3.  “Whosoever denieth the Son, the same hath not the Father; but he
  that acknowledgeth the Son hath the Father also.”

All Christian churches are based on these truths, and the center and culmination of their worship is this recognition of Christ in the Sacrament as the Lamb of God, who taketh away the sins of the world.  Christ, too, is the center of the worship of heaven.

Hence, if Christians associate with others in worship, it can rightly be only on the ground that the worship centers in Christ, and acknowledges him as Lord, to the glory of the Father.

Hence, if, for the sake of extending an organization, men are admitted of all religions—­Pagans, Mohammedans, Deists, Jews—­and if, for the sake of accommodating them with a common ground of union, Christ is ignored, and the God of nature or of creation is professedly worshiped, and morality inculcated solely on natural grounds, then such worship is not accepted by the real God and Father of the universe, for he looks on it as involving the rejection and dishonor, nay, the renewed crucifixion of his Son.  As to Christ, he tolerates no neutrality.  He who is not for him is against him.  These principles do not involve the question of secrecy.  They hold true of all societies, open or secret.

If, on such anti-Christian grounds, prayers are framed, rites established, and chaplains appointed, ignoring Christ and his intercession, God regards it as a mockery and an insult to himself and his church.  In it is revealed the hatred of Satan to Christ.  By it Christ is dethroned and Satan exalted.

These principles do not exclude worship and prayer from societies.  In any societies, true worship in the name of Christ will be accepted.

Let us now apply these principles to the societies of Free Masonry, the modern mother of secret societies.  Concerning these we hold it to be plain: 

That they have neither science nor art to impart as a reward of membership.  The time was when there was a society, or societies, of working masons, coming down from the old Roman empire, and extending through the middle ages.  These were societies of great power, and wrought great works.  The cathedrals of the middle ages were each erected by such a corporation, and attest their skill and energy.

But these corporations of working masons have passed away, and Masonry is now, even in profession, only theoretical, and in fact, so far as this art is concerned, is not even this.  It does not teach the theory of architecture.  The transition took place in 1717, after a period of decline in the lodges of working masons.  All pretences to a history back of this, or to any connection with Solomon or Hiram, are mere false pretences and delusion for effect.  No art is taught and no science is communicated by the system.

Practical ends, then, alone remain; and, in fact, the founders of the system avowed “brotherly love, relief, and truth” as these ends.  The cultivation of social intercourse is also avowed as an end by defenders of the system.  But such ends as these furnish no good reasons for secrecy; nor is secrecy favorable to a wise and economical use of the income of such bodies for purposes of benevolence.  An open and public acknowledgment of receipts and expenditures is needed as a safeguard against a dishonest and wasteful expenditure of funds.