Did You Know?

The Bible is called a greater Light of Masonry because it pours forth upon the East, West, North and South its refulgent rays of Divine Truth, and is used among Masons as the symbol of the will of the G. A. O.T. U. Whatever to any people expresses that will may be and is used as a substitute for the Bible in a Masonic Lodge. Thus, in a Lodge consisting entirely of Jews, the Old Testament alone may be placed on the Altar, and Turkish Masons make use of the Koran (Qur’an). Whether it be the Gospels to Christians, the Pentateuch to the Israelite, the Koran to the Musselman (Muslim—see note below), or the Vedas to the Brahmin, it everywhere Masonically conveys the same idea – that of symbolism of the Divine Will revealed to man. An enquiry that is often raised is as to at what place the V. S. L. ought to be open in a Lodge. There are no special directions – some lodges and some W. Ms. have their own particular pages, but the late W. Bro. Dr. G. Oliver (a very great authority) suggests that for the First Degree, Psalm cxxiii; Ruth iv; Genesis xxi; xxii; xxviii; or 2 Samuel xxiv might be used; for the Second Degree, 1 Kings vi; 2 Chronicles iii; or Judges xii; and for the Third Degree, 2 Chronicles iii; or iv. Probably the most frequently used passages are First Degree Psalms cxxiii, Second Degree Amos vii:7-8, Third Degree Ecclesiastes xii:1-7.

NB Archaic word for "a Muslim," 1560s, from Turkish musulman, from Persian musulman (adj.), from Arabic muslim + adjective suffix -an.