| The meaning of the Legend of the Third Degree is explained in The
Ahiman Rezon, the monitor published by the Grand Lodge of South Carolina. It states
that:
It was the single object of all the ancient rites and mysteries
practiced in the very bosom of pagan darkness, . . . to teach the immortality of the soul.
This is still the great design of the third degree of Masonry. This is the scope and aim
of its ritual. . . By its legend and all its ritual, it is implied that we have been
redeemed from the death of sin. . . it has been remarked by a learned writer of our Order,
that the Master Mason represents a man saved from the grave of iniquity, and raised to the
faith of salvation.
It is impossible for an honest Christian to deny that anything that
redeems a man from sin is a plan of salvation. Numerous portions of Masonic ritual
instruct Masons how to get into heaven. The most blatant is the conclusion of the Legend
of the Third Degree. The Worshipful Master closes the ritual with these words:
Then, finally my brethren, let us imitate our Grand Master, Hiram
Abiff, in his virtuous conduct, his unfeigned piety to God, and his inflexible
fidelity to his trust; that, like him, we may welcome the grim tyrant, Death, and
receive him as a kind messenger sent by our Supreme Grand Master, to translate us from
this imperfect to that all-perfect, glorious, and celestial Lodge above, where the
Supreme Architect of the Universe presides.
The Kentucky Monitor removes any doubt about the meaning of
Freemasonry’s symbolism. In the preface, beginning in 1946 edition and continuing
through at least five editions, a discussion of various religions and their various
saviors concluded that Jesus was a savior for Christians, while Hiram is a savior for
Masons.
All believed in a future life, to be attained by purification and
trials; in a state or successive states of reward and punishment; and in a Mediator or
Redeemer, by whom the Evil Principle was to be overcome and the Supreme Deity reconciled
to His creatures. The belief was general that He was to be born of a virgin and suffer a
painful death. The Hindus called him Krishna; the Chinese, Kioun-tse; the Persians,
Sosiosch; the Chaldeans, Dhouvanai; the Egyptians, Horus; Plato, Love; the Scandinavians,
Balder; the Christians, Jesus; Masons, Hiram. (pages XIV-XV)
Ex-Masons for Jesus
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