visions of buried treasure, lost property, etc. This was similar to the method used (the stone glasses) to translate the Book of Mormon. Both Smith and subsequent leaders in the Mormon Church claimed to be in regular contact with the spirit world. Eventually, Jesus Christ was given the role of a spiritualistic mediator, and spiritism was to be practiced in the Mormon temple. The Mormon Church has erected a false division between "godly" and "satanic" spirit contact. Allegedly, all Mormon contact with the dead is "godly."
MASONIC influence is apparent in Mormon temple rites which is not surprising since both Smith and Young were Freemasons in Illinois but were expelled from the lodge. Ironically, Utah Mormons are forbidden to join the Masonic lodge.
SUGGESTED READINGS
Ankerberg, John and Weldon, John, The Facts on The Mormon Church, © 1991, Harvest House Publishers, Eugene, OR.
Taylor, Rev. William, A Tale of Two Cities, The Mormons-Catholics © 1980 by Taylor, Pocatello, ID.
Whalen, William J., Separated Brethren © 1970, Our Sunday Visitor, Inc., Huntington, ID.
"What is the Book of Mormon?" by the Church of Christ of Latter-Day Saints.
"Christ in America" by the Church of Christ of Latter-Day Saints.
"The Prophet Joseph Smith's Testimony" by the Church of Christ of Latter-Day Saints.
Book of Mormon by the Church of Christ of Latter-Day Saints. |
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WHO ARE THE JEHOVAH'S WITNESSES?
A religious sect begun by Charles Taze Russell in the 1870s which drew upon such sects as Seventh-Day Adventism and Christadelphianism, plus his own interpretation of the Bible. It has grown to 2.5 million members and is run by a group of men who head the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society in Brooklyn, New York. Simply stated, it is a cult whose purpose is to sell publications of the Watchtower Society.
Russell (period 1872-1916) claimed to be a new interpreter of the Bible and wrote a new "Bible" for the faithful. He predicted the end of the world in 1914 based on the dimensions of the pyramids in Egypt. Leadership eventually went to a second president, "Judge" Joseph F. Rutherford (1917-1942), and then later under Nathan H. Knorr (1942-1977). Under Knorr, a new Bible translation was produced supporting Jehovah's Witness interpretations. Today, the organization is under Frederick W. Franz (1977-present). Many people today are attracted to the society because they are searching for authoritative answers to today's problems.
WHAT ARE PEOPLE TAUGHT?
1. Divine guidance comes only through the Watchtower Society.
2. Jehovah's Witnesses alone have the truth of God. They alone are the people of God. They renounce such things as military service, patriotism, and celebrating religious holidays.
3. Jehovah's Witnesses are told that Orthodox, Protestant, and Catholic Christianity are false and controlled by Satan.
The Watchtower states: "We belong to NO earthly organization. ... We adhere only to that heavenly organization. ... All the saints now living or that ever lived during this age, belong to OUR CHURCH ORGANIZATION; such are all ONE CHURCH, and there is NO OTHER recognized by the Lord." (March 1, 1979, pg. 16, emphasis NOT added).
Although the Bible forbids "eating" blood (something which was associated with pagan rituals), the Society has wrongly interpreted this as a ban on blood "transfusions", something entirely different. As a result, hundreds, perhaps thousands of Witnesses and their children, have died because they believed the Watchtower's unbiblical view.
HOW DO THEY FEEL ABOUT CHRISTIANS?
First, you must understand that Jehovah's Witnesses are not Christians. They deny Christ. Christians are considered the most powerful and hated of all their enemies.
"Haters of God and His people ... are to be hated. ... We must hate in the truest sense which is to regard with extreme and active aversion, to consider as loathsome, odious, filthy, to detest. Surely any haters of God are not fit to live on this beautiful earth. ... We must have a proper perspective of these enemies. ... We cannot love those hateful enemies, for they are fit only for destruction. ... We pray with intensity ... and plead that [Jehovah's] anger be made manifest. ... Oh, Jehovah God of Host ... be not merciful to any wicked transgressors ... consume them in wrath, consume them that they shall be no more." Watchtower, October 1, 1952, pg. 596-604.
WHAT DO THEY BELIEVE ABOUT GOD?
Because the Watchtower Society teaches that God is only one person, Witnesses reject the doctrine of the Trinity as an invention of "pagan imagination." They call it "a false doctrine ... promulgated [promoted] by Satan for he purpose of defaming Jehovah's name."
Jehovah's Witnesses teach that Jesus Christ was the first creation of God, the Archangel Michael. They teach he "had a beginning" and "was a creature of God," thus rejecting the Bible's teachings about Jesus. They teach that Jesus received immortality as a reward for this faithful course of action on earth. In short, they believe that
1) Michael the Archangel was changed into the mortal man Jesus,
2) thus he ceased to be an angel,
3) the man Jesus was changed into an improved and immortal version of the angel Michael.
They reject the physical resurrection of Christ. Russell wrote that the man Jesus is dead, forever dead. They teach that since Jesus was now an angel (Michael again); he can never return visibly and physically to the earth. They teach he returned invisibly in 1914. IT IS IMPORTANT TO UNDERSTAND THAT THE CHRIST OF THE JEHOVAH'S WITNESSES IS NOT THE CHRIST OF THE BIBLE. Many other terms are also confused. It is this confusion that plants the seeds for Catholics and Protestants to convert to Jehovah's Witnesses.
WHAT ABOUT SALVATION?
Jehovah's Witnesses believe there are three classes of salvation.
First class salvation: an extremely small group of 144,000. This class are spiritually privileged and will eventually be recreated like Jesus, and will also be privileged to rule with Jesus in heaven.
Second class salvation: includes all other Jehovah's Witnesses (called "the other sheep"). They cannot be justified in this life or born again. These are the average Jehovah's Witnesses who at death are not recreated as spirit beings (as Jesus was changed into Michael), but recreated in their physical bodies to live on the earth. These people are to be ruled over by Jesus (Michael) and the other 144,000 in heaven.
Third class salvation: includes non-Jehovah's Witnesses who lived good lives and will be given the opportunity to earn salvation after death. They will be recreated by Jehovah to live in the new millennium, but will only gain life beyond the millennium if they attain perfection during it.
HOW CAN THEY BELIEVE THESE THINGS?
They simply re-translate the Bible. For example, in Titus 2:13 (the same mistranslation occurs in 2 Peter 1:1), they state:
"While we wait for the happy hope and glorious manifestation of the great God and of (the) Savior of us, Jesus Christ."
It should read: "While we wait for the blessed hope--the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ. ..." The Jehovah's Witnesses have added the worth "the" and put it in parenthesis in front of the word Savior in order to deny the deity of Jesus Christ, a doctrine they do not accept. It makes it appear we are talking of two people.
Another example is in Colossians 1:17:
"Also, he is before all (other) things and by means of him all (other) things were made to exist."
The Jehovah's Witnesses have dishonestly inserted the word "other" twice and placed it in parenthesis when this word does not appear at all in the Greek text. The NIV translates this: "He is before all things, and in him all things hold together."
This was done to deny the fact that Christ is eternal and therefore God--a doctrine they deny. Another blatant mistranslation is Matthew 25:46:
“And these will depart into everlasting cutting-off, but the righteous ones into everlasting life.”
NIV states: “Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.” The change was made to deny the biblical teaching on eternal punishment and replace it with their doctrine of the annihilation of the wicked.
The list of these changes are endless. The Jehovah's Witness Bible, New World Translation, has been universally condemned as biased and inaccurate.
DO THEY PREDICT ARMAGEDDON (THE END OF THE WORLD)?
Of course, and they do it often. When it doesn't happen, they just predict again and again, forgetting about the previous prediction. Here are just a few with the Watchtower dates at the left:
1877 "THE END OF THIS WORLD ... is nearer than most men suppose. ..."
1886 "The time is come for Messiah to take the dominion of the earth. ..."
1889 "... we present proofs that the setting up of the kingdom of God has already begun ... and that 'the battle of the great day of God almighty' (Revelation 16:14), which will end in AD 1914 with the complete overthrow of the earth's present rulership, is already commenced." (In their 1915 edition of this book they changed "AD 1914" to AD 1915").
July 15, 1894 "We see no reason for changing the figures--nor could we change them if we could. They are, we believe, God's dates not ours. But bear in mind that the end of 1914 is not the date for the beginning, but for the end of the time of trouble."
May 1, 1914 "There is absolutely no ground for Bible students to question that the consummation of this gospel age is now even at the door. ... The great crisis ... that will consume the ecclesiastical heavens and the social earth, is very near."
1917 "The present great war in Europe is the beginning of the Armageddon of the Scriptures."
Sept. 1, 1922 "The date 1925 is even more distinctly indicated by the Scriptures because it is fixed by the law of God to Israel.
April 1, 1923 "Our thought is that 1925 is definitely settled by the Scriptures."
1930 "The great climax is at hand."
1931 "Armageddon is at hand. ..."
1933 "The incontrovertible proof that the time of deliverance is at hand."
1933 "That [Jehovah] has now opened these prophecies to the understanding of His anointed is evidence that the time of the battle is near; hence the prophecy is of profound interest to the anointed."
1939 "The battle of the great day of God Almighty is very near."
May 1940 to April 15, 1943 - The society made 44 predictions including:
Sept. 1940 "The kingdom is here, the king is enthroned. Armageddon is just ahead. ... The great climax has been reached."
Sept.15,1941 "The FINAL END IS VERY NEAR" "The remaining months before Armageddon..."
Jan. 15, 1942 The time is at hand for Jesus Christ to take possession of all things."
May 1, 1942 "Now, with Armageddon immediately before us..."
May 1, 1943 "The final end of all things .. is at hand."
Sept. 1, 1944 "Armageddon is near at hand."
1946 "The disaster of Armageddon ... is at the door.
1950 "The march is on! Where? To the field of Armageddon for the 'war of the great day of God the Almighty.'"
1953 "Armageddon is so near at hand it will strike the generation now living."
1955 It is becoming clear that the war of Armageddon is near its breaking out point."
1958 When will Armageddon be fought? ... It will be very soon.
AND ON AND ON AND ON 1
973 "The 'Great Tribulation' is very near.
1973 "According to the Bible's timetable, the beginning of the seventh millennium of mankind's existence on earth is near at hand, within this generation."
1975 "The fulfillment ... is immediately ahead of us."
1975 "Very short must be the time that remains. ..."
AND ON AND ON AND ON J
ust some of the absolute firm dates set by the Witnesses were 1914, 1925, 1975, 1984 and 1997.
WHY DO JEHOVAH'S WITNESSES GO DOOR TO DOOR WITH THEIR LITERATURE?
The answer is simple. The Jehovah's Witnesses are above all else a corporation which publishes books, booklets and magazines which the Witnesses MUST SELL as part of their ministry. In their own book Let God Be True, we find the answers:
"This literature is offered on a contribution basis to defray the cost of publishing." What cost? We are told in the book that Witnesses minister and preach from door to door. "One who does not preach the good news is not one of the Jehovah's Witnesses. It is his preaching that proves him to be a minister. He who does not preach actively is not with the organization ... as long as one actively preaches, he is recognized as being with it." "Everyone makes a regular (written) report of his preaching activity." What goes into these written reports?
"In their preaching work, books and booklets are used." So the records show how many books, booklets and magazine subscriptions the Witnesses have sold. Where does this literature come from? This is how it works:
1. They must preach actively;
2. In order to preach, they must sell literature;
3. In order to sell the literature, they must first buy the material from the organization;
4. They must keep a record of their preaching (how much they sell);
5. They must use the money they receive not only to buy more material, but to help to "defray the costs".
Whose cost? Not the preacher, not the Watchtower (they've already been paid). In addition to all this, the Witness gives personal donations to the organization. The corporation has no risks; the Witnesses carry the burdens.
The society also sets a quota for each phase of "ministry" which is recorded on a chart. The quota includes how much material is sold. At the end of the year, the organization sends out the "Good News" on the sales, or as they call it, the "placing." They care nothing for the social needs of the poor or hungry, run no assistant programs, hospitals, homes, etc. In fact, they condemn all the good works and deeds of "organized religions," which brings down the wrath of Jehovah because they are "seen by others" and are the "work of the Devil."
People who have left the Witnesses describe their experience as total slavery and total separation from the world and former friends, relatives and acquaintances.
WHAT DO I SAY TO A JEHOVAH'S WITNESS?
If you are confronted by a Jehovah's Witness, the best thing to do is to slam the door, particularly if you are not extremely well grounded in the Bible. The training the Witnesses receive for their house-to-house campaign rivals military planning and maneuvers because they tend to regard the one who answers the door as living in the "enemy's camp." A simple act of kindness to the Witness at your home can create tragedy. If you choose to engage, the best way to focus your attention with a Jehovah's Witness is on the organization and NOT on the Bible. The "Good News" they carry is not the Bible but Armageddon. You will get nowhere discussing the Bible. They will be able to "prove" anything they wish because they will combine your Bible with theirs. The Witnesses must act quickly to instill into the person's mind a combination of hope and fear. Do not give them a chance. Talk about Armageddon and the false promises and dates. Certainly no organization that has wrongly predicted the end of the world so often is trustworthy. Remind the Witness that he is no more than a hidden salesman for a New York corporation called The Watch Tower, and that he spends hours doing sales work for no pay. Do not engage in a theological discussion.
On a final note: Because Jehovah Witnesses do not believe in the Trinity, they do not follow Christ’s instructions to “Go forth and baptize in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.” Therefore, any Jehovah Witness who enters another Christian faith must be re-baptized because their baptism is invalid.
RECOMMENDED READING
D'Angelo, Louise, The Catholic Answer to the Jehovah's Witnesses © 1987 Catholic Information Center, Inc., Meriden, CT.
Whalen, William J., Separated Brethren, © 1979 Our Sunday Visitor, Inc., Huntington, ID.
Ankerberg, John and Weldon, John, The Facts on the Jehovah's Witnesses, © 1988 Harvest House Publishers, Eugene OR. |
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WHAT IS MASONRY?
+ Also known as Freemasonry, it is a powerful, centuries-old fraternal order that began around 1717 in London.
+ It is a secret society. To maintain its secrets, Masonry uses symbolism, secret oaths, and secret rituals to instruct new members ("initiates").
+ According to Masons themselves, the final authority for the teachings is the "ritual".
IS FREEMASONRY A RELIGION?
Yes, according to their own manual: Coil's Masonic Encyclopedia by Henry Wilson Coil:
"Freemasonry certainly requires a belief in the existence of, and man's dependence upon, a Supreme Being to whom he is responsible. What can a church add to that, except to bring into one fellowship those who have like feelings? . . . That is exactly what the Lodge does" (pg. 512).
According to another one of their own sources, Mackey's Revised Encyclopedia of Freemasonry, by Albert Mackey:
"Freemasonry may rightfully claim to be called a religious institution." (Chp. II, pg. 847).
Freemasonry offers it's own plan of salvation. In Coil's book he writes:
"Freemasonry has a religious service to commit the body of a deceased brother to the dust whence it came, and to speed the liberated spirit back to the Great Source of Light. Many Freemasons make this flight with no other guarantee of a safe landing than their belief in the religion of Freemasonry" (pg. 512).
WHO IS GOD FOR FREEMASONS?
Each candidate is taught that the lost name for God will be revealed to them. That name is Jahbulon. This is a composite term joining Jehovah with two pagan gods--the evil Canaanite deity Baal (Jer. 19:5; Jg. 3:7, 10:6) and the Egyptian god Osiris. So they have combined and equated God with false gods. The deity they pray to is called "the Great Architect of the Universe." Masons must kneel at their "sacred altar" to make their "sacred vows." They swear to be obedient and do the bidding of their "Worshipful Master." In the Lodge the "Worshipful Master" has hanging over his head a symbol--the big letter "G" which they are specifically instructed signifies "deity."
On the Masonic "sacred altar" is placed a "Bible," a "Koran," and "Vedas" and called the "Volume of Sacred Law." If the Masonic candidate accepts Masonic doctrine, he will earn a place in the "Celestial Lodge Above." Mackey writes:
"The religion of Freemasonry is not sectarian. It admits men of every creed within its hospital bosom, rejecting none and approving none for his peculiar faith. It is not Judaism, though there is nothing in it to offend the Jew; it is not Christian, but there is nothing in it repugnant to the faith of a Christian. Its religion is that general one of nature and primitive revelation handed down to us from some ancient and patriarchal priesthood--in which all men man agree and in which no men can differ" (Chp. II pg. 847-48).
The Masonic Lodge says it is acceptable for men to worship God outside of Christianity. Jesus disagreed when he said: "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." (John 14:6).
For Masons, light symbolizes the seeking of truth. It is the goal of Masonic Ritual to bring the ignorant or unenlightened candidate to the "Masonic Light". Only Masonry brings light to the candidate, therefore only the Mason knows the truth. This means all non-masons exist in spiritual darkness and the only way they can enter the light is to join the Masonic Lodge. Jesus disagreed with this when he said: "I have come into the world as a light, so that no one who believes in me should stay in darkness." (John 12:46). "I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness and will have the light of life." (John 8:12). Jesus teaches that he is the light, and not any ritual, Masonic or otherwise, will remove darkness.
Masonry teaches at least three things about God:
1. The Masonic God is called the Great Architect of the Universe (G.A.O.T.U.) but must remain undefined.
Masonry believes that by leaving God undefined, it can claim that it accepts the God of the Muslims, Hindus, Buddhist, Jews, Mormons, etc. What Masonry means, however, when it refers to God as "the boundless Divine Spirit" is really the one true God that all men worship. And that God has certain characteristics: he is single (unitarian, not trinitarian), deistic, the "Life Force of Nature", and his secret name and true nature are described by reference to ancient evil and pagan gods and beliefs.
All Gods are not the same: God of Christianity, Jehovah, is infinite, personal, triune, loving, and holy. The deity of the Muslims, Allah, is unitarian (not triune); he is merciful, but he is not necessarily loving or holy. The deity of the Hindus, Brahman, is impersonal and monistic (neither unitarian nor triune) or polytheistic (a belief in thousands of finite gods, both good and evil). Buddhism is either polytheistic (believing Buddha is God and that there are hundreds of other good and evil gods) or completely nontheistic, claiming there is no God. Buddhism replaces God with a confusing state of being called Nirvana. Mormonism is different from all the above in that it is henotheistic--accepting belief in one central deity (Elohim) but accepting many lesser deities as well. To say that all gods are the same or that all religions teach the same fundamental truths is intellectual schizophrenia and A DISRESPECT FOR EACH AND ALL RELIGIONS!
Masonic authority Albert Pike was quoted as saying: "The God of nineteen-twentieths of the Christian world is only Bel [Baal], Molach, Zeus, or at best Osiris, Mythras or Adonai, under another name, worshiped with the old pagan ceremonies and ritualistic formulas. . . " (Pike pg. 295-96). The truth is that while Masonry falsely claims to be tolerant of other beliefs, it is done in order to attract men of different faiths into becoming Masons. In actuality, a true Mason must forfeit his own religious beliefs in who God is and accept the new God of Masonry (Wagner pg. 288-302).
2. God's secret name is "Jahbulon".
It is a pagan trinity: Jah (term for Jehovah), Bul (a reference to the Assyrian or Canaanite deity Baal) and On (for the Egyptian deity Osiris). Author and Martin L. Wagner reveals in Freemasonry, An Interpretation:
"In this compound name an attempt is made to show by a co-ordination of divine names. . . the unity, identity and harmony of the Hebrew, Assyrian and Egyptian god-ideas, and the harmony of the Royal Arch religion with these ancient religions. This Masonic 'unity of God' is peculiar. It is the doctrine that the different names of gods as Brahma, Jehovah, Baal, Bel, Om, On, etc. all denote the generative principle, and that all religions are essentially the same in their ideas of the divine" (Pg. 338-39).
So God of Christianity is equated with the pagan god Baal--a god so evil that he led the Israelites into human sacrifice and other blasphemies. "They sacrificed their sons and daughters in the fire. . ." (2 Kings 17:16,17).
3. Masonry teaches that God is not the Christian God.
Masonry denies the biblical teachings on Christ. Albert Pike states:
"It reverences all the great reformers. It sees in Moses, the Lawgiver of the Jews, in Confucius and Zoroaster, in Jesus of Nazareth, and in the Arabian Iconoclast, Great Teachers of Morality, and Eminent Reformers, if no more. . ." (Pike pg. 625).
Masons teach Jesus was only a man. Nowhere in Masonic literature will you find Jesus called God or said to be the world's Savior who died for men's sins. Masonry completely excludes all particular biblical teachings about Christ such as his incarnation, redemptive mission, death, and resurrection. Former Mason Edmond Ronayne confesses:
"Freemasonry 'carefully excludes' the Lord Jesus Christ from the Lodge and chapter, repudiates his mediatorship, rejects his atonement, denies and disowns his gospel, frowns upon his religion and his church, ignores the Holy Spirit, and sets up for itself a spiritual empire, a religious theocracy, at the head of which it places the G.A.O.T.U.--the god of nature--and from which the only one living and true God is expelled by resolution. . ." (Ronayne pg. 87).
Masonic ritual and oath demands that the Christian Mason's first allegiance is to Masonry, not to Jesus Christ. Albert Pike states:
"Masonry, around whose altars 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. . . (Liturgy of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite of Freemasonry for the Southern Jurisdiction of the United States, Part Two, Washington, D.C. 1982, pg. 202). Notice the term "Baalim" which their one true God is above. Baalim refers to the false gods and idols that men worship and is applied to the Christian religion. That means that Christianity and all the other religions are considered false.
The Bible for the Mason is:
1. A piece of Lodge furniture.
2. A symbol of the will of God (but the contents are not the "Word of God").
3. Equally valid with other "Bibles" of other faiths.
4. And only a part of the "revelation" of God.
Most masons don’t even know the beliefs of Masonry, especially the lower levels. Masonry is accepted in most Protestant religions. However, it is not accepted by the Catholic Church and no Catholic can be a Mason. Does this come as any surprise?
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Coil, Henry Wilson, Coil's Masonic Encyclopedia © 1961, Macoy Publishing and Masonic Supply, New York.
Mackey, Albert, Mackey's Revised Encyclopedia of Freemasonry, © 1966 Macoy Publishing and Masonic Supply, New York.
Pike, Albert, Morals and Dogma of Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite of Freemasonry, © 1906 Charleston, SC, The Supreme Council of the 33rd Degree fro the Southern Jurisdiction of the United States.
Ronayne, Edmond, The Master's Carpet © Missionary Service and Supply, Columbiana, OH.
Wagner, Martin L., Freemasonry, An Interpretation © and distributed by Missionary Service and Supply, Colombiana, OH. |
