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Newham, arguably the most Labour dominated council in the country, used to brag it was the poorest borough in Britain, and had been badly run for many years. 'It had periods in the past when the masons were bigger than they should have been,' she says.
(Interview with Wendy Thomson, Director of Inspection, Audit Commission, formerly Chief Executive of Newham LBC. Local Government Chronicle 4 February 2000.)
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'The Bible is God's revelation and is complete. To add to it, or to take away from it, is a serious sin. The ritual of craft freemasonry does both. It takes away in that it denies the essential mediation of Christ for the world and it adds a new system which is in fact an extension of Old Testament legalism, which purports to lead to salvation.' (Lawrence, p.104)
FREEMASONRY: A CHRISTIAN PERSPECTIVE
By John Lawrence
Gazelle Books. 221 pages. £8.99
ISBN 1 899746 21 8
This is a new edition of the book formerly called Freemasonry - a religion? (Kingsway, 1987) and written by an Anglican minister. The publisher (Monarch) is actually unchanged, but is using a different group imprint. The author has not been a mason, but has family connections. Apart from the official reports of certain churches, it is probably, for the U.K. the standard Christian handbook today, convenient for the Christian worker to keep on the shelf. .In the new edition, the author responds to criticisms (e.g. p.101), updates his bibliography partly, and describes recent developments in Church and State, but does not add an index.
John Lawrence argues on the basis of beliefs and practice that masonry is not compatible with the gospel. Its main appeal, he believes, is fellowship (p.142), followed by secrecy, ritual drama and security. The churches, with their predominantly female membership have often not responded pastorally to the needs of men. (p.145).
