Secrets and Practices of the Freemasons: Sacred Mysteries, Rituals and Symbols Revealed - Jean-Louis de Biasi 2011
Freemasonry vs. Religion: A Modern Challenge
Spirit of Freemasonry
In a few words, The Lost Symbol summarizes the Masonic approach to religion: it has no religion. This summation is interesting and important in understanding the modern challenge of Masonry. It is relatively easy to discover what contemporary religions think Masonry is. Monotheistic religions (perhaps with the exception of Judaism) are opposed to Masonry. Catholicism and a large part of Christianity, as well as Islam, are against the Masonic view of religion and morality. That doesn’t mean there are no Christian or Muslim Freemasons, but it does mean that the religious establishment is against Masonic principles. Christianity declared that Freemasons are heretics because they are thinking, acting, and teaching differently than the church’s dogmas and scriptural truths.
Religion is rooted in a special belief that humans are composed of a physical body and an invisible part generally called the soul. In the same way, religions teach the existence of immaterial worlds and divinities larger than us. Masonry was born in the English Protestant Reformation as a universal brotherhood, now present in many places on Earth. Its portals are open to every man without consideration of his religion. At the beginning of Masonry, this point was not a problem, for there were only a few categories of people: Protestants, Catholics, and later, Jews. There were no religions other than those with a Biblical background. This was the original context of the birth of Masonry, and in its original texts, this fraternity didn’t ask for a specific faith.
Anderson’s Constitutions[3] ask for obedience to moral law, meaning one should not be a stupid atheist nor an irreligious libertine. Freemasons in every country were asked to be of the religion of that country, whatever it was. In this case, the “true” religion was the one on which all men agree, in order to be men of honor and honesty.
These declarations were presented as a statement for Masonry. There were obligations and preconditions to be met before being initiated. For the founding Freemasons, the challenge was to find the elements common to each man without religious identities, while keeping the best of the spiritual dimension. It was a challenge in a time when religion was everywhere and had real earthly powers. What might be the main obligation to accept someone whom you can trust? Is it possible to be like God and see into his soul? Of course not, and it would be very presumptuous to think so. Is it possible to judge him by his religion? According to what Anderson wrote, no.
So three aspects were important and remain so today: (1) the prerequisite, (2) the statement, and followed by (3) the consequence.
The prerequisite states there is a moral law. Atheists and the irreligious (those without morality) cannot be part of the Craft. Someone wanting to be part of the Craft must have an inner belief in the existence of a spiritual world and a divine power. But these two elements are not defined. If Anderson had explained these aspects, the prerequisite would call for a statement of faith and would therefore be confessional. However, he was looking for a large consensus without losing the best part of the religious dimension. So yes, Freemasons must believe in or recognize the spiritual dimension as an inner part of the human being.
The statement is a religion on which all men agree, keeping for themselves its definition. If one can’t find a unique definition for all, the only thing asked is to be good men and true, or men of honor and honesty; nothing more is asked. All is said, complete, and perfect.
Finally, the consequence. If the prerequisite and the statement became a living reality for the Freemason, Masonry would become the center of union. This center is the place where different people with different understanding will be able to build a true friendship, revealing a true possibility for all human beings: brotherhood.
It is important to remember that Anderson wrote in the earliest years of Masonry, asking for a private expression of religion. The consequence is an open mind, and the possibility for Masonry to be present everywhere at all times. There is no geographical, cultural, or historical limit to its presence in the world because this brotherhood gives a center: the lodge, the Craft, able to receive humans who perceived this inner and common world, while trying to be better. This is the foundation of Masonry.
These questions were exceptional at the point of history when they were created. At the same time, we can be amazed by the reintroduction of the Hermetic way, suddenly interpreted in a public text for a “new” initiatic fraternity.
Somehow, Hermetism can be seen as a religious philosophy. This is a religion (spirituality in action) because Hermetists believe in the existence of a spiritual world and an immortal and divine soul, able to ascend to the divine, and present in all manifestations of nature. Here is the power that created, organized, and continues to animate the universe. But this divine power is far from us and the name given by Masonry is the best illustration of it: the Great Architect of the Universe. But we must be careful with this name because today we tend to think with a monotheistic a priori. For this divine power, present everywhere in the universe, the question of gender is nonsense. It is also impossible to know whether or not this divine power is personal. Maybe it is also impossible to say if the impulse of creation was or is the result of intention. As human beings, these questions are beyond our understanding. But undoubtedly this idea of a supreme being is impossible to represent. This fact was felt in the monotheistic religions, but not always with the same success. In philosophical terms, the supreme being is immanent. That means the Great Architect of the Universe is inside its creation and not outside. After its creation, nature was not abandoned by its divine creator.
But these Hermetists and Freemasons don’t reject a priori the existence of a supreme being that can have a will. Although it is quite impossible to say something definitive on this subject, a philosophical prudence tells us to not to reject this possibility. It’s why I can say that all nature is in God and at the same time that a supreme being created the universe, which is a theory called “Deism.”
The Deists believed that reason and observation of the natural world are the necessary elements to understand the essence of the divine. Faith and organized religion are not necessary for that. Hermetists called this the “religion of the mind.” In fact, faith is not rejected, but appears second, after reason. This is why religion and philosophy are connected. Because of the divine and the supreme being, religion can be an inner and essential feeling, but always under the control of reason (philosophy), which was given to humanity for this purpose.
Freemasons, and Deists as well, have no real dogmas. Anyone is able to choose what seems good for him according to his own inner beliefs. Eclecticism is the result of the benevolent consideration of any expression of human faith. Generally, Hermetists, Freemasons, and Deists are very prudent regarding organized religions. They appear often as more political and secular powers than an enlightened organization. They tend to assert that the “Supreme Architect” has a plan for the universe.
But the existence of miracles or supernatural intervention is a different question. Generally, Deists don’t believe that God intervenes in the affairs of human life or is able to suspend the natural laws of the universe. Laws are universal and constant, even though all the laws are not yet understood by humans. Theurgy is the expression of the possibility to interact with these hidden and unexplained laws.
It is important to know what happened in the confrontation between the monotheistic religions, and particularly between Catholicism and Masonry. Freemasons chose to be loyal to their beliefs and moral statements. They expressed their ideals of tolerance and freedom in the presence of God, opening their portals to every good man wanting to work in peace for the betterment of humanity. Philanthropy, while not a religious prerequisite, became one of the wonderful realizations of Masonry. At the same time, Masonry found a way to maintain the presence of the sacred separate from religion, and sacraments as a consequence of perceiving divine providence and revering symbols and places. They were not sacred because a clergy declared God’s presence but because the Freemasons, as human beings, revered these values and their representations as paramount.
These short examples show us the reaction of a church that still has political power today. There are many modern examples of this power applied against freedom and tolerance. The Taliban and all forms of religious fundamentalism are the modern aspect of the Inquisition and a contemporary echo of the burning of thousands of women and men in witch-hunts in Europe at the end of the Middle Ages. Freemasons as well as the Founding Fathers were never opposed to a belief in God, nor a religious and spiritual life. It is for us a manifestation of an inner and true feeling for creation and God. But this sacred part of the heart remains under the control of reason and always the love of humanity. Of course, it is possible to have a good understanding of a question and to be right. But the affirmation of respect for others and the relativism of any expression of an inner understanding avoid a Freemason attacking another man to impose his certainty. Proof of the falseness and the danger of unmitigated belief is the manifestation of intolerance and violence. This tendency has no age and remains active today.
Just as the Founding Fathers did, Freemasons must view all fundamentalism with attentive consideration that implicates rules and laws. They denied at every occasion the possibility for a political religious power to rule the new nation they were building. They knew the risks of division and civil conflict. They’d seen the power of religion in many countries, and on their own land too. This is why they wrote the Bill of Rights and the Constitution of the United States in this special way, respecting a mighty god and his benevolence and divine providence. But the Freemasons refused to build in Washington DC the national church planned by L’Enfant.
These ideas were also shared by the Founding Fathers who were not Freemasons, such as John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, and Thomas Paine. Generally, they were close to the Deist interpretation or free thinkers like Thomas Paine.
In this quest for freedom, every human is considered as equal under God. The consequence is for men to be able to build a new system closer to the natural order. It is sometimes necessary to cut out the old structures in order to begin a new age. Setting religion apart and emphasizing the power of the mind opened new possibilities. Thus, it was possible to act as free legislators confident in divine providence, which gave them freedom to think and accomplish. This allowed them to imagine a new political system in which the king was absent, and was replaced by the people. The law would be written by free minds. While a definition of the presidential function was difficult to find, the Founding Fathers succeeded in using the Masonic model of the Master of the Lodge elected by the initiates.
Following these respectable founders, Congress chose to add an amendment to the United States Constitution, stating that “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion.” Together with the free exercise clause, this amendment prohibits the establishment of a national religion by Congress, the preference of one religion over another, or the support of a religious idea with no identifiable secular purpose. Freemasons can be very proud of this validation of their principles in the new nation, finding a way to retain the private expression of one’s beliefs and while avoiding any link of religion to political power.
Figure 20: The sacred book, present on every central altar of the Masonic Temples