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Friday, March 6, 2009

Is Freemasonry A Mystery Cult

Is Freemasonry A Mystery Cult Cover No.

As with many accusations leveled against Freemasonry, the first step in formulating a response is defining terms. The term mystery religion, or school, is a label often applied as a pejorative to any non-Christian group, regardless of its actual beliefs or practices. Strictly speaking, the term refers to a specific range of Greco-Roman cults which reached their peak of popularity in the first three centuries CE. They ranged from the ecstatic cult of the grain goddess, Demeter, at Eleusis, to the ascetic Orphic cult based on sacred writings attributed to Orpheus, and culminating in the syncratic mysteries of the god Serapis in Alexandria.

The term "mysteries" is also used to refer to the Christian belief in the Trinity, Original Sin and the Incarnation. Until the time of the Reformation, the word "mystery" was inscribed on the Pope’s mitre. Mystery plays, during the European Middle Ages, were depictions of Biblical subjects, translated from the Latin and produced in the vernacular.

Authors who have accused Freemasonry of being a cult or a mystery cult make two major errors in their argument. First, whether stated or not, is the premise that Freemasonry has to be some form of a religion; and second, that modern Freemasonry either accepts or includes in its beliefs and teachings the "traditional history" and other legends of its origins.

Mysteries, in a mediaeval sense, simply referred to trade secrets. The ancient mysteries referred to secret practices in honour of certain gods. The rituals of Freemasonry are concerned only with initiation and have no aspect of worship in them. Although many masonic authors have drawn parallels between the practices of Freemasonry and what little is known of the ancient mystery schools, and many theories have been proposed linking Freemasonry to these mystery schools, Freemasonry no more satisfies the definition of a mystery cult than it does that of a religion. And, Freemasonry is not a religion.

Those who would accuse Freemasonry of being a mystery cult generally use the term as a synonym for non-Christian, which becomes a synonym for un-Christian, and by extension, a synonym for anti-Christian and satanic.

Free eBooks (Can Be Downloaded):

Captain William Morgan - The Mysteries Of Freemasonry
Alfred Thompson - Magic And Mystery A Popular History
Albert Mackey - History Of Freemasonry Vol I Prehistoric Masonry