To the point...

Again, Mr. Masonic Traveler has seen fit to comment, and perhaps it is well for certainly there is a much needed clarification that must be given.

First, while Mr. Traveler appears to have a Protestant understanding of Christianity, which is betrayed by the very implied notion that one can come up with belief by sitting on their couch at home while flipping through the channels. One sees this in the accusation that the Church is causing a "manipulated interpretation of telling one how to believe." This comment seems to prefer the notion of "Sola Fides," which is not supported by the Sacred Scriptures. Notice that even in the Gospel of Matthew, as Jesus is sending his apostles out into the world he doesn't say, "go out and affirm everybody in what they already believe because they are really close to the Kingdom of God, just by believing in the Great Architect of the Universe, whose name is really Jah-Buh-Lon... or don't, because they are good right where they are at." Rather the Lord and Savior, the only Son of the one living and True Triune God, Jesus Christ, teaches, "Go therefore and MAKE disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, TEACHING them TO OBSERVE all that I have commanded you; and behold I am with you always, to the close of the age (Mt 28:20)." However, perhaps I am not entirely clear to what Mr. Traveler is referring to as "that"?

Further, Mr. Traveler's incoherent notion of Gnostic Faith being already something integral to early Christianity is again untenable. Notice that Jesus in the Sacred Scriptures, written by the first Catholics - Jesus' own Apostles, did not teach, "You are God within you. All you need is a little light from an angel or something that will help you understand what it means to be truly good." Rather, Jesus Himself taught one of the Pharisees, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, that which is born of the Spirit is spirit (Jn 3:5)." Clearly, one must enter into the teachings and belief of the Christian dispensation, which continues to remain most fully in the Holy Catholic Faith. For what other reason would Jesus say to St. Peter, the first Pope, "You are the rock upon which I will build my Church (Mt 16:18)." I know for me that when I finally accepted the free gift of God's mercy, my life has changed and continues to change as I continue to try to live entirely for the Jesus who continues to save me from Sin (when I am not stupid enough to flee from him). Knowing and teaching people who desire to give up everything in this life in order to follow Jesus Christ is an incredible blessing when one realizes what St. Paul says, "For me, to live is Christ, and death is gain (Phillipians 1:21)." St. Paul continues, "But whatever gains I had, these I have come to consider a loss because of Christ. More than that, I even consider everything as a loss because of the supreme good of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have accepted the loss of all things and I consider them so much "rubbish [the Greek word here is "skubala", which literally means poop!]", that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having any righteousness of my own based on the law but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God, depending on faith to know him and the power of his resurrection and (the) sharing of his sufferings by being conformed to his death, if somehow I may attain the resurrection from the dead (Phil 3:7-11)."

While the association of Jesus with the Essenes is disputed, certainly Jesus - who if he was truly God (and I believe and know he was) - would not establish a Church which would immediately condemn the very Gnostic notions that were already proposed within the time of the Apostles. This we already find hints of in the Book of Revelation, where this gnostic or hidden knowledge or the so-called "deep things of God" where already proposed by the Nioclaitans (cf. Rev 2:6, Rev, 2:15 and Rev. 2:24 - where this doctrine is called "the deep things of Satan").

Mr. Traveler would try to pin on me the belief that Freemasonry doesn't hold all religions as valid. However, I do accept this point, in spite of this accusation, and have not tried to dispute it, since this is precisely the problem. One can not fit the square pegs of other religions into the round hole of Catholicism, to use an analogy. While one can fit Protestant Christianity, with much delusion of its adhereant, into the Masonic mindset, since there is no centralized belief or authority within Catholic derived Protestant theologies. There are few denominations of Christanity, particularly of the Reformation derivations, which do not fit into the understanding of Masonry for this reason - particularly if one has ignored or is not aware of the scriptures teachings about Masonic ideologies. However, why is it that in an upper degree of the Scottish Rite, 32nd if I am not mistaken, that the Mason is meant to step on the Triple Crown and declare, "Down with the imposture!" Certainly, one who understands that the Triple Tiara is a clear symbol of the Papal Tiara will not dispute the rejection of the validity of the Catholic Faith. This certainly fits within the Protestant understanding that with "Sola Fides" one need not have an authority, since one can interpret Christianity for one's self. Further, it fits within the understanding of "Liberty, Equality and Fraternity" as understood by European and particularly French Masonry which rejected both King and Pope.

It is unfortunate that Mr. Traveler appears to not have bothered to watch the video I attached to my last post, which clearly shows Grand Commandmer Albert Pike's contention that Lucifer is also God: "Yes, Lucifer is god and unfortunately adonay [The hebrew God of the Bible] is also God ... the true and philosophical religion is the belif in Lucifer, the equal of Adonay [Nothing could be further from the truth, as Lucifer is but an angel created by God, and who choose to reject God]; ... but Lucifer, god of light and god of good, is struggling for humanity against Adonay, the God of darkness and of evil." . Further, it shows in Morals and Dogma, p. 819, how the leaders of Freemasonry are intentionally deceiving their fellow "brothers." How can this be disputed when your own teachers and books themselves make the case?

Syncretism is not such "a remarkable pot," as Mr. Traveler suggests. In fact, it is quite a "natural" pot, since man does not desire obedience to anyone but seeks freedom from both God and Church. This disobedience is not true freedom, but more properly licentiousness. And why is this? Precisely because of the Original Sin, from which all sin derives its existence. Man has such a difficulty, as does Satan, to serve the one and only true God, the God whom St. John says is Love and whose only begotten son is Jesus Christ. The reason why man flees from love are manifold, however, suffice it to say that man need only accept and believe in the Love of God manifested in Jesus Christ and then also to begin to live that received love and in this will man be drawn to the obedience of love found most fully in the Catholic Church. Again the position that such a teaching creates "exclusivity rather than a tolerant community, and really only builds walls" also clearly ignores the reality that absolute Truth itself exists. Again I ask, how can man believe in the "Masonic religion" when man is expected to deny Jesus Christ as any different than Buddha, or Mohammed, or other religious personages. Clearly this ignores the fundamental truth, as my original post pointed out, "There is no salvation through anyone else, nor is there any other name under heaven given to the human race by which we are to be saved (Acts 4:12)." In other words, tolerance without Truth is useless. To tolerate the actions of Hitler and Stalin is not necessarily a wise course of action, as history has shown. Tolerance must be guided by Truth, or it risks destroying the very mankind it is meant to help. But who can define Truth? Well, as a Christian I have come to believe and know that the only absolute Truth begins in Jesus Christ, who himself said, "I am the Way, the Truth and the Life."

It appears you ignore the possibility, as many do, that believing what the Holy Catholic Faith believes is the truth. Why so? If Jesus, the only Son of the living and True God {which is not Jahbulon, by the way) established only one Church and guides it with His own Holy Spirit then why wouldn't I believe in it fully? Why would I believe the masonic ideology which forces me to overlook the distinct differences that do exist in various religions, even if some points are similar. Why would it not be more tenable that there is but one Truth and man has gotten it wrong in various ways, just as the many 26,000+ types of Protestantism show.

This again is the problem of Masonry, as my original post pointed out. In the video, we are meant to believe that "The truths you learn as a Mason are personal and private, but the values echo the past..." Logically, Truth can not be a private issue, since Truth affects all men. How can a religion or philosophy which purports to help men find the Truth not proclaim that truth publically. Rather in Masonry it is reserved for men who climb by rungs to "ascend to truth" and who effectively allow themselves to become their own savior, since Truth is manifestly intended to be nothing more than personal opinion? Mr. Traveler and I agree that in the end it comes down to faith. I, however, perfer to believe the words of Joshua: "
Now, therefore, fear the Lord [read Adonai] and serve Him completely and sincerely. Cast out the gods your fathers served beyond the River [read in this Baal!] and in Egypt [again read Osiris, Mithras, Set, etc,], and serve the Lord. If it does not please you to serve the Lord [again we are talking about Adonai here], decide today whom you will serve, the gods your fathers served beyond River or the gods of the Amorites in whose country you are dwelling. As for me and my household, we will serve the Lord (Joshua 24:15-15)." One cannot serve "the divine figure of antiquity" and seriously claim to be a Christian, as I have pointed out. To equate Christ our King to be "a light bearer" on par with Mohammend or Buddha is as syncretistic as it gets.

Having studied the notion of "Masonic Charity" to some degree, I would note that it is quite interesting that Mr. Traveler seems to think that charity is the result "of the practice and teachings of the fraternity." And yet, does not Freemasonry itself in the 3rd degree oath impose upon the Mason to inherently prejudice against the non-Freemason. Is not the mason intended to come to the aid of another mason before the non-mason? Is this not what one commonly calls "prejudice?" Perhaps, I am wrong, but I do not see such an integral practice as charitable to all mankind, but charitable to the fellow mason first. Hence the very notion of fraternity in Masonic thought.



Again I would invite any one who is interested to review the video below called "Freemasonry: From Darkness to Light" (which by the way is produced by a Protestant outfit, and yet hits the salient points) or to consider Pope Leo XIII exposition on the Church's stance against the Freemasonic religion or to read a copy of John Salza's book "Masonry Unmasked." There are numerous other resources, but one must truly desire the Truth and not merely accede to the teachings of Masonry. As the humorous thinker G.K. Chesterton once wrote, "Merely having an open mind is nothing. The object of opening the mind, as of opening the mouth, is to shut it again on something solid." There is, I would argue, nothing more solid than the Church of Jesus Christ which He himself built upon the Rock of St. Peter.