Freemasonry and Noachite Law
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Assuming the description of Freemasonry as it is presented
here and on the Freemasonry wikinoah page is complete and correct, someone who
practices Freemasonry as it is currently taught is not a true Bnai Noach
according to halacha. See the last section for further discussion on the
Rabbinic views of Freemasonry.
One of the most detailed discussions of Freemasonry and its
relationship with Noahidism comes from the Canadian Freemasonry website, where
they argue that Freemasonry is not sufficiently defined theologically, and does
not mandate any particular belief system beyond the most general terms, to
qualify as a religion.[1]
Is Freemasonry a
religion? No.
Freemasonry seeks no converts. Freemasonry has no dogma,
cosmology, eschatology or theology. Freemasonry offers no sacraments or ritual
of worship, nor does it claim to lead to salvation by any definition.
Freemasonry is not a religion.
Freemasonry is not a religion. There have been those masonic
writers who have filtered their personal understanding of Freemasonry through
their personal Gnostic beliefs. The same can be said of masonic writers of any
religious belief.
Freemasonry is not a religion and does not teach its members
what to believe about God.
Freemasonry does not deny revelation—Freemasonry simply does
not define revelation. Freemasonry, not being a religion, does not consider
itself qualified to put forward a definition of revelation.
Freemasonry, not being a religion, does not consider itself
qualified to put forward any definition of Deity.
Freemasonry is not a religion and promotes no doctrine or dogma.
The "search for light" found in Freemasonry is a reference to a quest
for knowledge, not salvation. Freemasonry promotes a hope in resurrection, but
it does not teach a belief about resurrection. The first is faith, the second
is religion.
Although the Master Mason, or Third Degree ritual includes
references to the immortality of the soul, Freemasonry makes no impositions on
the individual candidate’s personal beliefs, nor requires its members to accept
any specific teachings regarding resurrection.
Are freemasons really Noahides?
The section concerning Noahidism is quoted below in full:[2]
Are freemasons really
Noahides?
No.
Noahides, or those who refer to themselves as such, follow
the Noahide laws, generally within the Judaic tradition. These laws comprise
prohibitions of idolatry, blasphemy, forbidden sexual relations, murder, theft,
consuming the limb of a living animal (an expression of cruelty to animals) and
lawlessness (that is to say, requiring the setting up of courts and processes
of justice).[3]
There are rival philosophies concerning the Noahide laws.
The classical orthodox Jewish tradition, as found in Maimonides, the Maharal of
Prague and the writings of Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, views the source
of the authority of the Noahide laws as being the giving of the Torah at Sinai
to Moses and therefore of concern only to the Jews. Elijah Benamozegh
(1823-1900), author of Israel and Humanity, and Aime Palliere, author of The
Unknown Sanctuary, promoted the idea of an "independent" tradition
which goes back to Adam and Noah, and thereby to be transmitted to the
Gentiles. The growth of late twentieth century Noahide movements has been a
source of concern to some Christians who view the ramifications of this
philosophy as an anti-Christian attack.
These are religious discussions and therefore not of concern
to Freemasonry. Freemasonry is not a religion.
Masonic author, Albert G. Mackey, defined Noachidae as the
descendents of Noah; and Noachite as a reference to the legend "that Noah
was the father and founder of the masonic system of theology."[4] Mackey
neglected to define or detail that theology. Regular Freemasonry has never had
a theology and Mackey was simply expressing his own opinion.
Mackey also wrote that the seven Precepts of Noah are
preserved "as the Constitutions of our ancient Brethren"[5] but
neither the oldest extant manuscript, the Regius Poem, nor the Cooke manuscript
mention any such precepts. He can only have been referring to Anderson’s second
edition of his Constitutions, published in 1738.
Non-masons, especially those hostile to Freemasonry, have
been known to confuse references in masonic ritual to "the Moral
Law," or "that religion in which all men agree" with the
Precepts of Noah. Albert G. Mackey, in his History of Freemasonry, presented an
historical background to the legends of Freemasonry but, in context, is clearly
not ascribing the beliefs or practices of Judaism to those of Freemasonry.[6]
A legend of two pillars that survive the Deluge, containing
the knowledge of the seven liberal arts and sciences, is contained in the
"traditional history" of Freemasonry. The legend that Noah received
seven commandments when God made His Covenant after the Flood is not a part of
any extant pre-1717 manuscript. The sentiment that "all masons are true
Noachidae" was part of "Brother Euclid’s Letter to the Author"
included, with no historical authority, with the Rev. John Anderson’s 1738
Constitutions. The 1723 Constitutions contained the passage: "A Mason is
obliged by his tenure to obey the moral law." In the 1736 edition Anderson
completed the sentence with "as a true Noachida. 5 These references were
dropped in the 1756 and subsequent editions, and have never played a role in
the ritual or teachings of regular Freemasonry. Dermott’s unauthorized Ahiman
Rezon copied
Anderson’s 1736 edition and also used the term
"Noachida."
Anderson may have taken this idea from the Stonehouse MS.,
also titled the Krause MS., reproduced in Dr. Krause’s Three Oldest Documents.
Probably written by a contemporary of Anderson and now accepted as spurious, it
was first alleged to be a copy of the 926 York Constitutions.
Freemasons were called Noachidae by some authors, generally
in reference to the Scottish Rite degrees, in a poetical allusion to the preservation
and transmission of great truths. But these truths are not defined as the
Precepts of Noah.
There is no connection between Noahides and Noachidae. One
is a philosophy within Judaism, while the other is a poetical reference to
Freemasonry and an eighteenth century attempt to create an older lineage.
The question only has meaning if one assumes that
Freemasonry is a religion. Freemasonry is not a religion and has no doctrine.
Rabbinical View
Assuming the description of Freemasonry as it is presented
here and on the Freemasonry wikinoah page is complete and correct, someone who
practices Freemasonry as it is currently taught is not a true Bnai Noach
according to halacha.
The Canadian Freemason quoted above says that Freemasonry is
not religion because "Freemasonry seeks no converts. Freemasonry has no
dogma, cosmology, eschatology or theology. Freemasonry offers no sacraments or
ritual of worship, nor does it claim to lead to salvation by any definition.".
However, in the rabbinic view, it is a religion in the Noahide sense because it
proscribes social behavior and offers a path to understanding of the divine. By
severing any binding connection with the Jewish oral tradition, or even Biblical
tradition, this system of belief and behavior falls short of the Noahide
requirement.
However, Freemasonry does not appear to violate any of the
seven laws. It appears to have been influenced by Noahides and Noahide
teachings. Also it is closer to Rabbi Benamozegh view of "proper
Noahidism" than many other religious systems because it combines secular
and religious law, putting both under divine law. Many parts of the freemasonry
are not public, so it is possible that there exist aspects of freemasonry which
contradict Noahide law. Historically, the Masons have generally been
sympathetic to Jews and their organization has occasionally allowed Jewish
members.
This conclusion hopefully will be reviewed by a Jewish court
of law in the near future and an official declaration made.
References
↑ http://freemasonry.bcy.ca/anti-masonry/anti-masonry08.html
Anti-masonry Frequently Asked Questions
↑ http://freemasonry.bcy.ca/anti-masonry/anti-masonry08.html
Anti-masonry Frequently Asked Questions
↑ [http://www.rb.org.il/noahide/noahcom15.htm The Noah
Institute of the Root & Branch Association] promotes the study and practice
of the Noahide Covenant and Laws.
↑ Encyclopedia of Freemasonry. Albert G. Mackey. p. 714.
↑ Ibid. p. 716.
↑ The History of Freemasonry, Its Legends and Traditions,
Its Chronological History, by Albert Gallatin MacKey, was first published in
seven volumes in 1898 by the Masonic History Company, New York and London. A
truncated one-volume edition published by Gramercy Books, New York in 1996
[ISBN: 0-517-14982-6], is the edition generally quoted by anti-masons. 5. The
History of Freemasonry, Its Legends and Traditions, Its Chronological History.
Albert Gallatin MacKey. Masonic History Company, New York and London: 1906. p.
408. [pp. 406-411.]
