Book Review: Ron Rhodes: Reasoning from the Scriptures with Masons A Review by David S. Julian © 2004 David S. Julian DAY JEWEL PUBLICATIONS 16052 - 46th Ave S Seattle, WA 98188 (206) 246-6460 www.dayjewel.com 1 Reasoning from the Scriptures with Masons The author of the book On the book’s back cover, Ron Rhodes, Th.D., correctly states that “Masons establish and maintain Children’s Hospitals, provide free medical treatment to needy children, work actively in their communities, and promote high moral standards.” The author is identified as the President of Reasoning from the Scriptures Ministries, whose own website describes itself as a “nonprofit corporation.” But nothing on the RSM website even remotely resembles the generosity of Freemasonry quoted above. The website actually appears to be nothing more than an online bookstore for Rhodes’ books and newsletter, run out of a P.O. Box in Frisco, TX, a north Dallas suburb. According to the book, however, RSM is run out of a P.O. Box in Rancho Santa Margarita, CA, a south Los Angeles suburb near Mission Viejo. The book’s cover also identifies Rhodes as a “noted researcher and Bible scholar” but most of his premises turn out to be just another recycling of the same anti-everybody-but-us phoney-baloney from Harvest House, the publishing arm of the John Ankerberg Show. To get the potential book-buyer’s attention, the back cover displays the usual “secret name for God”, “Baal and Osiris”, “occultic”, and “hidden rituals” buzzwords. The back cover also claims there is an “easy to follow guide ... you can use to lead Masons back to Biblical Christianity,” as if Christian Freemasons, who use the Holy Bible -- in my jurisdiction it’s the King James Version -- as the rule and guide of their faith, ever left. The author of this review V. W. David S. Julian is a Past Master of Daylight Lodge #232, Member and Organist of St. John's Lodge #9, Member of Walter F. Meier Lodge of Research # 281, Honorary Past Master of Century Lodge #208, Grand Organist, Past Grand organist Past Grand Bible Bearer, and Past Deputy of the Grand Master for District #5 of the Grand Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons of Washington. He is also the author of David vs. Goliath? a book that definitively answers the question: Can a Christian be a Freemason? while exposing antimasonic charlatans, world conspiracy whackos, and profit-making online bookstore "businesses masquerading as ministries" that is available free on the Internet at his dayjewel.com website. A brief word from the reviewer Originally this was to be a short book report for one of the Elders of the church that I regularly attend and of which I am a member. But at the suggestion of my wife, I decided to answer some of the questions put forward by Ron Rhodes, not only to solidify my own knowledge about the compatibility of Christianity and Freemasonry, but to provide solid Bible-based answers for use by unsuspecting Christian Freemasons against this onslaught of legalistic, separatist Neofundamentalism that has been gaining momentum in some Christian circles in recent years. I owe Ron Rhodes a sincere apology. There were some times and places in the book where I found his unfounded and unchristian attacks to be so inflammatory that it took all the effort I could muster to circumscribe my passion within due bounds and to not respond in kind. My apology is for those times when I failed. 2 Book Review: The Masonic Lodge The book begins on the top of page 7 by making an egregious mockery of scholarship when Ron Rhodes says, “Masonry is a centuries-old fraternal order and secret society that is deeply entrenched in symbolism, secret oaths, and secret rituals.” So how is it, then, that Rhodes can know anything about Freemasonry if it is a “secret society,” and especially, how could he know if any of the “very famous people” he lists were actually Freemasons? And if it is a "secret society", why is every Freemason's Lodge identified by a great big sign that says "Masonic Lodge" and has a Square and Compasses emblem prominently displayed? And if it is a "secret society", why are there 47 Lodges listed in the Dallas Metro phone book and 9 Lodges listed near Mission Viejo (the two locations where Rhodes has Post Office Boxes to hide the secret locations of his homes and offices) where the members openly wear hats, jackets, ties, rings, watches, and lapel pins; prominently display bumper stickers, car emblems, newsletters, and magazines -- all with Masonic emblems prominently displayed on them; and post public notices with the times, dates, and locations of their meetings? And which one of the Three Degrees of the Blue Lodge, 4th Degrees and up of the Scottish Rite and York Rite, all of which are fully explained in the Holy Bible, King James Version with Masonic References, published by Heirloom Publishers of Wichita, KS, that is available at any bookstore or public library -- and from which Rhodes himself actually quotes -- are being kept secret? The whole idea of “secret societies” is nonsense anyway to anyone who truly believes in an omniscient, omnipotent, and omnipresent God. It certainly would be presupposed that someone claiming to be a “noted researcher and Bible scholar” and the author of a book called The Complete Book of Bible Answers would have at least stumbled upon this Bible passage: Jeremiah 23:23-24 Am I a God at hand, saith the LORD, and not a God afar off? Can any hide himself in secret places that I shall not see him? saith the LORD. Do not I fill heaven and earth? saith the LORD. So if Freemasonry is not secret from the community, not secret from God, and not secret from the millions of Masons themselves, then exactly from whom is it secret? I describe people like Rhodes as “fire-builders.” What they do is pour gasoline on the surface of a neighbor’s swimming pool, set fire to it, then rush in and try to sell the rest of the neighborhood on the emergent need for pool-side fire extinguishers -- a large supply of which they just happen to have on hand -- for a reasonable price, of course. Rhodes starts pouring on the gasoline on the first page by listing several famous Freemasons from history, and then stating: “Many people have assumed that with such intelligent and respectable people joining a Masonic Lodge, there must not be anything wrong with such membership.” If you go to the web site masonicinfo.com you’ll find a list of thousands of the most prominent and famous Freemasons of both yesterday and today. These men, whom Rhodes tries to trivialize as merely “intelligent and respectable” turn out to be the cream of the crop in virtually every walk of life -- including Christian ministry! Rhodes goes on to say, “Today, millions of people are involved in the various orders within Freemasonry. There are approximately 3 million Masons in the Blue Lodge, over a quarter of a million in the York Rite, close to a million in the Scottish Rite, and perhaps another million in the various other orders.” So let’s add them up: 3,000,000 + 250,000 + 900,000 + 1,000,000 = approximately 5,150,000 Masons, right? 3 Reasoning from the Scriptures with Masons Every Mason reading this knows that’s not right. The Blue Lodge degrees are the first three degrees of the York Rite, and 4th degree Scottish Rite and York Rite members have to be Blue Lodge members (3rd Degree Master Masons) first. And that last million, would that include such “various other orders” as Eastern Star (for women) and Job’s Daughters, Rainbow, and DeMolay (for children). Would the millions of recipients of free medical treatment, community services, and the thousands of other Masonic charitable causes be included in “those involved in the various orders within Freemasonry”? Even his first number of 3 million is skewed, because in Most Grand Lodge jurisdictions, a Mason can belong to many different Lodges at the same time (I belong to four myself). Rhodes apparently doesn’t realize that he contradicts himself on the following page when he quotes a source claiming 4 million Masons in the US alone! At the exact time I am writing this, the US Census Bureau lists the population of the US as 293,919,709. What Rhodes calls “such staggering statistics” turns out to be just a shade over 1%. It’s easy to see why Rhodes might be confused by these “staggering statistics.” Does he get his numbers from the Masonic Information Service or the various Grand Lodges around the country that would have provided him exact membership demographics? No, he cites as his primary sources, John Ankerberg and John Weldon, who, along with Harvest House (their, and not coincidentally Rhodes’ own, publisher) are currently being sued for libel for $136 million dollars. By the Freemasons? No -- by a Christian denomination! You can read the whole sordid story online at these web addresses: www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2003/002/13.24.html www.contendingforthefaith.com/libel-litigations/harvest-house-et-al/progress.html According to the Southern Baptist Convention's "A Report on Freemasonry" we find the following: In 1991, the Home Mission Board submitted questions concerning Freemasonry in the SBC to Baptist VIEWpoll. Baptist VIEWpoll is a survey by the Corporate Market Research Department of the Sunday School Board, SBC, of 1,433 Southern Baptists (283 pastors, 430 ministers of education, 247 directors of missions, 202 deacon chairmen, and 271 church clerks).