A Masonic History of America

Albert James Dager

Taken from Media Spotlight: A Biblical Analysis of Religious & Secular Media

There is much speculation on the religious nature of the United States of America as it was founded. Many Christians assert that the United States was founded as a Christian nation and, therefore, it is not only our right but our duty to reclaim it for God. How it is to be reclaimed is open to opinion among those who believe this.

To call either a person or a nation “Christian,” certain criteria must be met. The biblical requirement for a person is that he must be born again by the Spirit of God, understanding all that this entails.

For a nation, its primary purpose must be to minister in the name of Jesus Christ alone, without regard to any other gods or philosophies. Its primary charter must be initial agreement with the Bible, and all positions of authority must be held by individuals who meet the biblical criteria necessary for disciples of Jesus Christ. A true Christian nation would be a theocracy administrated through God’s prophets. His law would reign supreme in the hearts and minds of that nation’s founders, all of whom would have to be men who are truly born again by the Spirit of God. The nation would also have to have been created in response to a covenant initiated by God with its founders.

Many cite the Mayflower Compact and the faith of the Pilgrims as evidence that America was founded as a Christian nation. However, the Pilgrims did not found the United States; they founded one small colony that was eventually swallowed up by the laterformed federal government.

The belief that the Mayflower Compact was the basis for a Christian nation overlooks the truth that the Compact reaffirmed loyalty to the King of England; its creators never intended to found an independent nation.

Misunderstanding these facts causes many to attempt to reestablish what never existed: a Christian nation based upon biblical precepts and founded upon a covenant relationship initiated by God with our founding fathers. To prove their point, proponents of a Christian America quote some of the founding fathers whose words seem to indicate true faith in Jesus Christ. Yet many quoted were Freemasons who had a high regard for Jesus as a man whom they believed to be like any other, but who attained a higher degree of moral enlightenment.

The words of many Freemasons would lead the uninformed to believe they are true brethren in Christ. A statement from a Masonic publication gives evidence of this:

God may have words for other worlds, but His supreme Word for this world, yesterday, to-day, forever, is Christ! He is the central Figure, its crown, its glory, its glow-point of vision and Revelation. Take Him away and its light grows dim. He fulfilled the whole Book, its history, its poetry, its prophecy, its ritual, even as He fulfils our deepest yearning and our highest hope. Ages have come and gone, but He abides — abides because He is real, because He is unexhausted, because He is needed. Little is left to-day save Christ — Himself smitten and afflicted, bruised and wounded — but He is all we need. If we hear Him, follow Him, obey Him, we shall walk together into a new world wherein dwelleth righteousness, and love — He is the Word of God.

Unless we recognize that the theosophical philosophy of Freemasonry attributes its own definitions to biblical language, we won’t understand the author’s meaning. We might welcome him as one of us.

Only the most naïve would not know that many who claim to be Christians do not meet the criteria. Such is the case with Freemasons. While Freemasonry has an outward show of religious faith, the tenets of Freemasonry preclude any truly born-again believer from holding membership
in that organization.

Space does not allow for a full treatise on the religious philosophy of Freemasonry, but true Christians will recognize from another statement by the same publication that there can be no compatibility between Freemasonry and Christianity:

Into Freemasonry have been poured the irradiations of the mystical schools of antiquity. Particularly is this so in the higher degrees of the Order, such as the Scottish Rite, where undeniable traces of Cabalism, neo-Platonism, Rosicrucianism, and other mystical cults are plainly discernible. I do not personally contend that Freemasonry is the direct descendant of the Mysteries, but that our ritual makers of the higher degrees have copied the ancient ceremonies of initiation so far as the knowledge of those ceremonies exists.

Most Christians today are unaware of the peculiar manner in which Christianity has been melded with the esoteric philosophies of theosophy and Jewish Qabbalism to produce a hybrid mystery religion known as Freemasonry. Thus, they offer quotes from many of the founding fathers as evidence that they were Christians. Indeed, some were even clerics. But just as a famous cleric of our own day, the late Norman Vincent Peale, was a Freemason (prelate of the Grand Encampment of the Knights Templar of the United States), 3 many of the nation’s founding fathers held peculiar definitions of the biblical language used in asserting their faith.

This is not to say that they were not noble men; they were. Freemasons pride themselves in their noble attitudes and adherence to strict moral codes. These are not “evil” men in the classical sense. But they are blinded to the true revelation of God’s Word, and their religious philosophy embraces all religions as valid. To be a Freemason, one must believe in a supreme being, but he need not be a Christian, even in the nominal sense.

What follows is an outline of the Masonic affiliations of the founding fathers, gleaned from Masonic and other historical sources:

20 Greatest Names of the American Revolution
John Adams - (Spoke favorably of Freemasonry; never joined)
Samuel Adams - (Close and principal associate of Hancock, Revere & other Masons)
Ethan Allen - Mason
Edmund Burke - Mason
John Claypoole - Mason
William Daws - Mason
Benjamin Franklin - Mason
Nathan Hale - No evidence of Masonic connections
John Hancock - Mason
Benjamin Harrison - No evidence of Masonic connections
Patrick Henry - No evidence of Masonic connections
Thomas Jefferson - (Deist with some evidence of Masonic connections)
John Paul Jones - Mason
Francis Scott Key - No evidence of Masonic connections
Robert Livingston - Mason
James Madison - (Some evidence of Masonic membership)
Thomas Paine - Humanist
Paul Revere - Mason
Colonel Benjamin Tupper - Mason
George Washington - Mason
Daniel Webster - (Some evidence of Masonic connections)

Summary: 10 Masons, 3 probable Masons, 1 humanist, and 2 advocates of Freemasonry. Four have no record of connections.

Signers of Declaration of Independence
Known Masons (8):
Benjamin Franklin
John Hancock
Joseph Hewes
William Hooper
Robert Treat Payne
Richard Stockton
George Walton
William Whipple
Evidence of Membership and/or Affiliations (7):
Elbridge Gerry
Lyman Hall
Thomas Jefferson
Thomas Nelson, Jr.
John Penn
George Read
Roger Sherman

Summary: 15 of 56 signers were Freemasons or possible Freemasons.

It may be argued that this represents only 27 percent of the total signers. But this 27 percent included the principal movers of the Revolution, most notably, Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Jefferson, the primary authors of the Declaration of Independence. The former was a Freemason; the latter was a deist and possible Freemason. As we analyze the Declaration we will see that it reflects a humanistic worldview.

In any event, there is no evidence that even 27 percent of the signers were true Christians. In considering whether this is a Christian nation, the
number of Masons isn’t as important as the number of overall founders who were non-believers.

Signers of the Constitution
Known Masons (9):
Gunning Bedford, Jr.
John Blair
David Brearley
Jacob Broom
Daniel Carrol
John Dickinson
Benjamin Franklin
Rufus King
George Washington
Evidence of Membership and/or Affiliations (13):
Abraham Baldwin
William Blount
Elbridge Gerry
Nicholas Gilman
Alexander Hamilton
Thomas Jefferson
John Lansing, Jr.
James Madison
George Mason
George Read
Robert Morris
Roger Sherman
George Wythe
Those Who Later Became Masons (6):
William Richardson Davie, Jr.
Jonathan Dayton
Dr. James McHenry
John Francis Mercer
William Patterson
Daniel of St.Thomas Jenifer

Summary: 28 of 40 signers were Freemasons or possible Freemasons based on evidence other than lodge records. (Five of the remaining delegates to the Convention who did not sign were Freemasons.)

Masonic Influences in Early American History

• LaFayette, the French liaison to the Colonies — without whose aid the war could not have been won — was a Freemason.
• The majority of the commanders of the Continental Army were Freemasons and members of “Army Lodges.”
• Most of Washington’s generals were Freemasons.
• The Boston Tea Party was planned at the Green Dragon Tavern, also known as the Freemasons’ Arms, and “the Headquarters of the Revolution.”
• George Washington was sworn in as the first President of the United States by Robert Livingston, Grand Master of New York.The Bible on which he took his oath was from his own Masonic lodge.
• The cornerstone of the Capitol building was laid by the Grand Lodge of Maryland.

CONCLUSION

Based on this evidence of Masonic influences in the establishment of this nation, there is no doubt that the criteria necessary to classify the United
States as a Christian nation were not met. Therefore, an objective study of the Masonic affiliates of the founding fathers must cause Christians to
reevaluate their own political philosophy. For if the United States is not a Christian nation, then we must choose to whom we will commit “our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor” — our Lord or our country.

Scripture tells us that God made one nation of all men who have true faith in Jesus Christ: the Church. The Church is the “Christian nation” to which we may claim, not the political or philosophical institutions of this world system, no matter how noble the intention of their founders.

We can thank our heavenly Father that we enjoy the freedoms that this republic grants us. No nation in the history of the world has been as benevolent as the United States. But as citizens of heaven, our allegiance is first to our brethren — whether in the United States or in foreign countries. Otherwise, we may find ourselves killing Christians for political causes.

Our freedom in Christ allows us to be involved in the political process. But we must be vigilant to the dangers of becoming embroiled in political and social causes in the name of Christ, particularly where the issue of rebellion and insurrection is involved. Otherwise, we will find ourselves unequally yoked, storing up for ourselves wood, hay and stubble in the Day of Judgment.

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