REFORMED JOURNALISM, ROMAN CATHOLICISM AND FREEMASONRY

 

In his book Rulers of Evil (see http://www.rulersofevil.com/) F. Tupper Saussy explores how the Roman Catholic Church (specifically its Jesuit Order) worked closely with the Masonic movement in the formation of the United States of America, overturning reformed Protestant government which had dominated the colonial era.  A number of books have also been written by men closely connected (at least formerly) with the Vatican which reveal how prominent members in the Vatican are part of the upper ranks in the Masonic and Illuminist societies (see http://www.puritans.net/bookreviewalliance.htm and http://www.puritans.net/bookreviewingodsname.htm for examples).   And I also explore the association and connection of the Roman Catholic Church and Freemasonry in my book Let My People Go (see http://www.puritans.net/resources.html ), specifically as it might relate to the fulfillment of prophecy in the book of Revelation. 

 

Journalists, as well as historians, play a critical role in society of exposing wrongs that should not be hidden from the public.  But if journalism has been compromised by unseemly ties with wickedness, it cannot do its job properly.  So a question that I have posed is this:  to what extent has reformed journalism in America been influenced by the Roman Catholic Church and Freemasonry?  I do not yet have the full answer to that question by any stretch of the imagination, but let me reveal some important information that has come my way so far.

 

Recently, on a reformed theology discussion list I posed the following question, and received the following answer:

 

 

Subject:

          RE: [rtdisc] Freemasons in American Presbyterianism

     Date:

          Sat, 30 Nov 2002 16:24:09 -0600

     From:

          "Bob Vincent" <bob@rbvincent.com>

 Reply-To:

          rtdisc@yahoogroups.com

       To:

          <rtdisc@yahoogroups.com>

 

>I am not a member of any "fraternal society" except the Church, but my

> Baptist father-in-law is a Mason as were both of my grandfathers.  I have my

> maternal grandfather's sword in my office -- a Knights Templar sword,

> engraved with the words "In Hoc Signo Vinces" -- he was also a Presbyterian

> minister.  Many of the men involved in the conservative wing of the old

> Southern Presbyterian Church were Freemasons, such as Henry B. Dendy of the

> _Presbyterian Journal_, the tool most effective in bringing about the

> Presbyterian Church in America.

>

 

Joseph Parnell McCarter [info@puritans.net] asked:  "Which Southern

Presbyterians besides Henry B. Dendy were freemasons, and what was their

order and degree (rank)?"

 

Dear Parnell,

 

Until fairly recently Masonry was very much ensconced among Christian

people, particularly in the South.

 

I have no doubt that virtually the entire deacon board of the First

Self-Righteous Church of Pascagoula have been raised to the Third Degree of

the Blue Lodge and that Sister Bertha Better-than-you is the Worthy Matron

of the Order of the Eastern Star. (Sorry, that's a take-off on an old Ray

Stevens' song, "The Mississippi Squirrel Revival.")

 

Seriously, back in 1967, I was visiting with Dr. Dendy at his bookstore in

Weaverville, North Carolina, and he was loading me up with books.  "Here's

one you can have for free," he said.  "I don't like it."  It was R. B.

Kuiper's _To Be or Not to Be Reformed_, and I asked Dr. Dendy why he didn't

like Dr. Kuiper's book.

 

"He attacks the Masonic Lodge."

 

"What's wrong with attacking Masonry?" I asked.  To which Dr. Dendy

responded by telling me that he was an active Mason, how wonderful the Lodge

was and how he had always been free to share with his Lodge brothers about

the Lord Jesus.  From what little I knew of the Lodge, I was stunned.

 

I know of no statistics, so anything would be pretty much anecdotal, but

based on my experience here and there, I believe that a significant number

of older laymen whose churches left the Presbyterian Church U. S. to form

the Presbyterian Church in America were Masons.  The Masonic spirit

generally manifests itself in a broadly latitudinarian attitude about

theological differences, disregard for the doctrines of total depravity,

unconditional election, effectual calling and particular redemption, and a

failure to comprehend that justification is fundamentally forensic and

received by faith alone.  Not all of the ruling elders of the first

congregations of the PCA were actually Reformed or even truly Protestant in

their theology -- were one to have scratched below the surface, he probably

would have found the tentacles of the Lodge among these types of laymen.

 

I remember a debate in Grand Rapids in 1987, when a younger man revealed the

secret word for the Third Degree on the floor of the Fifteenth General

Assembly.  As I recall, there was muttered unease in response, here and

there in the gymnasium, as if he had uttered the vilest and most

reprehensible kind of blasphemy.

 

In Christ,

Bob

 

Aside from other issues this answer raises, is the issue of whether reformed journalism in America is being compromised.   Henry B. Dendy led the Presbyterian Journal  (which later became God’s World Publications).   It is hard to imagine the journal would not be theologically compromised if led by a Mason.  And one might expect it to be handed off to leadership with many of the same perspectives.  In fact, it was handed off to Joel Belz, as we read below:

 

 

http://www.geneva.edu/~sdsiple/2000/100500belz.html : “BEAVER FALLS, Pa. — Joel Belz, chief executive officer of World — the number four weekly news magazine in the nation, will be a guest speaker at Geneva College's convocation Thursday, October 19 at 9:30 a.m…Belz began working at God's World Publications, Inc., parent company of World magazine, in 1977. There he pioneered the growth of God's World newspapers for children, with a weekly paid circulation of nearly a third of a million. In 1986, he founded World magazine, which has gained in respect and circulation directly behind Time, Newsweek, and US News & World Report. GWP Inc. also includes the ministry of God's World Book Club and the World Journalism Institute, started in 1999. All four divisions, organized as a not-for-profit ministry, have sales of about $17 million this year and employ a staff of 140.
 
After traveling for a charitable foundation in nearly 40 different countries, Belz became one of the early headmasters of what is now Chattanooga Christian School. In 1977, he became managing editor of the Presbyterian Journal in Asheville, N.C., which later became God's World Publications, Inc.
 
An elder in his local church, Belz has chaired the boards of Asheville Christian Academy and the Evangelical Press Association. In 1977, he was named alumnus of the year at Covenant College, and in 1994 received the James DeForest Murch award from the National Association of Evangelicals.”

 

Perhaps this helps explain the following article in Presbyterian News:

 

http://presbyteriannews.org/volumes/v5/4/world-magazine-turns-down-anti-catholic-ad.html : “World magazine, the successor to the Presbyterian Journal, has refused to run a two-page ad by the Trinity Foundation. The advertisement basically consisted of The Reformation Day Statement, a document which the Foundation produced and circulated after its 1998 conference on "Christianity and Roman Catholicism."  The two-page spread, which would have cost between $3,000 and $4,000, was to run in the October 23, 1999, issue of World. According to Dr. John Robbins of the Trinity Foundation, the "space was reserved, the price agreed upon, and the placement in the magazine was discussed."
However, the magazine's publisher, Mr. John B. Prentis of St. Louis, after reading The Reformation Day Statement, decided not to publish it. According to Dr. Robbins, Mr. Prentis did not inform him of the decision to break the agreement, nor did the publisher explain it to the Trinity Foundation. Instead, Mr. Prentis assigned the task to Jennifer Graham of the magazine's staff. On October 12, Miss Graham informed Dr. Robbins via telephone that the content of The Reformation Day Statement was the basis for World's refusing to publish The Statement. In John Robbins' words, ‘In the opinion of World magazine, The Reformation Day Statement is unloving.’"

 

(See more information at http://www.cfcnb.org/1999wia/dec1999b.htm .)

 

It is interesting they would not run this ad, because World magazine was quite willing to run a full page ad of the Jesuits’ Ignatius Press on the second and very prominent page of its November 30, 2002 issue.  There we read of how James V. Schall, S.J. (“Society of Jesus”) recommends the recently published book “The Bible and the Qur’an.”

 

But this is not the only case which should raise concerns about the state of reformed journalism in America.  Let’s consider, for example, the very important Christian Observer.  According to http://www.henrylodge57.org/eTrestleboard/2002/September2002.htm :

 

“Henry Lodge #57 A.F. & A.M. eTrestleboard and Calendar September 2002…

Julianne Canaday Scholarship:  Miss Elizabeth Catherine Elliott, past Honored Queen of Bethel No. 21,  daughter of  Bro. Edwin P. Elliott, Jr. and Mrs. Anne B. Elliott of Manassas was the recipient of this year’s award of $500.00 in memory of Julianne Canaday.  Elizabeth will be a sophomore at The College of William and Mary where she is enrolled as a Pre-Med. Student. Our thanks to Wor. Russ Williams for his efforts in the selection process.”

 

Dr. Edwin Elliott, Jr.- the Masonic Brother noted on the website above -  is the managing editor of the Christian Observer.  Like Presbyterian Journal and God’s World Publications, the Christian Observer figures importantly in reformed journalism (especially conservative reformed journalism) in America. 

 

The information above hardly paints the full picture of the state of reformed journalism in America, but it surely should stimulate further investigation into this important topic.  And it even raises questions about Roman Catholic and Masonic influences at work in reformed seminaries in America.