"The God of Freemasonry"
How are we supposed to deal with misinformation about Masonry and Faith
Freemasonry has been around for centuries and long before the Age of Information which has had the side-affect of also being the Age of Mis-Information.
If you are a Mason, you would have come across people arguing that “The Great Architect of The Universe” is “the God of Freemasonry”.
That this ‘God’ competes with the ‘God’. Now, I see these arguments mostly from people with a Christian background, however I am sure there are people of many faiths or religions, making the same arguments against Freemasonry.
So as Masons, we cannot let misinformation fester because it is malignant - especially with the high speed and global reach of technology.
I aim to address many factors in this article which hopefully will now make you well informed and be able to at least take the opportunity to correct this misinformation.
While we won’t be able to change the minds of those who spread it, rather we should aim to correct it for those who come across it either in their search for light or through social media algorithms pushing it out to find a wider audience.
Let’s start with the obvious, “The God of Freemasonry”.
Freemasonry does not have a God. Freemasonry does not have any Gods. Freemasonry has no religion. Freemasonry has no affiliation to any religion. Freemasonry is not a religion, or a substitute for one.
Therefore, there is no “God of Freemasonry”. Anyone who claims that “The Great Architect of The Universe” is the God of Freemasonry is the same person who will tell you that 1+1 = 5.
Why the references to “The Great Architect of The Universe” then?
The simplest way to think about the term “G.A.O.T.U.” is to not think of it as a name for God. This would imply a substitute for God. But rather, it is a Title used by Freemasonry to give reverence to the God of a Masons own individual faith.
To give you the most simple parable in daily life, the title “President” is given to the head of a country or organisation:
If you are American when someone says ‘The President’ you give the title reference to the President of The United States 🇺🇸
If you are Argentinian when someone says ‘The President’ you give the title reference to the President of Argentina 🇦🇷
If you work for McDonalds, are in a work meeting, and someone says ‘The President’ you give the title reference to the President of McDonalds 🍔
When a Mason of any faith or religion hears “The Great Architect of The Universe” his heart is hearing God of his own religion or faith.
But aren’t the teachings of Freemasonry religious?
Freemasonry teaches moral principles and lessons of self-development based upon a combination of two things:
That morality is defined by the Creator and not Man, and those moral lessons come from the ‘book of law’ of each Masons’ own individual faith.
Masonry is not superseding those laws, rather reinforcing and encouraging each Man to strictly follow the laws of his own faith.
Freemasonry is constantly redirecting the Mason back to his own faith - so for lessons in morality and virtue, a Brother who is Christian is being directed back to Christianity, a Brother who is Jewish back towards Judaism, and a Brother who is Muslim back to Islam; the same applies for Brethren of any religion or faith.That practical lessons of how to live can be learned from the examples in these Biblical Books as well as those of Operative Stone Masons from time immemorial.
This is the same as how what you learn at work around finance, project management, leadership, communication etc can also be applied in your personal life. The same as doing a module on Ethics in a Law Degree is not in competition with the morality defined by your own religion.
How do you explain the use of the Bible
To understand this, we need to understand which Biblical Books our Craft Degrees are based on. Although there are elements & stories from other Old Testament books featured in the Craft Degrees, such as how the First Degree includes aspects from Ruth; but the Book central for each degree is:
The First Degree - Book of Genesis,
The Second Degree - Book of Exodus,
The Third Degree - Books of 1 Kings & 2 Kings,
Christianity, Judaism, and Islam all respect and share key elements of the Old Testament, including those books used by Masonry for the Craft Degrees (Genesis, Exodus, and Kings). While each of those religions have their own theological differences, they acknowledge the importance of these books.
The Craft Degrees then stop pretty much at the end of the Kings. Christianity, Judaism and Islam also then all diverge theologically thereafter as well.
Also, we do need to remember that the ‘Book of Law’ for each faith is present in the lodge room so each Brother can be directed towards their own faith at the appropriate moments.
The Holy Bible, the Quran and the Torah, plus many Books of Law for other faiths are present depending on the diversity of religious beliefs of the members of that lodge.
But many will argue that Jesus is foretold across the Old Testament, so why doesn’t he appear in Craft Masonry?
I am going to use a rude example here, and sorry to spoil Harry Potter for you. If you haven’t read all the books or watched all the movies - sorry.
Only in the 6th Book of the Harry Potter series you find out that Harry (the hero) is one of the 7 ‘horcrux’ which are magical objects containing parts of Voldemort’s (the villain) soul that need to be destroyed in order to defeat the bad guy and save the world.
Once that is revealed to you in the the 6th Book,
a lot of things that were ‘foretold’ in the proceeding 5 books now make sense.
I say this is a rude example because its not giving each religion its due reverence, and its also not a completely accurate description of how the series relates to the books of law of each religion either - but it’s the best “pop culture” reference that I can use without the emotional and spiritual attachment of religion to reframe peoples thinking.
The example I have given does fail to acknowledge the theological differences and divergence across Christianity, Judaism and Islam. Which would be bringing Religion into Masonry and I am already treading a fine line here.
So let’s, bring this back to Masonry. Only after the Craft Degrees and specifically in the Christian Orders of Freemasonry is Jesus is then mentioned - and the Harry Potter reference should tell you enough.
Masonry specifically restricts Masons from obtaining the knowledge of any higher degree until they have fully understood their current degree and been advanced accordingly.
To explain this in the context of this article:
If you were to have had your memory completed wiped and you started reading the Old Testament from page 1, anything ‘foretold’ is not apparent until you reach the New Testament.
This teaches you take everything in its immediate context, build a deep understanding of it, until you are given further information later on to expand on your existing knowledge.
Meanwhile,
Imagine you had just started reading Harry Potter for the first time,
and are only on page 1 of the first book.
Since I have told you the key plot twist in the 6th Book,
the whole thing is now spoiled.
This is exactly the same as Christians telling you about Jesus while you are on Genesis 1:1
Where does this leave men of other religions in respect to Masonry?
To go back to an earlier point: Freemasonry reinforces each Mason to pursue his own individual faith. Masonry re-directs him back to his faith when our ceremonies mention the Book of Law, Great Architect, Knowledge & Wisdom, Morality & Virtue and really any other element that is dealt with by his own religion and faith.
In conclusion:
An ex-girlfriend of mine was convinced by her Mother that family member who was a Mason was a victim of a “Masonic Curse” and therefore, Masonry was evil.
While there is no such thing as a masonic curse - I learned a very important lesson
No amount of actual truth will ever compete with the authority her Mother holds in her heart.
We are not going to change the minds of people who want to believe misinformation despite how much we try to correct it, for they are not “prepared in their heart”.
Many will place authority and credibility on what is written on the internet by strangers who you cannot verify their credentials let alone their identity.
But, we can be armed with Knowledge, Truth and Light and share as much of Masonry as we are allowed to, so that those who are prepared in their heart will hear the truth and not fall victim to the misinformation spread by others.