About the Holy Bible, churches say:
"We believe that the Holy Bible is the Word of the living God; true, immutable, steadfast, unchangeable, as its author, the Lord Jehovah; that it was written by holy men of old as they were moved upon and inspired by the Holy Spirit; that it is a lighted lamp to guide the feet of a lost world from the depths of sin and sorrow to the heights of righteousness and glory; an unclouded mirror that reveals the face of a crucified Savior; a plumb line to make straight the life of each individual and community; a sharp two-edged sword to convict of sin and evil doing; a strong cord of love and tenderness to draw the penitent to Christ Jesus; a balm of Gilead, inbreathed by the Holy Spirit, that can heal and quicken each drooping heart; the only true ground of Christian fellowship and unity; the loving call of an infinitely loving God; the solemn warning, the distant thunder of the storm of wrath and retribution that shall overtake the unheeding; a sign post that points to Heaven; a danger signal that warns from Hell; the divine, supreme and eternal tribunal by whose standards all men, nations, creeds, and motives shall be tried." (International Church of the Foursquare Gospel)
"The Holy Bible was written by men divinely inspired and is God's revelation of Himself to man. It is a perfect treasure of divine instruction. It has God for its author, salvation for its end, and truth, without any mixture of error, for its matter. Therefore, all Scripture is totally true and trustworthy. It reveals the principles by which God judges us, and therefore is, and will remain to the end of the world, the true center of Christian union, and the supreme standard by which all human conduct, creeds, and religious opinions should be tried. All Scripture is a testimony to Christ, who is Himself the focus of divine revelation." (Southern Baptist Convention)
"The Holy Scripture containeth all things necessary to salvation; so that whatsoever is not read therein, nor may be proved thereby, is not to be required of any man that it should be believed as an article of faith, or be thought requisit or necessary to salvation. In the name of the Holy Scripture we do understand those canonical books of the Old and New Testament of whose authority was never any doubt in the church. The names of the canonical books are:
Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy, Joshua, Judges, Ruth, The First Book of Samuel, The Second Book of Samuel, The First Book of Kings, The Second Book of Kings, The First Book of Chronicles, The Second Book of Chronicles, The Book of Ezra, The Book of Nehemiah, The Book of Esther, The Book of Job, The Psalms, The Proverbs, Ecclesiastes or the Preacher, Cantica or Songs of Solomon, Four Prophets the Greater, Twelve Prophets the Less. All the books of the New Testament, as they are commonly received, we do receive and account canonical." (United Methodist Church)
Freemasonry says:
"The Bible on the altar is one of Masonry's greatest symbols, for here it is a symbol of all holy books of all faiths. It is the Volume of the Sacred Law in practically all lodges in this country and in others where Christianity predominates. A Lodge wholly Jewish may prefer to use only the Old Testament; in Persia or Turkey the Koran would be used as the V.S.L. of Islam; Brahmans would use the Vedas. In some lodges more than one sacred book is open on the altar, and the candidate may elect the one on which he wishes to be obligated." ('Officers Manual of Lodge Organization and Operation' - Grand Lodge of Nevada, page 61)
"The Volume of the Sacred Law is an indispensable part of the furniture of a Lodge. In our jurisdiction it is usually the Bible, but any candidate not a Christian may have substituted for it any other volume he considers sacred: e.g., the Old Testament, Koran, Vedas, or Laws of Confucius. In one Lodge in China, there are three Sacred Books open on the altar at the same time, and the candidate elects one of the three on which to be obligated." ('Indiana Monitor and Freemason's Guide')
"References to the Bible obviously refer not only to the Bible but to any particular Holy Book which may be in use. The appropriate Volume of Sacred Law of the Candidates faith is to be used, and references in the Ritual adjusted accordingly." (Officers Manual, Grand Lodge of Ohio)
"The prevailing Masonic opinion is that the Bible is only a symbol of Divine Will, Law, or Revelation, and not that its contents are Divine Law, inspired, or revealed. So far, no responsible authority has held that a Freemason must believe the Bible or any part of it." ('Coils' Masonic Encyclopedia')
LANDMARK TWENTY-FIRST
"It is a Landmark, that a "Book of the Law" shall constitute an indispensable part of the furniture of every Lodge. I say advisedly, a Book of the Law, because it is not absolutely required that everywhere the Old and New Testaments shall be used. . .The Landmark, therefore, requires that a Book of the Law, a religious code of some kind, purporting to be an exemplar of the revealed will of God, shall form an essential part of the furniture of every Lodge."
