For centuries, Christians convinced of the pagan and universalist assertions of Freemasonry have sought to counter its influence worldwide. In the second half of the last century, Jonathan Blanchard, first president of the evangelical Wheaton College and a former Mason himself, debated Masonic thinkers. And as recently as 1985, Christian Research Institute founder Walter Martin debated Bill Mankin, a 32 degree Mason and professing Christian, extracting seeming inconsistencies between Mankin's Christian and Masonic beliefs. Perhaps no debate over the matter has garnered such attention nationwide, however, as the recent fire set under the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) by a medical doctor and layman from Beaumont, Texas. Last year, James "Larry" Holly requested at the Indianapolis SBC annual meeting that the convention conduct a formal study of the compatibility -- or, as he asserted, the lack thereof -- between Freemasonry and biblical Christianity.[Dr. Holly's book "The Southern Baptist Convention and Freemasonry" available: click here ]

The result was a whirlwind of controversy and media attention which did not begin to abate until June of 1993, when the SBC met for its annual convention in Houston, Texas. By an estimated 80 percent margin the denomination approved a study stating that Freemasonry's ideals and activities are, in part, compatible and elsewhere incompatible with Christianity. The convention messengers went so far as to say, among other things, that Freemasonry's use of solemn oaths; its recommendation of "readings" of "undeniably pagan and/or occultic...writings"; its implication "that salvation may be attained by one's good works"; and the permeation through Masonic writings of "the heresy of universalism," are not compatible with Christianity or Southern Baptist doctrine. To the astonishment of many, however, the six-page statement from the SBC Home Mission Board concludes by saying that Freemasonry membership should be "a matter of personal conscience," "consistent with our denomination's deep convictions regarding the priesthood of the believer and the autonomy of the local church." All in all, the SBC's action was very "naive," said Holly.

While affirming that he has been faithful to the Lord and will not challenge the matter further, others have told him that they will. "There is absolutely no question that what the convention did was short of what they should have done and was, in fact, compromise. The problem is the convention is always looking over their shoulder." Ironically, in one fell swoop, what started as a well-intentioned attempt to weed out the effects of Freemasonry within the denomination has seemingly resulted instead in a strengthening of allegiance among American Masons. Indeed, Masons have heralded the SBC statement as ultimately a "positive" affirmation of their movement. "The final report vindicates Freemasonry from the charge of being a religion or of being anti-Christian," said Fred Kleinknecht, Grand Commander of the Southern Jurisdiction of Freemasonry, in the June issue of the Masonic monthly Scottish Rite Journal. "In fact, the report advocates Masonic membership by Christians as an opportunity to witness in the Lodge for Christ by their example of Christian living."

During the controversy, many closet Masons pulled out their pins and proudly displayed them upon their lapels during services in local Southern Baptist churches. At Parkway Baptist Church in St. Louis, 12-year pastor Stoney Shaw resigned and the church was thrown into turmoil after conducting its own investigation of Masonry. Shaw became convicted of Masonry's "cultic and anti-Christian" stance, but church members who were Masons rose up and strongly opposed him. Holly believes that even though Masons are claiming an immediate boost from the SBC's outcome, it will not be sustained. "That kind of emotional response will not sustain the Lodge for long. Much of what they have published themselves has, in fact, proved the reality and truth of what we have said." *Masonry's Influence.* The truth is that Freemasonry's membership -- estimated by Scottish Rite representatives at 2.5 million in the United States and six million worldwide -- has been dropping by two to three percent annually in recent years.

The average age of a Mason is 63, according to the organization's own estimates. Still, Holly estimates there are between 500,000 and 1.3 million Southern Baptist Freemasons alone, with 14 percent of SBC pastors and 18 percent of deacons being Masons. Masons have claimed the allegiance of scores of well-known members, which the 'Scottish Rite Journal' paraded through its pages in the issues preceding the SBC vote. One writer in the 'Scottish Rite Journal' said that calling Masonry satanic is folly, asserting that "if Dr. James Holly of Beaumont is right, George Washington, the father of our country, was a devil worshiper." The writer goes on to mention the names of 13 U.S. presidents who were Masons, including Franklin D. Roosevelt, Harry Truman, and most recently, Gerald Ford. He also notes the Masonic membership of Irving Berlin and John Wayne.

Moreover, journal articles were written defending the "gentle craft" by members Jesse Helms, Dr. Norman Vincent Peale, and the presidents of both Baylor and Furman universities. Every president of the Southern Baptist-run Baylor since its founding has been a Mason. Abner McCall, president emeritus of Baylor, asserted in his article that "membership and work in the Masonic Lodge and the Baptist Church have supplemented and supported each other and in no way supplanted nor subverted each other. They conflict only in the mind of a person who subscribes to a perverted version of Freemasonry, the church, or both." But if McCall's assertion is true, he has just condemned a great many of the denominations in the United States and Europe with whom one might think he would share an affinity.

For while the Southern Baptists balked at taking a strong stand against Masonry, a large number of other denominations have not hesitated to make plain their opposition. Based on information gathered by a Roman Catholic physician who prefers to remain anonymous (and printed in a recent book by Holly), the following denominations are publicly opposed to Freemasonry: the Roman Catholic Church; the Methodist Church of England; the Wesleyan Methodist Church; the Russian Orthodox Church; the Lutheran Church -- Missouri Synod; the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod; the Synod Anglican Church of England; the Assemblies of God; the Church of the Nazarene; the Orthodox Presbyterian Church; the Reformed Presbyterian Church; the Presbyterian Church in America; the Christian Reformed Church in America; the Evangelical Mennonite Church; the Church of Scotland; the Free Church of Scotland; and the Baptist Union of Scotland. In statement after statement, the same concerns are listed by denominations opposed to Freemasonry, virtually all of which are also found in researchers John Weldon and John Ankerberg's book 'Bowing at Strange Altars: The Masonic Lodge and the Christian Conscience':

* Masons endorse taking secret and bloody oaths, one of which says, "All this I most solemnly and sincerely promise and swear,... binding myself under no less penalty than that of having my throat cut from ear to ear, my tongue torn out by its roots, and buried in the sands of the sea, at low water mark, where the tide ebbs and flows twice in twenty-five hours, should I, in the least, knowingly or wittingly violate or transgress this my Entered Apprentice obligation." *

Masons teach that heaven can be attained in unbiblical ways. In official Masonic rituals, initiates are given a "white leather Apron" symbolizing "that purity of life and conduct, which is necessary to obtain admittance into the celestial Lodge above, where the Supreme Architect of the Universe presides." Other statements indicate salvation by works, critics assert. * The Lodge teaches universalism. Perhaps nowhere is this more clearly seen than in a series of articles written recently by Masons in defense of Masonry. Furman University president John E. Johns, in his article defending Masonry in the February 1993 'Scottish Rite Journal,' says: "Masonry... causes one to think more about what his religious beliefs really are and what he must do to obtain salvation through his religion. For [Southern Baptists], it is to believe in Jesus Christ as Savior."

Johns also states: "[Masonry] is a fraternity of men who, first of all, must believe in one God. It is a religious organization in that it encourages members to support each individual's faith whether he is a Christian, Muslim, Hebrew, or other monotheistic believer. Masonic teachings are based largely on Old and New Testament principles, but also on other religious teachings -- all honorable....Masonry teaches toleration of others' beliefs." * The God of the Masonic Lodge is not the God of the Bible. A common name Masons use in reference to the Deity is "Supreme Architect of the Universe." Wrote popular Masonic author Joseph Fort Newton: "For Masonry knows what so many forget, that religions are many, but Religion is one...therefore, it [Masonry] invites to its altar men of all faiths, knowing that, if they use different names for the nameless one of a hundred names, they are yet praying to the one God and Father of all."

According to Ankerberg and Weldon, Masons are also introduced to such pagan and occultic deities as the Egyptian gods Osiris, Isis, Horus, and Amun; the Scandinavian deities Odin, Frea, and Thor; and to Hindu, Greek, and Persian deities, as well as Jewish Kabbalism. *The Bottom Line.* Since the writings of Freemasonry and its rituals are difficult to defend as Christian, Masons in recent months have mostly asserted that, on the contrary, Masonry is not a religion at all. The debate has, by the players' admissions, turned into a game of semantics, with critics quoting the likes of highly touted Mason writer Albert Pike in his definitive book, 'Morals and Dogma,' where he says, "Every Masonic Lodge is a temple of religion," and, moreover, "Masonry...is the universal, eternal, immutable religion."

Masons have protested that Pike -- who also said somewhere in the same book, "Masonry is not a religion" -- has never been considered the sole and definitive defender and creator of Masonic teaching, nor has anyone else. Ankerberg and Weldon note, however, that Grand Commander Fred Kleinknecht said himself in 1988 that Pike's 'Morals and Dogma' is "the most complete exposition of Scottish Rite philosophy," calling Pike "the master builder of the Scottish Rite." Whatever the case, the evidence presented by Masonry's critics raises the question: How could a Bible-believing denomination such as the Southern Baptist Convention confirm such findings in its own 6-page report and yet stop short of thoroughly dissociating itself with such an organization? According to some critics, the answer can be traced to the ongoing battle within the SBC between absolutist inerrantists and more liberal moderates.

End of document, CRJ0162A.TXT (original CRI file name), "News Watch" release A, August 31, 1994 R. Poll, CRI [ Source: http://www.iclnet.org/pub/resources/text/cri/cri-jrnl/crj0162a.txt ]