My dad, while I guess is a member of the local lodge, is not a "practicing Mason."
I have done some digging around and asking questions.
It would seem that there are various degrees to being a Mason, and depending on your degree also depends on whatever "knowledge" you are privy to.
The wilder, crazier teachings are revealed only to higher degree Masons (at least in this area...or at least in view of what I have encountered.)
That is why a Mason can be unaware of certain beliefs....they aren't privy to them yet.
Yet at the heart of it all is the denial of salvation by grace. It is a works based salvation.
If a Mason professes to be a born-again Christian, ask them if they believe that they can through good works enter into the presence of the Grand Architect of the universe?
First, they may be suprised that you use such language. If they answer "yes," then ask them if they are saved by grace through faith in Christ, and if salvation is a gift of God not a result of works.
They cannot answer yes to both.
I shared that with my dad once, and he agreed. He maintains his friendships with those at the lodge, but he doesn't take part in the lodge itself.

__________________
Ralph
Pastor
Valera Baptist Church
Valera, Texas

Welcome!!!

__________________
Alex - Orange County, CA - PCA

"I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but
Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by
faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me."
Galatians 2:20

Manton - "The sovereign dominion of God is a great prop to our faith."

__________________
Michael Tremmel
attending Christ Reformed Baptist Church
Hales Corners, WI.

Isaiah 46:5-11

I have set the Lord always before me; because he is at my right hand, I shall not be shaken. Ps.16:8 ESV

But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me was not in vain. 1 Cor.15:10a ESV

Praecepta docent, exempla movent (precepts teach, but examples move)

There are many websites on Freemasonry that are hosted by ex-masons. You can read all about the oaths and ceremonies of the first three degrees in all the detail you could ever want (they essentially amount to extraordinarily complicated practical exercises in how to gain the approval and honor of men, with an eerily religious twist). For many ex-masons it at first seemed to be an organization that presented opportunities for camaraderie and business associations.. and for the several I have known, that is about all it amounted to.

But the "religious twist" is disturbing and revealing. The "twist" is the "raising" of the initiate that has a striking similarity to baptism, especially as understood by those who believe in immersion. The testimony of "death, burial, and resurrection" was more than adequate to provide a revealing picture.

An ex-Mason talks about the ritual of the death, burial, and resurrection of initiation..
Audio & Video tape - Masonic ritual and Ancient Mystery religions

Or read about it..
Death Burial and Resurrection in the Masonic Lodge

Turtle: A very illuminating article.

I was initiated into Masonry as an Entered Apprentice. After the initiation, I never returned. I had just been converted a month or so prior. Something just didn't seem right at the time. In particular, the universalism expressed by a brotherhood which indicated, on some level, to be "christian". What they were was deist. I'm glad I never went back.

__________________
Andrew DeShazo
Husband of Kathryn
Father of Phillip-Giles B. DeShazo
Deacon
Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church, Memphis, TN
"From out of the depth of unbroken Infinfity arose the Question, "Who am I?" And to that Question there is the answer, "I am God!" -Meher Baba, died 1969.

"I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." Christ, died 33 AD, ressurected three days later.