Latter-day Templar

The article entitled "Rituals of Freemasonry: Freemasonry Proven to Worship Lucifer - Part 3 of 5" was recently brought to my attention. This one seems like an easy one to address. The whole article relies wholly on the condemnation the use of pentagrams (inverted, five-point stars), focusing on their use in Satanism (which is a relatively recent development). Although the pentagram is not used in Masonry, it is a principal part of the logo of the Order of the Eastern Star, which the article mislabels as "the women's division of Freemasonry." First and foremost, the Order of the Eastern Star does not constitute Masonry in any way, shape, or form. Instead, it is a separate group that is  affiliated  with Freemasonry. It does not confer Masonic degrees on anyone. Second, symbols are finite and ambiguous; there is not a single symbol that is limited to one sole group or interpretation. Do Satanists use the inverted, 5-point star? Sure. That does not take away from ...

My attention was recently turned to an article entitled "The Demonic Roots of Freemasonry," an excerpt taken from "Demonic Deceptions, Booklet #15" by Pastor Win Worley. This excerpt was published on the website of Hegewisch Baptist Church and takes us for quite a spin. Let's get started. Worley states that Masonry claims to be a revival of ancient pagan philosophies (Egyptian, Phoenician, etc.) and that these all secretly worshiped a sun god (Lucifer). Grand lodges speak for themselves and for the lodges under their respective jurisdictions. If a claim is made by one of these entities, it will be published by the grand lodges; grand lodges are the only entities that carry the weight of Masonic authority to make any claims regarding its nature or character. Notice also that Worley does not provide any sources for this claim; no historians are mentioned and no lodges or grand lodges are specified. Worley then states that such secret worship was called "the M...

This week my attention was directed to the article "The Roots of Freemasonry: Satanism and Occultism" by Heath Henning over at Truth Watchers. To my knowledge, Mr. Henning is not nor has ever been a Freemason; if this is incorrect, the corrections are welcome (with the name of the lodge where his was initiated as well as the dates of his initiation, passing, and raising). Let's get right into it. Evaluating the relations with the mystery religions, as well as those involved with the modern revival of the satanically inspired movement, there is no reason to assume anything but an attempt to infiltrate the local church. Right off the bat, Henning compares Freemasonry to religion. However, we know from grand lodge publications that Freemasonry is neither a religion nor a substitute for one, making Henning's comparison an apples-to-oranges logical fallacy. Given that grand lodges are the only entities that carry weight of authority in Masonry in regard to what it consists...