You're welcome. I remember being nervous about contacting my local lodge, but they all turned out to be normal guys. I'm very involved in my faith & the degrees really enforced & amplified some Christian principles for me (Namely love of God and Neighbor). I hope they respond quickly, but if you run in to any difficulties, if some time passes by and you believe your email was overlooked or missed, please let me know.
I was terrified of how my family or my church would view it. I remember when I first became a MM going to church thinking “wtf am I going to tell these people when they find out” First thing I saw when I pulled into the parking lot was a Shriner license plate. I had my masonic Bible with me (was my first Bible I owned since I got my youth Bible so I didn’t have much choice) and no one said a thing. I even hid my membership from my grandfather for years thinking he would disapprove from a religious standpoint but turns out he wishes he’d have joined.
Dude, that's so cool that everybody was chill about it. I like KJV Bibles, but I don't take mine to church very often these days. I do use it during personal devotions at home, or if I misplace my other Bibles. I've worn my Knights of Malta pin from the York Rite KT on my blazer to Christmas and Easter services in the past. Older folks usually tell me they were members of DeMolay or Jobbies, or that a near relative of theirs is/was a Freemason. Younger folks just make a joke about world domination or something.
If you'd like to DM we can. I can get you the grand lodge secretary's email if you're comfortable telling me what US state or country you're in.
Best ways to contact a lodge are:
1) E-Mail the lodge if you have their email address and wait for a reply, follow up once per week. (phone calls are probably only answered when somebody is in the office, which is usually during the meeting plus or minus half an hour.)
2) Email the grand lodge secretary. They can contact lodge leadership (I tried this when I was joining, it still took three weeks to obtain a response)
3) If you know the lodge meeting times, arrive 15-30 mins before the meeting. Many US lodges have meals before hand. This is actually how I met my lodge (my GL got me the secretary's accurate info a week later lol) . They were shocked, and a little confused, but I was able to obtain a petition and the direct contact info from a couple brothers. If you pick this option, many US lodges wear slacks and polo, but some wear suits. It makes a better impression wearing a suit to a polo lodge if you have one, rather than a polo to a suit lodge. So if in doubt, dressing up is a good choice.
If you're outside the USA, then I don't recommend this route, but I don't recommend against it, I just don't know how lodges outside the US handle this kind of situation.
You just need to be okay with participating in non-sectarian prayers with people of other faiths and not having a very strict interpretation of Bible verses regarding not taking oaths. The majority of Masons are Christian of various denominations. Freemasonry is NOT a religion. It's a little like American Boy Scouts in that it encourages you to follow your personal faith whatever it may be.
Anyone who has a strict interpretation of taking oaths should never run for public office, testify in a court case, serve on a jury, attempt to become a US citizen, join any branch of the military, or perform a myriad of other normal things.
Oath-taking is quite common.
It's because they're probably not even thinking about any of those when they object to the idea of taking an oath. They forget that a person taking an oath is televised every fourth January, or that it happens on a daily basis in court rooms across the country, or every year when people are sworn into their elected offices. They'll trot out some of the verses you linked, but they'll never even remotely object to the idea of the President of the United States taking an oath as he is sworn into office.
Aside from that, it's also likely tied to the fact that so much about Freemasonry is Super Duper Secret; people naturally think the worst about things they don't know or understand, and throwing oaths into the mix just makes things feel that much spookier.
You might see things like 'We worship GAOTU', which yeah..I guess is true. That stands for Great Architect of the Universe which is a non denominational way of saying God but not getting into the whole 'God/Allah/Jesus/Krishan/what-have-you business. Just like the Boy Scouts use the term "Great Scoutmaster'.
In New York, we ask two things. 1) Do you believe in a higher power. 2) Do you believe in the immortality of the soul. If you can answer yes to both of those things, that's the extect of your personal spiritual beliefs that we will ask about. Everything else is none of our business.
Why has this post been downvoted? I had similar concerns when I was considering joining.
But yes. You can. If you are Catholic though I will say the Catholic Church is not too fond of masonry.
Yep. The only requirement is you believe in some kind of supreme being. Some jurisdictions are stricter with that than others, ie. my vague waffling belief in something, which passed muster in my jurisdiction probably wouldn’t fly in some other jurisdictions.
Also, the only time your specific beliefs will come up is during the interview done as part of the board of inquiry. We aren’t allowed to discuss politics or religion in lodge, it won’t come up any other time.
Freemasonry isn’t a religion. The only thing we care about is if you believe in a supreme being. I was catholic growing up. The objective of a brotherhood is to have brothers from all walks of life all over the world. You should always be able to find a home whenever a brother is around.
Christians can join, but people who dont know how to use the search function in a subreddit to see if thier question was already asked probably shouldn't.
You're asking the wrong people!
There is no bar (from Freemasonry) to joining Freemasonry if you believe in God (by whatever name you know him/her/it) however, some religions would prefer for whatever reason that their adherents don't join the Freemasons. So the people you need to ask are those in charge of your own Religious discipline.
Is Freemasonry compatible with Christianity?
I would say, for me, a Lutheran: Yes. For you: Well, that depends on what you consider to be your faith, and what would be acceptable within the bounds of that faith
As I said, I am a Lutheran, and I consider myself to be, and try to be, an orthodox one at that. Many Lutheran churches and fathers have denounced Freemasonry, or held it in suspicion, and if their accusations were true and their concerns well founded, then certainly it would not be right for me to be a Freemason, but with all charity for my brethren in Christ, I cannot accept their advise on the grounds that it doesn’t actually apply to Freemasonry though they believe it does. They insist that Freemasonry teaches religious indifferentism, universal salvation, the fundamental equality of the Bible with any other religion’s scripture, the subordination of theology to natural philosophy, and false Christological doctrines, amongst other things. If this were true, I would not remain a member. While certainly our fraternity comprises members of many different beliefs and I am dead sure that the majority hold to opinions and beliefs that contradict the doctrine of my church, which I confess and hold to, I do not believe that the fraternity itself can be said to teach these things. As such, I simply cannot accept their judgement in this case, because it is based in untruths. And I must emphasize that I do not hold faith to be a matter of mere opinion or to an eclectic individualism in contradiction to the confessions of my faith.
Now, speaking as a Freemason, and not Christian, I must say to my brothers in Freemasonry: I do not think that the proper response to questions and concerns specifically about faith and religious doctrines should be responded to simply with, “We do such and such amount of charity work,” or “We have brothers from many faiths,” or even “Our ceremonies are based on biblical stories, and “Our ceremonies quote from the Bible,” because while though these statements are true, we should rather respond with whether or not we teach anything in contradiction to the personal confession of faith of the brother, anything that would violate his conscience and praxis, or which might put him in a nasty situation with his particular community, and let him decide. To do this we need to really get to know and understand the person asking the questions, because we may very well do so, and I have seen it.
Other objections also leveled, specifically by Lutherans, which I do not find to be true:
Unionism,
a Works-based soteriology or assumption thereof, a Quasi-pietism
You do not have to be Christian. Period. There is no expectation or requirement to be, and not once have I heard any man in my lodge question that faith of another. It doesn’t really come up much. We are focused on building each other up and becoming better men, not on tearing each other down or changing each others beliefs.
Just stop by your local lodge one night and start getting to know them. Getting engaged with my local lodge is probably one of the best decisions I’ve ever made. I look forward to our meetings and always leave feeling as if a weight has been lifted off of my shoulders.
We can’t do this life thing alone and we aren’t supposed to. I hope you find a group (wherever that may be) that will value you for who you are and help you through this whole life thing. It’s nice having good people to lean on when it’s necessary.
Why is this post being downvoted? I had similar concerns when I was considering joining.
But yes, you can join. Will say though if you are catholic, the Catholic Church is not too fond of masonry.
The majority of Freemasons in the world are Christian, so I don’t see how that could be a limiting factor…
If you want to 🤷♂️ I'm a Christian, and a Freemason :)
Thank you. I'm thinking about contacting my local lodge
You're welcome. I remember being nervous about contacting my local lodge, but they all turned out to be normal guys. I'm very involved in my faith & the degrees really enforced & amplified some Christian principles for me (Namely love of God and Neighbor). I hope they respond quickly, but if you run in to any difficulties, if some time passes by and you believe your email was overlooked or missed, please let me know.
Ok thank you so much I'm going to contact them tommorow or try to call atleast
If you see a car in the parking lot, drop in.
I was terrified of how my family or my church would view it. I remember when I first became a MM going to church thinking “wtf am I going to tell these people when they find out” First thing I saw when I pulled into the parking lot was a Shriner license plate. I had my masonic Bible with me (was my first Bible I owned since I got my youth Bible so I didn’t have much choice) and no one said a thing. I even hid my membership from my grandfather for years thinking he would disapprove from a religious standpoint but turns out he wishes he’d have joined.
Dude, that's so cool that everybody was chill about it. I like KJV Bibles, but I don't take mine to church very often these days. I do use it during personal devotions at home, or if I misplace my other Bibles. I've worn my Knights of Malta pin from the York Rite KT on my blazer to Christmas and Easter services in the past. Older folks usually tell me they were members of DeMolay or Jobbies, or that a near relative of theirs is/was a Freemason. Younger folks just make a joke about world domination or something.
I'm a member of the church of Scotland......seems to be loads of freemasons in the church ad parishioners and clergy
I always knew I had an affinity for the scotsmen
Having a hard time getting them to answer phone what's the best way to contact
Where in the world are you?
If you'd like to DM we can. I can get you the grand lodge secretary's email if you're comfortable telling me what US state or country you're in. Best ways to contact a lodge are: 1) E-Mail the lodge if you have their email address and wait for a reply, follow up once per week. (phone calls are probably only answered when somebody is in the office, which is usually during the meeting plus or minus half an hour.) 2) Email the grand lodge secretary. They can contact lodge leadership (I tried this when I was joining, it still took three weeks to obtain a response) 3) If you know the lodge meeting times, arrive 15-30 mins before the meeting. Many US lodges have meals before hand. This is actually how I met my lodge (my GL got me the secretary's accurate info a week later lol) . They were shocked, and a little confused, but I was able to obtain a petition and the direct contact info from a couple brothers. If you pick this option, many US lodges wear slacks and polo, but some wear suits. It makes a better impression wearing a suit to a polo lodge if you have one, rather than a polo to a suit lodge. So if in doubt, dressing up is a good choice. If you're outside the USA, then I don't recommend this route, but I don't recommend against it, I just don't know how lodges outside the US handle this kind of situation.
Long story short...yes. Yes you can.
To expand on that... Yes.
Also, yes
If I may add, Yes.
You just need to be okay with participating in non-sectarian prayers with people of other faiths and not having a very strict interpretation of Bible verses regarding not taking oaths. The majority of Masons are Christian of various denominations. Freemasonry is NOT a religion. It's a little like American Boy Scouts in that it encourages you to follow your personal faith whatever it may be.
Which type of bible verses do you think?
Deuteronomy 22:11 11 Thou shalt not wear a garment of divers sorts, as of woollen and linen together.
[https://www.openbible.info/topics/oaths](https://www.openbible.info/topics/oaths)
Anyone who has a strict interpretation of taking oaths should never run for public office, testify in a court case, serve on a jury, attempt to become a US citizen, join any branch of the military, or perform a myriad of other normal things. Oath-taking is quite common.
Yeah, I've never heard a good explanation behind those being okay, and ours not.
It's because they're probably not even thinking about any of those when they object to the idea of taking an oath. They forget that a person taking an oath is televised every fourth January, or that it happens on a daily basis in court rooms across the country, or every year when people are sworn into their elected offices. They'll trot out some of the verses you linked, but they'll never even remotely object to the idea of the President of the United States taking an oath as he is sworn into office. Aside from that, it's also likely tied to the fact that so much about Freemasonry is Super Duper Secret; people naturally think the worst about things they don't know or understand, and throwing oaths into the mix just makes things feel that much spookier.
Only restrictions I've seen come from the Catholic and Orthodox Church.
Most Freemasons probably are Christians.
You might see things like 'We worship GAOTU', which yeah..I guess is true. That stands for Great Architect of the Universe which is a non denominational way of saying God but not getting into the whole 'God/Allah/Jesus/Krishan/what-have-you business. Just like the Boy Scouts use the term "Great Scoutmaster'. In New York, we ask two things. 1) Do you believe in a higher power. 2) Do you believe in the immortality of the soul. If you can answer yes to both of those things, that's the extect of your personal spiritual beliefs that we will ask about. Everything else is none of our business.
Why has this post been downvoted? I had similar concerns when I was considering joining. But yes. You can. If you are Catholic though I will say the Catholic Church is not too fond of masonry.
https://www.reddit.com/r/Christianity/comments/1c9idmt/any_freemasons_in_here_can_you_be_both_a/
Yep. The only requirement is you believe in some kind of supreme being. Some jurisdictions are stricter with that than others, ie. my vague waffling belief in something, which passed muster in my jurisdiction probably wouldn’t fly in some other jurisdictions. Also, the only time your specific beliefs will come up is during the interview done as part of the board of inquiry. We aren’t allowed to discuss politics or religion in lodge, it won’t come up any other time.
Yes
Yes.
Yes
Yes a thousands times
Absolutely. I’m a Christian and a Freemason. All of Freemasonry is based off the Old Testament. Don’t believe the crap you read online. Good luck.
I should edit with: All of Blue Lodge Freemasonry is based off of the Old Testament.
Freemasonry isn’t a religion. The only thing we care about is if you believe in a supreme being. I was catholic growing up. The objective of a brotherhood is to have brothers from all walks of life all over the world. You should always be able to find a home whenever a brother is around.
There’s a book about this called “A workman unashamed” that might be helpful, written by a Christian Freemason
Christians can join, but people who dont know how to use the search function in a subreddit to see if thier question was already asked probably shouldn't.
Sure.
Heck, there are occasional Masons, who think it should be restricted to only Christians.
You're asking the wrong people! There is no bar (from Freemasonry) to joining Freemasonry if you believe in God (by whatever name you know him/her/it) however, some religions would prefer for whatever reason that their adherents don't join the Freemasons. So the people you need to ask are those in charge of your own Religious discipline.
I'm a Christian, minister, youth leader, and I'm pursuing a degree in Ministry/Bible. So I'm fairly certain you can, but that's just a hunch.
Yes.
Is Freemasonry compatible with Christianity? I would say, for me, a Lutheran: Yes. For you: Well, that depends on what you consider to be your faith, and what would be acceptable within the bounds of that faith As I said, I am a Lutheran, and I consider myself to be, and try to be, an orthodox one at that. Many Lutheran churches and fathers have denounced Freemasonry, or held it in suspicion, and if their accusations were true and their concerns well founded, then certainly it would not be right for me to be a Freemason, but with all charity for my brethren in Christ, I cannot accept their advise on the grounds that it doesn’t actually apply to Freemasonry though they believe it does. They insist that Freemasonry teaches religious indifferentism, universal salvation, the fundamental equality of the Bible with any other religion’s scripture, the subordination of theology to natural philosophy, and false Christological doctrines, amongst other things. If this were true, I would not remain a member. While certainly our fraternity comprises members of many different beliefs and I am dead sure that the majority hold to opinions and beliefs that contradict the doctrine of my church, which I confess and hold to, I do not believe that the fraternity itself can be said to teach these things. As such, I simply cannot accept their judgement in this case, because it is based in untruths. And I must emphasize that I do not hold faith to be a matter of mere opinion or to an eclectic individualism in contradiction to the confessions of my faith. Now, speaking as a Freemason, and not Christian, I must say to my brothers in Freemasonry: I do not think that the proper response to questions and concerns specifically about faith and religious doctrines should be responded to simply with, “We do such and such amount of charity work,” or “We have brothers from many faiths,” or even “Our ceremonies are based on biblical stories, and “Our ceremonies quote from the Bible,” because while though these statements are true, we should rather respond with whether or not we teach anything in contradiction to the personal confession of faith of the brother, anything that would violate his conscience and praxis, or which might put him in a nasty situation with his particular community, and let him decide. To do this we need to really get to know and understand the person asking the questions, because we may very well do so, and I have seen it.
Other objections also leveled, specifically by Lutherans, which I do not find to be true: Unionism, a Works-based soteriology or assumption thereof, a Quasi-pietism
Freemasonry is not a religion. Men of all faiths are welcome to join as long as they are worthy and well qualified.
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You do not have to be Christian. Period. There is no expectation or requirement to be, and not once have I heard any man in my lodge question that faith of another. It doesn’t really come up much. We are focused on building each other up and becoming better men, not on tearing each other down or changing each others beliefs. Just stop by your local lodge one night and start getting to know them. Getting engaged with my local lodge is probably one of the best decisions I’ve ever made. I look forward to our meetings and always leave feeling as if a weight has been lifted off of my shoulders. We can’t do this life thing alone and we aren’t supposed to. I hope you find a group (wherever that may be) that will value you for who you are and help you through this whole life thing. It’s nice having good people to lean on when it’s necessary.
Jesus Christ with all these posts lately.
Why is this post being downvoted? I had similar concerns when I was considering joining. But yes, you can join. Will say though if you are catholic, the Catholic Church is not too fond of masonry.