Could be a Canada thing. I haven't seen Masonic symbolism in any Anglican churches here in the States, including Episcopalian ones. The Orange Order is not the same as Freemasonry. The two may have similar-looking symbols because they both come out of a similar Scottish-Irish cultural context, and it does not equate to the control of the Orange Order by the Freemason hierarchy (unless there's scholarship out there that proves it).
I don't think anyone would take this site seriously and it in no way represents people with a true devotion to Our Lady of Fatima
There is a lot of masonry/eastern star in the methodist/Lutheran camp of my family. They all seem very theologically astute and orthodox, is it possible whatever is non compatible with Christian teaching is taught higher up? I have a hard time thinking my kin would go along with anything unorthodox. I myself don't know too much about it.
From what I know of it (Freemasonry isn't really all that secret nowadays), the weirder, seemingly unchristian teachings are exclusive to Scottish Rite Freemasonry, whereas the typical Blue Lodge stuff is pretty tame and really is just a fraternity more or less. Morals and Dogmas by Albert Pike, a textbook of sort for Scottish Rite Masons, takes the Mason through the first 32 degrees of the Rite (the first three being the normal Blue Lodge degrees). I picked up the book at an antique store, and it is quite interesting, but i definitely see why it is not Christian to many.
York Rite is distinctly Christian and older than Scottish Rite (which developed in Paris and reorganized by Pike). In YR you swear allegiance to Christ and to defend the Christian faith.
That's just it, it's not a religion, more like a series of college classes on philosophy that are left open to interpretation. I will add that York Rite is open only to Christians or those willing to swear an oath to defend Christianity and Christian doctrine, whereas Scottish Rite is open to all. Yours in the Lord, jay
The symbols of the mason's apron - very much occultish, and the air of mystery that each brother had with their handshakes and funeral ritual. They would begin each funeral, before the entrance and procession with sentences by the priest, with a small ritual none of us could see. It was just rather odd.
Do you think some of it could be like the egyptian Ankh cross, where it originally had a pagan meaning for eternal life, but was redefined within a Christian context as meaning eternal life in Jesus, by egyptian converts to Christianity?
Excellent point. King Hezekiah used the ankh on his bulla/seal. He is remembered as a faithful King for restoring Temple worship. So...why would we assume the Freemasons are using these symbols for evil purposes?
This is ahistorical Baptist nonsense. The miter came from the kamilaukion which was a common type of headgear among Imperial Byzantine officials. A coned cap of sorts was extremely common in the ancient Near East and has no specific pagan connotation. It's the ancient equivalent of Protestant pastors wearing suits when they preach because that's what professional people wear.
That's my point. The five pointed star is a good example. It was used by Christians when discussing the 5 senses and was high jacked by modern witches. "So mote it be" was a common English way to end a prayer but it is now used by pagans and witches. If you take a look around any old building you'll find elements of classical Greek and Roman culture with no connection to paganism whatsoever.
Maybe from the consequences which fell out from each of those two usages? In that, King Hezekiah was holy and what came out from his usages of the Ankh was holiness, whilst many of those who've employed Masonic imagery in the last 100-150 years have been provably convicted with clearly-stated efforts to destroy Christianity and replace it with one-world-religion based on Secularism and Human Feelings Now that we are looking at (essentially) destroyed Christianity, it isn't misguided to start asking ourselves whether the Freemasons and their openly-stated goals have been a part of that
Freemasons are not some monotheistic organization. Each lodge is different and not one has given a stated meaning to Freemasonry or their ritual. We are edging on conspiracy theories.
Don't many claim that Anglicanism itself is basically masonic in origin and that the KJV has some kind of masonic propaganda in it? I've seen a Masonic KJV bible on eBay showing a reverse pentagram on the cover that was used by one particular lodge. I know many Anglicans here object to the claim that Anglicanism is inherently masonic, but some argue that many of the leading figures of the Church of England and writers of the BCP were practicing masons, and I'd like to hear some response to it.
The first masonic lodges were planted in the 18th century... The Anglican church was planted in the 1st century AD by Joseph of Arimathea, retrenched in the 6th century by St. Augustine of Canterbury, and reformed in the sixteenth Century And the KJV movement in some ways is stronger among conspiracy fundamentalist types than in the Episcopal church, so if there was any pentagram engraved on the back of the KJV, they would've long founded it by now