I believe I was wrong about George Washington

[Michael37]

23 minutes ago, other one said:

If that was the only thing I would bother with it...   It's just one of the things that bother me.

My late elderly mother-in-law would attend local Presbyterian services with other family members on every Sunday except the once-a-month communion service Sunday. Her reason was that she was confirmed in the Methodist persuasion and believed that only those confirmed as Presbyterians should take communion with them. 

While  holidaying with a friend who lived there, my wife and I visited with a Baptist congregation on the Sunshine Coast in Australia. We actually attended an afternoon baptism in a nearby estuary, and learned that a legalistic rule applied to members wanting to take communion. They had to be baptised into that specific congregation, which meant being re-baptised for many of them. 

Not for us, thankyou.

[BlindSeeker]

6 hours ago, other one said:

Which made it odd that he would not regularly take communion.

I personally do not see how any active Mason above the 30th degree can be a true Christian.  That is not a good-old=boys club.

I fully understand, that was firmly my position, as I said in the OP, 

 "...At best, I felt he might be a deist and moralist, but not a Christian.

On that [other] thread some brother question as to why I didn't feel he was a true Christian, and my primary reason was that George Washington was also a Free Mason, and had became one when he was twenty years old. This is an undeniable historical fact, and one that I still have difficulty with in reconciling it to his being a Christian." 

[BlindSeeker]

4 hours ago, other one said:

He tells me that I will know them by their fruits....    I've seen their fruits.

That's the point, George Washington is not an Albert Pike.

He was humble, and displayed all the attributes of a Christian with fruits of the Spirit, accompanied with a multitude of various witnesses from all walks of life, faith, and of varying theological persuasions.

[BlindSeeker]

3 hours ago, TheBlade said:

Makes you wonder how they would view us Christians today.

 

I am afraid that most would be viewed poorly, as possessing little real conviction....

[BlindSeeker]

On 9/2/2024 at 9:15 AM, other one said:

The pastors of the churches that George participated said that he never took communion.  And when he was kind of pushed about it, they said he stopped going to church on the Sundays when communion was taken.

 Can you list your source?

 

[BlindSeeker]

2 hours ago, WilliamL said:

There is a vast difference between Masonic lodges, and lodge orders, past and present. I have heard from relatives of lodge members that in the Deep South, for example, some lodges are, or were, entirely Christian.

In the era of the Revolutionary Wars (American and French), the so-called Enlightenment of the French and other atheistic philosophers was on the ascent. The original French revolutionary leaders were atheistic, going so far as to crown a prostitute as the Goddess of Reason in the de-sanctified Notre Dame Cathedral. This spirit entered into some of the lodges, causing an ideological split. Many of the founders of the United States, Washington included, were adamantly opposed to this French atheistic spirit, called Jacobinism I believe, among other names.

One among that group, whose name I cannot remember (I'm sure somebody here can, it's relatively well-known), set out to expand this spirit throughout European and American lodges. Which lodges contained the leaders of the various countries. That is where/when the Lucifer/bringer-of-enlightenment spirit became ascendant; which is now, in my understanding, the spirit that now prevails among the highest ranks of Masonry.

So to get back to the topic here: it is really impossible for us, at this late a date, to know much of anything about the beliefs and practices of the the Masonry to which Washington belonged. Suffice it to say, Washington was definitely a believer in and a witness of God, which his writings and actions make abundantly clear. His very first act after being sworn in as President in New York City was to lead the assembled Congress to the Christian Church across the street, in order to pray to God for His blessings upon our nation.

Thank you for your contribution. This is the conclusion I have pretty much come to in light of all my research. Through it all, I was frequently greatly moved and even convicted of shallowness of faith and character by Washingtons words, whether in speeches of correspondence, and the volumes of character witnesses who felt humbled by his own humility.

[Michael37]

2 minutes ago, BlindSeeker said:

He was humble, and displayed all the attributes of a Christian with fruits of the Spirit, accompanied with a multitude of various witnesses from all walks of life, faith, and of varying theological persuasions.

As you may know, countless clergy number among the Freemasons. Just the oath they take on initiation and the ritual involved is a red flag.

[other one]

3 hours ago, BlindSeeker said:

 Can you list your source?

 

It's been many years since I ran across that.  I'm not sure.  I'm also not sure it's worth the time involved in going through decades of Masonic study to find it.

[other one]

3 hours ago, BlindSeeker said:

That's the point, George Washington is not an Albert Pike.

Albert Pike didn't create masonry, just joined and wrote about it.  You, if you dare, you can trace it back to the days of Solomon where he was given the wisdom to control demonic powers.   You can find about that if you study the Zohar in its original teachings.  From there back through the Egyptian book of the Dead.   You will end up within the days of the tower of Babel.    That is a lifetime study and walking with those powers and entities personally myself, and I can truthfully say that you do not want to go there.   Actually, you should stay as far away from it as you can.

Do you believe that....   it really doesn't matter one way or the other, but I can truthfully say that if I knew what I know now about the Word of God, I would never have gone there in the first place...  Problem is, you can't unsee things. 

[Michael37]

1 hour ago, other one said:

Albert Pike didn't create masonry, just joined and wrote about it.  You, if you dare, you can trace it back to the days of Solomon where he was given the wisdom to control demonic powers.   You can find about that if you study the Zohar in its original teachings.  From there back through the Egyptian book of the Dead.   You will end up within the days of the tower of Babel.    That is a lifetime study and walking with those powers and entities personally myself, and I can truthfully say that you do not want to go there.   Actually, you should stay as far away from it as you can.

Do you believe that....   it really doesn't matter one way or the other, but I can truthfully say that if I knew what I know now about the Word of God, I would never have gone there in the first place...  Problem is, you can't unsee things. 

About two decades ago I came across some excellent educational ministry sessions by Ex-Mason Bill Schnoebelen using the old acetate/ overhead projector combo. He joined them in 1975 already involved in esoteric orders and aware of the dangers, but later became a Christian and began a ministry speaking against Freemasonry and other deceptive fellowships.

This is not a live link but what a YouTube Search of "EX Mason Exposes the Satanic practices of Freemasonry" will produce.