# What Is the Great Architect of the Universe?

> Grand lodges use “Great Architect of the Universe” as a name for a Supreme Being each member defines by his own faith. This page quotes those definitions, the Royal Arch word Jahbulon and the church reports on it, and traces the claim that high-degree Masons worship an evil god to a confessed hoax.

- Canonical: https://apologetics.wiki/freemasonry/what-is-the-great-architect-of-the-universe
- Religions: Freemasonry
- Denominations: none
- Beliefs: none
- Tags: freemasonry, great architect of the universe, royal arch, albert pike
- Updated: 2026-10-13
- Author: [Paul Ambrose](https://apologetics.wiki/author/hi-its-paul) ([GitHub](https://github.com/hi-its-paul))


“Great Architect of the Universe” is the name Freemasonry uses for the Supreme Being in its lodges. Grand lodges define it so that a Christian, a Jew, a Muslim, or a Hindu can each mean his own God. No grand lodge text says that the Great Architect is an evil deity. The claim that high-degree Masons worship Lucifer comes from a document Léo Taxil wrote and confessed to inventing in 1897.

## Key Points

- The [United Grand Lodge of England](https://www.ugle.org.uk/discover-freemasonry/frequently-asked-questions) [(2)](#ref-2) says the term “Supreme Being” is “deliberately phrased so as to be fully inclusive.”
- [Albert Mackey](https://archive.org/details/cu31924030273175) [(3)](#ref-3) wrote that the Masonic creed’s first article is “a belief in God, the Creator of all things, who is therefore recognized as the Grand Architect of the Universe.”
- [Duncan’s Royal Arch](https://archive.org/details/duncan-s-masonic-ritual) [(4)](#ref-4) gives the words “Jah-buh-lun, Jehovah, G-o-d” in thirds by three companions (p. 224).
- The [Methodist Church (1985)](https://media.methodist.org.uk/media/documents/fo-statement-guidance-to-methodists-on-freemasonry-1985_FqrCK9z.pdf) [(5)](#ref-5) called Jahbulon “an example of syncretism.” Its [1996 review](https://media.methodist.org.uk/media/documents/fo-statement-freemasonry-1996_BKj0TuG.pdf) [(6)](#ref-6) says the Royal Arch has since “removed all references to the word from its rituals.”
- The 1889 “Luciferian doctrine” letter attributed to Albert Pike first appears in [De La Rive (1894)](https://archive.org/details/la-femme-et-l-enfant-dans-la-franc-maconnerie-universelle-000000132_202301) [(11)](#ref-11). Taxil said in 1897 it was “written by myself in Paris” [(12)](#ref-12).
- Pike’s real [Morals and Dogma](https://archive.org/details/cu31924030324978) [(10)](#ref-10) does mention Lucifer, on pp. 102, 321, and 324. None of those passages names the Great Architect as Lucifer.

## How Grand Lodges Define the Great Architect

The United Grand Lodge of England requires “a belief in the Supreme Being. This is essential and admits of no compromise.” [(1)](#ref-1) Its FAQ adds that members are expected “to be able to affirm a belief in a ‘Supreme Being’. This is deliberately phrased so as to be fully inclusive and we celebrate the diverse nature of the beliefs of our members. There is no requirement to be an active practitioner of any particular religion.” [(2)](#ref-2)

Mackey described the same idea in 1874. Freemasonry, he wrote, “is tolerant in the admission of men of every religious faith,” but “it has a creed,” and its first article is “a belief in God, the Creator of all things, who is therefore recognized as the Grand Architect of the Universe.” [(3)](#ref-3) The title is a placeholder. Each member supplies the God of his own religion.

## The Christian Objection to a Shared Name

Christians confess one God who is the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, and who says, “Thou shalt have no other gods before me” ([Exodus 20:3](/bible/exodus/20/3)) [(13)](#ref-13) and “my glory will I not give to another” ([Isaiah 42:8](/bible/isaiah/42/8)) [(14)](#ref-14). A prayer addressed to a Supreme Being defined so that every religion can join it does not name the Trinity. Churches that reject lodge membership say that is the problem. The objection is not that the lodge secretly worships a devil. It is that the lodge prays to a God without Christ.

## The Royal Arch Word Jahbulon

The Royal Arch is a further degree, worked in a chapter. Duncan’s 1866 American text describes three companions who “balance three times three” and then give “the words, Jah-buh-lun, Jehovah, G-o-d,” at low breath, “each companion pronouncing the syllables or letters alternately.” (p. 224) [(4)](#ref-4)

The Methodist Church of Great Britain studied the English ritual in 1985. Its report says “The most serious theological objection to Freemasonry for Christians lies in the name given to the Supreme Being in the rituals of the Royal Arch degree. One of the secrets revealed in this degree is that the name of the Supreme Being is JAHBULON.” It continues: “two of the three parts, JAH and BUL, are the names of gods in different religions, while the third syllable ON was thought by the composers of the ritual to be the name of a god in yet another religion; modern scholarship suggests they were wrong. In any case, it is clear that each of the three syllables is intended to be the name of a divinity in a particular religion. The whole word is thus an example of syncretism, an attempt to unite different religions in one, which Christians cannot accept.” [(5)](#ref-5)

The Church of England’s General Synod debated its working party’s report Freemasonry and Christianity: Are They Compatible? in July 1987. A 2016 consistory court judgment quotes the report as saying some Christians believed Masonic rituals were “blasphemous” because God’s name “must not be taken in vain, nor can it be replaced by an amalgam of the names of pagan deities,” and records that Synod endorsed the report by 394 votes to 52 [(7)](#ref-7).

## The Royal Arch Change

The Methodist Conference’s 1996 review says: “Since 1985 the governing body of the Royal Arch has removed all references to the word from its rituals.” [(6)](#ref-6) The Supreme Grand Chapter of England’s own history says that “In the 1980s it was the physical penalty in the obligation, the Royal Arch word and the misinterpretation of Hebrew that came under discussion,” and that Grand Chapter decided the principle while “the detail of how those elements were removed was left up to Chapters and the ritual working groups.” [(8)](#ref-8) A provincial Royal Arch “Ritual Amendments 1989” document is held by the Worcestershire Masonic Library [(9)](#ref-9). The exact month of the English decision was not found in a primary text, so this page gives the decade and that document. English practice does not bind American chapters.

## Is the Great Architect an Evil Deity?

This is the claim that at the highest level Masons know the Great Architect to be Lucifer or another evil being. The sources divide cleanly.

| Claim | Status | Source |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Grand lodges require belief in a Supreme Being and leave each member to define him. | Documented | [UGLE](https://www.ugle.org.uk/discover-freemasonry/frequently-asked-questions) [(2)](#ref-2); [Mackey](https://archive.org/details/cu31924030273175) [(3)](#ref-3) |
| An American Royal Arch exposure gives the words Jah-buh-lun, Jehovah, God. | Documented | [Duncan, p. 224](https://archive.org/details/duncan-s-masonic-ritual) [(4)](#ref-4) |
| Methodist and Anglican reports called Jahbulon syncretism or an amalgam of pagan names. | Documented | [Methodist 1985](https://media.methodist.org.uk/media/documents/fo-statement-guidance-to-methodists-on-freemasonry-1985_FqrCK9z.pdf) [(5)](#ref-5); [Church of England 1987, quoted in 2016](https://www.ecclesiasticallawassociation.org.uk/judgments/memorials/deanstoswald2016ecccar5.pdf) [(7)](#ref-7) |
| Pike wrote “Lucifer, the Light-bearer! Strange and mysterious name to give to the Spirit of Darkness!” | Documented, in a passage that also says the Apocalypse “despises all the pomps and works of Lucifer” | [Morals and Dogma, p. 321](https://archive.org/details/cu31924030324978) [(10)](#ref-10) |
| Pike told the 30th to 32nd degrees in 1889 that the Masonic religion must be kept in the purity of the Luciferian doctrine (De La Rive’s French: “maintenue dans la pureté de la doctrine luciférienne”). | Fabricated. Taxil wrote it. | [De La Rive, p. 588](https://archive.org/details/la-femme-et-l-enfant-dans-la-franc-maconnerie-universelle-000000132_202301) [(11)](#ref-11); [Taxil’s confession](https://www.freemasonry.bcy.ca/texts/taxil_confessed.html) [(12)](#ref-12) |
| Some Masonic body teaches its highest degree that the Great Architect is evil. | No primary source found | None |

The 1889 text is in French in De La Rive’s 1894 book: “La religion maçonnique doit être, par nous tous, initiés des hauts grades, maintenue dans la pureté de la doctrine luciférienne.” A footnote says Pike entrusted “Diana Vaughan” to carry this “encyclique luciférienne” to Paris in 1889 [(11)](#ref-11). In his 1897 address Taxil said Diana Vaughan was a typist who helped him, and that the Masonic journals had swallowed “a dogmatic circular about luciferian occultism, a circular dated July 14, 1889, written by myself in Paris, and which I disclosed as having been brought from Charleston to Europe by Miss Diana Vaughan on behalf of Albert Pike, its author.” [(12)](#ref-12) The details are on [Albert Pike and Lucifer](/freemasonry/albert-pike-and-lucifer).

## Frequently Asked Questions

### Do Masons Pray to the Great Architect?

Yes. The lodge prays to the Supreme Being under that title. Each Mason is told to understand it as his own God [(1)](#ref-1) [(2)](#ref-2).

### Is Jahbulon Still Used?

The Methodist Church reported in 1996 that the Royal Arch in England had removed it [(6)](#ref-6). This page does not claim what every American chapter uses today.

### Did Pike Say Lucifer Is God?

The words “Lucifer is God” in the 1889 letter are Taxil’s. Pike’s own book uses Lucifer as a name for light that blinds and for “the false Lucifer of the legend” (p. 102) [(10)](#ref-10).

## Passages Quoted on This Page

### Exodus 20:3

King James Version.

> Thou shalt have no other gods before me.

### Isaiah 42:8

King James Version.

> I am the LORD: that is my name: and my glory will I not give to another, neither my praise to graven images.

## Sources
Numbered to match the HTML References list. Item 1 is `#ref-1` under `#references`. Scripture links to the King James Version on this site.

1. [Information for the Guidance of Members of the Craft, Aims and Relationships of the Craft, 3; Points of Procedure: Grand Lodge](https://www.ugle.org.uk/sites/default/files/media/file/information-booklet-mar2024_download.pdf) (United Grand Lodge of England, March 2024.)
2. [Frequently Asked Questions, Do you have to believe in a God?](https://www.ugle.org.uk/discover-freemasonry/frequently-asked-questions) (United Grand Lodge of England.)
3. [An Encyclopaedia of Freemasonry and Its Kindred Sciences, “Creed, a Mason’s”](https://archive.org/details/cu31924030273175) (Albert G. Mackey, 1874, on archive.org.)
4. [Duncan’s Masonic Ritual and Monitor, Royal Arch degree, p. 224](https://archive.org/details/duncan-s-masonic-ritual) (Malcolm C. Duncan, 1866, public domain. An exposure of the American Royal Arch working of its day.)
5. [Guidance to Methodists on Freemasonry (1985), para. 20](https://media.methodist.org.uk/media/documents/fo-statement-guidance-to-methodists-on-freemasonry-1985_FqrCK9z.pdf) (Faith and Order report adopted by the Methodist Conference of 1985.)
6. [Freemasonry (1996), para. 23](https://media.methodist.org.uk/media/documents/fo-statement-freemasonry-1996_BKj0TuG.pdf) (Methodist Conference of 1996, reviewing the 1985 report.)
7. [Re St Oswald, Dean (2016), Consistory Court of the Diocese of Carlisle, paras. 28–33](https://www.ecclesiasticallawassociation.org.uk/judgments/memorials/deanstoswald2016ecccar5.pdf) (A Church of England court judgment that quotes the 1987 General Synod report Freemasonry and Christianity: Are They Compatible? (GS 784A). The report itself is a printed Church House Publishing book and was not found online.)
8. [Grand Chapter and the Ritual](https://mason33.org/content/africa/supremegrandchapter/about-royal-arch-masonry/history-of-supreme-grand-chapter/grand-chapter-and-the-ritual.html) (History page of the Supreme Grand Chapter of England (copyright Supreme Grand Chapter), on a mirror site.)
9. [Supreme Order of the Holy Royal Arch, Province of Worcestershire, Ritual Amendments 1989](https://catalogue.wmlmt.org.uk/wiki/2019/13.236:_Supreme_Order_of_the_Holy_Royal_Arch_Masonic_Province_of_Worcestershire_Ritual_Amendments_1989) (Catalogue entry of the Worcestershire Masonic Library and Museum for a 1989 Royal Arch ritual amendment document.)
10. [Morals and Dogma of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite of Freemasonry, pp. 102, 321, 324](https://archive.org/details/cu31924030324978) (Albert Pike, 1871, Cornell University Library scan on archive.org.)
11. [La Femme et l’enfant dans la franc-maçonnerie universelle, pp. 587–590](https://archive.org/details/la-femme-et-l-enfant-dans-la-franc-maconnerie-universelle-000000132_202301) (A. C. De La Rive, Paris, 1894, on archive.org. Prints the “instructions” dated 14 July 1889.)
12. [Taxil’s Confession, Le Frondeur, 25 April 1897](https://www.freemasonry.bcy.ca/texts/taxil_confessed.html) (English translation of Léo Taxil’s 19 April 1897 address, published in Heredom vol. 5 (1997) by the Scottish Rite Research Society and reprinted by the Grand Lodge of British Columbia and Yukon. A Masonic host; the French original was not located online.)
13. [Book of Exodus, 20:3](https://apologetics.wiki/bible/exodus/20/3). King James Version
14. [Book of Isaiah, 42:8](https://apologetics.wiki/bible/isaiah/42/8). King James Version

## See Also
- [Did Albert Pike Teach Lucifer Worship?](https://apologetics.wiki/freemasonry/albert-pike-and-lucifer) — Albert Pike’s Morals and Dogma (1871) mentions Lucifer on pages 102, 321, and 324, and this page quotes each passage in context. The 1889 “Luciferian doctrine” instructions often attributed to Pike were written by Léo Taxil, who confessed the hoax in 1897.
- [What Are the York Rite and Scottish Rite Degrees?](https://apologetics.wiki/freemasonry/york-rite-and-scottish-rite-degrees) — After the three Blue Lodge degrees, a Master Mason may join further bodies. The York Rite adds the Mark Master, Past Master, Most Excellent Master, and Royal Arch degrees and the Knights Templar orders. The Scottish Rite numbers its degrees from the 4th to the 32nd.
- [Can a Christian Be a Freemason?](https://apologetics.wiki/freemasonry/can-a-christian-be-a-freemason) — Grand lodges say Freemasonry is not a religion and welcomes men of every faith. Most churches that have studied it say its rituals, prayers, and oaths make it a religious system that a Christian should not join. This page sets out both claims from their own texts.
- [What Are the Masonic Oaths and Penalties?](https://apologetics.wiki/freemasonry/masonic-oaths-and-penalties) — The obligations of the Blue Lodge and Royal Arch, as the nineteenth-century exposures print them, carried penalties of a cut throat, a torn-open breast, a body severed in two, and a skull smote off. The United Grand Lodge of England removed the physical penalties from its obligations in 1986.
- [What Are the Order of the Eastern Star and DeMolay?](https://apologetics.wiki/freemasonry/eastern-star-and-demolay) — The Order of the Eastern Star is a Masonic-related order for men who are Master Masons and for women. DeMolay is a Masonic-sponsored order for young men aged 12 to 21. Both are tied to Freemasonry by their membership rules.