Monroe Lodge #22 F&AM

The Volume of Sacred Law

W:.M:., Wardens, and brethreni,

Upon the altar of Freemasonryi resides three great lights. Of these three, one is considered the “Greatest Light of Freemasonry”. In Indiana ritual this is referred to as the Holy Bible. In many other jurisdictions it is referred to simply as the Volume of Sacred Law. It is a symbol only, and not the religious text of Freemasonry.

Freemasonry is nonsectarian. It does not, and should not attempt to provide a religion to its candidates, nor promote one religion or another. While many anti-masons claim otherwise, Freemasonry is not a religion, nor a substitute for religion. While the anti-mason quickly points to the Holy Bible, or Volume of Sacred Law which rests upon our altar, and claims that it is proof of our fraternity’s religious nature, it is merely a misunderstanding of the uninitiated. To the initiate it should be clear that the book that rests upon our altar, whatever it might be, is a symbol only.

It is not for Freemasonry to decide what religious text a man should choose to follow; the Koran, the Torah, the Bhagavad-Gita, the Christian Bible. We ask only that a man profess a belief in a Supreme Being, regardless of the name the man may choose to call his Deity. We then offer, as a symbol only, the Greatest Light of Freemasonry... symbolic of being the Great Light that illuminates whatever path the candidate chooses to follow. This is the function of a Volume of Sacred Law, it sheds light upon the path that it lays out. Freemasonry implores the candidate to search for that Light and to follow the path that it reveals, within the context of whatever religion the candidate follows.

The fact that Indiana ritual specifically refers to the Volume of Sacred Law as the “Holy Bible” is not really sectarian at all. The term “Bible” literally means “book” and we nowhere mention in our ceremony or lectures that the Holy Book we refer to is specifically Christian. In fact, many Lodges in Indiana use multiple Holy Books upon their altar to demonstrate the universality of Freemasonry. The candidate is then obligated upon the Holy Book that pertains to his religion, in order for his obligation to be truly binding.

As most of us know, the Bible Presentation is an optional part of our ceremony. There is no reason why it cannot be adapted to present any Holy Book that would fit a candidate’s needs. It is the sincere desire of Freemasonry that a Brother will search within his own accepted Holy Book and find the Light that is therein contained. It is not the desire of Freemasonry that a Brother be of a certain religion, or that he should come to find an alternative to his religion within Freemasonry.

This is the beauty of Freemasonry, that no matter how men may differ in creed or theology, we can all agree upon the same basic principles of morality and seek to create harmony under the auspices of universality.

By: Rick Peden