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Copyright 1993 by the Christian Research Institute.
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"Masonry, My Savior, and Me"
(an article from the Christian Research Newsletter, Volume 1:
Number 4, 1988)
The editor of the Christian Research Newsletter is Ron
Rhodes.
From the TESTIMONY column:
The personal testimony of Duane Washum.
-------------
Throughout my life, I never knew the Masonic Order to
be anything but good. Crippled children's hospitals and
burn care units are well-known trademarks of the Shriners.
Any organization that does the work Masons are known for
couldn't possible be bad, could it?
I didn't know what went on in a Masonic Lodge, but
judging by the caliber of the men involved, I figured that
it must be something pretty special.
I submitted a petition to the Lodge and was initiated
in the Entered Apprentice Degree, passed to the degree of
Fellowcraft, and was soon raised to the degree of Master
Mason. I felt that I had attained to the finest fraternity
in the world.
I was selected by the Worshipful Master of the Lodge
to serve as Junior Steward and later honored by serving as
Chaplain. My studies in ritual and degree work continued
as Junior Warden and then Senior Warden. I finally became
Worshipful Master of the largest Lodge in the state of
Nevada. I believed myself to be a member of a fraternity
that stood for God, country, and family.
But, after five years of total dedication, I withdrew
from the Order. It didn't happen overnight.
My first questioning of Freemasonry was in regard to
the obligation I took when I was initiated. One is made to
swear secrecy to the point that bloody penalties of death
are involved. It was explained that this was symbolic and
only emphasized that what I had learned was not public
information.
My next moment of confusion came when I was Junior
Steward. A member was in the habit of talking during lodge
meetings. This was disruptive but not a big problem. What
was a problem, I thought, was his use of God's name in
vain. One evening this terminology was used four or five
times in a short period. I later told him that if he used
those words in the Lodge room again, I was going to file
Masonic charges against him. The reaction of the members
who overheard was very confusing. Some approached me and
mildly chastised me for the way I had approached him. But
it was the reaction of the majority of the members that
caught me off guard. They reminded me that he is a Past
Master, and a Grand Lodge Officer. He was not wrong in
using God's name in vain. Rather, I had affronted a Past
Master and a Grand Lodge Officer.
All ritual work in Masonry is committed to memory and
repeated verbatim, including prayers. At first I did not
notice that none of the prayers are in the name of Jesus
Christ. "Great Architect of the Universe," "Almighty
Father of the Universe," "Judge Supreme," "God," and
"Lord," yes, but never in the name of Jesus Christ.
Being Chaplain, saying grace for a meal was my duty.
Since there is no specified prayer, the prayer was my own,
and I prayed in the name of my Lord and Savior, Jesus
Christ. I was soon told that we never pray in the name of
Jesus Christ for it would be offensive to our Jewish
members. I then became aware that there is no mention of
Jesus Christ in any of the prayers or in the ritual book.
One evening, I asked about the inconsistency involved
for the Jewish member in having the Bible resting on our
altar. I was informed that it did not necessarily have to
be the Bible. It could be the Koran, the Rig Veda, or even
the Book of Mormon. What sacred writing was on the altar
would depend upon the religious persuasion of the lodge.
So, it really didn't matter if the Lodge had any
Jewish member or not. The important thing was not to pray
in the name of Jesus Christ!
A proposed major undertaking that would involve a
great deal of money was made into a motion and defeated,
much to the dissatisfaction of the Master. Without notice,
it was brought up again, this time in a stacked meeting.
The motion passed. I made an objection to the Master and
told him that what he was doing prostituted the dignity of
his office. I found myself "wrong", because the Worshipful
Master is always right.
Both of my confrontations began to consume my thoughts.
I was morally right, but I was made to feel that I was
wrong. By opposing the Worshipful Master I was, in the
eyes of some, committing blasphemy!
Despite this, I was able to be elected as the next
Worshipful Master. I soon found myself questioning things,
including my title. Was I really a Worshipful Master? By
whose authority? I never considered myself to be master
over anybody, and I certainly wasn't worshipful.
I was in a local Christian bookstore and found a book
I was interested in, _The Kingdom of the Cults_ by Walter
Martin. This was of interest to me because of stories
regarding Mormonism and Joseph Smith. He was reported to
have been a Mason and to have pirated signs, grips, and
Masonic ritual work and incorporated them into the Mormon
Temple rituals. But, when I turned to the table of
contents, it was like someone hit me with a baseball bat.
Listed was the Rosicrucian Fellowship, a group my
brother had been studying. He told me how there had been
an organization known as The Great White Brotherhood of
Man, and out of this came the Rosicrucians, and out of the
Rosicrucians came the Masonic Order. For the first time I
was seeing Rosicrucian Fellowship in print and it was in a
book about cults.
I remember how, after becoming a Mason, I had
mentioned it to a man in my church. He said, "So you
joined the Masonic cult." I said to myself, "He doesn't
understand." And now it looked like I was to find out who
understood and who didn't.
Now there were three words racing through my mind:
"Rosicrucianism," "Masonry," and "cult." I turned to the
section about Rosicrucians and the reference to Masonry.
"It (Rosicrucians) was by admission a secret society. It
flourished in a day when secret societies were in vogue,
and a century after its origin, Rosicr- ucianism underwent
a recrudescence in connection with Freemasonry, which not
only deemed Rosicrucianism genuine, but even borrowed
usages and customs from the writings of those who had
satirized the fraternity."
Every question that had previously troubled me about
Masonry came back to me. A cold shiver went through me. I
began praying to God for wisdom to know the truth. I
placed a phone call to Christian Research Institute, and I
told of my concern about Freemasonry. They said they would
send me a booklet which might be helpful, _Freemasonry and
Christianity_ by Alva J. McClain.
That night, I shared my concerns with a Christian
friend. He taught me about blood oaths, secular humanism,
and other things.
The next two weeks found me in extreme turmoil. I
would think about the discussions with my Christian friend
but then I would read from my Masonic Bible. Everything I
would read seemed beautiful and I could see no wrong in
it. My family's Masonic background, the relationships I
had with other Masons, and the beauty and dignity of
Masonic ritual were all going through my mind. I was
beginning to think that maybe my friend, like the man
before, just didn't understand.
Finally, I went to my knees and once again asked the
Lord to show me the truth. It roared across my mind.
"Blood Oath." I recalled my uneasiness with the oath of
secrecy, and Jesus' admonition to "make no oath at all"
(Matthew 5:34). That week the secretary of Vegas Lodge No.
32 received my letter of withdrawal. I received a call
from a Past Master who asked me why I was withdrawing. I
told him I was a Christian, and shared my thoughts with
him, including scriptures from the Bible. He explained to
me that I shouldn't believe everything I read in the Bible
and that Christianity was a religion that the men in power
at the time came up with to keep the common people in
line. Then he said, "After all, Duane, our dad, uncle,
grand-dad, and great grand-dad were all Masons." The Past
Master extoling the virtues of Freemasonry and attacking
my faith in Jesus Christ was my own brother.
My letter of withdrawal was held for over a month, but
now there is a paper in my home titled, "Certificate For A
Brother Dropped From the Rolls at His Own Request." After
Christ endured indescribable pain and suffered for my
sins, I could not rational- ize staying in the lodge
because of the difficulties I would have encountered had I
resigned. Besides, to stay in Masonry would mean to deny
Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior in my prayers.
I have prayed for forgiveness and know that God has
answered my prayers; not because I am worthy, but because
of His grace and love, and because Jesus Christ IS my Lord
and Savior. End of document, CRN0004A.TXT (original CRI
file name), "Masonry, My Savior, and Me" release A, April
4, 1993 R. Poll, CRI (A special note of thanks to Bob and
Pat Hunter for their help in the preparation of this ASCII
file for BBS circulation.)
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