Christian Heresies of the
Eighteenth Century:

 Freemasonry:
    Born in 1717 when 4 Craft Lodges gathered at the Apple Tree Tavern in London. A secret fraternal order of Free and Accepted Masons, spread by the British Empire, with actually 5 million members; 3 million in the USA, with 250,00 on the black "Prince Hall" Masonry.
    Some Masons define it as "a beautiful system of morality veiled in allegory and illustrated by symbols"... also as "the realization of God by the practice of Brotherhood": To reach God by doing good works to your neighbor...
    It has been described as "the biggest, richest, most secret and most powerful private force in the world"... and certainly, "the most deceptive", both for the general public, and for the first 3 degrees of "initiates": Entered Apprentice, Fellow Craft, and Master Mason (the basic "Blue Lodge")...
    You can't be a Mason and a Christian or a Muslim: Most Christian and Muslim leaders forbid Freemasonry... because it is a most deceptive secret society. Freemasons have been excommunicated from the Catholic Church by 8 Popes, and condemned by Baptists, Lutherans, Presbyterians, Methodists, Russian Orthodox Church... Freemasonry

Shakers, Union Society:
    1741- Ann Lee- Jane Wardley, with the help of her brother James, organized this sect in England in the year 1747. Later they were joined by Ann Lee, of Manchester, who claimed to be Christ in His second reincarnation. She came to America in 1774. They are called "Shakers" because in their meeting they had emotional movements of the body, sometimes so strong as to cause convulsive rolling on the floor. They live isolated from the world in "communes", with very strict abstinence life. The few remaining Shakers live in a community in Maine. They deny Christ in worship and substitute in His place "The Highest Good, wherever it may be found." Christian Denominations

Methodists, "Holy Club":
    1744- Founded by John and Charles Wesley in England. It is now the second largest Protestant denomination in the USA, with 15.5 million members; 29 million worldwide. The "Pentecostals" are their "children".
    Two distinctive features:
    1- A "mystical experience", is the best way to know God: The "witness of the Spirit" to the individual, with personal assurance of salvation, the "heartwarming experience". This "born-again" experience is the first of the four ways to know God; the other 3 are: Scripture, reason, and tradition.
    2- It was the "social conscience" of England, preaching to the "poor" a new message of hope and care: They devoted much time to create private welfare agencies to help the poor, social reforms, improvement of the daily life of workers, legalize labor unions, abolish slavery, protect woman and children; they started schools for children, old folk' homes, orphanages, dispensaries for the sick, agencies for the unemployed and homeless... and they were among the foremost champions of a democratic free United States.
    They hold Scripture to be the sole and sufficient rule of belief and practice; teach justification by faith alone, although the practice of good works is commended... and done! Christian Denominations

Moravians, Church of the Brotherhood, United Brethren:
    After Huss, 1727: The English priest "Wycliff", denied the authority of the Pope 200 years before Luther. "John Huss", a Bohemian priest (now western Czechoslovakia), followed his ideas... In 1457, some followers of Huss founded the "Church of the Brotherhood", considered the pioneer and the earliest independent Protestant body, even before Luther. Later, in 1727, it became the "United Brethren, or Moravian Church". There are now 70,000 in Bethlehem, Nazareth, and Lititz (Pennsylvania, USA), a small number, but their influence has been enormous, the first to light the torch of Protestant missionary zeal. Christian Denominations

Unitarians:
    1774- Theophilus Lindsay. In 1774 in England on the basis of "Socinianism" of the 16th Century, denying the Trinity, and proclaiming that Jesus was not God; the atonement of Jesus is invalid, and salvation is only by works. Cults

Universalism:
    It is also a product of the eighteenth century enlightenment, including rationalism and anti-supernaturalism... it holds that all living beings attain complete salvation, against all teaching of the Bible... and still they call themselves Christians... and with the Unitarians they carry on this schizophrenic torch.
    Unitarian-Universalist Association: In 1959 the "Unitarian Church" merged with the "Universalist Church". Today they have 200,000 members in 1,000 churches. Cults