I swear: put Masons' Bible into history

Now here's a historical tidbit that I didn't know. They didn't teach this one in school. I was unaware that Mason had Bibles in their Lodges since the belief in God is generally speaking; correct?


'I swear': Last-minute availability put Masons' Bible into history

One of the men at hand, parade marshal Jacob Morton, also happened to be master of the St. John's Lodge No. 1 of the Masons and offered to provide one from the lodge, located nearby at the corner of Water and Wall streets. The organization's 1767 King James Version was rushed to the hall and opened to Genesis, at the end of Chapter 49 and the beginning of Chapter 50, where Washington placed his hand for the ceremony.
As he completed the oath written for the occasion, Washington added the unscripted words, "I swear, so help me God," and bowed to kiss the Bible.
Thus was born a tradition followed by almost every one of the 42 presidents inaugurated since then, including some who have used the very same Bible.


Full story here:
www.catholicnews.com...

This is true, but not that many have used the Washington bible. Bush Jr. wanted to use it at his inaguration, but due to rain, a closed family bible was substituted. His father did use it at his inaguration, it was opened to a random verse in the middle, while a family bible was placed on top, and opened to Matthew 5.

Other Presidents that have used it
Washington ( of course) opened to Genesis 49:13
"Zebulun shall dwell at the haven of the sea; and he shall be for an haven of ships; and his border shall be unto Zidon."

Warren G. Harding opened to Micah 6:8
"He hath showed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the LORD require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?"


Dwight D. Eisenhower opened to Psalm 127:1
"A Song of degrees for Solomon. Except the LORD build the house, they labour in vain that build it: except the LORD keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain."

A man uses his own Volume of Sacred Law (scriptures) when he professes belief in a supreme being and takes vows. Whether or not it is a Christian Bible is of no consequence to Masonic Lodges, in general.

A good friend of mine, and brother Mason travelled around the country for many years with the "George Washington" Bible. The same one GW took his oath on as President.

That is a bible in the possession of St. John's Lodge #1 of the Grand Lodge of the State of NY. I've heard that all Master Masons of that Lodge also take their third degree obligation on it.

I'm sure other Masons will tell you that a belief in Diety is a REQUIREMENT to be a Freemason.



[edit on 17-1-2005 by davidg]

The bible was almost destroyed in the WTC disaster.

Wow. What it the story behind its survival?

Also, a question about the God thing. I remember hearing that the big G in the middle of the masonic symbol (at least the ring an old gentleman had) stands for God. But this is God in a general sense, correct? Not neccesarily the christian god, but a supreme being? I just want to make sure I'm not spreading disinformation.

Now with George Washington, when he said "so help me God", one might assume that it was the christian god. Does anyone know for sure if he was a christian? The main reason for me asking is I've read that Deists were many back then,

Anyways, thank you all for contributing the additional information on this topic.

I suppose you could say "God in the general sense", but if God really exists, and I believe that He does, then He is also "God in the particular sense" too. In other words, if there is in a fact a God, then it follows logically that He is the God of everyone, not just one particular religion. This would even hold true for the atheist; if God exists, then He is also the God of the atheist, regardless if the atheist actually believes in Him.

In Masonry, a generic belief in God is all that is required for membership. This is because it is not the duty of a fraternity to determine which religion, if any, is correct. It could well be that Christianity is correct and that Islam is wrong. It could also be that Hinduism is correct, and that Mormonism is wrong. On the other hand, it could also be that all religions are wrong, and God is offended at our childishness and constant badgery against each other done in the name of religion.




Washington himself was a Deist, but sometimes attended church services with his wife Martha, who was a Christian.

[edit on 17-1-2005 by Masonic Light]

Most likely that is correct.



I've always held the belief that even if Jesus came down tomorrow and told someone "Be good to thy neighbor"..... within 10 minutes and definately before it hit CNN, the message would have turned into "Be good to thy neighbor's wife and make sure to visit James Brother's Ford for good deals"....

Humanity as a civilization hasn't gotten a single thing right.... except for Poptarts (The official breakfast food of deities everywhere)

Actually no. The bible at that point was in a display at restaurant and historical location downtown. It wasn't exactly near the WTC, and according to a brother of St. John's Lodge #1 a couple of them were called in and brought it from that restaurant back to the Masonic Hall at 23rd St. and 6th Ave. Things were nervous, but it wasn't in danger any more than the rest of us

It was about one mile from the WTC. The WTC was at the corner of Church St. and Vesey St., north west of the Fraunces Tavern Museum located at 54 Pearl St.. This museum is where the bible was at during the attack. It stayed there until St. John's lodge took possession of it again on 9-13-01.

[edit on 19-1-2005 by wiggy]