..............................................................
Newham, arguably the most Labour dominated council in the country, used to brag it was the poorest borough in Britain, and had been badly run for many years. 'It had periods in the past when the masons were bigger than they should have been,' she says.
(Interview with Wendy Thomson, Director of Inspection, Audit Commission, formerly Chief Executive of Newham LBC. Local Government Chronicle 4 February 2000.)
..............................................................
'The Bible is God's revelation and is complete. To add to it, or to take away from it, is a serious sin. The ritual of craft freemasonry does both. It takes away in that it denies the essential mediation of Christ for the world and it adds a new system which is in fact an extension of Old Testament legalism, which purports to lead to salvation.' (Lawrence, p.104)
FREEMASONRY: A CHRISTIAN PERSPECTIVE
By John Lawrence
Gazelle Books. 221 pages. £8.99
ISBN 1 899746 21 8
This is a new edition of the book formerly called Freemasonry - a religion? (Kingsway, 1987) and written by an Anglican minister. The publisher (Monarch) is actually unchanged, but is using a different group imprint. The author has not been a mason, but has family connections. Apart from the official reports of certain churches, it is probably, for the U.K. the standard Christian handbook today, convenient for the Christian worker to keep on the shelf. .In the new edition, the author responds to criticisms (e.g. p.101), updates his bibliography partly, and describes recent developments in Church and State, but does not add an index.
John Lawrence argues on the basis of beliefs and practice that masonry is not compatible with the gospel. Its main appeal, he believes, is fellowship (p.142), followed by secrecy, ritual drama and security. The churches, with their predominantly female membership have often not responded pastorally to the needs of men. (p.145).
It seems to me that Lawrence's basic argument is correct. And yet, as masonry began within the church (p.27) is there any hope of restoring it? In a multi-faith world that would be difficult. Moreover, the use in masonic ritual of Old Testament style myths (recounted as history, however symbolically regarded by the more sophisticated masons) is offensive to Christians, and even more so the use of light and darkness language in which Christ is absent. Masonry would need, as a first step, new rituals that made no reference to biblical matters.
We have moved some way from a society in which the Archbishop of Canterbury (Fisher) could be a Mason or a Home Secretary (Whitelaw). Nevertheless, masonry remains influential in certain professions, and masonic authorities still resist public scrutiny (p.37). They still have some way to go in meeting public concerns. But giving money to the churches, one of their recent emphases, is I suggest not a wise procedure (p.73) and will reinforce suspicion.
Sheffield University is establishing a chair of masonic studies in the department of history. Because of its long and pervasive influence, it is important for scholars to try to sort out fact and fiction about masonry. For the Christian, it is a blind alley
If, as I believe, neither Promise Keepers nor masonry is the answer to keeping men in the Christian fellowship, what is?
