hat does the Bible say about the fraternity of freemasonry & the masonic beliefs? When & how did they get started?

The Bible doesn’t have anything to say directly about freemasonry and masonic beliefs, as that organization came into existence well after the Bible was written. It is a fraternal organization that exists worldwide. However, there is no worldwide organization of masons. While it can arguable trace its origins back to the 14th century, most histories look back at the beginning of the first Grand Lodge in London in 1717 as a pivotal moment. This is actually a great lack of organized information about the history of freemasonry. However, there have been many notable masons throughout history; George Washington, Earl Warren (former chief justice of the US Supreme Court), and astronaut Edwin “Buzz” Aldrin are counted as members, as is (or was) John Elway, Gerald Ford, Benjamin Franklin, John Glenn, J. Edgar Hoover, Harry Houdini, Burl Ives, Charles Lindbergh, General Douglas MacArthur, Mozart, Arnold Palmer, Paul Revere, Don Rickles, Roy Rogers, Theodore Roosevelt, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Joseph Smith (founder of the Mormons) and his successor Brigham Young, Dave Thomas (founder of Wendy’s), Harry Truman, and John Wayne. They have become known as an organization long prized for the business and social contacts available through membership, and for the great work their charities do around the world.
Do they interfere with Christianity? The answer appears to be an unqualified “Yes!” When a person is initiated into the masonic lodge, part of the ceremony involves him kneeling before a member who is called the “Worshipful Master,” and confessing that he is “lost in darkness,” and is in need of the “light of Freemasonry,” reflecting their belief that everyone outside of Freemasonry exists in darkness and that only masons have the true knowledge that will bring light to the world. And what is that knowledge? It is certainly nothing that lays claim to the singular “light of the world” found in Jesus Christ. According to leading masonic authorities, their goal is to “bring about a universal league of mankind and to form mankind into a great redemptive brotherhood” (quoted from John Ford Newton, The Builders). A primary masonic goal is to do away with religions and their creeds and doctrines, and to establish a one-world, universal religion free from confining doctrine. According to Albert Pike, another leading masonic authority, “We belong to no one creed or school. In all religions, there is a basis of truth, in all there is pure morality. . . . All teachers and reformers of mankind we admire and revere. . . . It . . . allows every brother of the Order to assign to each (reformer) such higher and even divine character as his creed and truth require.” Another masonic authority, Manly P. Hall, wrote the following in his book, The Lost Keys of Freemasonry: “The true Mason is not creed-bound. He realizes with the divine illumination of his Lodge that as a mason his religion must be universal: Christ, Buddha, or Mohammed, the name means little, for he recognizes only the light and not the bearer. He worships at every shrine, bow before every altar, whether in temple, mosque, or cathedral, realizing with his truer understanding the oneness of all spiritual truth.”
What does the Bible say in response? God Himself said this: This is what the Lord says—Israel’s King and Redeemer, the Lord Almighty: I am the first and I am the last; apart from me there is no God. . . . Do not tremble, do not be afraid. Did I not proclaim this and foretell it long ago? You are my witnesses. Is there any God besides me? No, there is no other Rock; I know not one. . . . I am the Lord, and there is no other; apart from me there is no God. . . . Remember the former things, those of long ago; I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like me”—God speaking, Isaiah 44:6, 8; 45:5a; 46:9. His Son, Jesus Christ, said this: “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me—Jesus Christ, John 14:6. He had earlier told Nicodemus, “I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again”—Jesus Christ, John 3:3. One of his disciples, Peter, confirmed this, telling the same Sanhedrin that had condemned Christ, Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved”—Peter, Acts 4:12. We can’t allow ourselves to be fooled by the appearance of goodness, often dressed up in good deeds and good intentions. “Good” is a heart issue, a heart issue decided by the simple presence or absence of Jesus Christ. Nothing else matters.
Before we close this out, one overlooked fact: Some of the most admired men in the world are Shriners. We celebrate the good they have done in their charity work; we especially point to the Shriners Hospital as a prime example. Yet their heritage is anything but, and maybe most clearly revealed by the hat they wear—those red hats called fezzes. The reality is this: In the eighth century, Muslim hordes attacked the Moroccan city of Fez, slaughtering every Christian man, woman and child they could find there. As the killing continued, the blood of these innocents ran in the streets. The Muslim killers dipped their caps into the blood as a testimony to Allah, continuing to call out their most basic creed, “There is no god but Allah, and Mohammed is his prophet.” Those bloodstained caps eventually were called “fezzes” and were worn as a badge of honor for those who killed Christians. The fezzes we see today still commemorate that atrocious crime, as their hats continue to show the Islamic sword and crescent—emblematic of the crime committed some 1300 years ago. No Christian should have anything to do with masons. We are called to a distinct faith—found only in Jesus Christ. We are filled with a distinct life—given only by Jesus Christ. We preach and teach a specific way, truth and life—proclaimed only by Jesus Christ. Freemasonry is the pagan opposite of all that Jesus Christ represents.