(Lecture delivered at the Dagohoy Lodge No. 84 brethren during the October 8, 2005 stated meeting.)
$: Worshipful Master and brethren.
All of us are familiar with the name of the book that is atop our sacred altar. It is called the King James Version of the Holy Bible. Masonically, it is also called the Volume of the Sacred Law and so the question therefore is why it is identified by that peculiar phrase.
Let me now tell you this short story.
Bro. Milind G. Dravid, a fraternal brother from the Lodge of Golden Orange No. 304 at Nagpur in India and to whom this writer regularly corresponds with Masonically via e-mail, told this writer that out there in their lodge, five (repeat five) different books of the Holy Writings are laid upon their altar and explained why this is so.
According to Bro. Milind, his mother lodge is one of the oldest lodges in India and was founded by a select group of British brethren who were members of the British Expeditionary forces, and some employees of the East India Company when England occupied India sometime in the middle of the 18th century. As recorded history would tell him, it was normal for the military at that time to have field lodges in their regiments and thus whenever these forces settle in any part of the globe, it would not be unusual that the craving for establishing a Masonic lodge would ensue. It was in this concept that the Golden Lodge of Orange No. 304 was established under the Constitution of the United Grand Lodge of England at that time. At its founding, the King James Version of the Holy Bible naturally was the
Holy Book that adorned its altar.
He said that the additions to its membership during the initial years were modest, the new members of which came mostly from the British that periodically were added to both the military roster and the support staff of East India Company. In fine, however, several Indian nationals, especially those who managed to interact with the lodge members because they were able to join the civilian administration and those who got their education from England, became interested in the affairs of the Craft and ultimately joined its roster. Unsurprisingly, these new recruits were obligated to the book of their respective faiths and thus, after the lapse of more than two centuries of lodge existence, other Holy Books were enshrined at the sacred altar. In addition therefore to the Holy Bible that the founders first placed at that hallowed top, the following Books of Nature and Revelation were also added:
1. The BHAGVAD GITA for the Hindu, Jains and Buddhist Brethren,
2. the ZEND AVESTA for the Parsi brothers,
3. the GURU GRANTH SAHIB for the Sikh brethren, and
4. the QURAN SHARIF for the Muslim initiates.
Bro. Dravid wrote that at the time of his initiation, he could not help but feel awed to note how members of this select organization of diverging religious faiths could sit together in harmony inside a lodge, a situation that he expects could never happen outside its confines in the entire world.
Let this lecturer now tackle the issue of the King James Version of the Holy Bible that is atop our sacred altar by explaining how it got its name
The King James Version of the Holy Bible came into existence when James VI was acclaimed King of Scotland in 1567 at age one when his mother abdicated the throne. Additionally, he was also crowned James I of England in 1603 thus unifying the two kingdoms. A year later, he commissioned the learned clerics of his time to translate the Old and New Testaments that were originally written in the Hebrew and Greek languages for use by the subjects of his realms. Previous to this time, the existing versions that were used by the Catholic hierarchy that was based in Rome were in Latin (otherwise called Vulgate) and while there already exist other English translations like the Douay and the Catholic Bibles, these contained leading explanatory comments and footnotes that showed bias in the interpretation of the sacred writings, thus serving their own selfish religious motives. To confound matters these versions were generally not made available to the public for their use. It was therefore made imperative that the King who was made a Freemason in 1601 at the Lodge of Scoon and Perth in Scotland, he goaded the religious intellectuals to cause the translation of the Holy Bible into the English language during his time and thus immortalized his name for everyone to behold.
The translated version was finally completed in 1611 and since that time and up the nineteenth century, it weathered almost a thousand revisions.. Until finally in 1948, the New Testament underwent a substantial modification and was followed by a similar revision of the Old Testament in 1952..But the changes that were made were only to conform to the standard English Usage thus attuning the translation to the language of prevailing times. A special section called “Concordance” which defined the words that may have changed because of the possible deviation of meanings was also appended so that the reader may be able to get back, as close as possible, to the original scriptures.
It is claimed that this revised version sold more than twelve million copies within ten years from the date of its printing in the middle of the 20th century.
And why is the King James Version especially important to Freemasons? Can’t the Catholic Edition or the other English versions like the Jerusalem Bible be substituted as the book of the Holy Writing at the Masonic altar?
Well, it can be! The only difficulty that may be encountered is the possibility of getting a different meaning from what was originally perceived especially because our rituals require memorization of the applicable quotations. Take the case of the parambulation of the second degree, for example, and compare the words with the translation in the Catholic Edition, that says:
King James Version
“Though I speak the tongue of men and of angels and have not charity, I am become a sounding brass or a tinkling cymbal”.
The New American Bible (Catholic Edition) 1969, on the other hand, says:
“If I speak in human and angelic tongues but do not have love, I am a resounding gong or a clashing cymbal.”
As the reader can well observe, the King James used the word “charity” while the Catholic Edition translated it as “love”. While the two words may be considered synonyms, the meanings are not exactly the same and that is where arguments and irreconcilable differences will begin.
Thank you for your attention.
$: Worshipful Master and brethren.
All of us are familiar with the name of the book that is atop our sacred altar. It is called the King James Version of the Holy Bible. Masonically, it is also called the Volume of the Sacred Law and so the question therefore is why it is identified by that peculiar phrase.
Let me now tell you this short story.
Bro. Milind G. Dravid, a fraternal brother from the Lodge of Golden Orange No. 304 at Nagpur in India and to whom this writer regularly corresponds with Masonically via e-mail, told this writer that out there in their lodge, five (repeat five) different books of the Holy Writings are laid upon their altar and explained why this is so.
According to Bro. Milind, his mother lodge is one of the oldest lodges in India and was founded by a select group of British brethren who were members of the British Expeditionary forces, and some employees of the East India Company when England occupied India sometime in the middle of the 18th century. As recorded history would tell him, it was normal for the military at that time to have field lodges in their regiments and thus whenever these forces settle in any part of the globe, it would not be unusual that the craving for establishing a Masonic lodge would ensue. It was in this concept that the Golden Lodge of Orange No. 304 was established under the Constitution of the United Grand Lodge of England at that time. At its founding, the King James Version of the Holy Bible naturally was the
Holy Book that adorned its altar.
He said that the additions to its membership during the initial years were modest, the new members of which came mostly from the British that periodically were added to both the military roster and the support staff of East India Company. In fine, however, several Indian nationals, especially those who managed to interact with the lodge members because they were able to join the civilian administration and those who got their education from England, became interested in the affairs of the Craft and ultimately joined its roster. Unsurprisingly, these new recruits were obligated to the book of their respective faiths and thus, after the lapse of more than two centuries of lodge existence, other Holy Books were enshrined at the sacred altar. In addition therefore to the Holy Bible that the founders first placed at that hallowed top, the following Books of Nature and Revelation were also added:
1. The BHAGVAD GITA for the Hindu, Jains and Buddhist Brethren,
2. the ZEND AVESTA for the Parsi brothers,
3. the GURU GRANTH SAHIB for the Sikh brethren, and
4. the QURAN SHARIF for the Muslim initiates.
Bro. Dravid wrote that at the time of his initiation, he could not help but feel awed to note how members of this select organization of diverging religious faiths could sit together in harmony inside a lodge, a situation that he expects could never happen outside its confines in the entire world.
Let this lecturer now tackle the issue of the King James Version of the Holy Bible that is atop our sacred altar by explaining how it got its name
The King James Version of the Holy Bible came into existence when James VI was acclaimed King of Scotland in 1567 at age one when his mother abdicated the throne. Additionally, he was also crowned James I of England in 1603 thus unifying the two kingdoms. A year later, he commissioned the learned clerics of his time to translate the Old and New Testaments that were originally written in the Hebrew and Greek languages for use by the subjects of his realms. Previous to this time, the existing versions that were used by the Catholic hierarchy that was based in Rome were in Latin (otherwise called Vulgate) and while there already exist other English translations like the Douay and the Catholic Bibles, these contained leading explanatory comments and footnotes that showed bias in the interpretation of the sacred writings, thus serving their own selfish religious motives. To confound matters these versions were generally not made available to the public for their use. It was therefore made imperative that the King who was made a Freemason in 1601 at the Lodge of Scoon and Perth in Scotland, he goaded the religious intellectuals to cause the translation of the Holy Bible into the English language during his time and thus immortalized his name for everyone to behold.
The translated version was finally completed in 1611 and since that time and up the nineteenth century, it weathered almost a thousand revisions.. Until finally in 1948, the New Testament underwent a substantial modification and was followed by a similar revision of the Old Testament in 1952..But the changes that were made were only to conform to the standard English Usage thus attuning the translation to the language of prevailing times. A special section called “Concordance” which defined the words that may have changed because of the possible deviation of meanings was also appended so that the reader may be able to get back, as close as possible, to the original scriptures.
It is claimed that this revised version sold more than twelve million copies within ten years from the date of its printing in the middle of the 20th century.
And why is the King James Version especially important to Freemasons? Can’t the Catholic Edition or the other English versions like the Jerusalem Bible be substituted as the book of the Holy Writing at the Masonic altar?
Well, it can be! The only difficulty that may be encountered is the possibility of getting a different meaning from what was originally perceived especially because our rituals require memorization of the applicable quotations. Take the case of the parambulation of the second degree, for example, and compare the words with the translation in the Catholic Edition, that says:
King James Version
“Though I speak the tongue of men and of angels and have not charity, I am become a sounding brass or a tinkling cymbal”.
The New American Bible (Catholic Edition) 1969, on the other hand, says:
“If I speak in human and angelic tongues but do not have love, I am a resounding gong or a clashing cymbal.”
As the reader can well observe, the King James used the word “charity” while the Catholic Edition translated it as “love”. While the two words may be considered synonyms, the meanings are not exactly the same and that is where arguments and irreconcilable differences will begin.
Thank you for your attention.
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