Is Freemasonry Compatible with Christianity

John E. Johns, Ph.D., 33
President of Furman University, Greenville. South Carolina  29613

Basil Manly IV, M.D., 33
2-A Vardy Street, Greenville, South Carolina  29601

The authors underline, among other points, how Freemasonry has
benefited Christianity by opening countries to Protestant
missionaries and by encouraging Christian Freemasons to think about
their faith, thus coming to a stronger personal belief in Jesus
Christ as Savior.

Recently some people within the Southern Baptist Convention have
raised the question: Is Freemasonry compatible with Christianity?
They argue that Masons not be allowed to be pastors, deacons, or
office holders in Baptist Churches. Some may not be aware that
inerrantists have gained significant influence in the Southern
Baptist Convention over the last twelve years. 

        Baptist principles have historically insisted that each
individual church be autonomous; but some of the new Baptist
leaders maintain that the convention should set policies and rules
to be followed by the churches. They would also make the pastor an
authority figure instead of the shepherd of the flock. These are
our views regarding these important issues:     r

        Masonry is not a religion. It 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.

        One of the first instructions given to a member being
received into a Masonic Lodge is that Freemasonry will not
interfere with his religious or political opinions. Masonry teaches
toleration of other's beliefs. This lesson is one all Baptists
would do well to learn. Nothing in Masonry is incompatible with a
man's religious, civil, or political duties.

        Masonry accepts good men into its membership and hopes to
make them better. It encourages the individual to think for himself
and determine what his own religious faith will be. It teaches the
Jew to be a better Jew; the Christian to be a better Christian; the
Muslim to be a better Muslim. The good of an organization is not
determined by the number of good men who are members or the good
deeds they do but by how that organization squares with the
teachings of the Scripture. Masonry, like the Bible, men to
practice charity above all and to love one another.

        Many of our country's Founding Fathers were Masons. The
idea of religious freedom, so avidly taught as a Masonic tenet, was
put into practice in the Constitution and Bill of Rights of our
country. Many of the freedoms we enjoy as citizens of the United
States are partly a result of Masonic tenets being included into
the laws of our country. A third of our presidents have been active
Masons including George Washington, Theodore Roosevelt, Harry
Truman, and Gerald Ford.

        Christians are indebted to Masonic work and influence in
many countries where missionaries were previously denied entrance.
Because each Freemason has a strong belief in freedom of religion,
thought and speech, Masonic work has made Protestant missions
possible in many countries which previously would not allow
Protestants. See page 85.

        Masons believe in the fatherhood of God, the brotherhood of
man, and in the immortality of the soul. What each shall believe,
let each determine for himself. Inerrantists have great difficulty
with this level of freedom for the individual; they want everyone
to believe exactly as they believe and will not accept any
variance. This same philosophy is what brought zealous churchmen to
carry out outrageous and horrible tortures in the name of religion
in the Middle Ages in an effort to save a person's ersons who did
not conform to the current ideas of religious truth were forced to
change their opinions.

        One of the practices that is being criticized is the
Masonic funeral. Some have said that a Mason cannot go to heaven
without a Masonic funeral. Masons do not believe there is any
saving grace in the funeral ceremony. A Masonic funeral is
conducted for much the same reason that one might have a military
funeral; what a person finds meaningful during his life is properly
a part of the ceremony of his departing that life.

        We have never found anything in Masonry contrary to our
Christian beliefs. We think a man who is a Mason and a Christian is
a better Christian than if he were not a Mason. Masonry does not
provide salvation, but it causes one to think more about what his
religious beliefs really are and what he must do to obtain
salvation through his religion. For us, it is to believe in Jesus
Christ as Savior. For us, it is not necessary for a person to be a
Baptist to have eternal life, but some would make this a ment.
There are those who would require that a person not only be a
Baptist but that he believe in inerrancy.

        Masonry has had enemies for centuries because it teaches
its members to search for the truth. False accusations have been
leveled at it by kings, clerics, and dictators. On the other hand,
many kings, churchmen, and presidents have praised it and have been
or are its members. Masonry promotes numerous charities, but it
does not teach that these good works produce salvation. To relieve
the pain and suffering of another human is one of Freemasonry's
goals. Masons sponsor twenty-two Shriners Hospitals ldren across
the country, nineteen of which specialize in orthopedic surgery and
three in burn injuries. Masons also sponsor a number of senior
citizens' homes, eye foundations, and blood banks.

        Education is another goal of Freemasonry in its total
sense. The search for truth is paramount, but what is truth for one
may not be truth for another. This is a difficult concept for some
to grasp. Therefore, they attack a venerable institution because it
allows and encourages freedom of thought and conscience.

        Masonry's enemies are ignorance, tyranny, and fanaticism.
Masonry has enemies because a narrow-minded philosophy does not
allow for any variance. Those who teach toleration are condemned as
heretical. Inerrantists insist they only have truth and will not
tolerate any other thought. The Pope, who insisted truth was not as
Galileo found it, is like some modern men who insist that they know
the truth despite evidence to the contrary. The present Pope, it
should be noted, retracted the condemnation of G


        Present-day anti-Masons are leveling false accusation at
the best friend true religion has. Masonry has had to be a secret
society in the past because it espoused the virtues it does.
Tyrants cannot stand to have truth proclaimed. Masonry's philosophy
is now well known. Its teachings encourage religious, civic, and
patriotic participation.

        Masonry urges its members carefully to consider their
personal religious beliefs, but insists these are matters of
individual conscience. Freemasonry encourages honesty, integrity, a
forgiving spirit, prayer, morality, and brotherly love. All these
are tenets stressed in Lodge work.

        It is hard to see how it can be claimed these principles
are incompatible with Christianity. We value our Masonic
affiliation and feel it has made us better Christians and gives us
a better understanding of the grandeur of God. Is Masonry
compatible with Christianity? It is.

Basil Manly, IV, is an ophthalmologist who is very active in
Freemasonry and his denomination. In Greenville, SC, he is Past
Master of Recovery Lodge No. 31, Past Venerable Master and Past
Wise Master of the Consistory, past chairman of the trustees of the
S. R. Foundation of SC, Personal Representative for the S\G\I\G\,
and a member of the Board of Governors of the Greenville Unit of
the Shriners Hospital. A deacon of the First Baptist Church of
Greenville for many years, he is also a trustee of the Baptis t
Theological Seminary at Richmond, VA.

John Edwin Johns has been president of Furman University since
1976. A native of Florida, he earned his undergraduate degree at
Furman and his M.A. and Ph.D. degrees in history at the University
of North Carolina. In 1986, he was recognized as one of the
nation's 100 most effective college presidents in a survey
sponsored by the Exxon Education Foundation. He became a Mason in
1954 and is presently serving as Chaplain of the Grand Lodge of
South Carolina. A member of the Greenville, SC, Scottish Rite
Bodies , he was honored with the Thirty-third Degree in 1987.
