Masonic Bibles
What is the Masonic Bible? And What is the relationship between Freemasonry and the Bible? If we consider the first Hebrew texts upon leather scrolls and papyrus, the Old Testament, as we already know about the fact that, today, it is available to us through the ages.
What is the Masonic Bible?
There are a few questions that we can address in this piece of writing regarding the Bible. Some of the questions are as follows:
Q: Why there is a need to know the basics about the Bible genealogy significant to a Freemason today?
A: The reason behind that is that Freemasonry has the biblical foundations.
Q: Is there any difference between the Freemason Bible and a regular one?
A: No, Freemason Bible is not any different from a regular Bible.
The Bible comes from the Greek word Biblia, which is the most sacred book for all of the Christians and also serves as the source of truth and a book that consists of the revelations of the word of God. It can be said that in millenniums, no other book could replace it. Meaning thereby that no other book is as significant as the Bible. It is known that no original manuscripts exist, there are only copies of the copies through translations and there is a possibility of many errors that have invariably sneaked in. It was assembled around 3300 years ago. The Bible still maintains to be the most popular books.
Most of the Freemasonry has relied upon the biblical characters and scriptures.
The Free Masons are a group that has sprung from the Knight Templars several centuries ago. And since their mystical origins revolve around the Christian beliefs, they have several revered and holy bibles.
They have had several bibles in the past. Since the Free Masons have biblical foundations, it is obvious that they to would have a bible. Unfortunately, no known existing original bibles or holy texts exist, and there are only copies are in existence. Certain biblical texts and characters play a key role in the Free Mason bible and traditions.
The Creator
The Creator, the Great Geometrician of God as we know him, is the Supreme Being and is worshipped through various rituals that are performed by the Free Masons in their secret lodges.
Masonic Symbols
The Masonic Symbols are part and parcel of their rites and customs and the holy symbols include the Ark of the Covenant and Kings Solomon’s Temple
Masonic Altar
The Masonic Altar is based around a holy book which can change depending on the personal religion of the mason performing the ritual. They do this to get the blessings of the creator.
The FreeMasons essentially use the Bible for the masonic altar, and they have used several bibles through the centuries for their rituals. The Bible is used only by Christian when other masons of various faiths perform. They use their own religious books. Some of the bibles used by the masons previously are the Septuagint, St. Jerome’s Vulgate, and the Wycliffe Bible.
There is a table that is given below that gives you an idea about the Old Testament Bible Genealogy of the most popular Greek, Hebrew, Latin and English translations of the Bible:
Old Testament Bible Genealogy
1300-165 B.C. | First Hebrew texts set down on papyrus and leather scrolls |
250-50 B.C. | Septuagint – First translations from Hebrew to Greek |
7th-9th Centuries A.D. | Texts edited into present day form by Masoretes |
400 A.D. | St. Jerome’s Vulgate – Latin translation. Catholic standard. |
1382 A.D. | Wycliffe’s Bible. First English translation |
1455 A.D. | Guttenberg Bible. First printed Bible, using Vulgate text. |
1525-1530 A.D. | Tyndale Bible. First printed English translation from Hebrew texts. |
1539 A.D. | Great Bible. First English translation authorized by Church. |
1560 A.D. | Geneva Bible. Published by English exiles. Brought to America by Pilgrims. |
1582-1610 A.D. | Douay Bible. English translation for Catholics brought to America. |
1611 A.D. | King James Bible. Translated by 47 scholars. Most famous English Bible. |
1663 A.D. | Algonquin Bible. Translated for Indians. First Bible printed in America. |
1952 | Confraternity Bible. First U.S. Catholic versions entirely from basic Hebrew sources, including the Dead Sea Scrolls, discovered in 1947. These are the oldest available texts, some dating to 200 B.C. |
1952 | Revised Standard Version. Protestant Bible |
Freemasonry and the Bible
There are many translations of the Bible that have been carried out by many since 1952. Both of these Freemasonry and the Bible are said to go along. But, a fact that is not be ignored here is that various Bibles have been placed upon the Masonic altar. It is to be noted here that many other Holy Books from all of the languages reside upon the various Masonic altars around the Globe, for the Freemasons who are English speaking. The ones whose Masonic lodges used the Bible, the Bible that exists today is like all of the Bibles, a translated version of the actual Hebrew texts.
Let’s consider a few of them:
Septuagint: It is a name driven by the 72 Jewish scholars who are responsible for Greek to Hebrew. Their work was to be performed in Egypt. It was important because people back then used to understand Greek instead of Hebrew.
St. Jerome’s Vulgate: Talking about the first Latin Bible, it was done by St. Jerome’s Vulgate. It was read by common people at that time.
Gutenberg Bible: Johannes Gensfleisch Gutenberg of Mainz, Germany, formed a published type of the Latin Vulgate translation. It is the first book formed utilizing a moveable form. Before that, the Bible was available in handwritten manuscripts.
Tyndale Bible: William Tyndale was an English translator and he was persecuted by the Church. He fled to various Low Countries and ended up being strangled over there.
Great Bible: Also, to take note, Henry VIII has possession of copies of the Great Bible that was chained for the purpose to foil overzealous worshippers.
Geneva Bible: It was a Puritan version.
Douay Bible: It was translated in Douai and Rheims.
King James Bible: Known as the most famous version among the Protestants and Anglicans.
We hope the information helps you in any way possible. We would like to know your opinions in the comment sections below.