divine authenticity of the Holy Scriptures

"The following post is presented for constructive criticism ONLY and is in no way to be construed as "circularizing" as described in Art. 505 of the Laws of the Grand Lodge of Texas, A.F. & A.M."
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This resolution has been presented for consideration at the next annual communication. Thoughts?

WHEREAS, the Ancient Landmarks of Freemasonry require only the belief in a Supreme Being and the immortality of the soul; and

WHEREAS, Freemasonry was not founded nor intended to embrace any religious affiliation beyond that which all men can best work and best agree; and

WHEREAS, the discussion of religion is prohibited in lodge due to its sectarian nature; and

WHEREAS, it is not the intention of this Grand Lodge to exclude any good man due to his religion; and

WHEREAS, it is not the intention of this Grand Lodge to affiliate with any religion, denomination, or sect; and

WHEREAS, it is the desire of this Grand Lodge to be open to all good men who seek to live by the principles of Freemasonry;

NOW THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED by the Grand Lodge of Texas that Article 397 is amended as follows, “A firm belief in the existence of God and the immortality of the soul is indispensably necessary…”

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that Article 398 is amended to read 6. “Do you seriously declare upon your honor, that you firmly believe in the existence of God and the immortality of the soul?”

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED by the Grand Lodge of Texas that Form No 26 be amended so that question 30 reads, “Do you seriously declare upon your honor, that you firmly believe in the existence of God and the immortality of the soul?”

seems okay. some people may know the Grand Architect of the Universe as something else besides "God" though.

'God' is the word currently used in the law. No words have been added to the law, we're taking away words. The change is, dropping of the requirement that a man acknowledge the divine authenticity of the Holy Scriptures, whatever that means.

Disagree, and here is why,you need to include sacred volume of laws or something along those lines. Just by the nature of the ceremonies a person must believe in some form of Sacred laws.

More so than built around it is the furniture of the lodge and can and never will be removed from the degree work. It is one of our richest symbols. To join our frat though it is not required to believe in a Holy Book just that you have to take an obligation on one. God holds that man binded to his obligation not the book. What is divinely authentic and is that the same for everybody? The connotations of Holy Scriptures is the real kicker though especially in Texas that means just one thing in this part of the world and that is the Holy Bible. Just this last month a candidate had issue with this question and had to have it thoroughly explained as he had read in his research it was open to all religions.

rhitland said:

God holds that man binded to his obligation not the book. What is divinely authentic and is that the same for everybody?

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Who is to say what anothers God binds a person to if there is no sacred volume of law.

When I do a Google search for "What is Divine Authenticity" the two prevelant religions that pop up are Christianity and Hinduism (top five results). I personally think that with out the devine authenticity of a sacred volume of law a person is up to his own meandering through life. There is nothing set in life and thereforth at any given time reality of religion may differ. Changing law must be done with deep thought about long term consequences. While I would support changing Holy Scriptures to Sacred Volume of Law, I would not support dropping it period. You open up the door to a person who says his belief is in X but there is nothing that is his rule and guide.

For everybody to have the law for discussion, here are the two sections referenced above.

Art. 397. (434). Religious Belief. A firm belief in the existence of God, the immortality of the soul, and the divine authenticity of the Holy Scriptures is indispensably necessary before a candidate can be initiated, but this Grand Lodge does not presume to prescribe any canonical books or what part thereof are inspired. It is the policy of this Grand Lodge to permit a candidate whose religious persuasion is based upon other than the Holy Bible to be obligated upon the book of his chosen faith, and same may be situated upon the Altar in front of the Holy Bible during the conferral of the three degrees of Masonry. In which event, all esoteric references to “The Holy Bible” during the conferral of the degree(s) and the lessons appropriate thereto shall be substituted with “The Book of your (my) Faith.”

Art. 398 section 5(not 6).
Do you seriously declare, upon your honor, that you firmly believe in the existence of God, the immortality of the soul, and in the divine authenticity of the Holy Scriptures?

I meant to include this and forgot.

In my opinion Divine Authenticity is something revealed to X person from the GAoTU. Joseph Smith(Latter day Saints), Muhammad(Qu'ran), Bible (Multiple people), etc.. Under one of the results for Hindu there is this reference for what is evidence of Divine Authenticity "There are three kinds of evidences: documentary, circumstantial and eyewitness.". This is what is said to prove Divine Authenticity I happen to like this methodology of proving a Divine Authenticity. It isn't something that a person randomly creates it is something that has a methodology behind it. For most religions you have all of these types of evidence.

I've been told that the phrase "the divine authenticity of the Holy Scriptures" can be and is interpreted very loosely, but I'm not sure how I feel about that. It seems best to me to either include the phrase and mean, or just leave it out, as the Brother is suggesting.

I've heard different things from different people as to how necessary the tie between the VSL and the candidate is. Brother Huw has posted elsewhere that in UGLE, a candidate is required to believe in a traditional set of scriptures, and he is required to be obligated upon the scriptures of his belief. I've heard from some brothers here in Texas say that that's customary here as well, specifically to make the candidate feel more bound to his obligation.

On the other hand, I believe that only Bibles are presented to new Master Masons, and the presentation speaks of the usefulness of reading and searching the Holy Bible whatever one's religion. So, there does seem to be an idea of a "default" VSL, or a VSL that stands in for all VSLs, or for divine law in general. I think if you took out a requirement for a belief in a "holy scriptures" that the book on the altar could easily become symbolic of divine law in general, not necessarily as revealed by one religion or another.

Christopher said:

... that the book on the altar could easily become symbolic of divine law in general, not necessarily as revealed by one religion or another.

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I view the Furniture of the Lodge as symbolic. The Holy Bible (like the Square and Compasses) is a symbol of what I hold to be true. My truth may not be based on the "Holy Scriptures" of any religion, but rather based on conclusions drawn from a lifetime of study.

As the Law currently stands, a petitioner (who believes in the existence of God) whose belief system is based on the Enchiridion of Epictetus or Newton's Principia Mathematica would have to declare his belief that the authors of those works were divinely inspired. If not, he would be excluded from our Order.

I have always believed that the Holy Scriptures are infallible and inerrant. Problem is, I can't find any that meet that standard.

The Holy Bible upon the alter of Freemasonry is symbolic of the enlightenment shared by a Creator with the created. Indeed, it is a powerful symbol. That symbol has nothing to do with the question, “Do you seriously declare, upon your honor, that you firmly believe in the existence of God, the immortality of the soul, and in the divine authenticity of the Holy Scriptures?â€

Due to the nature of the philosophy of Freemasonry, the belief in God and the immortality of the soul is indispensable. As to the divine authenticity of the Holy Scriptures, such application to our philosophy is unsuitable. Especially since Art 397 states that the question means that you can, basically, interpret the question however you choose as long as you believe that there is knowledge that came from the divine. If the candidate can choose how to interpret the question, of what value is it to ask on the petition?

Herein lays another problem, from the candidate’s first introduction to Masonry he is asked one thing, and then told the question does not mean what it appears to mean. Most here in Texas would take Holy Scripture to mean the Holy Bible. Just as a ‘Coke’ is any soda. Or if you ask for a ‘Kleenex’ you don’t really care who manufactured the tissue, you just need to blow your nose. When you go out to eat and ask for ‘tea’, they will bring you an iced tea. However if you go to London and ask for tea, they’ll being you hot Earl Grey.

Words have meaning. As Masons we should look into the meaning of words, otherwise a square is just for measuring right angels and the level perfecting horizontals.

As Masons, we should mean what we say and say what we mean.

Sirius said:

Words have meaning. As Masons we should look into the meaning of words, otherwise a square is just for measuring right angels and the level perfecting horizontals.

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This quote sums up why it is not inflammatory. I can take single things from most of masonry and to the unlearned make it into the most outrageous of ideas. Holy Scriptures may not be the best words but something should be in there that defines a Sacred Volume of Laws. Some may not agree or like it but a man must have something that guides him. And if he does not have a "Holy Scriptures" /Sacred Volume of Law then I would not want him in lodge. Sorry he is a leaf fluttering about the day with no guide, waiting for the wind to drift him in any direction it blows.

HKTidwell said:

This quote sums up why it is not inflammatory. I can take single things from most of masonry and to the unlearned make it into the most outrageous of ideas. Holy Scriptures may not be the best words but something should be in there that defines a Sacred Volume of Laws. Some may not agree or like it but a man must have something that guides him. And if he does not have a "Holy Scriptures" /Sacred Volume of Law then I would not want him in lodge. Sorry he is a leaf fluttering about the day with no guide, waiting for the wind to drift him in any direction it blows.

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I agree that a man must have something that guides him. Could that something be his own God-given intellect? Must it be a printed volume of a major religion?

Allow me to quote a bit from Anderson's "Ancient Charges of a Free Mason:"
I. Concerning GOD and RELIGION . . . But though in ancient Times Masons were charg’d in every Country to be of the Religion of that Country or Nation, whatever it was, yet ‘tis now thought more expedient only to oblige them to that Religion in which all Men agree, leaving their particular Opinions to themselves; . . .

When we start dictating which Scriptures are Holy, and declaring that they must be "divinely inspired" (can we even agree on the definition of that term?) then we open a very nasty can of worms, indeed.

I am not convinced that any Holy Scriptures are without some taint of human bias. I guess that makes me a fluttering leaf.

Yeah first time I've been called a fluttering leaf. I don't choose to proscribe to any dogmatic system. Honour is enough for me. My parents left me with a good enough sense of what is right and what is wrong. On the other hand, I don't have any issue swearing in on a holy book. My vow to God is my vow to God, and I hold it as anyone should.

My choice in wording was not the best. Again I don't care what the volume may be, doesn't matter to me. A person could claim that he had witnessed something and it was divinely inspired, thus writing it down. It would still serve as a Sacred Volume. If you look at lessons involved then there are a lot of references. And if I remember correctly we all knew the wording upon signing up and if we change it I'm guessing at some point we might need to change the Lights out too because they don't burn just right and a few other things. Where do you stop with the changes? Do we want to change the ceremonies because they do not conform to our opinions? No where have I mentioned dictating which are Holy or Sacred.

Fair enough Brother, if you've read any of my own posts you know I'm terrible at my own wording...if you met me in real life, you'd never have a problem understanding what I was saying because I speak so fast I've spoken a book in the time most have said a sentence.

To the point of Holy Scriptures, this was a point where I had to do some soul searching honestly. I could easily say I believe in a God, or a Supreme being or the such, without any hesitation at all. Divine scripture has been something that has caused me mental anguish since about the age of 10 or so(ie, how people interpret it, how many different scriptures there are). But, when I asked the person who I asked about becoming a Mason, the question, "What does this mean, Holy Scripture?". The guy, who jokes around as much as anyone on about just about anything, looked my in the eyes and said, man, just ask yourself the question, ask who ever else you might need to, and come to your own answer. I did with mine, which has been aforementioned. I guess for me, being new to Masonry and all, I would really just like, in the two questions about God and Holy Scripture, just to see Supreme Being or the such. If you can honestly declare truth in the former, then the latter seems kind of duplicate to me.

HKTidwell said:

My choice in wording was not the best. Again I don't care what the volume may be, doesn't matter to me. A person could claim that he had witnessed something and it was divinely inspired, thus writing it down. It would still serve as a Sacred Volume. If you look at lessons involved then there are a lot of references. And if I remember correctly we all knew the wording upon signing up and if we change it I'm guessing at some point we might need to change the Lights out too because they don't burn just right and a few other things. Where do you stop with the changes? Do we want to change the ceremonies because they do not conform to our opinions? No where have I mentioned dictating which are Holy or Sacred.

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This resolution does not change the fact that the candidate HAS to take his obligation on a book he chooses nor is the resolution opinion based. The declaring of divine authenticity of a book is never mentioned in the Ancient Charges so why did we add this question in the first place? Not sure why we did add it in but all my research on the basis of that question points to it not being right and needs to go. Again though the candidate will have to put his hands on a book he deems sacred or he will feel the pull of a cable tow.

I think we have to have a holy book of some sort to illustrate the seriousness of what we do. I liken it to the act of swearing upon a Bible (or other holy book) when testifying in court. Like so many other things in Masonry, it is symbolic in nature.

I posted this in another forum of similar topic.

I for one see it in this light....

...Considering the belief in a Deity, and that Deity as being divine.....Man's thoughts toward a Supreme Architect could be described as divine. A man's actions and desire to act as essentially necessary to gaining admission could also be described as divine. Would it not then lead one to believe a book acting as our guide could be described as divinely authentic?

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HKTidwell said:

Some may not agree or like it but a man must have something that guides him. And if he does not have a "Holy Scriptures" /Sacred Volume of Law then I would not want him in lodge.

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I agree. Man should be guided by something, some set of principles. But must it be written? Does the written word make it special? Or does it have to be one specific document to can it be an amalgamation of spiritual thought from throughout the ages? Obviously, Art 397 leaves it to the individual to determine what "divine authenticity of the Holy Scriptures" means. Everyone who has posted is correct in what the believe. So it has little value as a question on the petition.

The question could just as easily be: Do you seriously declare upon your honor that you can write the word 'yes'?