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          An Apologetic -- Freemasonry is Compatible With
          Christianity
          By: W. J. "Bill" Malina, MPS
          
          In their book "The Secret Teachings of the Masonic Lodge"
          Messrs. John Ankerberg and John Weldon accuse
          Freemasonry of promoting a God that is not Biblical.  They
          base their accusation upon the way Masons symbolically
          refer to the Deity, i.e., "The Great Architect of the Universe,"
          "The Supreme Grand Master," "The Grand Artificer of the
          Universe," etc.  On the contrary, Masons do believe in the
          same and only Deity of the Holy Bible, which includes the
          Old Testament held as true Scripture by Jews and Moslems,
          as well as by Christians.  It, as I re-read their book, did not
          take me long to come to the conclusion that Messrs.
          Ankerberg and Weldon themselves do not have a true
          Biblical view of God.  In effect, the god of Messrs. Ankerberg
          and Weldon is not the God that, in my opinion, is revealed in
          the Holy Bible.
          Messrs. Ankerberg and Weldon proceed to expound upon
          both the Bible and Freemasonry with pretended infallibility,
          while most other Christians who are non-Masons prefer to
          remain silent on the subject of Freemasonry because they
          realize that they themselves do not have the necessary
          knowledge to talk about it intelligently.  I suggest that
          Messrs. Ankerberg and Weldon know dangerously little
          about the God revealed in the Holy Bible, and much less
          about the real teachings of Freemasonry.  I will, however,
          concede that they, Messrs. Ankerberg and Weldon, know
          considerably more about the Bible than most Christians do,
          and more about Freemasonry than most non-Masons do. 
          Perhaps if Messrs. Ankerberg and Weldon would re-examine
          their own beliefs and come to a better understanding of the
          Biblical God, they, with what they know about Freemasonry,
          would expound a different message.
          The true and faithful Christian, not unlike the faithful
          adherent of any other religion, is constantly seeking to find a
          more complete or more logical description of God.  This, in
          effect, is a search for the true and complete identity and
          nature of the Supreme Deity -- the Creator of all things.  An
          individual's search for the true identity and nature of God is a
          quest which is most often triggered by testimonies of people
          who have an insight into God's nature and identity. 
          However, people are not disposed to accept an explanation
          or description of God based upon someone's seemingly
          unsubstantiated say so.  Therefore every person must
          experience the love and nature of God first hand, and then
          develop his own insight into God's identity.  Freemasonry
          encourages its members to develop their own concepts of
          God and insights into His identity by using the Holy
          Scriptures of their own religious faith, for Christians it is the
          Holy Bible.
          Before anyone can accept the Holy Bible as the inspired
          word of God, he must first accept it as a testimony of other
          people.  Then he can, with the aid of the theology of his
          chosen religion, come to a sufficient belief that God really
          does exist.  Once a person comes to such a conclusion, he
          will usually find a compelling need or desire to become
          at-one-with the Creator, i.e. God.  The process of becoming
          at-one-with God is atonement. For the Christian, attaining or
          approaching atonement with God is, or results in, salvation.
          Messrs. Ankerberg and Weldon contend that Freemasonry
          teaches a doctrine of salvation through works.  On the
          contrary, Freemasonry does not in any way teach any kind
          of doctrine of salvation, nor does it provide, or pretend to
          provide, anyone with a plan of salvation, not even by works
          alone.  Without expressing itself, Freemasonry presumes
          that everyone who has faith in God and puts his trust in Him
          already has a plan of salvation and is pursuing it.  An
          individual's plan of salvation is usually the one laid out for
          him or provided him by his own religion.
          Messrs. Ankerberg and Weldon apparently hold to Martin
          Luther's view and the Calvinistic doctrine that teaches
          salvation is freely given by God to those who repent of their
          sins and ask for forgiveness.  This is called, "salvation by
          grace alone."  Messrs. Ankerberg and Weldon claim that this
          is the doctrine taught by the Holy Bible.  Hold on Sirs, the
          Bible teaches more.  The Ten Commandments are a set of
          do's and don'ts that tell us what we should and what we
          should not do -- works.  Jesus Christ himself taught that a
          person should love God with his whole heart and his
          neighbor as himself -- works.  We read in James 2:14 (NIV),
          "What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith
          but has no deeds?  Can such faith save him?"; and in James
          2:17 (NIV), "In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not
          accompanied by action, is dead."  Enough said.  I, myself,
          believe that anyone who is truly saved by grace is powerless
          not to lead an exemplary life and to do good works.  I further
          believe that through grace God offers salvation to everyone,
          but not everyone will receive it. Only those who respond to
          God with faith and belief will obtain it, and whether or not
          they are aware of it.
          Both Messrs. Ankerberg and Weldon know, and admit they
          know, that no atheist can become a Mason, that a person
          must have faith and trust in God before he can petition for
          membership in the Masonic fraternity.  Knowing this, they --
          Messrs. Ankerberg and Weldon, should realize that the
          candidate, or for that matter even the most ardent and active
          Mason, is a person who has such faith and trust, and that he
          is not looking for a plan of salvation, he already has one; that
          he is not looking for another god, he is merely looking for
          help in living an exemplary life in response to God's grace. 
          Masonry can and does give just that kind of help, especially
          if the person's own religion or church does not, or cannot.
          In the role which it professes to play, Freemasonry is, or can
          be, a handmaiden to the religion of a professing and saved
          Christian.  Along with the moral and ethical standards of an
          individual's church, Freemasonry can help the Christian
          come to a knowledge of what is right and what is wrong, of
          what is ethical and moral, and of what is not ethical behavior.
          I once heard a Roman Catholic Priest say something like,
          "Show me a person who has faith in God and puts his trust
          in Him, and I will show you a person who does good works. 
          Show me a person who does good works, and I will show
          you a person who has faith in God and puts his trust in Him." 
          To put it in terms that even the most ardent fundamentalist
          Christian can understand, "Show me a person who has been
          saved, and I will show you a person who does good works. 
          Show me a person who does good works and I will show you
          a person who has been saved."  In my opinion, salvation and
          good works go hand-in-glove, neither can exist without the
          other.
          Messrs. Ankerberg and Weldon claim that the God of the
          Bible is not the same god as the one which Freemasonry
          promotes.  They think Masons deny the Holy Trinity because
          Masons usually do not use any form of the name Jesus
          Christ in Masonic ceremonies and at Masonic meetings.  Let
          me make it plain that I believe in the Holy Trinity -- the Triune
          God.  However, the Holy Bible does not teach that God, the
          Creator, is a Triune Deity, nor does it teach that God is not a
          Triune Deity.  The Christian doctrine that God is a trinity
          composed of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit is a
          logical theological conclusion drawn from the Bible by early
          Christians and sustained by most modern theologians. 
          Today there are many Christians, including scholars and
          theologians in the main-line or traditional churches, who
          deny the Holy Trinity.  Messrs. Ankerberg and Weldon also
          accuse such scholars and theologians as teaching or holding
          false doctrines and of being anti-Christian.
          Jesus Christ, in answer to a question by an expert in Jewish
          law said, "What is written in the law? --- How do you read it?"
          (Luke 10:25-27 NIV), or as Mr. Eugene Peterson puts it in
          his translation of the New Testament called 'The Message,'
          "How do you interpret it?"  The whole crux of the matter
          centers around how an individual interprets Scripture.  The
          primary reason for the Reformation was to give people, both
          laity and clergy, the right to read and interpret Holy Scripture
          for themselves, without having some prejudiced cleric or
          group of clerics tell them what the Bible says.  Are not
          Messrs. Ankerberg and Weldon trying to do just that, telling
          Christians how they are supposed to interpret the Holy
          Bible?  I have news for them, that kind of practice just does
          not fly, it goes against the grain and teaching of every
          modern and legitimate Protestant denomination.
          Freemasonry's reluctance to use the name "Jesus Christ," or
          any form of it, goes back to the Hebrew practice and custom
          of calling everything, including people and God, by an
          attribute rather than by a proper name.  The Jewish religion
          uses such terms as, "The Name," "The Lord," and "The
          Almighty" rather than to refer to God by a proper name such
          as Jehovah, represented by the letters "JHVH," or Yahweh,
          represented by the letters "YHWH."  Christianity often follows
          that same practice.  Masonic appellations such as "Jah,"
          "Baal," or "Om" are sometimes misconstrued as being the
          proper name of a god when in reality they are not proper
          names at all, but rather are the word "god" in another
          language.
          It is a common practice for Christians to refer to Jesus Christ
          as "The Word of God," and they have a Biblical basis to do
          so.  "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with
          God, and the Word was God." (John 1:1 KJV), or as J. B.
          Phillips puts it in his 'The New Testament in Modern English,'
          "At the beginning God expressed himself.  That personal
          expression, that word, was with God and was God."  John
          1:14 goes on to say, "And the word was made flesh, and
          dwelt among us, ---."  What John is really telling his readers
          is that, "The creative expression (word) of God became a
          human being (Jesus of Nazareth) and for some 33 years
          lived as a human being among people.  When Christians use
          the term "Word" or "Word of God" in place of Jesus Christ
          they do not exclude the second person in the Holy Trinity,
          they merely refer to Him by a descriptive term.
          The use of proper names for the Deity is a matter of theology
          and theological belief, and Freemasonry does not dabble in
          theology, therefore it, except for the Knights Templar, does
          not utilize proper names and appellations.  The use of them
          would make Masonry appear biased and as trying to
          promote a particular theological doctrine.  Freemasonry is
          not in the business of promoting theological doctrines, it is
          merely trying to expose its candidates and members to
          doctrines that were at one time, or still are, taught by major
          religions or religious movements.
          In the Order of Malta and the Order of the Temple in the
          York Rite it is understood that the term "The Saviour" (or Our
          Saviour) unequivocally refers to Jesus Christ, a practice also
          found in almost every Christian denomination.
          Messrs. Ankerberg's and Weldon's prejudice against
          Freemasonry stems from their narrow and ultra-literal
          concept of God.  Most such concepts try to make the infinite
          Deity some form of finite god.  God is what He is because
          He is, not because he is supposed to be thus and such. 
          Freemasonry is a search for the identity, beauty, and nature
          of God; it is a search for the "Word" -- the creative
          expression of God, which every person must undertake by
          himself.
          As long as Messrs. Ankerberg and Weldon hold to their
          present views with a closed mind they will never condone or
          tolerate, much less appreciate, any views that are contrary to
          their own.  If they studied the Holy Bible with an open mind
          and from an unbiased point of view, they might change their
          prejudiced opinions and reverse their stand against
          Freemasonry.