[Continuation of the discussion regarding the conflict between what the symbols and rituals of Masonry teach things, and what is taught by Jesus Christ and the Bible.]

Masonry teaches at least three things about its God.

Coil’s Masonic Encyclopedia states the following about God:

At one level, Masonry teaches that its God must remain undefined and unknowable. In keeping God undefined and unknowable, Masonry believes it can then "accept" all men’s ideas of God. Masonry believes that by leaving God undefined, it can claim that it accepts the God of the Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists, Jews, Mormons, etc. What Masonry means is that its "boundless Divine Spirit" is really the one true God that all men worship.

But this is completely false and is actually dishonest. The God of Masonry does have certain characteristics—he is single (unitarian, not trinitarian), deistic², the "Life Force of Nature,"³ and his secret name and true nature are described by reference to ancient evil and pagan gods and beliefs.⁴

The simple fact is that the God or gods of Buddhism, Hinduism, Islam, Judaism, Christianity, Animism and all the other religions of the world are not the same God. To say that all gods are the same or that all religions teach the same fundamental truths is intellectual schizophrenia, disrespect for each and all religions, and deception to those to whom one teaches such falsehood.

Concepts of God throughout the world all conflict and disagree. For example, the God of Christianity, Jehovah, is infinite, personal, triune, loving, and holy. The deity of the Muslims, Allah, is unitarian (not triune); he is merciful, but he is not necessarily loving or holy. The deity of the Hindus, Brahman, is impersonal and monistic (neither unitarian nor triune) or polytheistic (a belief in thousands of finite gods, both good and evil). Buddhism is either polytheistic (believing Buddha is God and that there are hundreds of other good and evil gods) or completely non-theistic, claiming there is no God. Buddhism replaces God with a confusing state of being called Nirvana. Mormonism is different from all the above in that it is henotheistic—accepting belief in one central deity (Elohim), but accepting many lesser deities as well.

Masonry is wrong in teaching that all religions ultimately have the same concept of God. Masonry is also wrong in teaching that the God of all religions is the Masonic deity.⁵ The gods of the above religions are not the same. All the above religions teach that God is either personal, impersonal, holy, evil, unitarian, trinitarian, monistic, infinite, finite, loving, not loving, existent, nonexistent, etc.

So when Masonry claims that the God all men worship is the God of Masonry, this can’t possibly be true. Masonry has a distinct concept of God that disagrees with almost all of these other religions’ specific concepts of God.

If we compare the God of the Bible with the God taught in the Masonic Lodge, we are faced with irreconcilable differences. As Martin L. Wagner has correctly stated, "This Great Architect as conceived by Freemasons is not identical with the Jehovah of Christianity, but... is another and distinct entity."⁶ He says they "are entirely separate and different, mutually exclusive and no syncretism can harmonize them."⁷

Masonic authority Albert Pike admits, "If our conceptions of God are those of the ignorant, narrow-minded, and vindictive Israelite ... we feel that it is an affront and an indignity to him [God], to conceive of him as cruel, short-sighted, capricious, and unjust; as a jealous, an angry, and vindictive Being."⁸

Pike later referred to the ignorance and stupidity of most Christians and confessed: "The God of nineteen-twentieths of the Christian world is only Bel [Baal], Molach, Zeus, or at best Osiris, Mythras or Adonai, under another name, worshipped with the old pagan ceremonies and ritualistic formulas...."⁹

When Masons claim that the Lodge is "tolerant" of all faiths and accepts the God that all men worship, it is really engaging in dishonesty. The truth is that Masonry does not accept the God of any religion but changes each religion’s belief in God into the strange, distinct Masonic view of God as the Great Architect of the Universe (G.A.O.T.U.).¹⁰ Masonry falsely claims it is tolerant of other beliefs in order to attract men of different religious beliefs into becoming Masons. In actuality, a true Mason must forfeit his own religious beliefs in who God is and accept the new God of Masonry.¹¹

The Masonic Lodge teaches in the Royal Arch degree that it knows the true name of God. The candidate is instructed that from now on the true name of God is Jahbulon.

The candidate is clearly instructed in his Masonic manual that the term "Jahbulon" is a composite term for Jehovah (Jah), Baal (Bul or Bel), and Osiris (On, a corruption of Os).¹²

Masonic authorities such as Coil¹³ and the Masonic Ritual and Monitor¹⁴ admit that "Bul" or "Bel" refers to the Assyrian or Canaanite deity Baal and that "On" refers to the Egyptian deity Osiris. Wagner reveals the Masonic goal in this pagan trinity:

But to equate Jehovah with the pagan god Baal—a god so evil that he led the Israelites into human sacrifice and other terrible vices—is blasphemous. Anyone who studies how evil Baal was in the Old Testament can see this clearly.¹⁶ For example:

Baal was so evil a deity that to find the name of the one, true, holy God, Jehovah, linked with Baal and Osiris in the rites of Masonry is blasphemous. God says, "Those who honor Me, I will honor" (1 Sam. 2:30). The Apostle Paul writes, "To Him [God] be honor and eternal dominion" (1 Tim. 6:16).

If you are a Christian, according to Scripture is it honoring to God to participate in a rite that maligns His divine name by combining it with the names of evil gods? Didn’t God’s severe judgment fall upon Israel because she combined worship of Jehovah with the worship of Baal and other pagan gods? Didn’t God’s judgment fall because of teachings like those found in Masonry? As former last Master Mason Edmund Ronayne confesses: "The very religious philosophy and false worship which caused Jehovah to destroy His own temple, and banish into captivity His ancient people, are precisely the same philosophy and worship which modern Masons profess shall fit them for the glories of heaven."¹⁷

Masonry teaches that God is one person only (unitarian),¹⁸ while Christianity teaches that God is triune, not unitarian. An article by G. A. Kenderdeine, "The Idea of God in Masonry," cited in the Masonic magazine The New Age on pages 269 and following states, "Masonry holds and teaches that with all and above all there is God, not essentially a Christian Triune God."¹⁹

Masonry also teaches that God is an amalgamation of all gods: "[The Mason] may name Him [God] as he will, think of Him as he pleases; make Him impersonal law or personal and anthropomorphic; Freemasonry cares not.... God, Great Architect of the universe, Grand Artificer, Grand Master of the Grand Lodge above, Jehovah, Allah, Buddha, Brahma, Vishnu, Shiva, or Great Geometer....²⁰

But the Bible teaches that the Christian God alone is the one true God—He is not an amalgamation of all gods:

Masonry also denies the biblical teaching on Jesus Christ. Albert Pike taught that Masonry held that Jesus Christ was only a man and not God:

Masonry claims that it does not offend a Christian’s belief about Jesus Christ. For example: "We do not say to Christians that Christ was a mere man, whose life’s story is only a revival of similar older [pagan] stories. To do any of these things would be irreverent. We utter no such words."²² But Masonry does teach that Jesus Christ was merely a man.²³ The important Masonic Ritual called the Maundy Thursday Ritual of the chapter of Rose Croix states officially, "We meet this day to commemorate the death [of Jesus], not as inspired or divine, for this is not for us to decide."²⁴

In his spiritual darkness or ignorance, an individual Christian Mason may choose to believe that Jesus was God and Savior of the world, but this is not Masonic truth. Those who consider themselves enlightened Masons hope that their unenlightened brethren will realize that all specific dogmas about Christ are in error. As Clausen emphasizes, it is important to "strip from all religions their orthodox tenets, legends, allegories and dogmas."²⁵ This is why the Masonic scholar Albert Pike asserts that Jesus was "a great teacher of morality"—but nothing more.²⁶ So it is neither fair nor true for Masons to say that Masonry does not offend Christians by teaching that Jesus was only a man. This is exactly what it teaches.

Why does Masonry say that Christ was only a man and thereby offend the beliefs of Christians? It does this because it does not wish to offend the religious sensibilities of those Masons who are members of other faiths which deny that Jesus is the only incarnation of God and Savior of the world. For example, the unique nature and mission of Christ is denied by Hindus, Buddhists, Muslims, Jews, etc. In order to not offend these people, it offends Christians.

This is why nowhere in Masonic literature will you find Jesus called God or said to be the world’s Savior who died for men’s sin. To portray Him in such a light would "offend" men, and Masonry wishes to offend no one. The necessity for this approach can be found in the fundamental doctrines or Landmarks of Masonry (the Fatherhood of God, the brotherhood of man, and the immortality of the soul, Masonically interpreted). These doctrines presume beforehand that there is neither reason nor necessity that Jesus should be unique either as to His Person (God) or His mission (Savior). Thus, Masonry teaches that man already has a perfect standing with God. All men are guaranteed eternal life regardless of their personal religious beliefs. As a result, there is no need for God to incarnate (Phil. 2:1-8) in order to die for the world’s sin (John 3:16) because the teachings of Masonry assume all men are saved or redeemed to begin with.

This is why Masonry completely excludes all particular biblical teachings about Christ such as His incarnation, redemptive mission, death, and resurrection. In fact, there is no biblical truth about Jesus Christ that is affirmed by Masonry as one of their Landmarks. This is why former Mason Edmond Ronayne confesses:

The Bible clearly teaches that Jesus Christ is God:

Because Jesus Christ is God, He will one day judge all the world, including all Masons and other men:

All of these teachings of Jesus in the Bible prove that Masonry is wrong in its teaching about Jesus Christ. How then can a Christian who claims to believe in Jesus as his Savior continue to support the false religion that denies his Lord? Did not Jesus Himself say, "Why do you call Me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and not do what I say" (Luke 6:46)? Did not even Jesus warn, "But whoever shall deny Me before men, I will also deny him before My Father who is in heaven" (Matt. 10:33)? And did He not say, "Not every one who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven; but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven" (Matt. 7:21)?

Masonic Ritual and oath demands that the Christian Mason’s first allegiance is to Masonry, not to Jesus Christ. Who then is the "Lord" of the Christian Mason?

In conclusion, Masonry is opposed to the Christian God. One of the leading Masonic scholars, Albert Pike, describes Freemasonry as follows: "Masonry, around whose altars the Christian, the Hebrew, the Moslem, the Brahmin, the followers of Confucius and Zoroaster can assemble as brethren and unite in prayer to the one God who is above all the Baalim….²⁸ Notice that the term "Baalim" which refers to the false gods and idols that men worship²⁹ is also applied to the Christian religion. That means Christianity is considered to be as false a religion as all the rest.

Masonry only claims to be tolerant of the concepts of God found in other religions. In reality, it sees them as inferior to its own concept of God.³⁰ But then how is it possible for a Christian to support Masonry when it denies the true God, blasphemes Him, and leads people to worship a false God? Christians are exhorted to "live a life worthy of the Lord and... please him in every way... growing in the knowledge of God" (Col. 1:10). They cannot do this by remaining members of the Masonic Lodge.

If Jesus came back today or you died and faced Him, how would you explain to Him why You continued to uphold the beliefs of an organization that rejects and denies Him?

30 Ibid., pp. 47-52; Liturgy of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite, pp. 137, 202.