The Real Truth: Freemasonry

reply to post by PronoEast

God told Abraham to take his son Isaac to the land of Moriah and offer him as a burnt offering. 1After these things God tested Abraham, and said to him, "Abraham!" And he said, "Here am I." 2He said, "Take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering upon one of the mountains of which I shall tell you." (Gen. 22:1-2) So Abraham cut the wood for the offering and took two men to accompany him and Isaac close to the place of sacrifice. 3So Abraham rose early in the morning, saddled his ass, and took two of his young men with him, and his son Isaac; and he cut the wood for the burnt offering, and arose and went to the place of which God had told him. 4On the third day Abraham lifted up his eyes and saw the place afar off. (Gen. 22:3-4) He and Isaac went the rest of the way alone. 5Then Abraham said to his young men, "Stay here with the ass; I and the lad will go yonder and worship, and come again to you." (Gen. 22:5) He gave the wood to Isaac to carry and readied himself with fire and a knife. 6And Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering, and laid it on Isaac his son; and he took in his hand the fire and the knife. So they went both of them together. (Gen. 22:6) When Isaac cried out to his father, where is the lamb for the burnt offering? Abraham replied God will provide the lamb. 7And Isaac said to his father Abraham, "My father!" And he said, "Here am I, my son." He said, "Behold, the fire and the wood; but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?" 8Abraham said, "God will provide himself the lamb for a burnt offering, my son." So they went both of them together. (Gen. 22:7-8) Then he built an altar, bound Isaac, laid him on the altar, and covered him with wood. He was ready to slay his son with the knife. 9When they came to the place of which God had told him, Abraham built an altar there, and laid the wood in order, and bound Isaac his son, and laid him on the altar, upon the wood. 10Then Abraham put forth his hand, and took the knife to slay his son. (Gen. 22:9-10) But an angel told him to stop. God was satisfied that his fear was strong enough to sacrifice his only son. 11But the angel of the LORD called to him from heaven, and said, "Abraham, Abraham!" And he said, "Here am I." 12He said, "Do not lay your hand on the lad or do anything to him; for now I know that you fear God, seeing you have not withheld your son, your only son, from me." (Gen. 22:11-12)

source

after reading that, first off, that isn't the God I know and love. He would never put that decision in front of one of his children simply to find out if he really loved him.

Now since you believe that the Bible has to be taken 100% literal, what would happen you say....you if you believed God told you to do this? I mean, you love God right? So I guess you would take your only son up to the mountain, and hope that God stopped you. But the cops would probably have you in prison before that happened.

Since you are such a fan of studying that one book, do yourself a favor and look into a couple others. Find one that tells you the story of why the church is against Freemasonry. Don't just take the word of your preachers.
Then maybe you can find one that tells you what freemasonry actually is.

Originally posted by Skippy1138

So Pike never wrote a book called "Morals and Dogma"? That was all a hoax by some French guy?

Yes, Pike wrote Morals and Dogma. Nothing in Morals and Dogma says that "Lucifer is God"...which was indeed part of the Taxil Hoax.

How come none of the other Masons in the thread said that? Why are you the first one?

I have no idea, you'll have to ask them.

One said you just had to know the "context" of where Pike was coming from.You say it was all a hoax. Which is it?
(By the way, I'm not trying to be confrontational, just trying to understand, since there seem to be some conflicting viewpoints even among the Masons here...)

It looks like those who talked about "context" were addressing a certain portion of M&D where Pike did indeed mention the word "Lucifer". However, he certainly didn't say anything about Lucifer being God, and in that passage was actually another writer, Eliphas Levi.

Originally posted by PronoEast
Mason’s View: ... a person will be saved and go to heaven as a result of his good works and personal self-improvement.

Revelations 20:12 "And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works."

If you really knew anything about royalty you would know they are often described as "illuminating" (shiny). Isaiah 14:4 refers to Lucifer as the Babylonian king, not the fallen angel. Before the mistranslation, Lucifer was called Helal (root word of Hallelujah), son of Ashar, which translates to us today as "Day Star, son of the Morning". In St. Jerome's time, the day star was called Lucifer.

Fun little fact, there was a Bishop named Lucifer from Cagliari.

If you are such a fan of Biblical verses here are some:

Revelations 22:16 - I Jesus have sent mine angel to testify unto you these things in the churches. I am the root and the offspring of David, and the bright and morning star.

2 Peter 1:19 - We have also a more sure word of prophecy; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts:

reply to post by network dude


Abraham had obeyed God many times in his walk with Him, but no test could have been more severe than the one in Genesis 22. God commanded, “Take your son, your only son, Isaac, whom you love, and go to the region of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering” (Genesis 22:2a). This was an astounding request because Isaac was the son of promise. How did Abraham respond? With immediate obedience; early the next morning, Abraham started on his journey with two servants, a donkey and his beloved son Isaac, with firewood for the offering. His unquestioning obedience to God’s confusing command gave God the glory He deserves and is an example to us of how to glorify God. When we obey as Abraham did, trusting that God’s plan is the best possible scenario, we exalt His attributes and praise Him. Abraham’s obedience in the face of this crushing command extolled God’s sovereign love, His trustworthiness, and His goodness, and it provided an example for us to follow. His faith in the God he had come to know and love placed Abraham in the pantheon of faithful heroes in Hebrews 11.

God uses Abraham’s faith as an example to all who came after him as the only means of salvation. Genesis 15:6 says, “Abram believed the LORD, and he credited it to him as righteousness.” This truth is the basis of the Christian faith, as reiterated in Romans 4:3 and James 2:23. The righteousness that was credited to Abraham is the same righteousness credited to us when we receive by faith the sacrifice God provided for our sins—Jesus Christ. “God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Corinthians 5:21).

The Old Testament story of Abraham is the basis of the New Testament teaching of the atonement, the sacrificial offering of the Lord Jesus on the cross for the sin of mankind. Jesus said, many centuries later, “Your father Abraham rejoiced at the thought of seeing my day; he saw it and was glad” (John 8:56). Following are some of the parallels between the two biblical accounts:

• “Take your son, your only son, Isaac” (v. 2); “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son…” (John 3:16).

• “Go to the region of Moriah. Sacrifice him there…” (v. 2); it is believed that this area is where the city of Jerusalem was built many years later, where Jesus was crucified outside its city walls (Hebrews 13:12).

• “Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering” (v. 2); “Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures” (1 Corinthians 15:3).

• “Abraham took the wood for the burnt offering and placed it on his son Isaac” (v. 6); Jesus, “carrying his own cross. . .” (John 19:17).

• “But where is the lamb for the burnt offering?” (v. 7); John said, “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29).

• Isaac, the son, acted in obedience to his father in becoming the sacrifice (v. 9); Jesus prayed, “My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will” (Matthew 26:39).

• Resurrection – Isaac (figuratively) and Jesus in reality: “By faith Abraham, when God tested him, offered Isaac as a sacrifice. He who had received the promises was about to sacrifice his one and only son, even though God had said to him, ‘It is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned.’ Abraham reasoned that God could raise the dead, and figuratively speaking, he did receive Isaac back from death.” (Hebrews 11:17-19); Jesus, “that he was buried, and that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures” (1 Corinthians 15:4).

What church are we talking about here network? Because I gave you the reasons I was against Freemasonry. And I never claimed to be part of any religion, I simply used the Bible. In fact, I have never heard any "preacher, priest, or pastor" talk about this topic. So please don't assume and jump to conclusions that I'm being fed this stuff. I referenced the Bible, not a preacher.

I've recently been invited to join a local lodge in the UK, a member said they would drop some information off, how long before I should chase them up for the info? thanks

reply to post by Jamjar


If you've been invited to join, then that's a major offense. We're not supposed to recruit, you have to ask to join.

reply to post by JoshNorton


Well the conversation went "I'm surprised your'e not a member of our lodge, why is that?", "I haven't been invited" so I did ask to be invited.

Originally posted by JoshNorton

If you've been invited to join, then that's a major offense. We're not supposed to recruit, you have to ask to join.

That only applies to some jurisdictions in the United States. In most other countries, one has to be invited.

reply to post by Masonic Light

hmm over in sunny (not very) old england a fair amount of lodges are accepting aplications now, provided you get references from 2 current masons

reply to post by Jamjar


U2U me and I will gladly send you some literature that will enable you to make your mind up.