III.
(Continued from p. 183.)
A GREAT deal has been made by Masons of the alleged open Bible in the Lodge. This, as we shall see, is a mere delusion. Certain sections of the Bible, it is true, are read at Masonic functions, but we challenge any Mason to mention any purely Masonic function at which those portions of the Bible inculcating distinctive Christian doctrines have been read. When did any member of the Craft ever hear read at a purely Masonic function any chapter or verse setting forth the claims of Jesus Christ as the co-equal of the Father? We go even further, and ask was there ever at any of these functions passages read in which even His name is mentioned? What Mason ever heard chapters or verses that plainly proclaim the great New Testament doctrines of the new birth, salvation by grace, justification, sanctification, etc., ever read in the Lodge? If not, surely there must be something seriously wrong with a system that proclaims on the housetops with a loud-sounding trumpet that Masonry acknowledges an open Bible, but which, nevertheless, carefully excludes the distinctive doctrines of Christianity. Chase, in his “Digest of Masonic Law,” thus refers to the subject in connection with a certain section of American Masonry (Blue Lodge):—”The Jews, the Chinese, the Turks, each reject, either the New Testament or the Old, or both, and yet we see no good reason why they should not be made Masons. In fact, Blue Lodge Masonry has nothing to do with the Bible, it is not founded on the Bible. If it was it would not be Masonry, it would be something else.” This, we believe, is a true witness, not only of Blue Lodge Masonry, but of Masonry in general. Take, again, Mackey’s statement in his “Encyclopaedia of Freemasonry” (p. 104) in the same connection:—”The Bible is used among Masons as a symbol of the will of God, however it may be expressed. And, therefore, whatever to any people expresses that will may be used as a substitute for the Bible in a Masonic Lodge. Thus, in a lodge consisting entirely of Jews, the Old Testament alone may be placed upon the altar, and Turkish Masons make use of the Koran. Whether it be the Gospels to the Christian, the Pentateuch to the Israelite, the Koran to the Mussulman, or the Vedas to the Brahman, it everywhere Masonically conveys the same idea—that of the symbolism of the Divine Will revealed to man. . . In the American system, the Bible is both a piece of furniture and a great light.” Another quotation may be given from the same writer’s “Text-book of Masonic Jurisprudence” (p. 33):—“It is a landmark that a ‘Book of the Law’ shall constitute an indispensable part of the furniture of every Lodge. I say advisedly a ‘Book of the Law,’ because it is not absolutely required that everywhere the Old and New Testament shall be used. The ‘Book of the Law’ is that volume which by the religion of the country is believed to contain the revealed will of the Grand Architect of the Universe. Hence in all lodges in Christian countries the ‘Book of the Law’ is composed of the Old and New Testaments; in a country where Judaism was the prevailing faith, the Old Testament alone would be sufficient; and in Mohammedan countries and among Mohammedan Masons, the Koran might be substituted.” What this symbolism referred to above implies may be gathered from another quotation from one of the best known and often-quoted Scottish Rite Masons, Albert Pike. “The Universe,” he says, “is the uttered Word of God, the thought of God pronounced. The one permanent universal religion is written in visible nature and explained by the reason, and is completed in the wise analogies of the faith” (Morals and Dogma, p. 206). This is thoroughgoing Deism quite consistent with the other doctrines of Masonic religion, but running direct in the face of what the New Testament teaches of God’s final and perfect revelation in His Son Jesus Christ, the eternal Word. We content ourselves with another quotation from a book published in London—“Brothers and Builders.” In it, Dr Fort Newton, the author, says:—“Like everything else in Masonry, the Bible, so rich in symbolism, is itself a symbol . . . of the perpetual revelation of Himself which God has made and is still making in every age and land . . . through . . . Old Testament . . . Koran . . . Vedas, etc.”
The “open Bible” of the Lodge is a delusion. “It is not there,” as one has forcibly put it, “to be read, preached, taught, meditated upon, and appealed to as an authority, but as a symbol of the open book of nature, and a talisman whose presence sanctifies the Lodge and all its doings.” The less said by professing Christian Masons about an “open Bible” in the Lodge the better.
We come now to another charge we prefer against the religion of the Lodge, viz., the Christlessness of its prayers. “Prayer,” according to the Westminster Divines, “is an offering up of our desires unto God, for things agreeable to His will, in the name of Christ, with confession of our sins, and thankful acknowledgment of His mercies.” What Mason ever heard in a Lodge prayer acknowledgment of sin or Christ’s name mentioned? Here is how the matter stands, as stated by one well acquainted with the subject:—”Consider these facts: Mackey’s ‘Ritualist’ is a Masonic authority, and ought to be accepted as such by Masons at least; it is so accepted. It contains more than thirty prayers, and yet the name of Jesus Christ is not in one of them; it contains many benedictions, and the name of Jesus Christ is not in one of them; it contains numerous odes and songs of a religious nature, and the name of Christ is not in one of them; and, to show that this is not by accident but by design, in two of the degrees, passages of Scripture [II. Thess. iii. 6-17, and I. Peter ii. 1-17] are used in which the name of Jesus Christ belongs and that name is deliberately expunged, the passages being used without it; and then, as if that were not enough, a footnote is added on one of these pages stating that ‘these passages of Scripture are especially appropriate to this degree, and that with a few ‘slight’ but ‘necessary’ changes, the passages are taken from II. Peter, etc.'” (Murrman’s “Threefold Indictment of Secret Orders,” p. 13). “Prayer in Masonic Lodges,” says Webb’s Monitor, “should be of a general character containing nothing offensive to any class of conscientious brethren.” No more damaging charge could be brought against Masonic prayers. No word about the danger of giving offence to God by ignoring His Son with set purpose, but great concern expressed that nothing should be said in prayer that might hurt the tender feelings of a Deist or Unitarian. Such prayers may be finely expressed, but we have not the slightest hesitation in saying they are an utter abomination in the sight of the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, whose will it is that in all things His Son shall have the pre-eminence. Take, again, the Masonic prayers at the committal of the dead, when the brother that is being consigned to the grave, no matter what kind of life he led, is in the language of the ritual, spoken of as being transferred from the Lodge below to the Lodge above. Who ever heard Christ’s name mentioned in these prayers? Now, we do not believe that prayers should be offered up at the grave, but one cannot help remarking that it is a most extraordinary thing that any of those who adopt this custom should so carefully exclude the name of Him who alone gives the Resurrection its meaning and who brought life and immortality to light in the gospel.
We hope in our next and concluding article to show that the religion of the Lodge is purely natural, ignoring, and, in fact, directly in antagonism to, the supernaturalness of Christianity. We purpose also to say something about the dreadful oaths of Freemasonry and their alleged binding force on those who have taken them.