Secret Societies The Story of N. D. Faulkhead “A Foundation of Truth” Lesson 44

A secret society is a club or organization whose activities are concealed from non-members. Pathfinders, for example, is not a secret society because anyone can know about the honor subjects being studied and the program followed at the meetings, and membership is open. Secret societies, on the other hand, have carefully guarded and progressive teachings that are available only to selected individuals and which supposedly lead to hidden truths. They have rituals, hand signs, code words, etc., which non-members are not permitted to know or observe. Many times doors are guarded so that no one can enter without permission.

Some societies have been violent, such as the Klu Klux Klan, and some societies have reached out to the community in an effort to benefit the people, but if it is secret, it is wrong for us to be a part of it. Why?

There is nothing secret about God. He is open about himself and his work in the great controversy between good and evil. Salvation is free and open to all--no secret membership allowed!

Satan, on the other hand, is devious, hides himself and his true work, is the father of lies, and secretly lays plans for our destruction. Sin often lies under the cloak of darkness and secrecy, and deceit is always a work of Satan.

This is why Ellen White counseled against joining secret societies--truth is not found in secret, mysterious teachings, for truth is open and free to all. There is a charm, a pull, to something mysterious that only can be understood by a few, and we want to stay away from that pull because it is from Satan. Counsel against being a member of a secret society was given in 1892 to N. D. Faulkhead, who lived in Australia.

N. D. Faulkhead Dressed in his regalia of an officer of the Masonic Order