LIGHTHOUSE TRAILS RESEARCH           January 16, 2017     LIGHTHOUSE TRAILS PUBLISHING
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Letter to the Editor: Mixed Bag of Speakers at Assemblies of God General Conference to Include Rick Warren, Priscilla Shirer, Circle-Making Mark Batterson

Dear LHT editors:

My parents attend an Assemblies of God church, and I try to keep up to date on what is going on.  I left the denomination years ago, but they are struggling to stay.  I just looked up the events for 2017 and wasn’t too shocked to find good old Rick Warren as a speaker as well as Mark Batterson (The Circle Maker) and others who I am not familiar with, but who seem to be part of the large megachurch mindset.  Here is the link:  General Council 2017 | Anaheim, CA

Also if possible if you could add Joanna Weaver to your list of books to stay away from.  I am so grieved that churches just don’t want to listen.  They refuse to expose error and embrace false teachers through books.  They pick out the nuggets.  It doesn’t matter if the author got her info from mystics, contemplatives, and flat out heretics from the NAR movement.  :(

God bless you all and we will be praying for your ministry.

— Concerned

LTRP Comments: Dr. George Wood, who is the General Superintendent of the Assemblies of God church, is one of the leaders Lighthouse Trails is sending booklets to a few times a year.1 Thus far, he has received 5 booklets from LT: 10 Scriptural Reasons Jesus Calling is a Dangerous Book, 5 Things You Should Know About Contemplative Prayer, Rick Warren’s Dangerous Ecumenical Pathway to Rome, Setting Aside the Power of the Gospel for a Powerless Substitute, and Is Your Church Doing Spiritual Formation (And Important Reasons Why it Shouldn’t). On December 22, 2016, Lighthouse Trails editors received a short letter from Dr. Wood acknowledging receipt of the last two. It is our hope he will read the booklets and consider the information provided in them. As with many other denominations today, the Assemblies of God is heavily promoting contemplative spirituality.

Related Articles:

The Circle Makers

The Native Spirituality “Medicine Wheel” and The Circle Maker

Beth Moore & Priscilla Shirer – Their History of Contemplative Prayer and Why War Room Should Not Have Used Them

Letter to the Editor: Assemblies of God Pastor Disheartened by Direction AOG and Other Denominations Are Going

Rick Warren’s Dangerous Ecumenical Pathway to Rome And How One Interview Revealed So Much

Is AOG Superintendent George Wood Responding With Video Regarding Ruth Haley Barton Issue?

DRESS REHEARSAL FOR A FALSE REVIVAL? – Evangelical, Charismatic, Emerging Leaders, & Pope Francis Unite for “Together 2016” in Washington, DC

 

A Day of Observations of Life in the Bubble

From a Lighthouse Trails Reader:
Saturdays are good because I pick up Joan [not real name], a family member and go early to the Farmers Market. I went into the house, and Joan, who is close to 50 years old, excitedly showed me some Disney character socks she purchased for her friends and herself. They depicted the Evil Queen and two other Characters from that movie. We got in the car, and I noticed she had on her Evil Queen shoes and socks. The conversation goes to Christmas gifts, and she said her 11-year-old son says he wants an X Box so he can play games.

I now had to step in and talk about all the dangers of the current games where the characters have super powers and they are always killing off someone. Joan is in the choir at a Methodist church, and I did go once when the great-grandsons were baptized. The candles, the altar, the flowing robe of the minister, were very much a presence. The bulletin announced a new class given by a lady about finding new thought and prayer life through the mystics.

I tried to tell Joan about the evil behind the games and many other things in this day and age. I told her of the dangers and how they could affect young minds. I reiterated a happening the day before when I was walking around a small lake in our area in which some little kids came up behind me on their scooters. The smallest, about 6 years old, was saying, “Yea, I’m going to grab her and pull her hair out and then throw her into the fire” and other things along that line. Then they both got off their scooters because some ducks were close by and they chased them and yelled at them until they went into the lake. Those kids probably learned the scenario from some of their evil promoting games. I stated that this kind of thing was going to happen in the end times. She agreed that some games were bad and some characters in movies were promoting evil and
had bad super powers and weren’t like real people but that the evil queen she likes from the Disney movie was portrayed as a real person with some powers. But she wasn’t all bad.

Then the topic changed, and Joan told me she was so excited because the Gilmore Girls was on Netflix now. I had never heard of it or watched it, and she said that I’d love it, and I said I’d try it. Well, later I turned it on, and it was full of promiscuity, sexual innuendos, sexual relations discussed with ease, and unmarried people living together. It was all portrayed as if it was all normal every day living. I turned it off.

Then on my doorstep, I received an invitation to a Ladies Bible Study lunch that was happening next month. The leader, who claims she is an ordained minister, also does visitation at a local hospital as a volunteer. She wears a black shirt with the inverted collar and a long black skirt. A LARGE gold cross hangs from her neck. I had confronted her once before on her outfit, and she stated that people and men in particular respected the collar.

I received a text from a friend who goes to the Calvary Chapel church at the conference center, and she said I should come to church. I have told her repeatedly that it is becoming part of the apostasy. I had asked the pastor a year ago his views on Christian Yoga, and he wouldn’t answer even after I gave him literature on the topic. I see him now about once a week at a local elementary school. We exchange pleasantries. He said I could come back, and I told him that he hadn’t answered me on where he stands on Yoga and further more as an employee of the Conference Center, Brian Brodersen, who is his boss, is definitely going in the wrong direction. He finally e-mailed me his answer in which he stated he didn’t know about Brian Brodersen’s directions for the church or his joining up with Rick Warren or the Pope, but he would check it out. As for Yoga, he is “wary” of it.

I had one sane interaction toward the end of the day. A lady friend and I on the same page share the Lord with each other and some of our friends, and we pray they will listen before it is too late. We agreed that most people are content to live in the “Bubble” of life that goes on and they have their cocktail parties with the “plastic” people who tell jokes, talk about their shopping sprees, and live for the next day to do it again.

Enough of the insanity. I went to bed and continued reading a book by Dave Hunt Urgent Call for a Serious Faith. That is the answer.

We need to hold fast to Jesus. He is our life line. He is our Savior.

A Sister in California

 

A Tribute In Memory of Caryl Matrisciana

By Barbara Lay
Editor at The Berean Call

Caryl Matrisciana with Dave Hunt (Credit: The Berean Call)

I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith: Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing. (2 Timothy 4:7-8)

Our sweet friend and sister Caryl Matrisciana has moved on from this earth into the presence of our glorious Savior, joining many of our dearest brothers and sisters who have left us in just the past few years. There is no question that they have gone to a better place and would never want to come back, but we mourn the loss of lives that seem to have been taken too soon.

Caryl Matrisciana was a woman of great talent. Not only was she a gifted and articulate speaker, writer, and film producer, but she was also an artist, a skilled gardener with a love of flowers, and, most important, one who had a passion and a love for Jesus and for people. Her friendliness and engaging personality attracted individuals from all walks of life.

An avid tennis player right up until her final months on earth, Caryl had always been in excellent health. A horrific bicycle accident a couple of years ago left her with lingering pain in one of her legs, but that didn’t stop her from playing tennis, exercising, and working at the same incredible pace that she had always kept.

Right when it seemed that she was on the mend from the accident, she received a diagnosis of breast cancer. Just as Caryl had always researched every thread of heresy that threatened to invade the body of Christ, she added to her list the new assignment of digging into the source and cure for this invader of her own body. Before she had even consented to surgery and possible chemotherapy and other treatments, she received the news that the cancer had spread to her lungs and to her bones. A special form of chemo was prescribed and she put herself on a very rigid diet, which required amazing discipline to follow. Click here to continue reading.

 

Letter to the Editor: Finding a NON-Politically Correct Church Not Easy

bigstockphoto.com

Dear Lighthouse Trails:

When I first became a Christian, I was 21 years old, but unfortunately the other believers around me became a part of the “Shepherding Movement.” Thankfully, I listened to that “still small voice” and the wife of a family who had defected, helped to bring me out of it! (She simply asked me where my joy was by trying to live back under all the laws, which Jesus released us from, which in turn, the Shepherding Movement was trying to revert us back to . . . I had no joy.) As the years rolled by, I realized I had a gift of discernment. Fast forward 30 years:  I am now 57, and I am appalled by the emerging church, contemplative prayer, etc. I have stood against these, and by speaking the truth lost so many church/personal relationships because of it.

It is becoming very difficult to find a Bible-based church that doesn’t compromise and will preach the “whole” word of God.  This is my biggest concern however . . . my husband and I recently left a United Methodist Church for this reason: We loved the concept that the doors were open to all people, in all walks of life. This included a homosexual couple. My problem soon began to be realized –  that those issues would never be addressed truthfully.

Our pastor just didn’t want to acknowledge, and certainly not preach on, ANY Scripture in the New Testament that plainly speaks of the consequences of those, or any other types of those behaviors/sins. It seems that all churches we attend are just politically correct like this. Many of the things that your articles speak about which are blatantly attacking the church are more obvious. At least to me. Unfortunately, I believe this “political correctness” is what is really going to be the churches undoing. It is so insidious and frighting. I don’t know whether God wants me to stay in churches like these and keep fighting and exposing His truth or leave because eventually it becomes too hurtful and unbearable. ANY suggestions would be welcomed!! Thank you for all the hard work you do.

P.Y.

Our Comment: This reader has asked us if we could provide them with any comments our readers have regarding this letter. For those who are reading this on Facebook, please feel free to comment and offer suggestions or insights. Many, many people who contact Lighthouse Trails, either through e-mail, phone, or letter, share similar concerns, in particular when it comes to finding a solid Bible-based church.

 Related Helpful Articles:

Letter to the Editor: In Looking for a Good Church, “What’s a Sheep to do?”

6 Questions Every Gay Person Should Ask by Michael Carter

 

 

 

Letter to the Editor: Mixed Bag of Speakers at Assemblies of God General Conference to Include Rick Warren, Priscilla Shirer, Circle-Making Mark Batterson
A Day of Observations of Life in the Bubble
A Tribute In Memory of Caryl Matrisciana
Letter to the Editor: Finding a NON-Politically Correct Church Not Easy
Preliminary to Armageddon . . . Paris Jan 15
The Lynch Foundation Lures Schools into TM Quiet Times

Caryl Matrisciana Memorial Service on YouTube

Israel Watches Unimpressed as Nations Gather to Decide Fate of Holy Land
The Desert Fathers and the Methods They Used
A Beautiful Christian Film – Shiokari Pass
Living Tribute to Ray Yungen by Chris Lawson
NEW BOOKLET: FREEMASONRY: A Revealing Look at the Spiritual Side
SIGN UP FOR THE LIGHTHOUSE TRAILS RESEARCH PRINT JOURNAL (not this e-newsletter)
FLAT RATE U.S. SHIPPING AND HISTORY OF LIGHTHOUSE TRAILS

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Lighthouse Trails is a Christian publishing company and research project ministry. We work with a group of Christian journalists and authors, all who understand the times in which we live from a biblical perspective. While we hope you will buy and read the books and booklets we have published, watch the DVDs we have produced, and support our ministry, we also provide extensive free research, documentation, and news on our Research site, blog, e-newsletter, and now our subscription based print journal. We pray that the products as well as the online research will be a blessing to the body of Christ and a witness to those who have not yet accepted Jesus Christ as their Savior and Lord, trusting in Him for the salvation of their souls.

 

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Preliminary to Armageddon . . . Paris Jan 15
Pray for the peace of Jerusalem. (Psalm 122:6)

January 15, 2017 - By Bill Randles

An event is occurring today which portends to be one of the last preliminaries to the shattering events outlined in the book of Revelation, and the end of the world as we know it. The event is the opening of a new Embassy, the Palestinian Embassy in Vatican City. This will be the opening of the first Palestinian Embassy in the European Union.

The main characters in this scenario are Pope Francis and Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian State and the Vatican.

Mahmoud Abbas is the recognized president of the Palestinian State. The State has been designated by the U.N. and is to be located in the place in which the God of the Bible gave land to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob—notably Judea and the Gaza strip.

Abbas, though celebrated as a world leader and a champion of the Palestinian cause, is actually a terrorist who planned the 1972 slaughter of the Israeli Olympic Team. He was quoted last year as inciting the infamous “knife Jihad,” by saying, “We welcome every drop of blood shed in Jerusalem…” Shortly afterward, he was warmly received at the 70th General Assembly of the United Nations, where he and Pope Francis raised the Palestinian flag together.

At that same meeting, and shortly after inciting the “knife Jihad,” Abbas was told by the Pope that he could be the key to peace in the Middle East and possibly win the “Angel of Peace” award.

The Vatican city, in which this Palestinian Embassy is to open, is across the Tiber river from the seven hills of Rome. The hill it is on is called Vatican, due to the Latin word for fortune telling, Vates. Evidently, the Vatican was the hill in Rome on which were located several streets of fortune tellers selling their gifts of prophecy, amulets, and charms. (Ironic, isn’t it?)

The Palace on the site of the Vatican in which Mahmoud Abbas and the Pope will meet to celebrate the Embassy, was built in the fourteenth century and financed by the sale of indulgences, a concept so crass, venal, and irreverent, it led directly to the Protestant Reformation and the split of Catholic Europe.

The very idea of the pre-sale of sins and iniquities to ignorant Peasants terrified in the first place of going to Hell or purgatory and willing to part with their meager income to receive “a certificate of indulgence” would be abominable to any decent person; yet there is a monument to it on display for all of the world to see when they tour the stunningly wealthy St Peter’s on the Vatican.

The Pope of the Roman Catholic Church is one of the KINGS of the Earth. He presides over the world’s one plus billion Roman Catholics from his residence on Vatican Hill (Hill of the fortune teller). He claims to be “the vicar of Christ”; therefore, he is by definition an anti-christ (i.e., pseudo-christ). He has decreed that atheists and homosexuals of good will can all go to Heaven and recently compared Jesus, Joseph, and Mary to Muslim refugees.

The Palestinian State is a “nation not desired” according to the prophet Zephaniah. In 2015, I wrote the following:

In view of Obama’s intent to press for a “Two State” solution at the U.N. , as petulant revenge on Benjamin Natanyahu for winning the recent Israeli elections, in spite of Obama’s fervent (U.S. tax payer funded) election interference, I decided to re-run an earlier article about the Divine view of the “Two State Solution.” There will never be an established and lasting Palestinian State; it is the “nation not desired” and is doomed to disappointment and failure.

In fact, there are no Palestinian people. The name “Palestine” was imposed on the land of Israel, as a humiliation by the Romans. It refers to the Philistines, a Phoenecian people who were subdued centuries earlier by King David and Solomon.

Those who designate themselves as Palestinians are Arabs. They swarmed into the Holy Land as hired labor in the late 1880s when Zionist settlers began buying tracts of land, draining swamps, and establishing agriculture. It wasn’t until the 1960s that these people adapted the designation as Palestinians (Remember the terror group, the PLO?) and began pressing for “liberation” and “return to their land.”

The “West Bank” of the Jordan River has been designated with Gaza as the new “Palestinian” state, and the pressure will begin to mount to force this on the Jewish people. The real name for the “West bank” is Judea and Samaria, the heart of biblical Israel.

In the definitive chapter of the Bible about the “end times” according to Jesus, the signs of the times are universal—floods, earthquakes, false prophets, wars, and rumors of war, until you come to verses 15-16. “Then let them which be in Judea . . . ”

“When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand:) Then let them which be in Judaea flee into the mountains: Let him which is on the housetop not come down to take any thing out of his house: Neither let him which is in the field return back to take his clothes. And woe unto them that are with child, and to them that give suck in those days! But pray ye that your flight be not in the winter, neither on the sabbath day: For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be. And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect’s sake those days shall be shortened.” (Matthew 24:15-21)

Something will happen over the conflict for Judea (the West Bank) that will lead the entire world into great tribulation such as the world has never seen before, nor will ever see again:

“Gather yourselves together, yea, gather together, O nation not desired; Before the decree bring forth, before the day pass as the chaff, before the fierce anger of the LORD come upon you, before the day of the LORD’s anger come upon you. Seek ye the LORD, all ye meek of the earth, which have wrought his judgment; seek righteousness, seek meekness: it may be ye shall be hid in the day of the LORD’s anger. For Gaza shall be forsaken, and Ashkelon a desolation: they shall drive out Ashdod at the noon day, and Ekron shall be rooted up. Woe unto the inhabitants of the sea coast, the nation of the Cherethites! the word of the LORD is against you; O Canaan, the land of the Philistines, I will even destroy thee, that there shall be no inhabitant. And the sea coast shall be dwellings and cottages for shepherds, and folds for flocks.” (Zephaniah 2:1-5)

It seems that everyone on earth wants there to be a “two State” solution including Russia, the USA, the European Union, the Vatican, and the United Nations; all of the so-called kings and rulers of the earth demand some kind of division of the Holy Land and erection of a “Palestinian” State.

But He that sits in the Heavens doesn’t desire one, and HE counts more than all of the rest of them. Read Joel Three… Source

Related News Stories:

Netanyahu: Paris confab ‘is rigged’ – Jerusalem Post

Israel fears fresh UN initiative two days after Paris conference Times of Israel

 

The Lynch Foundation Lures Schools into TM Quiet Times

Photo: David Lynch Foundation; used in accordance with the US Fair Use Act

By Lois Putnam
Perhaps you’ve read of the Transcendental Meditation guru, Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, and his famed Beatle aficionados. And maybe you’ve surmised the TM mania had mostly gone away. But, you’re dead wrong, for there’s been a recent resurgence of TM training aimed at vulnerable young tweens and teens in our public schools under a benign sounding program called “Quiet Time.”

Yes, “Quiet Time!” Now what could be wrong with that? Plenty! Most certainly it’s not a “quiet time” such as a nap time, nor is it a time of daily devotions; rather it is a “quiet time” where kids, twice a day in their classrooms, are going to use a TM mantra to practice fifteen minute periods of meditation.

The Lynch Foundation Leaders

Now, the foundation sponsoring this time of silence is headed by the eccentric TM devotee, famed film producer David Lynch, who can be labeled as an apostle, guru, evangelist, proselyte, teacher, and passionate promoter of the practice of TM. Lynch, along with his loyal longtime TM co-meditator, and executive director Bob Roth of the foundation, declare that TM is not religious, nor is it philosophy but just a simple way to tamp down stress and promote calm especially among youth with special needs or the inner city poor.

However, one thing Lynch and Roth neglect to say up front is that in order for teachers to teach TM or for students to practice TM is they all must attend an “Initiation” time with a personal TM teacher that includes attending a Hindu puja ceremony, learning a personal Hindu mantra, and kneeling down to Guru Dev the revered mentor of the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. Oh, all initiates must bring along an offering of a piece of fruit, some flowers, and a handkerchief. And one other thing TM is not free– it costs money! Click here to continue reading.

Related Articles:

Critics of Teaching Children Transcendental Meditation Are Threatened

Surviving Beatles reunite to promote kid’s meditation

 

Caryl Matrisciana Memorial Service on YouTube

Caryl Matrisciana’s memorial  was held January 14th at Calvary Chapel Cypress with Pastor Chris Quintana. The following video is the service. It begins at about the 9 minute mark. If you cannot view the video below, click here.

 

 

Israel Watches Unimpressed as Nations Gather to Decide Fate of Holy Land

Old Town Jerusalem (Photo: bigstockphoto.com; used with permission

By Ryan Jones
Israel Today

The nations of the world gathering in Paris on Sunday to determine the fate of the Holy Land. Israel was not among them, and watched wholly unimpressed as the international diplomats engaged in “pointless” dialogue.

Trying to sound a note of balance, French President Francois Hollande said that both Palestinian terrorism and Jewish settlements are holding up peace in the Middle East.

Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was dismissive.

“The conference that is convening today in Paris is a pointless conference,” he said at the start of Sunday’s cabinet meeting. “It was coordinated by the French and the Palestinians and aims to force conditions on Israel that conflict with our national interests.” Click here to continue reading.

 

The Desert Fathers and the Methods They Used

By Ray Yungen

Catholic priest William Shannon in his book, Seeds of Peace, explained the human dilemma as being the following:

This forgetfulness, of our oneness with God, is not just a personal experience, it is the corporate experience of humanity. Indeed, this is one way to understanding original sin. We are in God, but we don’t seem to know it. We are in paradise, but we don’t realize it.1

Shannon’s viewpoint defines the basic underlying worldview of the contemplative prayer movement as a whole. One can find similar quotations in practically every book written by contemplative authors. A Hindu guru or a Zen Buddhist master would offer the same explanation. This conclusion becomes completely logical when tracing the roots of contemplative prayer. Let us look at the beginnings of this practice.

In the early Middle Ages, there lived a group of hermits in the wilderness areas of the Middle East. They are known to history as the Desert Fathers. They dwelt in small isolated communities for the purpose of devoting their lives completely to God without distraction. The contemplative movement traces its roots back to these monks who promoted the mantra as a prayer tool. One meditation scholar made this connection when he said:

The meditation practices and rules for living of these earliest Christian monks bear strong similarity to those of their Hindu and Buddhist renunciate brethren several kingdoms to the East … the meditative techniques they adopted for finding their God suggest either a borrowing from the East or a spontaneous rediscovery.2

Many of the Desert Fathers, in their zeal, were simply seeking God through trial and error. A leading contemplative prayer teacher candidly acknowledged the haphazard way the Desert Fathers acquired their practices:

It was a time of great experimentation with spiritual methods. Many different kinds of disciplines were tried, some of which are too harsh or extreme for people today. Many different methods of prayer were created and explored by them.3

Attempting to reach God through occult mystical practices will guarantee disaster. The Desert Fathers of Egypt were located in a particularly dangerous locale at that time to be groping around for innovative approaches to God, because as one theologian pointed out:

[D]evelopment of Christian meditative disciplines should have begun in Egypt because much of the intellectual, philosophical, and theological basis of the practice of meditation in Christianity also comes out of the theology of Hellenic and Roman Egypt. This is significant because it was in Alexandria that Christian theology had the most contact with the various Gnostic speculations which, according to many scholars, have their roots in the East, possibly in India.4

Consequently, the Desert Fathers believed as long as the desire for God was sincere–anything could be utilized to reach God. If a method worked for the Hindus to reach their gods, then Christian mantras could be used to reach Jesus. A current practitioner and promoter of the Desert Fathers’ mystical prayer still echoes the logical formulations of his mystical ancestors:

In the wider ecumenism of the Spirit being opened for us today, we need to humbly accept the learnings of particular Eastern religions … What makes a particular practice Christian is not its source, but its intent … this is important to remember in the face of those Christians who would try to impoverish our spiritual resources by too narrowly defining them. If we view the human family as one in God’s spirit, then this historical cross-fertilization is not surprising … selective attention to Eastern spiritual practices can be of great assistance to a fully embodied Christian life.5

Do you catch the reasoning here? Non-Christian sources, as avenues to spiritual growth, are perfectly legitimate in the Christian life, and if Christians only practice their Christianity based on the Bible, they will actually impoverish their spirituality. This was the thinking of the Desert Fathers. So as a result, we now have contemplative prayer. Jesus addressed this when he warned His disciples: “And when you pray, do not
use vain repetitions, as the heathen do.” (Matthew 6:7)

It should be apparent that mantra meditation or sacred word prayer qualifies as “vain repetition” and clearly fits an accurate description of the point Jesus was making. Yet in spite of this, trusted evangelical Christians have often pronounced that Christian mysticism is different from other forms of mysticism (such as Eastern or occult) because it is focused on Jesus Christ.

This logic may sound credible on the surface, but Christians must ask themselves a very simple and fundamental question: What really makes a practice Christian? The answer is obvious–does the New Testament sanction it? Hasn’t Christ taught us, through His Word, to pray in faith in His name and according to His will? Did He leave something out? Would Jesus hold out on His true followers? Never!

Understanding this truth, God has declared in His Word that He does not leave it up to earnest, yet sinful people, to reinvent their own Christianity. When Christians ignore God’s instructions in following Him they end up learning the way of the heathen. Israel did this countless times. It is just human nature.

The account of Cain and Abel is a classic biblical example of spiritual infidelity. Both of Adam’s sons wanted to please God, but Cain decided he would experiment with his own method of being devout. Cain must have reasoned to himself: “Perhaps God would like fruit or grain better than a dead animal. It’s not as gross. It’s less smelly. Hey, I think I will try it!”

As you know, God was not the least bit impressed by Cain’s attempt to create his own approach to pleasing God. The Lord made it clear to Cain that God’s favor would be upon him if he did what is right, not just what was intended for God or God-focused.

In many ways, the Desert Fathers were like Cain—eager to please but not willing to listen to the instruction of the Lord and do what was right. One cannot fault them for their devotion, but one certainly can fault them for their lack of discernment.

Notes:
1. William Shannon, Seeds of Peace, p. 66.
2. Daniel Goleman, The Meditative Mind 1988, p.53.
3. Ken Kaisch, Finding God, p.191.
4. Father William Teska, Meditation in Christianity , p.65.
5. Tilden Edwards, Living in the Presence , Acknowledgement page.

Related Material:

A list of ancient mystics (taken from Chris Lawson’s A Directory of Authors: Three NOT Recommended Lists booklet)

Mystics from the past oftentimes favorably endorsed by “Christian” authors today

Middle Ages (Medieval Times) and Renaissance

Angela of Foligno (1248-1309)

 Anthony of Padua (1195-1231)

 Bernard of Clairvaux (1090-1153)

 Bonaventure (1217-1274)

 Catherine of Siena (1347-1380)

 Desert Fathers, The

 Hadewijch of Antwerp (13th century)

 Henry Suso (1295-1366)

 Hildegard of Bingen (1098-1179)

 Hugh of Saint Victor (1096-1141)

 Jacopone da Todi (1230-1306)

 Johannes Tauler (d.1361)

 John of Ruysbroeck (1293-1381)

 John Scotus Eriugena (810-877)

 Julian of Norwich (1342-1416)

 Mechthild of Magdeburg (1212-1297)

 Meister Eckhart (1260-1327)

 Richard of Saint Victor (d.1173)

 Richard Rolle (1300-1341)

 The Cloud of the Unknowing (anonymous, instruction in mysticism, 1375)

 Theologia Germanica (anonymous, mystical treatise, late 14th century)

 Thomas a’ Kempis (1380-1471)

 Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274)

 Walter Hilton (1340-1396)

Renaissance, Reformation, and Counter-Reformation

Brother Lawrence (1614–1691)

 Emanuel Swedenborg (1688-1822)

 George Fox (1624–1691)

 Ignatius of Loyola (1491–1556)

 Jakob Böhme (1575-1624)

John of the Cross (Juan de Yepes) (1542–1591)

 Joseph of Cupertino (1603-1663)

 Madame Guyon (1647-1717)

 Teresa of Ávila (1515–1582)

 Theophan the Recluse (1815-1894)

 William Law (1686–1761)

Modern Era (19th—20th Century)

Alexandrina Maria da Costa (1904–1955)

 Bernadette Roberts (1931–)

 Berthe Petit (1870–1943)

 Carmela Carabelli (1910–1978)

 Domenico da Cese (1905-1978

 Evelyn Underhill (1875-1941)

 Flower A. Newhouse (1909-1994)

 Frank Laubach (1884–1970)

 Frederick Buechner (1926-)

 Karl Rahner (1904-1984)

 Lúcia Santos (1907-2005)

Maria Pierina de Micheli (1890–1945)

 Maria Valtorta (1898-1963)

 Marie Lataste (1822–1899)

 Marie Martha Chambon (1841–1907)

 Martin Buber (1868-1965)

 Mary Faustina Kowalska (1905–1938)

 Mary of Saint Peter (1816–1848)

 Mary of the Divine Heart (1863–1899)

 Padre Pio of Pietrelcina (1887–1968)

 Pierina Gilli (1911–1991)

 Pierre Teilhard de Chardin (1881- 1955)

 Simone Weil (1909-1943)

 Soren Kierkegaard (1813-1855)

 Thomas Merton (1915–1968)

 Thomas Raymond Kelly (1893–1941)

 

A Beautiful Christian Film – Shiokari Pass

Based on a true story, Shiokari Pass is a moving tale of love eclipsed by sacrifice and tragedy. A beautiful, tragic love story that illustrates: “Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.” John 15:13. A favorite of Lighthouse Trails editors for many years. If you cannot view the video below, click here.

Living Tribute to Ray Yungen by Chris Lawson

The video below is a tribute to Lighthouse Trails author Ray Yungen who passed away on October 16, 2016 by Spiritual Research Network founder and director Chris Lawson. Chris has put together a special YouTube tribute page for Ray with several lecture videos by Ray. Click here for that page: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCrnkfIeSWQFG8uqkR3bfVng/featured. If you cannot view the video below, click here.

 

 

NEW BOOKLET: FREEMASONRY: A Revealing Look at the Spiritual Side

NEW BOOKLET: FREEMASONRY: A Revealing Look at the Spiritual Side by Carl Teichrib is our newest Lighthouse Trails Booklet.  The Booklet is 18 pages long and sells for $1.95 for single copies. Quantity discounts are as much as 50% off retail. Our Booklets are designed to give away to others or for your own personal use. Below is the content of the booklet.  To order copies of  FREEMASONRY: A Revealing Look at the Spiritual Side, click here. 

FREEMASONRY: A Revealing Look at the Spiritual Side

By Carl Teichrib

Thus saith the Lord the King of Israel, and his redeemer the LORD of hosts; I am the first, and I am the last; and beside me there is no God. . . . Is there a God beside me? yea, there is no God; I know not any. (Isaiah 44:6,8)

Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me. (John 14:6)

I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last.—Jesus (Revelation 22:13)

Warning bells sounded in my head. What have you been accused of? The setting was simple; a near-empty restaurant in a sleepy prairie town with two respected community members across the table. I knew what they wanted: my involvement in a local organization, for I had been approached numerous times about joining. As an energetic young man in my mid-20s and very involved in the community, I was a perfect candidate . . . so I was told.

Similar to other conversations, it was evident my dinner hosts were trying to explain something without actually telling me anything. Nudge-nudge, wink-wink, but never getting to the point; it was a sales pitch cloaked in ambiguity.

It would be beneficial for you to join, I was told. We make good men better, I was promised. They waxed on about a legacy, doing good work, and having a sense of camaraderie, and the importance of regular meetings. And it all took place in the “building-with-no-windows.”

More meetings? Between family, church, and a host of activities attached to my workplace, my life was busy enough without adding more. Yet these men believed it would be important for me to become a Freemason. So I listened to repetitious non-explanations and interjected where I could.

“Is your group political?” I asked, knowing the answer from previous chats. No.

“Religious?” No.

“Ok, then what are you about?” My query was an open door.

Chairs shifted as they glanced at each other and then back to me. The silence was palpable. And then the hammer dropped.

“We’re not Satanists.” It was said so matter-of-factually, as if it were a normal response when at a loss for something to say. But for me, it was as if a lightening bolt had been shot through a dense fog. Where did this come from?

The thought had never entered my mind, and there was nothing I could correlate this statement to. I was stunned.

Were my dinner colleagues trying to dispel rumors or alleviate fears—but of what? Why say something so outrageous?

In retrospect, they were probably acting preemptively. The year was 1991, before the public had access to the Internet, and television documentaries on the subject were unheard of. If fears of rumors existed, it didn’t stem from the information battleground we experience today. Rather, my board members would have likely viewed it as emanating from a church context. This was what they were probably trying to dispel.

Compelled by the Satan-bomb to find out what the Lodge was about, but not wanting to join, I determined to obtain their rituals and philosophical texts. Books examining and critiquing the Lodge had already been published, but I didn’t know this at the time. What I did know was that a body of internal literature existed. Thus began a quest to collect the texts and materials of the Lodge. Along the way, I talked with current Masons, probed into community archives, and studied the subject.

Interpretations

Freemasonry has long been called a secret society. But this is a misnomer. Properly defined, a secret society is an organization that intentionally remains unknown to all outside of the closed group. Not so with the Lodge. Its existence and the location of its buildings are public knowledge. Moreover, the Craft’s internal secrets of recognition—its grips, signs, and symbols—have long been publicly circulated. Likewise with its ritualistic texts, constitutions and monitors, handbooks and memorization aids, commentaries, encyclopedias, works of history and jurisprudence, and the writings of its scholars and philosophers.

Foster Bailey, who was a Masonic lecturer and the National Secretary of the Theosophical Society, made this statement:

There is little that is not known today about the Masonic work, and nothing that cannot be discovered by anyone who diligently seeks it.1

Others have said similar things.

However, hints of a deeper reality—a spiritual interest—cannot be overlooked. Bernard E. Jones’ Freemasons’ Guide and Compendium points to religious underpinnings.2 And Bailey’s book, The Spirit of Masonry, is devoted to the spiritual endeavor pulsing within the Craft. Others have asserted similar connections between religious philosophy and Freemasonry.

This spiritual association is a point of contention within the Lodge itself. Is it essentially religious and spiritual in nature, or is it something else?

Upfront, it must be noted that Masonry does not have an authoritative text to offer clarification in the way many religions and some ideologies do. Using religion as a comparison, Christianity has the Old and New Testament, Judaism the Torah and Talmud, Islam the Quran, and Hinduism builds on the Vedas. But a Masonic scriptural authority does not exist. Grand Lodge constitutions and monitors offer an official look into the workings of the Lodge, including duties and principles and explanations—with references to the “Great Architect of the Universe” and the Bible—but they lack deeper analysis.

Where does the Mason receive knowledge of the Craft’s meaning? Primarily from three sources: Grand Lodge constitutions and monitors, the writings of Masonic philosophers, and the individual’s experiences within the Lodge. Personally gleaning from his own observations and study, the Mason legitimately asserts that every man interprets Freemasonry in his own way.

Herein we have a dilemma: The claims of Freemasonry are many and diverse from within the Brotherhood itself. Regarding spirituality, two conflicting positions are often encountered:

The Craft is only a beneficial and benign society, a place for good deeds and self-improvement. It is a moral society.

Good deeds and moral lessons are part of the experience, but the Craft carries a deeper spiritual meaning and religiously oriented message.

How will we know what the Craft is about if, after hearing opposing sides from the Brotherhood, we discover everything is subjective?

This leads to an observation I’ve made when discussing this religious-spiritual identity problem with Freemasons: Local Masons and the visible voice of the Lodge, public announcements and openly distributed literature, inevitably proclaim the first position—it is a moral and benevolent body with no religious or spiritual meaning.

Conversely, men who have achieved significant stature within the organization, such as a Sovereign Grand Commander of the Supreme Council, or who are recognized as noted philosophers or historians within the Craft, are quicker to admit the second position.

Returning to the subjective nature of interpretation, that it rests upon individual observations and study, I was compelled to accept this ruling. I chose, therefore, to interpret the Craft through the second group and not the local Mason whose experience has been narrower. While experience plays an important role in shaping that person’s understanding of the Lodge as an individual, it has little bearing on deciphering the broader meaning and purpose of the Craft.

Manly P. Hall, arguably one of the most important Masonic thinkers of the last century, recognized the divide within Freemasonry:

In fact, there are actually blocs among the brethren who would divorce Masonry from both philosophy and religion at all cost. If, however, we search the writings of eminent Masons, we find a unanimity of viewpoint, namely, that Masonry is a religious and philosophical body.3

To discover the philosophical and spiritual fabric of Freemasonry, we must turn to the voices that have shaped it and who have invested their lives in its application.

—In Their Own Words—

Religious Universalism

Henry C. Clausen, Clausen’s Commentaries on Morals and Dogma (The Supreme Council, 33°, Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite of Freemasonry, Southern Jurisdiction, USA, 1974)—

[T]he One Supreme God has been known by many names to many races of men. The Sumerians, the Egyptians, the Medes and Persians, the Hebrew Kabalists, the Druids and Norsemen, the Brahmans, the Moslems, the Buddhists and the North American Indians all believed in God as the One Supreme Ruler and Creator of the Universe. This belief, held by the earliest guilds of operative masonry nearly six thousand years ago, is the same belief held by modern Freemasonry today. (p. 161)

Melvin M. Johnson, Universality of Freemasonry (The Masonic Service Association, 1957)—

Masonry is not Christian; nor is it Mohammedan nor Jewish nor to be classified by the name of any other sect. The power which has held it together, the chemical which has caused its growth, the central doctrine which makes it unique, is the opportunity it affords men of every faith, happily to kneel together at the same Altar, each in worship of the God he reveres, under the universal name of Great Architect of the Universe. (Forward)

[Regarding religious universalism] Thus, and thus only, can we furnish to the world at large a common base upon which all civilized mankind may unite. (p. 10)

Joseph Fort Newton, The Builders: A Story and Study of Masonry (The Torch Press, 1914/1916)—

It is true that Masonry is not a religion, but it is Religion, a worship in which all good men may unite, that each may share the faith of all. (p. 250-251)

Albert G. Mackey, A Text Book of Masonic Jurisprudence (Redding and Company, 1859)—

Masonry requires only a belief in the Supreme Architect of the universe. . . . Masons are only expected to be of that religion in which all men agree, leaving their particular opinions to themselves . . . the Christian and the Jew, the Mohammedan and the Brahmin, are permitted to unite around our common altar, and Masonry becomes, in practice as well as in theory, universal. The truth is, that Masonry is undoubtedly a religious institution—its religion being of that universal kind in which all men agree, and which, handed down through a long succession of ages, from that ancient priesthood who first taught it, embraced the great tenets of the existence of God and the immortality of the soul. (pp. 95-96)

Allen E. Roberts, The Craft and Its Symbols: Opening the Door to Masonic Symbolism (Macoy Publishing and Masonic Supply Company, 1974)—

Freemasonry calls God “The Great Architect of the Universe.” This is the Freemason’s special name for God, because He is universal. He belongs to all men regardless of their religious persuasion. All wise men acknowledge His authority. In his private devotions a Mason will pray to Jehovah, Mohammed, Allah, Jesus, or the Deity of his choice. In a Masonic Lodge, however, the Mason will find the name of his Deity within the Great Architect of the Universe. (p. 6)

Albert Pike, Morals and Dogma of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite of Freemasonry (The Supreme Council of the Southern Jurisdiction, A.A.S.R. USA, 1871/1944)—

The Holy Bible, Square, and Compasses, are not only styled the Great Lights of Masonry, but they are also technically called the Furniture of the Lodge . . . The Bible is an indispensable part of the furniture of a Christian Lodge, only because it is the sacred book of the Christian religion. The Hebrew Pentateuch in a Hebrew Lodge, and the Koran in a Mohammedan one, belong on the Altar; and one of these, and the Square and Compass, properly understood, are the Great Lights by which a Mason must walk and work. (p. 11)

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. (p. 226)

[Masonry] reverences all the great reformers. It sees in Moses, the Lawgiver of the Jews, in Confucius and Zoroaster, in Jesus of Nazareth, and in the Arabian Iconoclast, Great Teachers of Morality, and Eminent Reformers, if no more: and allows every brother of the Order to assign to each such higher and even Divine Character as his Creed and Truth require.

Thus Masonry disbelieves no truth, and teaches unbelief in no creed, except so far as such creed may lower its lofty estimate of the Deity. (p. 525)

Manly P. Hall, The Lost Keys of Freemasonry (Macoy Publishing and Masonic Supply Company, 1923/1954). Note: Hall wrote this before becoming a Mason. After joining, Hall ascended to become a recognized authority within the Craft—

No true Mason is creed-bound. He realizes with the divine illumination of his lodge that as a Mason his religion must be universal: Christ, Buddha or Mohammed, the name means little, for he recognizes only the light and not the bearer. He worships at every shrine, bows before every altar, whether in temple, mosque or cathedral, realizing with his truer understanding the oneness of all spiritual truth . . . No true Mason can be narrow, for his Lodge is the divine expression of all broadness. (p. 65)

Foster Bailey, The Spirit of Freemasonry (Lucis Trust, 1957/1996)—

Is it not possible from a contemplation of this side of Masonic teaching that it may provide all that is necessary for the formulation of a universal religion? May it not be true, as has been said, that if all religions and Scriptures were blotted out and only Masonry were left in the world we could still recover the great plan of salvation? Most earnestly should all true Masons consider the point . . .

The study of this position will reveal to any earnest Mason that if Masonry is ever to achieve this ideal it will be impossible for him to be against any man or any religion. He will be for all true seekers and light, no matter what their race or creed. (p. 109)

Spiritual Applications

Allen E. Roberts, The Craft and Its Symbols: Opening the Door to Masonic Symbolism (Macoy Publishing and Masonic Supply Company, 1974)—

[Regarding the Entered Apprentice Degree] You have entered a new world. Symbolically and spiritually you have been reborn. This started the moment you were prepared to become a Freemason. (p. 3)

W.L. Wilmshurst, The Meaning of Masonry (Gramercy Books, 1980)—

The Ceremony of our first degree, then, is a swift and comprehensive portrayal of the entrance of all men into, first, physical life, and second, into spiritual life; and as we extend congratulations when a child is born into the world, so also we receive with acclamation the candidate for Masonry who, symbolically, is seeking his spiritual rebirth. (p. 35)

Henry C. Clausen, Emergence of the Mystical (Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite of Freemasonry, 1981)—

[S]cience and religion will be welded into a unified exponent of an overriding spiritual power . . . The theme in essence is that the revelations of Eastern mysticism and the discoveries of modern science support the Masonic and Scottish Rite beliefs and teachings. (p. xi)

Science and philosophy, especially when linked through mysticism, have yet to conquer ignorance and superstition. Victory, however, appears on the horizon. Laboratory and library, science and philosophy . . .outstanding technicians and theologians are now uniting as advocates of man’s unique quality, his immortal soul and ever expanding soul.” (p. 92).

Manly P. Hall, The Lost Keys of Freemasonry (Macoy Publishing and Masonic Supply Company, 1923/1954)—

Yet if the so-called secrets of Freemasonry were shouted from the housetops, the Fraternity would be absolutely safe; for certain spiritual qualities are necessary before the real Masonic secrets can be understood by the brethren themselves. (p. 69)

Foster Bailey, The Spirit of Freemasonry (Lucis Trust, 1957/1996)—

Masonry is a quest. Not a material quest, but a spiritual quest, a mystic quest. Not only an individual quest, although as individuals we strive to learn and achieve, but basically a group quest. (p. 122)

George H. Steinmetz, The Royal Arch: Its Hidden Meaning (Macoy Publishing and Masonic Supply Company, 1946)—

“Here is the PRINCIPAL SECRET of Royal Arch Masonry, or for that mater, ALL MASONRY. The supreme fact concerning man’s being. That the physical and mental are but passing phases of his evolution toward perfection, that basically and intrinsically he is inherently and OF NECESSITY, if he actually be in the image and likeness of his Creator, ESSENTIALLY A SPIRITUAL BEING!” (p. 73, capitals in original)

The Secret of Human Ascension

W. L. Wilmshurst, The Meaning of Masonry (Gramercy Books, 1980)—

[I]t is clear, therefore, that from grade to grade the candidate is being led from an old to an entirely new quality of life. He begins his Masonic career as the natural man; he ends it by becoming through its discipline, a regenerated perfected man. To attain this transmutation, this metamorphosis of himself, he is taught first to purify and subdue his sensual nature; then to purify and develop his mental nature; and finally, by utter surrender of his old life and losing his soul to save it, he rises from the dead a Master, a just man made perfect. (p. 46)

This—the evolution of man into superman—was always the purpose of the ancient Mysteries, and the real purpose behind modern Masonry is, not the social and charitable purpose to which so much attention is paid, but the expediting of the spiritual evolution of those who aspire to perfect their own nature and transform it into a more god-like quality. And this is a definite science, a royal art. (p. 47)

George H. Steinmetz, The Royal Arch: Its Hidden Meaning (Macoy Publishing and Masonic Supply Company, 1946)—

[W]hen the Master of the Lodge has completed his term of office, the square, emblematic of the COMPLETE MAN is taken from him and he is presented the jewel of a Past Master, a compass open to sixty degrees, symbol of the PERFECT MAN. This is placed upon a quadrant to emphasize the thirty degrees which he has progressed from the ninety degree right angle of the square to the sixty degree angle of the equilateral triangle, of which the compasses are but a substitute. It is symbolic of his ‘REBIRTH’ on the spiritual plane. (pp. 54-55, capitals in original)

MAN IS IMPELLED TOWARD PERFECTION! There is that within man—his inner-most divinity—which informs him of the possibility of attaining completeness of being and urges him on to strive for that attainment. (p. 84, capitals in original)

[Regarding the Royal Arch symbolism] Constant, repetitious reminder that man is divine and that the place to seek that divinity is WITHIN HIMSELF! (p. 123, capitals in original)

Foster Bailey, The Spirit of Masonry (Lucis Trust, 1957/1996)—

Masonry, therefore, is not only a system of morality, inculcating the highest ethics through which result, if followed, the conscious unfolding of divinity, but it is also a great dramatic presentation of regeneration. It portrays the recovery of man’s hidden divinity and it bringing forth into the light; it pictures the raising of man from his fallen estate to Heaven, and it demonstrates, through which is enacted in the work of the lodge, the power to achieve perfection latent in every man. (p. 105)

J.D. Buck, Mystic Masonry and the Greater Mysteries of Antiquity (Regan Publishing, 1925)—

It is far more important that men should strive to become Christs than that they should believe that Jesus was Christ. If the Christ-state can be attained by but one human being during the whole evolution of the race, then the evolution of man is a farce and human perfection an impossibility… Jesus is no less Divine because all men may reach the same Divine perfection. (p. 62)

Manly P. Hall, The Lost Keys of Freemasonry (Macoy Publishing and Masonic Supply Company, 1923/1954)—

Man is a god in the making, and as in the mystic myths of Egypt, on the potter’s wheel he is being molded. When his light shines out to lift and preserve all things, he receives the triple crown of godhood, and joins that throng of Master Masons who, in their robes of Blue and Gold, are seeking to dispel the darkness of night with the triple light of the Masonic Lodge. (p. 92)

Wrestling with the issue of Masonry, religion, and spirituality reveals two important points:

It demonstrates that the Lodge and its teachings represent much more than just “making good men better,” and that this statement is a type of window-dressing obscuring the bigger spiritual picture.

The Christian man, that is, the person who holds to the exclusivity of Jesus Christ and His grace and mercy—the gift of salvation by faith and not by works, “that any man should boast”—finds himself in contradiction to the secretive-spiritual teachings of the Craft; that man can attain perfection and obtain divinity through the works (rituals and degrees) of the Lodge.

Perfection in the Lodge

The use of the word “perfection” is found throughout Freemasonry. For example, in the Scottish Rite, the combined degrees of 4 to 14 are called the “Lodge of Perfection,” and Degree 5 is labeled “Perfect Master.”

Henry C. Clausen, the former Sovereign Grand Commander of the Supreme Council (1969-1985), Southern Jurisdiction of the Scottish Rite, provides commentary on the fifth degree. Notice the connection between what we create—the works of our hands and what we do—and the subsequent attainment of immortality and our highest spiritual enlightenment:

The setting and symbolic color for this Degree remind us that while we die in sin we may revive in virtue. We therefore always should act with regard to justice, equity, honesty and integrity and reaffirm our abiding belief in the immortality of the soul. Thus, we symbolically raise the departed from the coffin and place him at the holy altar as a Perfect Master . . . The universe is created continually. As we participate in the process we partake of the Creator—the Divine of God. This participation as co-Creator is itself a form of man’s immortality regardless of whether, as we believe, his spirit survives the body. We exist and create. Being greater than self is man’s true destiny, dignity and grandeur.

Man’s will to believe in something greater than self is the springboard from which we can touch the Divine. Talk with men of faith. Read the books that tell of spiritual achievements. Meditate as you gaze at the stars of the first magnitude. Then you, too, may attain that conclusive spiritual revelation which is the highest human development.4

When the Mason enters the 14th level of the Scottish Rite, Southern Jurisdiction, he has attained the degree of the Perfect Elu, or the Grand Elect Perfect and Sublime Mason in the Canadian division. Speaking to this degree, Clausen tells us:

We press on toward the unattainable, yet more nearly approaching perfect truth . . . Our future well-being depends on how we perform in this life.5

Albert Pike, who was Sovereign Grand Commander of the Southern Jurisdiction for 32 years starting in 1859 and had a hand in writing the Scottish Rite rituals, provides some philosophical background to the 14th degree:

[Masonry] is the universal, eternal, immutable religion, such as God planted it in the heart of universal humanity. No creed has ever been long-lived that was not built on this foundation. It is the base, and they are the superstructure . . . The ministers of this religion are all Masons who comprehend it and are devoted to it; its sacrifices to God are good works, the sacrifices of the base and disorderly passions, the offering up of self-interest on the altar of humanity, and perpetual efforts to attain to all the moral perfection of which man is capable.6

Many other instances of perfection crop up in the family of Masonic societies. In the Egyptian Rite, we find the Rite of Perfect Initiates, in the Irish branch, we discover the Perfect Irish Master, and in the Order of Noachites, we find the Perfect Prussian. In Rennes, France, there existed a Lodge of Perfect Union, and in 1754, a Masonic oriented lodge was set up in the College of Jesuits of Clermont, in Paris, known as the Rite of Perfection. In Germany, the degree of Perfection was the last in the now-defunct Rite of Fessler. Moreover, when Adam Weishaupt formed his independent body—known as the Order of Illuminati at Bavaria—it was first called the Perfectionists.7

Today, a number of Masonic lodges have “perfection” in their name. In Calgary, Alberta, you can find Perfection Lodge #9. Perfection Lodge #75 is in New Westminster, British Columbia. Jacksonville, Florida is home to Perfection Lodge #11, and Perfection Lodge can be found in Framingham, Massachusetts.

Going beyond the naming of lodges, Masonic symbolism speaks to something more ubiquitous within the Craft. Here, symbols meant to convey perfection and perfectibility are found across the Masonic landscape. One example is the rough and perfect Ashlar: A stone block which is first unfinished, and then, through the work of Freemasonry, emerges perfect and ready for use. Historian Albert Mackey describes it this way.

The Rough Ashlar, or stone in its rude and unpolished condition, in emblematic of man in his natural state—ignorant, uncultivated, and vicious. But when education has exerted its wholesome influence in expanding his intellect, restraining his passions, and purifying his life, he then is represented by the Perfect Ashlar, which, under the skillful hands of the workmen, has been smoothed, and squared, and fitted for its place in the building.8

The non-Mason is the Rough Ashlar, but once he enters the Lodge and is shaped by the rituals and educated in Masonic philosophy, this individual is made new and perfected in the task of what is called the “Great Work.” Sometimes the ashlar is pictured as a single stone being hewn or chiseled, but more often it’s two stones side-by-side: the rough and the perfect. The Masonic Trestle Board too is symbolic of perfection. Allen E. Roberts tells us in The Craft and Its Symbols:

The Trestle Board, used by the master workman to draw his designs upon, is a symbol of perfection. It is symbolically a spiritual board on which a man should lay out his plans to build his ‘living stones’ into a Temple to the Great Architect of the Universe.9

Other symbols employed in Freemasonry have a meaning of perfection, including the square and compass, the jewel of the York Rite’s Past Master, the Equilateral Triangle, the level and the plumb, the ruler with 24 divisions, and the Lambskin Apron worn by all men of the Lodge. George H. Steinmetz reminds the Masonic traveler:

All the symbology of Freemasonry depicts man’s journey back to his lost perfection is intended to assist him to accelerate his progress by teaching him how to more quickly accomplish his purpose.10

So what is this “perfection” that the Craft speaks so much about? It is the attempt through good works, rituals and obligations, and Masonic education to be spiritually perfected through one’s own striving. This is spiritual alchemy: the attempt to transform one’s spiritual imperfection through the science of mysticism and thus be re-forged as a new and perfected being.

Henry C. Clausen explains:

If you follow the true path of Scottish Rite perfection, with an unshakable faith in a Supreme power, you will go from the darkness of slavery into the dazzling, holy light of freedom.11

Clausen continues:

The Scottish Rite teaches its members how to spell “God” with the right blocks. That truly is the great relevance of Scottish Rite Masonry in the modern world. We teach our initiates there are available for the mind of man vast spiritual forces, vital spiritual powers.

Similarly, we in the Scottish Rite can find in our inner selves a refuge from external distractions and evils, just as peace and quiet are found at the eye of a hurricane. There the sun shines and birds fly. Put your trust in your own inherent capacities.

Buddha attained his own enlightenment and said to his followers: “Be a lamp unto your own feet; do not seek outside yourself.”12

Chalmers I. Paton, in his book Freemasonry: Its Symbolism, Religious Nature and Law of Perfection, tells us that:

Freemasonry itself is symbolic of the highest possible perfection of mankind, and to this its great aim is to contribute; with a view to this object all its teachings are framed.13

J.D. Buck put it this way:

It is far more important that men should strive to become Christs than that they should believe that Jesus was Christ. . . . Jesus is no less Divine because all men may reach the same Divine perfection.14

For the Christian, we know through God’s Word that we are incapable of saving or perfecting ourselves: “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23).

Furthermore, Psalm 14 tells us that there is no one who does good, that all mankind is together corrupt, and that all have turned aside from God. Ecclesiastes 7:20 tells us; “For there is not a just man upon earth, that doeth good, sinneth not.”

Scripture informs us that we must be perfect, yet that we are incapable of such a lofty goal. In Matthew 5, we find the standard for perfection, Jesus Christ, telling us we too must be perfect, “even as your Father, which is in heaven is perfect” (Matthew 5:48). How is this possible?

Hebrews 10 informs us that Jesus Christ, as both the High Priest and sacrificial Lamb, completed this task of perfecting on our behalf—making us holy before God: “For by one offering he hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified” (Hebrews 10:14).

Consider the wonderful words of Ephesians 2:4-10:

But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;) and hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus: that in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus. For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: not of works, lest any man should boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.

Also, consider how the apostle Paul relates perfection and Jesus Christ in his letter to the Philippians. Here, Paul recognizes that his Savior is the one who perfects, and that Paul himself must continue the race as a believer, knowing that Christ Jesus is He who completes everything.

Not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect: but I follow after, if that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus. Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 3:12-14)

When we examine the Lodge and explore its mystical quest to achieve perfection, and contrast this to the saving grace of Jesus Christ, we realize that a fork in the road is before us: Either trust Jesus Christ as the one who perfects and finishes or attempt to achieve the impossible—perfect ourselves. For the Mason, he must perfect himself.

The man, therefore, who joins Freemasonry under the pretense that “we make good men better” places himself in a most difficult position where man is ascribed to be God and thereby able to perfect himself through his own efforts. We have, in effect, another gospel that excludes the Cross and leaves man to seek after his own devices. Hence, the souls of all involved may be imperiled by a human method that cannot save.

Conclusion

While this book is just an introduction to the inner spiritual workings of Freemasonry, I believe it provides enough information to show that Scripture runs counter to the ideas of the Lodge and Freemasonry, which seeks mystical perfection through its own works, making it an avenue that delivers the antithesis of the Gospel message of Jesus Christ.

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Endnotes:
1.Foster Bailey, The Spirit of Masonry (London, UK: Lucis Press, 1957/1996), p. 77.
2. Bernard E. Jones, Freemason’s Guide and Compendium (Cumberland House), p. 282.
3. Manly P. Hall, Lectures on Ancient Philosophy (Philosophical Research Society, 1929/1984), p. 434.
4. Henry C. Clausen, Clausen’s Commentaries on Morals and Dogma (The Supreme Council, 33, Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite of Freemasonry, Southern Jurisdiction, USA, 1974), pp. 24-26. Note: page 25 is a full-page color picture, thus the text flows from pages 24 to 26.
5. Ibid., p. 71.
6. Albert Pike, Morals and Dogma of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite of Freemasonry (The Supreme Council, 33, Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite of Freemasonry, Southern Jurisdiction, USA, 1871/1944), p. 219.
7. For the list of “perfect” rites and lodges, see Albert G. Mackey, An Encyclopedia of Freemasonry, Volume II (The Masonic History Company, 1925), pp. 554-555.
8. Albert Mackey, An Encyclopedia of Freemasonry, Volume I, p. 81.
9. Allen E. Roberts, The Craft and Its Symbols: Opening the Door to Masonic Symbols (Macoy Publishing and Masonic Supply Company, 1974), p. 35.
10. George H. Steinmetz, The Royal Arch: Its Hidden Meaning (Macoy Publishing and Masonic Supply Company, 1946), p. 53.
11. Henry C. Clausen, Emergence of the Mystical (The Supreme Council, 33, Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite of Freemasonry, Southern Jurisdiction, USA, 1981), p. 82.
12. Ibid., pp. 76-77.
13. Chalmers I. Paton, Freemasonry: Its Symbolism, Religious Nature and Law of Perfection (Reeves and Turner, 1873), p. 1.
14. J.D. Buck, Mystic Masonry and the Greater Mysteries of Antiquity (Regan Publishing, 1925), p. 62.

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