

                       HAFFNER BOOK REVIEWS

     This month we consider two books by the noted Masonic writer,
Christopher Haffner, District Grand Master, Hong Kong and the Far
East, English Constitution.  The first is Workman Unashamed, a
careful response to the attacks against Freemasonry by some
Christians.  The second is his Meditation on Toleration, an
appropriate subject for those Christian anti-Masons who see only
one correct way to worship God--theirs.

WORKMAN UNASHAMED:  THE TESTIMONY OF A CHRISTIAN MASON
by Christopher Haffner.   $25.00.  Call or write for postage and
ordering information from Macoy Publishing and Masonic Supply Co.,
Inc., P.O. Box 9759, Richmond, Virginia 23228-0759, (804) 262-6551.

     Brother Christopher Haffner has done a great service to our
gentle craft in preparing his latest work, Workman Unashamed, a
book that should be on the shelf of every public and Masonic
library in America.  It is a very personal and effective response
to the increasingly shrill attacks on Freemasonry by some
Christians.  Brother Haffner, one of the full members of Quatuor
Coronati Lodge No. 2076 in London, shares with the reader both his
own faith and his answers to the many vicious and unfounded charges
against Masonry and all things Masonic.  He is a devout Christian
and takes direct aim at Christian attackers of Freemasonry.
     The book is not without its faults, the greatest of which is
that it is not crisply written.  Its leisurely, almost meandering,
style encourages the reader's attention to wander and his eyes to
glaze.  While anti-Masonic attacks and charges continue unabated,
it is a shame that Workman Unashamed, our best response and defense
to date, isn't more dynamic.  Further, though not a fault, the book
is written by an English Mason and addresses specifically English
Masonic Problems.  Those American issues that are addressed are
addressed only incidentally as a part of English problems, and the
broad American acceptance of Church-State separation is not fully
appreciated by Brother Haffner.
     An example of the book's weaker aspects is found in Chapter
10 where he spends some time defending the Mother Supreme Council
from the charge of L'Osservatore Romano that our members become
"instruments of strategies unknown to them."  In discussing our
long-held position on the entire separation of Church and State as
contained in our membership applications, he says on page 104 that
". . . I would consider that no Roman Catholic could happily sign
his name to such a statement, but then neither could I nor even
George Washington!"  Certainly he can speak for himself, but his
other conclusions are on shakier ground.  For example, several of
my co-workers and at least two Past Masters of my Lodge are Roman
Catholics, and they have no difficulties in belonging to the
Scottish Rite.  Br. Haffner points out early on that many
"Mason-bashers" do not object to Christians belonging to organiza-
tions, such as golf clubs, where neither God nor theology play any
part, but react violently to Masonry, which asserts that God and
theology are vitally important to men, but leaves the details to
each member's conscious.  The author presents a well documented,
point by point refutation of the most frequent charges against
Masonry, including deism, relativism, naturalism, pelagianism,
gnosticism, syncretism, and satanism, each of which are answered
in their own chapter.
     Writers (both Masonic and others) from time to time have
attributed all sorts of fanciful origins to Masonic symbolism.  For
example, it was fashionable at one point to claim Masonry as a
descendent of the "ancient mystery schools."  Grand Lodges, as a
rule, have neither supported nor condemned these ludicrous theo-
ries, but anti-Masons eagerly grasp them as "evidence" of heresy,
particularly when written by Masons.  On page 157, Br. Haffner
writes that
     
     Those critics who have accused Freemasonry of heresy have done
     so on a very narrow front--a sort of proof-text approach. 
     They appear to have got hold of a printed ritual book or an
     exposure, searched through it strenuously without absorbing
     any overall meaning, aiming only to find a phrase or sentence
     here or there which appears to support a particular heresy. 
     Or they look through books published by enthusiastic masons,
     not necessarily Christians, and certainly not necessarily of
     the same denomination as the critic, to see if he can find
     evidence of heresy there.  They then jumble all their findings
     together, shuffle the pack of heresies, and write a book to
     support their accusations.
     Workman Unashamed will not quiet all Christian critics of our
Craft, especially those who have made up their minds and don't want
to be confused by facts.  However, for those who seriously wonder
if Freemasonry and Christianity are compatible, Brother Haffner
provides a firm, well-documented affirmative answer.  His book
belongs on the shelves of every public and Masonic library in
America, as well as in the hands of any clergyman with questions
about Masonry.

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