The Universal Language of Freemasonry - ArchiMeD - Johannes ...

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Chapter 8 - Categorization of Rituals
However, Anderson's vague expression contradicted the Christian conception
of the Trinity as it prevailed in England, and this led to a reinterpretation of
Anderson's text in 1815 with the consequence that the belief in a Supreme Being
became the dogma of English Freemasonry. Since the Grand Lodge of England
was the Mother Lodge of Freemasonry, it could exercise a certain pressure upon
other jurisdictions, in order to make them adhere to this new requirement. Thus,
adogmatic Freemasonry became Christianized: North America, Germany, and
other countries adopted the English dogma. The following quotation from an
American Masonic monitor underlines the extend to which Masons of the
English Masonic stream stress their belief in the Bible:
[...] and as the operative workman erects his temporal building
agreeably to the rules and designs laid down by the Master on his
Trestle-board, so should we, both operative and speculative, endeavor to
erect our spiritual building in accordance with the designs laid down
by the Supreme Architect of the Universe, in the Great Book of
Nature and Revelation, which is our spiritual, moral, and Masonic
Trestle-board. 1714
The same metaphor occurs in the The Text Book of Freemasonry from 1881:
"[...] so may the Volume of the Sacred Law be justly deemed the Spiritual
Tracing Board of the Great Architect of the Universe, in which are laid down [...]
Divine Laws and Moral Plans [...]." 1715 The metaphor for the Bible, "Masonic
Trestle-board," shows how tightly the conceptions of these Masons are
connected with the Volume of the Sacred Law (VSL), since their working plans
are to be found in this book. Another metaphor depicts the Bible as the "altar
light of Masonry":
[...] Masonry [...] is like one of the Cathedrals which our brethren built
in the olden time: Faith its foundation, Righteousness its cornerstone,
Strength and Wisdom its walls, Beauty its form and fashion, Brotherly
Love its clasped arches, Reverence its roof, the Bible its altar light,
Mysticism its music, Relief its ritual; its Symbols windows nobly
wrought, half-revealing and half-concealing a Truth too elusive for
words, too vast for dogma, and too bright for eyes unveiled, and only
hinted to us until we are ready and worthy to behold it with other and
clearer eyes than now we know [...]. 1716
Furthermore, as shown in Section 4.6.2, a symbol of the First Degree,
"Jacob's Ladder," is illustrated in Masonic manuals and text books as resting
upon the Bible as a firm ground. This symbolism would not apply to the
1714
Simons, p. 39. Bold print added.
1715
Anonymous ("Compiled by a member of the Craft."), The Text Book of Freemasonry, p. 82.
1716
Bro. Joseph Fort Newton, in: "The Religion of Masonry," printed in The Master Mason, Sept.,
1925, p. 725.