Reason Number Two: Freemasonry teaches universalism, that all will ultimately be saved

Universalism is the belief that people receive eternal life irrespective of particular faiths, moral codes, or beliefs.  Freemasonry suggests a doctrine of universalism in a number of its degrees.  Freemasonry attempts to build an altar where all faiths can worship deity celebrating the fatherhood of God and the brotherhood of man.  Differences between religions are seen as cultural adaptations or the splintering of a former, universal faith.  In the process,  Freemasonry seems to devise its own religious system.  The Scottish Rite, sometimes known as the higher degrees, affirms that it is, indeed, universal:

“All the Degrees of Scottish Masonry can be received by good men of every race and every religious faith: and any Degree that cannot so be received, that is exclusively confined to men of any one creed, is not Masonry, which is universal, but some other thing, that is exclusive, and therefore intolerant. All our degrees have, in that, one object.  Each inculcates toleration, and the union of men of all faiths; and each erects a platform on which Mohammedan, the Israelite, and the Christian may stand side by side and hand in hand, as true Brethren.”  (Liturgies of the Ancient and Accepted Rite of Freemasonry, Charleston, 1956, p. 173)

Freemasonry states in the Scottish Rite that anything that is not universal, and is thus exclusive, is intolerant.  It is for this reason that the claims of Christ must quietly be whittled away in the Lodge. Jesus said that He is the way, the truth, and the life.  He states that no one comes to the Father but through Him.  This is a problem for the Lodge.  From a Masonic standpoint, Jesus is not speaking in a  universal tone in these statements, and thus his claims are intolerant.  Since the Scottish Rite has stated that tolerance is the goal of each degree, this places the claims of Christ on a collision course with the Lodge. 

A fascinating thing about the statement of toleration is that it appears to go only so far.  Freemasonry in a sense, practices exclusion.  A woman cannot join the Masonic Lodge.

Freemasonry in public does not admit to being a religion.  Many of its historic authors have, in fact, claimed that it is a religion.  Whatever side one takes in this argument, Freemasonry does have implied views on many religious themes including eternal life.  To be considered for membership, a man must believe in a deity and the reality of eternal life.  This may seem to give comfort for Christians in the craft, but in reality the Lodge’s views of that deity and the nature of eternal life are radically different than that of the Bible.

Albert Pike has been considered one of the greatest Masons who ever lived.  His work, Magnum Opus, represents his first draft of the reworked Scottish Rite degrees.  In this draft he writes concerning the topic of eternal life:

“The Mason believes that there is that within us, which will never die: that the soul is essentially immortal, and immortally blessed…” (Magnum Opus, Albert Pike, XIV, p. 28)

Furthermore, in the draft of the 14th degree Pike states:

“But he does not hope to attain perfection at once.  He believes that, according to the point which each soul has reached on earth, will be its starting point in Heaven; that through long ages of self-elaborating effort, it must win its way up nearer and nearer to the Throne of God…”  (Magnum Opus, Albert Pike, XIV, p. 28)

Jesus clearly taught that all souls are not immortally blessed.  He taught the reality of a separation at the end of time, with some losing their reward and some gaining it.  He taught the reality that some choose His offer of salvation through faith and are bound for heaven, and some have chosen for themselves hell.

The lodge not only differs from the claims of Christ, but it seeks to plant doubts in the minds of adherents as to the veracity of the faith they brought to Masonry.  Although the degrees of the Blue Lodge suggest that the oaths and obligations will not violate an initiate's prior commitment to spiritual things, the monitor of the Scottish Rite, sometimes described as the heart of Masonry, tells a different story.

"Your search has never been for the Truth of any particular creed or religion.  That search would be in vain; for in matters of doctrine, what is truth to one man is not truth to another…” (Liturgies of the Ancient and Accepted Rite of Freemasonry, Charleston, 1956, p. 169)

Rather than affirming a Christian view of justification by faith, Freemasonry gives an alternate plan of eternal salvation.  It offers fleeting hope to its members that through self-effort, entrance to the celestial Lodge can be attained.  It places all Masons of every religion in the position of believing they will inherit salvation.  The Scottish Rite states that all human beings have the same origin.  The Scottish Rite then teaches that all members of the human race have the same destination.  This is universalism.

In the 29th Degree, Knight of St. Andrew, we read:

“The Masonic system regards all the human race as members of one great family - as having the same origin and the same destination; all distinctions of rank, lineage, or nativity, are alike unknown.”  (Book of the Ancient and Accepted Rite of Freemasonry, McCleanachan, 1885, p. 432-3)

In the Masonic funeral service, or Lodge of Sorrows of the Scottish Rite, we read:

“Let us now rejoice that our brother has been raised from his prostrate state and admitted to the Perfect Lodge above.”  (Book of the Ancient and Accepted Rite of Freemasonry, McCleanachan, 1885, Lodge of Sorrows, p. 597)

It is assumed that the deceased Mason has been admitted to the Perfect Lodge.  This may be a big assumption.  The Christian does not believe that salvation is earned by self-effort but rather the result of the free gift of justification based upon faith in the messiahship and death of Jesus the Christ. 

Their universal view of salvation is additionally affirmed by the additional phrase from the Lodge of Sorrow: 

“After death and grave come the resurrection, and light and life eternal.”  (Book of the Ancient and Accepted Rite of Freemasonry, McCleanachan, 1885, p. 596)

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Masonry claims there is no difference in eternity between a person who worships Hindu deities and one who worships Jesus.  There is no difference between the people who live a moral life, or those who live less than ethical lives.  Everyone has the same destination.  Freemasonry may not affirm a distinction in destinations after death because they also do not believe there is a distinct, fallen source of evil Christians call Lucifer.

Quoting from Albert Pike in Magnum Opus: 

“Sen. W: There is no rival God ever at war with the Ineffable; nor any independent and Self-existent Evil Principle in rebellion against Him.”  (Magnum Opus, Albert Pike, XXIII, p. 5)

Biblical Christianity affirms the clear teaching of Jesus.  Eternal life, a term used by Jesus for salvation, is reserved for those who place their faith in His atoning work.  Those who reject the free offer of salvation by grace are separated from God eternally.  These two systems cannot be reconciled.  To believe that salvation comes to all Lodge brothers regardless of their faith, or lack of it, is to totally reject the very words of Jesus.  Again, the teachings of the Lodge and those of Christianity are irreconcilable.

“It is by making himself rational and good that man makes himself immortal.”  (Liturgies of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite, Charleston, 1944, p. 187)

Freemasonry declares that immortality is gained by self-effort.  It is the process of making oneself somehow rational and good.  Christianity differs from every religion in the world in this one respect.  It states that a person cannot make himself good, and that being rational does not grant entrance into the presence of God.