The Masonic Bible: What Is It and What Is Written Inside?

Search the phrase Masonic Bible and you will find a curious mixture of results: auction listings for leather bound volumes with gilt square and compasses on the cover, nervous forum threads asking whether Freemasons have their own scripture, and a scattering of sensational claims best left unrepeated. The truth is quieter and, to a historian at least, rather more interesting.

A Masonic Bible is, in nearly every case, an ordinary Bible. Most commonly it is the King James Version, bound with additional pages at the front that explain Masonic symbolism, list scriptural passages used in the degrees, and provide space to record the owner's Masonic milestones. It is not a separate holy book, and Freemasonry has never claimed to possess one.

§The Volume of the Sacred Law

To understand why the Bible matters in a lodge, you need one Masonic phrase: the Volume of the Sacred Law. Every regular lodge must have a sacred text open on the altar or pedestal whenever it is at work. Together with the square and compasses, it forms what Masons call the three Great Lights. The square and compasses rest upon the open book, a physical arrangement rich in meaning that is explored in What the Square and Compasses Actually Mean.

In lodges where most members are Christian, the Volume of the Sacred Law is usually the Bible. But the phrase is chosen with care. A lodge may have several sacred texts present, and a candidate takes his obligation on the book he holds sacred. A Jewish candidate may use the Tanakh, a Muslim candidate the Qur'an, a Hindu candidate the Bhagavad Gita, a Sikh candidate the Guru Granth Sahib. The United Grand Lodge of England states this principle plainly in its published guidance at ugle.org.uk.

This is why Freemasonry requires a belief in a Supreme Being but does not tell a man what that belief must be. If that requirement concerns you, Do You Have to Believe in God to Be a Freemason? and Freemasonry and Religion treat the subject in depth.

§What is printed inside a Masonic Bible

Editions vary by publisher and era, but American Masonic Bibles printed from the late nineteenth century onwards tend to share a common structure. A typical edition includes the following additions to the standard scriptural text.

• A presentation page recording the owner's name, lodge, and the dates on which he was initiated, passed and raised.
• An introductory essay on the Bible's place in Freemasonry, often written by a Grand Master or noted Masonic scholar of the day.
• A concordance of scriptural passages quoted or referenced in the three Craft degrees.
• Short illustrated essays on Masonic symbols, such as the level, plumb, trowel and the twenty four inch gauge.
• Historical notes on King Solomon's Temple, the setting around which much Craft symbolism is built.
• Blank pages for family records, much like any family Bible.

None of these additions alter the scripture itself. The text of Genesis to Revelation is the same text found in any Bible of the same translation. The Masonic material sits before it, much as a study Bible adds maps and commentary. Many brethren who are not especially scholarly find these pages a gentle introduction to the symbolism they meet in the degrees.

§When a Mason receives one

In many American jurisdictions it is customary for the lodge, or sometimes the candidate's sponsor or family, to present him with a Masonic Bible on the night he is raised to the degree of Master Mason. The presentation page is signed by the Worshipful Master and Secretary. For many men it becomes a cherished heirloom, passed to a son or grandson, sometimes with its pages softly worn where verses from the degrees are found.

The custom is less common in British and European lodges, where a newly raised brother is more likely to receive a certificate from Grand Lodge and perhaps a book of the lodge's own history. Practices differ from one jurisdiction to another, which is a theme you will meet repeatedly. Are All Masonic Lodges the Same? explains why.

Wondering whether your faith, or lack of it, is compatible with Freemasonry? The free Readiness Quiz checks the essential requirements in five minutes and tells you honestly where you stand.

§Old Masonic Bibles as collectibles

If you have found an old Masonic Bible in a relative's belongings, look first at the presentation page. It may tell you the lodge he belonged to and the dates of his degrees. Lodges keep membership records going back many decades, and a polite letter to the lodge secretary, or to the Grand Lodge of the state, can often reveal more about your ancestor's Masonic life. Several men I know were first drawn to the fraternity by exactly this kind of discovery.

Market value varies widely. Common twentieth century editions sell for modest sums. Older or finely bound copies, especially those with interesting inscriptions, are of greater interest to collectors and Masonic libraries. If the book belonged to your family, it is often worth more kept than sold, and many lodges would be delighted to see it.

§Common misunderstandings

Because the phrase Masonic Bible sounds like a book of secrets, it attracts some misconceptions worth correcting directly.

• It does not contain the ritual. Masonic ritual is learned from mentors and, in some jurisdictions, from coded ritual books, never from the Bible.
• It is not worshipped. The lodge is not a church, and the open book is a symbol of a man's duty to his God, not an object of devotion.
• It does not replace a man's own faith or his place of worship. Freemasonry repeatedly encourages members to be faithful to their own religion.
• Catholic, Orthodox and Protestant Christians each have their own views on Freemasonry. Can a Catholic Become a Freemason? addresses the most frequently asked version of this question.

§Why the open book matters

The historian in me finds the open Volume of the Sacred Law one of the most telling details in Masonic practice. Eighteenth century lodges met at a time of fierce religious division across Britain and Europe. Placing a sacred text at the centre of the room, while forbidding religious argument within it, was a deliberate act. It said that men of different denominations could meet in harmony provided they each respected the divine and each other. Three centuries later, that principle still shapes every regular lodge.

If you hold no religious belief at all, regular Freemasonry is not for you, and it is better to know that early. Can You Be a Freemason If You Are Not Religious? gives an honest answer and explains the alternatives. If you do hold a faith, you will find the lodge a place where it is respected and never questioned.

Whether or not you ever own a Masonic Bible, the book on the altar will be the first thing you notice when you enter a lodge room for the first time. Now you will know what it is, and why it is there. For the next piece of the picture, read about the Masonic Ring presented in the same spirit.