22 of 23 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Binding, Record Pages, Masonic Info, No Pictures or Maps, March 21, 2006
This review is from: Master Mason Edition (Leather Bound)
In some Masonic Jurisdictions it has become the custom to present a new Mason with a Masonic Bible at his raising to the sublime degree of Master Mason. This seems to be one most used.
This Masonic Bible has the King James Version as the text. The faux leather blue binding has an imprint of the Masonic Symbol on the spine and front cover. As they should be, neither the Bible Text or the brief Concordance supplied are pecularly Masonic.
Those in Jurisdictions that forbid the publishing of the Grand Master's Name need not fear possession of this Bible. Only those whose Jurisdiction prohibits the possession of any Masonic Bible need be concerned, although no material revealing ritual or Masonic Secrets are present.
There is a Presentation Plates, not necessarily Masonic, and Record Pages for Blue Lodge, Scottish Rite and York Rite. The specifically Masonic Material found at the front covers briefly information that newly raised Master Masons may find helpful, though the writing style is of an older era.
There are no pictures, or drawings of events surrounding the building of the Temple, as are present in other Masonic Bibles this reviewer has seen.
It will do, but it is to be hoped that the owner of this Masonic Bible has access to a Bible Translation that he does not need to have translated into contemporary English, and more readable, and complete sources of Masonic Information.
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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Must for the Master Mason, November 3, 2006
This review is from: Master Mason Edition (Leather Bound)
I purchased this shortly after receiving my 3rd degree a few months ago and am so glad that I did. It provides a good introduction to Masonry and the descriptions of the York Rite and Scottish Rite are very good for the new Mason. I also like the concordance and the index that is tied to scriptures that relate to Masonry.
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The greatest book ever made, and a must-have for the Master Mason., May 21, 2010
This review is from: Master Mason Edition (Leather Bound)
To start off, I must note that the edition of this book in my possession is not exactly the same as the one being reviewed. Mine is a 1991 printing, while the one listed here is a 1992. They are, in all other respects so far as I know, identical. So: this is, in short, the greatest book ever made. It is the Holy Bible. Regardless of one's views of Christianity, or in this case, Freemasonry also, the powerful influence and meaning of the Bible cannot be exaggerated. No book has ever been printed so many times, in so many versions, in so many languages. If you must have but one book, let it be the Holy Bible. And if you are a Mason, let it be this one.
This particular version is the Master Mason Edition, printed by Heirloom Bible Publishers of Wichita, Kansas with a copyright held since 1979 by DeVore & Sons, Inc. From 1941 to 1970 that same copyright was held by the John A. Hertel Co. It contains the Old and New Testaments (Authorized or King James Version, I guess even the book doesn't know which) with Study Helps. Its first few pages contain blanks for entering the date on which the owner was initiated an Entered Apprentice, passed to the degree of Fellowcraft, and raised to the Sublime Degree of Master Mason, along with similar blank pages for the Scottish Rite and York Rite. Mine, presented to me the day I was raised and made a Master Mason, was signed by every Mason present at the lodge that day, the officers signing in the lines provided for them and visitors signing on the page provided for them. The book contains many informative sections and entries about Freemasonry, including a page that shows how the many degrees relate to one another. It contains nothing that shouldn't be read by any non-Mason, but its Masonic sections are only going to really make sense to and be useful for, well, Master Masons. Its list of Masonic Beliefs will no doubt come as a great shock to those fooled into thinking we conduct bizarre rituals involving guinea pigs, Dutch chocolates, and goats. To those who know the truth, especially to Master Masons, that list will come as no surprise. I highly recommend this book, as it is the greatest made in history, tailored specifically for ownership by a Master Mason. It should be, I believe, presented as a gift by lodges to their new Master Masons, each time one is raised. That's certainly how my lodge does it, and it's worked pretty well for us.
And by the way, if anybody should find them fancy color pages the book keeps talking about, tell me where they are. So found all the color I've located is the blue and gold on the cover and extreme edges of the pages, the black of the ink and the white of the paper. Maybe that's what it was referring to.
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