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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
Missing the Mark, April 16, 2009
Both authors have so grossly misrepresented the Masonic Lodge--missing the mark at every turn--that I found their illicit teachings profoundly disturbing. My husband is a Mason and, when I asked him to read this book and comment on it, he reluctantly did so. After a while, however, his reluctance turned to repulsion. "This is supposed to be non-fiction?" he asked me about a third of the way through Secret Teachings of the Masonic Lodge--I understood his cynicism and anger right away.
Of all the good, kind, gentle, loving, caring, and Godly men we know as a married couple in our own community, many of them belong to the Lodge. Many of my husband's Lodge Brothers attend church, volunteer their time and energy to help others, lovingly care for their own families, and fulfill their civic duties by making the personal decision to join the Lodge in the first place.
In today's social climate of worldly thinking and hurting others to get ahead in life, it does my heart good to know that my husband is a Christian man who has decided to put other human beings before himself and help out whenever possible; he is a good man who's becoming a better man as a direct result of joining this Fraternity of like-minded men.
I am so very thankful for the Masonic Lodge. I just wish John Ankerberg and John Weldon had thought to ask at least one Mason about his personal experiences with Freemasonry before writing this blind fantasy about a subject they obviously do not understand.
Thank you.
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45 of 65 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Earnest, but Inaccurate, November 1, 2005
As a Master Mason and 32' Scottish Rite Mason I occasionally leaf through Anti-Masonic literature, just to see what's being said. Generally speaking, people who write against Freemasonry tend to fall into one of two camps-- they're either rabid conspiracy theorists or else they're sincere researchers with genuine personal reservations aboout the fraternity. Fortunately, authors John Ankerberg and John Weldon appear to fall squarely into the latter category, but their book "The Secret Teachings of the Masonic Lodge" is filled with so many inaccuracies and false premises that its final conclusions can't help but miss the mark.
Just to prove this point, I'd like to identify some of the more blatant errors which appear ONLY ON PAGE ONE of this book. I don't do this out of personal animosity towards the authors, but rather out of concern for any non-Masons who might otherwise be influenced in their opinions about Freemasonry by this book. Once such a reader is aware of how erroneous, no matter how well-intentioned, "The Secret Teachings of the Masonic Lodge" actually is, that reader would be in a much better position to evaluate the rest of its authors' claims.
I don't have any problem with the first paragraph of this book, stating that Freemasonry in its current form can be traced to 1717. Fair enough. The second paragraph also starts out without any mistakes or misstatements, proving that Mr. Ankerberg and Mr. Weldon are fine as long as they quote directly from the Encyclopedia Britannica! However, the authors run into difficulty with the second sentence in paragraph two-- at exactly the point in the text where they start committing their own thoughts and opinions to paper! Right off the bat, the authors explain that new members in the Masonic fraternity are called "Initiates." This is incorrect. New Masons are not called 'initiates' in lodges anywhere in the United States or England, nor are they known by that name in the Scottish Rite degrees. A trifling error, perhaps, but it may nonetheless be significant that the very first definition established by Mr. Ankerberg and Mr. Weldon in their discussion of Freemasonry is mistaken.
The authors don't do any better with their next sentence, either. "Each new member swears during these secret ceremonies to remain loyal to the Lodge and its teachings." Wrong. There is no loyalty oath anywhere in Masonry, nor is a candidate for admission to the lodge ever constrained or encouraged to adopt a particular belief or doctrine as his own. In fact, every new member is advised that his first priorities as a Mason are to serve his God, his country, his community, and his family, and that whatever duties are owed to the lodge come well after these in importance. Furthermore, the 'teachings' that the authors allude to are comprised of certain allegorical stories, primarily drawn from Scripture, and a handful of traditional values like honesty, integrity, personal morality, respect for women, and so forth. That's it-- these are all of the 'teachings' that Mr. Ankerberg and Mr. Weldon are so concerned about! While I'm sure that most people-- Masons and non-Masons alike-- would agree that these universally-accepted virtues are worth striving for, the fact is that at no time are Freemasons sworn to loyalty or to adopt any particular creed or belief.
Ah, but the hits just keep on rolling! "The teachings instruct each new candidate how he is to serve and the rewards he can expect." It's hard to fathom where the authors are getting this stuff from, but here too they are terribly ill-informed! There are no Masonic 'teachings' about how a Mason should be of service to his fellow man-- either in Masonry or in life. Like so much else in Freemasonry, the question of where and how to serve is left to the conscience and understanding of each individual member. Some Masons serve by giving their time to community projects. Shriners raise money for crippled and burned children, maintaining a network of free pediatric hospitals, and Scottish Rite Masons work to provide free therapy to kids with reading and speech disorders. My lodge has partnered with a local "at-risk" school to buy library books and school supplies for the underprivilaged kids who attend there. There are a variety of ways for the individual Mason to be involved in his community! For that matter, though, every Mason is always free to be as involved-- or as uninvolved-- in lodge activities as he sees fit! The important thing is that Masons ARE encouraged to be of service to others-- and again, this is hardly a concept that most Masons or non-Masons should have a problem with. As to "the rewards he can expect," well, here I can only smile. Perhaps I've just been missing out on my share of the world domination, but the fact is that all new Masons are specifically warned against joining for 'mercenary' purposes or expecting any material benefits from membership. Regrettably, once again Mr. Ankerberg and Mr. Weldon have their facts DEAD WRONG.
On to paragraph three! Here the authors state that "Masonry views its mission in life as bringing the beliefs of all men into harmony-- the harmony of Masonic teachings." Well, since Masonic 'teachings' consist of a few Scriptural allegories and universally-accepted principles like honesty, faith, charity, and the like, this would surely be a noble endeavor... if only it were true! The fact is that Masonry focuses its efforts on the individual member, challenging him to live up to a higher standard and to become the very best human being that he can possibly become. The way that you improve society is by improving the individuals who make up that society-- not by magnanimously imposing your own philosophy or teaching upon others! In fact, this supposed Masonic belief about uniting mankind under a single dominant creed or philosophy is completely at odds with traditional Masonic values like religious tolerance, personal liberty, and individual freedom! There is no master plan to unite or reconcile anybody, anywhere, outside of the Lodge-- and even within the Lodge, matters of conscience and faith are left to the individual member. While I don't disagree with the authors' thesis that the world would indeed be a better place if Masonic principles were practiced by all men and women, everywhere in the world-- an idea also advanced by George Washington, by the way, who went on to write that American democracy would fail unless our nation adopted the values of Freemasonry-- I can only laugh at the notion that "bringing the beliefs of all men into harmony" is somehow a stated purpose of Freemasonry.
Mr. Ankerberg and Mr. Weldon then go on to say that two 'Masonic teachings' in particular form the "foundation of all Freemasonry." The first of these 'teachings' is "the universal fatherhood of God and brotherhood of man." The second, that "reforming personal character and practicing good works will secure God's favor." Rest assured, Freemasonry teaches no such things! Masonry takes no position whatsoever on matters of faith, aside from requiring that all new members profess belief in a God. In fact, to understand why this book's understanding of Masonry is so far off base, you first have to understand what Masonry really is. At its very simplest, Freemasonry is a fraternity of men who have professed to believe in God-- that is, men who follow a Higher Law than that established by human society. Masonry is an association of men who have pledged themselves to live up to a higher standard of ethical behavior, and an opportunity to enjoy the fellowship with other upright men of moral character. Since the joys of Freemasonry are open to all men, regardless of race, creed, or religion, the Lodge makes a definite attempt to avoid sectarianism-- but this is a far cry from the authors' characterization of a supposed 'Masonic teaching' about "the universal fatherhood of God."
That brings us to the end of page one. Every single one of Mr. Ankerberg and Mr. Weldon's statements about Freemasonry up to this point are totally, completely, 100% WRONG. Unfortunately, the remaining 335 pages of "The Secret Teachings of the Masonic Lodge" manage to keep this dubious record intact! In fact, this is one of the most inaccurate books about the Lodge that I've ever read-- including many books by conspiracy theorists and crazies, who generally at least start out with an actual coincidence or verifiable fact before they start running amok with inane theories. Proof of the authors' limited understanding of Freemasonry pretty much jumps off of every single page of this book, which is unfortunate because Ankerberg and Weldon are consistently very conciliatory towards Masons even as they grossly miss the mark.
I'm sympathetic towards Mr. Ankerberg and Mr. Weldon. I believe that these authors wrote "The Secret Teachings" because they were sincerely concerned about brethren who (from their perspectives, at least) might have been "led astray" by Freemasonry. I wonder, though, why the authors don't voice similar concerns about Christians who are also members of the American Automobile Association, or the Rotary Club, or their local neighborhood PTA...??? After all, surely there are aspects of these fine organizations of which the authors, as non-members, remain ignorant. It probably would have been just as easy to collect quotes criticizing these other fine organizations and then, based solely upon what others have written, to have produced a book critical of those groups' sinister, ulterior motives-- exactly as Ankerberg and Weldon have done here with their book on Freemasonry! Who knows-- perhaps a book on "The Secret Teachings of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers" is forthcoming. In any case, I truly believe that Mr. Ankerberg and Mr. Weldon wrote this book out of genuine compassion for others, and that they, too, believe in a higher purpose or standard which we should all strive towards in the course of our daily lives. As apparently upright and moral men of religious character, the irony is that Mr. Ankerberg and Mr. Weldon would probably feel right at home in a Masonic Lodge once their misperceptions about Freemasonry have been cleared up. The real shame is that the authors' obvious lack of knowledge about Freemasonry has led them to publish so many unkind and untrue statements about the world's largest philanthropy-- an organization which spends about $1 million every day in the United States alone, often anonymously and always with no strings attached, just to better the lives of those who are less fortunate than we are.
My take is this: Freemasonry takes a man, and makes him a better man. If that man is a Christian, you get a better Christian. If that man is a Muslim, or a Jew, or a Buddhist-- a practicioner of any faith which acknowledges a single, sovereign God Almighty-- Freemasonry will similarly challenge him to attain the very highest ideals taught by his religion. The fact is that you judge a vine by the fruit that it bears, and the legacy of Freemasonry is one of compassionate and selfless giving to the less-fortunate members of our society, in terms of both time and money. Jesus of Nazareth would surely have approved! Our dedicated giving has healed the sick, given sight to the sightless, fed the poor, and housed the homeless. Literally thousands of crippled children have been given the gift of mobility, thanks to the generosity of Masons. Tens of thousands of burned or disfigured kids can go out in public with a semblance of dignity, because the Shriners straightened their crooked limbs, or even rebuilt their shattered or burned faces. Thousands of mute American children have been given the gift of speech through the hard work of Scottish Rite Masons. Through hundreds of other afilliated Masonic charities, the lives of everyday people around the globe are enriched and blessed by the generous giving of nearly two million Freemasons in over ninety countries. It's in the field of American politics and religion, however, that Freemasonry has probably left its greatest mark, providing the impetus for a system of law and common morality enshrining what what most people have come to think of as core 'American' beliefs-- things like the dignity and worth of every living person, the right to freely speak and assemble and worship as one chooses, and the importance of public education. ALL of these Masonic ideals were considered radical, dangerous notions when they were first put forth by members of the Lodge. Many heroes of the American Revolution, and a surprising number of our founding fathers, were Masons-- and you see this reflected in the founding documents of our country, as well as in the Masonic iconography of the United States. Why do you think there is a pyramid on our currency? Why did Masons campaign to get "under God" added to the pledge of Allegience, or "In God We Trust" added to our nation's coinage? Why was an obelisk selected for the Washington Memorial in Washington, D.C.? Why are there so many Masonic symbols on both sides of the Great Seal of the United States of America-- a seal which was so important to our founding fathers that its design was the VERY NEXT TASK that they took up on July 5, 1776, immediately after declaring our country's independence? For that matter, why did George Washington take his oath of office as first President of the United States with his right hand on a Bible borrowed from his Masonic lodge, and why was construction of the U.S. Capitol building delayed so that members of George Washington's Masonic Lodge could assist him in laying its cornerstone? Did you know that as Commander-in-Cheif of the Continental Army, General Washington often required his senior officers to join the Lodge in order to be considered eligible for promotion? Did you know that Benjamin Franklin served as head of a French Masonic Lodge while serving as ambassador to King Louis' court? Were you aware that the Boston tea party was likely planned and executed by American Freemasons, dressed in the guise of American Indians as part of a local Masonic Rite? In fact, thirteen of thirty-nine signers of the Decalaration of Independence are documented to have been Masons. In every sense of the word, America is a Masonic nation-- and if you love the ideals of America then you love the ideals of Freemasonry!
If you, the reader of this review, have any questions about Freemasonry, you don't have to purchase some outsider's written expose of the Craft-- just ask a Mason! He'll be delighted to give you the ACTUAL FACTS about Freemasonry. It's just a shame that Mr. Ankerberg and Mr. Weldon didn't think to avail themselves of this resource before publishing the unintentional falsehoods which fill up the pages of their book, "The Secret Teachings of the Masonic Lodge." Had they cared to do so, they could have busted many of their own claims about Freemasonry with only a little careful fact-checking. (So much for not bearing false witness against your neighbor, I suppose...)
On the other hand, if you're interested in reading an accurate analysis of Masonic tradition and values-- or even in reading a balanced counterpoint to the anti-Masonic conclusions drawn by Ankerberg and Weldon-- I'd recommend reading "The Meaning of Masonry" by W. L. Wilmshurst (ISBN # 0517331942). Of course you're free to loathe or fear Freemasonry as much as you choose, whether you actually know any real facts about the Lodge or not. For that matter, thanks to the actions of a handful of dedicated Freemasons in the 1770's, today you have the right to think and say whatever you want! God bless.
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5 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Excellent recruiting manual, March 5, 2008
I don't think the Mason's could have written a better recruiting manual if they tried.
Prior to reading this book I have explored many web pages on Freemasons as well as numerous publically available books on the subject. I have been interested in esoteric matters for a long time and have often considered seeking membership in Freemasonry. After reading this book I now feel a need to take my interest to the next level and actually contact a lodge to start the process of joining.
The book is filled with inaccuracies. It certainly doesn't understand the uses of symbolism and never rises above the level of the mundane. Individuals who have seriously pursued esoteric and mystical paths intuitively understand that there are many things that are veiled to those who are not true seekers because there simply is no use in trying to instruct the unteachable. But what makes this book especially bad is that the authors deliberately lie in the name of their own religion and do not admit that they are not accurately depicting the inconsistancies of their own religion.
An example. On page 127, the authors make a big deal about quoting the Hebrew scripture passage of Deutoronomy 4:2 regarding "You shall not add to the word...". Yet, neither author makes any attempt to present evidence that any part of the hebrew or christian scriptures has come down through the ages in unadulterated form. In fact, there are hundreds, if not thousands, of books that have been written to provide ample evidence that the writings have been tampered with over the years - in fact, some of the tampering was most certainly done by church leaders when some particular passage was at odds with official doctrine. In fact, the mere fact that the canon of writings included in the commonly accepted "bible" was deliberately constructed to exclude certain writings that did not conform to an arbitrary standard of orthodoxy. So, if the authors are willing to be dishonest about such a basic point, why should they be trusted on any other level?
While it is not possible to convince people that they should not base their entire opinions on just a single book, the authors have probably managed to adequately distract genuine seekers of truth through this book of anti-masonic propaganda. But in the end, the exaggerations made in this book are so obvious that I can really only conclude that I would probably benefit greatly by seeking membership in a Freemason lodge.
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