Hickory Hammock AM Reply

8/10/2019 Hickory Hammock AM Reply

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This is in reference to the document Christianity And Freemasonry Are They Compatible? put forthby Mr. Carl Gallups, an antimason who claims to be Christian.

It should be noted that although I am a Freemason, my motivation is not as a Mason, sinceFreemasonry believes that everyone is allowed to believe anything they want to. My motivation stemsfrom my orthodox !iblical" Christian beliefs in opposition to false doctrine taught by various cults

atheism, #ehovah$s %itnesses, Mormons and &christian' antimasonry among others".

(everal early comments before beginning)*. + text out of context is a pretext for a proof text. There are several places where Mr. Gallups

claims to have &proof' for something and even gives a reference, but fails to provide an actualuote, -ust Mr. Gallups$ misinterpretation. Many of the references do not clearly map to the

actual source documents in a manner I$m accustomed to, so I cannot cite them directly to exposeMr. Gallup$s false witness. They are very common misinterpretations, so I have no problemrefuting them. In fact, these standard accusations are so common that it calls into uestion Mr.Gallup$s claims of having done his own research.

. /se of old and out of date documents, common among antimasons who claim to be Christian, insome cases ta0ing advantage of language shifts that have occurred in the last *12 years.

3. 4ac0 of historical 0nowledge.5. 6xcessive claim of authority for documents that are not supported anywhere but in the

antimason$s imagination. For example, +lbert 7i0e$s flawed boo0 Morals 8 9ogma was notand never has been listed as an official &bible' for Freemasonry, but antimasons must give itthis spurious authority to have any leg to stand on. Morals 8 9ogma has not been consideredan official boo0 that all Freemasons must believe in by any group, including the +ncient and+ccepted (cottish :ite, (outhern #urisdiction; the small subgroup of Freemasons that it actuallymight apply to. In fact, to get any traction out of Morals 8 9ogma, all antimasons must totallyignore the 7reface to the boo0, printed in every copy)&The teachings of these Readings are not sacramental, so far as they go beyond therealm of Morality into those of other domains of Thought and Truth. The Ancient and

Accepted Scottish Rite uses the word "Dogma" in its true sense, of doctrine , orteaching ; and is not dogmatic in the odious sense of that term. Every one is entirelyfree to reject and dissent from whatsoever herein may seem to him to be untrueor unsound . t is only re!uired of him that he shall weigh what is taught, and gi e it fair hearing and unpre#udiced #udgment.$ bold emphasis added"

1. Mr. Gallups claims authority from supposed study, including the fact that since he is a pastor,his credentials as a Christian and authority to interpret the !ible in his personal manner arebeyond any uestion in his own mind. The good part of this, if Mr. Gallups is shown to be inerror, it ma0es the !iblical case for disregarding his false testimony. 6asy ones come from Mr.Gallups attempts to use Morals 8 9ogma as a source for &proof' in light of the highlighted partof the 7reface in bold above.


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handywor0.'There is something 0nown as &natural revelation', where the creation gives evidence to man ofthe Creator. :omans *)*=> * teaches this most clearly in (cripture. It is limited and shows nomore than that all man0ind has the evidence of God before them all of their life and it is by theirchoice that they re-ect ?im. The !ible is &special revelation', or the %ord of God give to us by?is will and for ?is purposes. It spea0s of things not found in nature. !y definition, any &holy

writing' from any religion also count as a &special revelation' for followers of that religion.This is very relevant for understanding a number of Mr. Gallups$ misinterpretations.@. 4u0e * becomes interesting since Mr. Gallupsimplies that he is the arbiter of which side he is on in this case, but I$ve used that passage againstcultists before, especially antimasons who claim to be Christian) &5 Eow the (pirit spea0eth expressly,that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines ofdevils; (pea0ing lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with a hot iron;'.

I also note that Mr. Gallups ma0es the usual antimasonic claim that some Masons considerFreemasonry to be all the religion they need. This is something that cannot be disproved, thatsomeone, somewhere, somehow, some when was a Mason who believed that. I$ll note that I$ve nevermet one personally, I 0now of no Mason who has met one and it fran0ly is not a Masonic teaching.

Mr Gallups then as0s us understand some things of great importance)&1.Freemasonry claims to be a religion ' It a%so invo3es distinctive re%i ious 4re5uire.ents4,before you can even be considered for .e.bership' (6OI&"$ MA$ONI6 EN6Y6&O7E8IA 9: :*0, andthe ;&ORI8A MA$ONI6 MONITOR pa e : < =ua%i>cations of 6andidates'1 Two i.portant speci>c

re%i ious re5uire.ents are that the candidate .ust be%ieve in a 4$upre.e ?ein 4 and a 4futuree@istence4' It a%so contains the use of c%ear re%i ious practices and teachin s prayer, and a%tar, the?ib%e on the a%tar, the %etter 4!4 for !od, teachin s on the 4secret4 na.es of !od, The !randArchitect of the Universe, The !reat 6e%estia% &od e Above, etc' No Mason can deny these re%i iouse%e.ents'2Correct about the claims, but begging the conclusion. Freemasonry does re uire belief in a (upreme!eing and life after death, but Freemasonry has no consecrated priests, no sacraments, no sacred boo0s,no plan of salvation. Instead it en-oins each member to practice their faith diligently. (o only in themost superfical of definistions is Freemasonry a &religion' from these claims. In fact, by thosestandards, there would be no difference between Christianity, Islam, #%, Mormonism, etc.
http://www.hickoryhammockbaptist.org/booklets/masons.htmlhttp://www.hickoryhammockbaptist.org/booklets/masons.html


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&2. Since Freemasonry makes religious claims , then, we have a ri ht to .easure itsteachin s a ainst our re%i ion, in this case, ?ib%ica% 6hristianity' The ?ib%e, then, beco.es ourauthority for a%% TRUE re%i iousc%ai.s'2Correct about the right to measure its teachings against the !ible. 9oes Mr. Gallups claim that the!ible does not teach that there is a (upreme !eingD 9oes Mr. Gallups claim that there is not life afterdeathD If not, then what is the issueD Islam teaches these things also, does that ma0e them falseD fcourse not, but deciding that something is against orthodox Christianity needs something a bit morethan that.

Three Fundamentals of Biblical Christianity are as follows:

1. esus Christ is 8eity and the ON&Y way to Heaven and eterna% &ife ()ohn *+ - B', etc'1

2. The Bible is the ;INA& AUTHORITY for a%% .atters of re%i ious state.ents of faith, re%i ious truthand .ora%ity' (7$ **9 C9, II Ti.' D *-, etc'1

!. Sal"ation is obtained throu h !od"s !RA6E a%one (not #OR $1 (Ephesians 0 C/*F, etc'1

These Three #oints are really the acid test for deter.inin whether so.ethin is tru%y ?ib%ica%6hristianity or so.e for. of a cu%t' Every re%i ious cu%t denies one or a%% of the above threefunda.enta%s of the 6hristian faith' G

Eo problem here, these are good. +ntimasonic, #%, Mormon, whatever, they fall afoul of these threepoints.

&Freemasonry distinctly denies ALL THREE '2

?ere, Mr. Gallups is reaching. It has already been shown that what religious elements are inFreemasonry, they are in accordance with the !ible, but we will see how he twists things.Freemasonry clearly denies the $eity of esus G

Eo, it doesn$t. ?owever, since Freemasonry is a secular fraternity, not a religious order, it does notadhere to any special revelation of any religion. %hat Freemasonry clearly does is not affirm Christ$s9eity since that would ma0e it a Christian order. Many men may pursue salvation by many means, butFreemasonry does not choose between them. This is left up to the individual Mason.Freemasonry clearly denies the %nality and authority&

+gain, as a secular fraternity, Freemasonry does not -udge among religions, instead allowing all men to

see0 the Creator revealed by the creation in their own manner. (o it does not affirm the !ible as theonly valid holy writing. This is left up to the individual Mason.Freemasonry clearly denies that sal"ation is by 'od(s 'race&

?ow can this be denied when Freemasonry has no plan of salvation, but leaves it up to the individualMasonD For some of what I thin0 his specific concerns might be, how is something reminding aChristian that &rectitude of conduct' and &purity of life' are re uirements for a ChristianD (hould hego to church on (unday and live li0e hec0 the rest of the wee0D I$ll uote the +postle 7aul) God forbid+ point here, antimasons who claim to be Christian always seem to leave out those ualifying words


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li0e reminder, may, hope, etc. to twist uotes from Masonic sources into ones that will fit their agenda.

I$ll also note that he tries to use Morals 8 9ogma here as a source and I addressed &christian'antimasonry$s issues with it above.)f you are only a member of the Blue *odge+ G

Morals 8 9ogma again. I will state this one again) Eo Grand 4odge has ever accepted this boo0 asofficial or definitive. The statement he is uoting is something made up by +lbert 7i0e to push hisorganiHation and its additional degrees.

)f you claim to be a born again belie"er in esus Christ+

If Freemasonry was what Mr. Gallups claims it is, then there would have a point. Eone of the threefundamentals listed by Mr. Gallups above are contradicted by anything taught by Freemasonry. For noother reason than they are items of special revelation and Freemasonry does not -udge or address suchissues since it is a secular fraternity.

If you are a member of the SOUTHERN BAPTIST DENOMINATION,

I much prefer being an orthodox Christian, so I$m no longer a member of the (lowly !ecomingCatholic denomination after decades of belonging to (outhern !aptist churches, but that was causedmore by the lies of the leadership when they promised the Convention that records of the GC: wouldbe 0ept open, except in a few small exceptions, then demanded that they all be sealed or that no recordswould ever be 0ept again despite what the Convention ordered. I$m not going to touch on the issueslisted here about the (!C$s ?M! and the political underhandedness pervading the bureaucrats in theConvention in any depth. I$m going to point out four things)

*. ?ow good is their researchD 4oo0 at item 5, because all lodges must be &furnished with a!ible', or in other words provided or supplied with. This ma0es the !ible furnitureD(eriouslyD

. Mr. Gallups neglects to point out that there were also eight good things listed aboutFreemasonry.

3. The ?M!$s secondary statements on Freemasonry exceeded the mandate from the Conventionin violation of (!C rules and violated a core concept on the priesthood of believers.

5. Isn$t the !ible the standard Mr. Gallup is supposed to be usingD Then why the appeal to the(!CD %hy not an appeal to the 7opeD

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Then Mr. Gallup gives us a list. %ell given that I$m a Christian, I$d certainly leave that church, because

it would no longer be Christian. I$ll note as amusing a few things)*. The boo0 on the altar in a Masonic lodge is the one of the faith that the ma-ority of members

belong to. (ince Freemasonry does not claim to be a religion, this isn$t an issue.. Jery narrow definition of words found uite commonly among antimasonic cultists. 7ray tell

me, what do I call those who served in combat in the military as I didD +m I going to hellbecause they are my &brothers'D %hat should I call my male siblings born of my parentsD +mI going to hell because they are my &brothers'D Is Mr. Gallup implying that all those around theworld who are not Christian by his definition are subhumansD That he would be happy withma0ing Cain$s claim against these non>Christians he definesD


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8o .a 0- :0-1'Morals 8 9ogma, addressed at the beginning.

+' 3 S/4 0 is a religious system based u#on )4T64T)/4 * deceit , especia%%y tothe ?&UE &O8!E 4i norant .asses'4 (A%bert 7i3e Mora%s and 8o .a, pa e C*91'Morals 8 9ogma, addressed at the beginning.

:' F 663 S/4 0 )S $)ST)4CT*0 4/T C- )ST) 4)T0 < (A%bert Mac3ey"s Encyc%opediaof ;ree.asonry 9-,II C+ /C+C1'

(ee above about Coil$s 6ncyclopedia. +lso, how can a secular fraternity be a religionD fcourse it isn$t.-' C- )ST) 4 ,-/ 3 0 64T6 T-6 */$'6 is told , (and he attests and swears tothis in the ;irst 8e ree initiation 1, that he is in dar3ness and wi%% be brou ht to the 4%i ht4throu h Masonry' (A%bert Mac3ey < The .anua% of the &od e *F: 0F, *D :1'

Mr. Gallup proposes to claim authority as a theologian, but cannot manage to notice that thecandidate is considered a type or representation of the ignorant man who has no 0nowledge ofthe creation or the Creator.

' 3 S/4 0 T6 C-6S T- T T-6 '/$ of the Bible is NOT the od of MasonryL(6ME nds that $atan or &ucifer isrevea%ed as the 4?EARER O; &I!HT4 to the MA$ON (7i3e, Mora%s and 8o .a *9th de reepa e D0*1'

Morals 8 9ogma, addressed at the beginning. This is actually an additional issue of how theword &4ucifer' became e uivalent with (atan, which is an interesting study in itself andsomething 0nown about for centuries.*F' The order of the 6astern Star (the wo.en"s branch of ;ree.asonry1 has chosen as

its sy.bo%, the 7enta ra. (The UNI ER$A& sy.bo% of $atanis. and witchcraft Thissy.bo% is proud%y disp%ayed on a%% OE$ %od es and on the front of the white OE$ ?ib%e' It isa%so to be found on the cover of every $atanic ?ib%e In their own %iterature, the OE$A8MIT$ that they 3now it is the universa% sy.bo% for #itchcraft, but they used the sy.bo%anyway to 4try and brin ood .eanin to an evi% sy.bo%'4

!HHt %rong +nswer The 6astern (tar predates the use of the five pointed star pointing downas a symbol of (atanism. riginally, the symbol was one for the star of !ethlehem pointingdown to the birthplace of Christ and with the five points for the five wounds Christ suffered onthe cross. In other words, Mr. Gallup has no clue, despite his claims, that the satanic connectionis a relatively recent one. I notice Mr. Gallup does not source his claim about the 6( in thelast sentence, I$ve never heard that one ever and it smells li0e male bovine excrement to me.**' T-6 64T ' 3 (sy.bo% for the OE$1 is the $atanic sy.bo% for 4the oat"s head4

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