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Freemasonry
The
secret and fraternal organizations believed to have evolved from the
medieval guilds of the stonemasons.
Membership is open to
men only,
requires no allegiance to a single faith or religion, although
belief in God is necessary, and aims to enable members to meet in
harmony, to promote friendship, and to be charitable. The orders provide
a network for business, professional and social success and advancement.
The basic unit of
freemasonry is the lodge, which exists under a charter issued by a grand
lodge exercising administrative powers. The lodges are linked together
informally by a system of mutual recognition between lodges that meet
the Masonic requirements. The lodge confers three degrees: Entered
Apprentice, Fellow Craft, and Master Mason. Additional degrees are
conferred by two groups of advanced freemasonry: the York Rite, which
awards 12 degrees, and the Scottish Rite, which awards 30 higher
degrees.
Many legendary
theories exist concerning the origin of freemasonry, but it is generally
linked to the development of medieval craft guilds of stonemasons. Small
numbers of skilled stonemasons would travel between towns to build
churches and cathedrals commissioned by the clergy. To protect their
knowledge they organized into guilds, complete with passwords, rules of
procedure, payment and religious devotion. How the membership of the
guilds changed to clubs or lodges attracting largely unskilled, honorary
membership is unclear, but Freemasonry's present organizational form
began on June 24, 1717, when a grand lodge was formed in London. Since
that time lodges have spread all over the world with local grand lodges
formed whenever enough lodges exist in an area.
At various times and
places freemasonry has met religious and political opposition. Religious
opponents, especially the Roman
Catholic and Eastern Orthodox churches, have traditionally claimed that
freemasonry is a religion and is a secret organization. A papal ban on
Roman Catholic membership in Masonic lodges was rescinded in 1983.
Freemasons hold that the organization is religious but not a religion,
and that it is not a secret organization since it works openly in the
community. Freemasonry has always been suppressed in totalitarian
states. There are approximately 4.8 million Freemasons in regular lodges
scattered around the world. Many notable men in history have been
Freemasons, including Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Christopher Wren,
Benjamin Franklin, Henry Ford, Rudyard Kipling, Winston Churchill,
George Washington and various other American presidents. See Templars.
Related
books:
Al-Islam
Christianity and Freemasonry.
A
New Encyclopaedia of Freemasonry: Their Rites, Literature, and History.
A
Pilgrim's Path: Freemasonry and the Religious Right.
Behind
the Lodge Door.
Born
in Blood: The Lost Secrets of Freemasonry.
Christianity
and American Freemasonry.
Duncan's
Masonic Ritual and Monitor.
Duncan's
Ritual of Freemasonry.
Freemasonry: Ancient Egypt and the Islamic Destiny.
Freemasonry
and Democracy: Its Evolution in North America.
Freemasonry
and Its Ancient Mystic Rites.
Freemasonry
in the 21st Century.
Freemasonry
- Mankind's Hidden Enemy: With Current Official Catholic Statements.
Freemasonry
of the Ancient Egyptians.
Freemasonry: The Invisible Cult in Our Midst.
Hidden
Life in Freemasonry.
Lodge
of the Double-Headed Eagle: Two Centuries of Scottish Rite Freemasonry
in America's Southern Jurisdiction.
Masonic
Lodge (Zondervan's Guide to Cults and Religious Movements).
Masonic
Orders of Fraternity.
Masonic
Rites and Wrongs: An Examination of Freemasonry.
Masons.
Material
Culture of the American Freemasons.
Questions
People Ask About Freemasonry-And the Answers.
Revolutionary
Brotherhood: Freemasonry and the Transformation of the American Social
Order, 1730-1840.
Symbols
of Freemasonry.
The
Boy Who Cried Wolf: The Book That Breaks Masonic Silence.
The
Dark Side of Freemasonry.
The
Deadly Deception: Freemasonry Exposed by One of Its Top Leaders.
The
Hiram Key: Pharaohs, Freemasons and the Discovery of the Secret Scrolls
of Jesus.
The
History of Freemasonry: The Legendary Origins.
The
Lodge (How to Respond).
The
Lost Keys of Freemasonry.
The
Meaning of Masonry.
The
Origins of Freemasonry: Scotland's Century, 1590-1710.
The
Second Messiah: Templars, the Turin Shroud and the Great Secret of
Freemasonry.
The
Secret Teachings of the Masonic Lodge: A Christian Perspective.
Click
here for more related
books.
Further
info:
Mount
Heredom.
World of
Freemasonry.
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