Did William Franklin Graham Jr. Have Masonic Ties? The Truth

William Franklin Graham Jr. also known as Billy Graham became quite popular in the Christian community and was the holder of the title of Southern Baptist Minister over the years. In the 1940s his international fame began to take off and he became a very influential figure in the evangelical Christian community.

However, Billy Graham has been accused of being a Freemason throughout his career. New publications on this topic started to appear even in the same week as his death. The question now: Did Billy Graham have Masonic ties?

Firstly, What is Freemasonry?

The Freemasonry is a secret society that is active all over the world. It is a fraternal society of ‘men only’ lodges. While there are many things about the masons that are public, they generally tend to keep their activities and rituals secret from the public.

The Freemasons community does not describe any specific orthodoxies as a belief. In order to apply, you must be an adult male and believe in a type of supreme being. Additionally, the applicant also has to believe that the soul is immortal.

It’s worth noting here that in the past, Freemasons have been described as a Christian institution, but this is not entirely accurate. Freemasonry simply requires a belief in a higher being, and this does not restrict members to Christians only.

Billy Graham and Masonic Allegations:

Billy Graham was an evangelist. He was also a Southern Baptist minister. Billy was born in 1918 and began to make an international mark in the 1940s. Graham was active in a number of evangelistic campaigns from 1947. He also ran annual campaigns and retired in 2005.

It was often said that Graham was part of the Freemasonry community during his career. Today, we will look at these rumors and the truth behind them.

The Handshake between Billy Graham and Henry S. Truman:

The truth is that there is no clear evidence as to where the rumors of ‘Graham being a Freemason’ started to surface. However, it is a known fact that so many have based their speculations, based on certain photos that were published – especially the one in which a handshake can be noticed between Graham and Henry S. Truman.

Truman was involved in many activities in the Freemasonry community. He also didn’t shy away from the fact that he was part of this community, and he didn’t even do so during his presidency. Truman also served as the Past Grand Master in one of the Masons, in Missouri.

Hence this one photograph of Billy Graham shaking hands with Truman sparked many rumors about Graham’s association with the Masonic community.

Conspiracy Theories:

The photograph certainly helped to fuel the many conspiracies surrounding Graham’s membership as a Freemason. But in the same week that he died, new reports began to surface talking about the evidence that is out there, about Graham and his possible involvement.

Not only did the report claim to have evidence that Graham was a Freemason, but also speculated that he was connected to the Vatican Churt and was a promoter of the One World Religion movement. Obviously, with any type of conspiracy theory like this, it’s important to take everything into account and look at the story from multiple sides.

An error on Composite Lodge No. 595’s website:

According to The Grand Lodge of British Columbia and Yukon, a possible source for the rumors about Billy Graham, could be due to a mistake on the website of Composite Lodge No. 595 in Santa Monica, California, USA.

According to freemasonry.bcy.ca, the brother who maintained the Composite Lodge No. 595’s site reproduced a list of famous Freemasons, which included Billy Graham’s name, mistakenly. This list was later amended on December 28, 1996, but other masonic websites had inadvertently reproduced the list by then.

The Truth Behind The Rumors

There were several times during William Franklin Graham Jr.’s career when he was speculated to be a Freemason.

But despite these reports, Graham denied all of these accusations. The Southern Baptist Convention also confirmed that Graham was never a Freemason at any time.

In fact, the Freemasonry Community actually shared an email that was sent out by the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association on the 16th of July, 1997.

Subject: Freemason
Date: Wed, 16 Jul 97 11:23:21 -0500
From: dkinde@graham-assn.org (Don Kinde)

Thank you for your e-mail message. We understand your concern about rumors that Mr. Graham is in some way associated with Freemasonry. The reports are erroneous — though we continue to hear them. Mr. Graham is not, has not been and does not expect ever to be involved in Freemasonry. Your help in keeping the record as accurate as possible would be much appreciated.

Sincerely,
Don Kinde
Christian Guidance Department
Billy Graham Evangelistic Association

The association admits in this email that there have been several accounts of people reporting Graham to be part of the Freemasonry community. The email says that at the time Graham was not in any way connected to the Freemasons. The email also confirmed that Graham had no interest in joining the Freemasons in the future.

Well, the Freemasons do keep their activities secret, but those who are active members are not usually kept secret. Therefore, had Graham been a part of the members of the Freemasonry Community, this would have been easily accessible at the time.

Therefore, based on the evidence that is available, it does not appear that Graham was a Freemason.