The most accurate and scholarly work yet done on freemasonry is probably Darkness visible by Walton Hannah.
The Church of England’s Society for the Propagation of Christian Knowledge (SPCK) carries no literature examining Freemasonry. Walton Hannah states that a directive was sent to these book shops stating that
Darkness Visible should not be stocked. The Archbishop of Canterbury is the President of the SPCK.
The Archbishop of Canterbury responsible for banning Walton Hannah’s book was Dr. Geoffrey Fisher - a Freemason of long standing.
Hannah related how a mysterious gentleman invited him to the foyer of the Savoy Hotel and offered him £1000 in notes for not publishing his book. (1952)
Walton Hannah was eventually driven out of England to live in Canada.
Masons could even be given Masonic funerals,
elaborate ones, but in 1962 Grand Lodge decreed that 'the final
obsequies of any human being, Mason or not, are 'complete in
themselves' and do not call for any Masonic prayers at the religious
services or graveside. This ban came after incidents such as that
engulfing the Bishop of Southwark, Mervyn Stockwood, in 1959. The
relatives of a Mason had asked to hold a Masonic funeral in a local
church.
"I carefully studied the proposed service and
I found that the words 'Jesus Christ' were omitted from the prayers
and the word 'Architect' substituted. Worse still, the cross was to
be removed from the altar and an additional non-Christian ceremony
was to take place at the graveside. I informed the vicar that while
people must be free to bury their dead in their own way, I thought
that in this case it would be better for the service to take place
in a Masonic Temple. A Bishop when he is consecrated promises to
banish strange doctrines; therefore I could not allow the doctrine
of the divinity of Christ to be treated as peripheral. Moreover
every church was dedicated in the Name of the Holy Trinity and not
in the name of the 'Architect' This line I took stirred up a
hornet's nest. I was warned that I had offended important people and
that diocese would suffer financially. It may have done so"
