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Recently raised but have questions

paul2426

Registered User
i was recently raised but have some questions that are making me feel a little uncomfortable most of which resolves around religion.

I know that masonry does not care what religion you are and allows you to believe whatever you want. However, it seems to me that Mason's believe that all religions worship the same God and this is a belief that I simply cannot accept as a Christian.

This has been weighing heavily on me o the point of questioning if I should retract my membership from my lodge. I have family asking me if Jesus would have been a mason? Sounds crazy, I know, but it does make a point.

Any insight brother Mason's can provide will be appreciated.
 

Bloke

Premium Member
Um... this is an old topic which people get different answers to. For me, Christianity and Freemasonry are completely compatible. Smarter people than me have given answers in both camps.

I dont think Freemasons or their lodges worship any God. I think its members each all have their own religion and they think of their God when terms like the GAOTU are used. I think Freemasonry does call on you to respect the faith of others. If you're ritual speaks of "One God" then for you, it might be Jesus. (Or a Trinitarian view).

Personally, I think one religion *might* be right... but that means a lot of us are getting it wrong. As an individual, that is a view I had before becoming a Freemason.

One thing I know, is if you google this, you will certainly get Christians forcefully saying Freemasonry and Christianity are not compatible. You also get many Christian Freemasons (and Brothers of other religions) saying they are completely compatible.

Another question is, because Parliament (or Congress) open with prayer, does that make those legislative bodies religions, no, like Freemasonry, they ask their God to bless and support what they do as we do as Freemasons.

I guess a good question is this. Do you think Freemasonry is a religion, and do you feel you are Worshiping a single God as a lodge ? I say "no" to both of these questions.

Reflection is good. Men often say Freemasonry brings them closer to their God.... looks like it's providing a prism for you to do some reflection...

Let's hope some smarter brother than me comes along to help :)
 

paul2426

Registered User
Thanks for the insight. Like you say, just about every Christian point of view is negative. I would really like to meet a pastor or something that is a mason so I could pick their brain. I guess I'm worried about getting to vested making friends and forming bonds with my new brothers. If I turn around feeling it's not for me, it will put me in a bad position.
 
R

Ressam

Guest
However, it seems to me that Mason's believe that all religions worship the same God and this is a belief that I simply cannot accept as a Christian.

Hello.
Could you, please, explain this words a little bit?
 

paul2426

Registered User
As a Christian I of course do believe in a single God, but do not believe all religions worship the same God. I do respect all other religions, just do not believe that they all have the same idea in who our creator is. Or instance if someone was to tell me God looks like an elephant or something, I couldn't assume it's the same... I just have a hard time generalizing all religions into one.
 

paul2426

Registered User
I'm really not trying to get into a debate, just wanting to know if freemasonry teaches that everyone's God is the same. if everyone's God was the same, then there would be no reason for me to believe that Jesus is my savior since another religion doesn't believe in him... I am ok with everyone praying together and for your prayer to be to whoever your God is. I just want to know if masonry believes everyone's God is in fact the same God.
 

Glen Cook

G A Cook
Site Benefactor
I am a Christian. I am not aware of anything which would prohibit a Christian from accepting we believe in the same God. There are many Christian ministers of many faiths who are Masons. They have no problem with this.

Let me suggest we do all worship the same God, we just aren't all correct in how we view him (by which I mean my view is correct and all the rest of you are wrong :)).
However, so what if we don't all worship the same God. Why is that a problem?
 
R

Ressam

Guest
could God have left
God spoke
God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt
a jealous God, punishing
God does not permit

Thanks for your answer!
IMO, God is -- The Perfection. And, He, how to say correctly, does not have all these emotions, which Humans have.

Thus we can agree there is a Creator without having to argue about whose Lord God is superior.

Agree!
God is One, for everyone.
And, -- The Spiritual Development Law is -- same too, for everyone.
 

paul2426

Registered User
I'm not concerned if grand lodge allows different beliefs or religions. Just asking if they assert that whatever your religion is, you are all worshiping the same God. Basically, what I am getting at is that for me to feel comfortable in being a member, I would have to hear that masonry requires a belief in A God, but not require that we believe everyone's idea of who God is is the same. Of course I believe there is only one God that created everyone and everything, but someone else may have a completely different version of God. Like I said I really don't care if brothers believe in another God, just don't want to be told that everyone's version is ultimately the same
 

BroBook

Premium Member
Mr. Paul we accept men of all faiths, so, no we do not think that all faiths are the same: but I think that if all faiths meet the level they might find the truth. And for the RECORD, I vote for Jesus/ Yeshua / Yahweh. IJS
 

paul2426

Registered User
I am new to masonry and hope I'm not ruffling any feathers. I love the friends I'm making and enjoy the rituals and lodge, it's just the religious aspects that give me questions. I not only want to figure it out for my own well being, but also so I can defend the craft and its ideas if need be. I know I should be asking the brothers in my own lodge about this stuff and I probably will. I just don't want them to think I may leave after spending so much time teaching me the work. Just trying to find clarity I guess.
 

Bloke

Premium Member
I am new to masonry and hope I'm not ruffling any feathers....Just trying to find clarity I guess.

Both are good things :)


.. I not only want to figure it out for my own well being, but also so I can defend the craft and its ideas if need be. .

I would simply say, Freemasonry is not a religion but a fraternity which accepts men of all Faiths.

Like Parliament, it opens with a prayer, but that does not make it's activities a Religion or even religious. Parliament is hardly a religious group. That said, a requirement of membership is a belief in a Supreme Being. This nebulous term allows diverse men of faiths such as Christianity, Islam, Judaism, etc, as well as men who are not from any particular religion to all unite. Freemasonry looks for common humanity that unites rather than beliefs which divided. Indeed, the only two topics which cannot be discussed in lodge are religion and politics , because these are often two topics which divide rather than unite. As Freemasons, through prayers, we do ask what/who we refer to as the Great Architect of the Universe to bless our activities and our members, but what the GAOTU means to each member will vary and is in no way really defined, nor is there any demand or suggestion (in my ritual). For one Mason, the GAOTU might be Allah, for another Jesus, or for another something else. When I hear the phrase GAOTU, I know it is used in the Bible and interpret it according to my own faith. Freemasonry is designed for members to do that, and for many, it deepens their connection to their own religious beliefs as Freemasonry can act as a trigger to do so because it calls Brothers to become reflective and examine their own beliefs according to their own compasses, their particular religion often being a significant guiding principle. That's exactly what you are doing Paul.
 

CLewey44

Registered User
I didn't read all of the replies, but the point of believing in a God or Allah or whatever you may call it, is to have something binding you to your obligation. The use of GAOTU is to sort of be generic. I don't mean that disrespectfully but that way it covers all names that represent the creator of our universe or God.

Masonry is not a religion so any religion is accepted except no religion. The fact of the matter is, there will always be Christians, Muslims, Jews and numerous other religions in the world and Christians will never convert all non-Christians, Muslims will never convert all non-Muslims and so-on, so for you to coexist with them, interact in a social manner doesn't mean you're believing less in your God. It doesn't mean that your opinion of Jesus being our savior is any less or whatever a man's belief is. Masonry is not a strictly Christian fraternity. If you think that it's causing spiritual injury to your relationship with God, then it may not be for you. If you see it for what it is, and that's a beautiful system of morality, veiled in allegory and illustrated by symbols, you will further see how it will not interfere with your religious beliefs and you should fear no danger. It's a great fraternity that I think will bring you closer to God and spirituality.
 

Brother JC

Moderating Staff
Staff Member
When we "invoke the Blessing of Deity," one Brother sees an elephant, one sees a bearded man in a cloud, one sees a woman, one sees a state of mind...
none of us are perfectly right, none are perfectly wrong, but each and every one of us sees our Creator, our Divine Spirit, our god. We have all reached the same place in our belief.
Don't get hung up on words and definitions when approaching the Divine. (My 2p.)
 

Albert_Emerich

Registered User
Hello. I'm a Catholic Christian and feel very comfortable in my lodge. When someone asked me for my religion, I said: all the paths that's lead me to the Light.
As a science man, I think nobody really knows if God exist or not. If we have an eternal soul or don't. What happens once we are death. Nobody in this planet knows that.
So, I choose to believe in God, but this is just faith. No evidence is required to have faith.
You become a Mason when begins with this kind of questions, that's all.

:)

Enviado desde mi ONE E1003 mediante Tapatalk
 
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pointwithinacircle2

Rapscallion
Premium Member
The word "God" is a religious term. It's definition has always been determined by the people who are in power in any given religion. That is why different religions mean different things when they use the term. However, I have come to believe that underneath the various religious definitions of God there are certain specific, scientific principles which govern spiritual phenomena. I find this concept to be consistant with the idea of "that Religion in which all Men agree".

Of course some people will be upset by my use of the words "scientific" and "God" in the some sentence. This is usually because the people in power in their specific religion have taught them that God and science are enemies. I see science simply as a word that denotes our accumulated understanding of what is real. I see God as a word that denotes that which is not understood, but is just as real.
 
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