If you could give one, but only one, book to a bright and promising new Mason. Knowing that it would be the only Masonic book he would ever read, what book would it be?
It would be impossible for me personally to only recommend just one book but if I could recommend the most beneficial work for an understanding with what the Ancient Craft is all about it would be "That Religion in which all Men Agree", by David Jacket.
The one I plan to write, "The Paths of the Craftsman". I'm going to explore not just the various origins of Freemasonry but its purposes from the perspective of the four main yogas of Hinduism - Work, Love, Knowledge, and Mysticism
Well, this will probably shock no one, as I talk about it over and over, but Observing the Craft, by Andrew Hammer. If we get enough young master masons to read the darn thing, perhaps we can turn this boat around.
If this young Mason is in a grand lodge jurisdiction that has a ritual monitor, I would have him read it and work with a knowledgeable mentor to help develop his own understanding of the tools and lessons imparted by the fraternity so he may practically apply them. While it is helpful to read the history and what others have said about Masonry, the ritual outlines the tenets, moral obligations and promises we make when we become a Mason. Without a deeper understanding of the basis of what makes him a Mason, how is he expected to "walk and act as such?"
Mine is going to be an unpopular choice I fear, but it is Morals & Dogma, the Annotated Edition. I think that it does need to be the newer Annotated Edition because it allows one an easier understanding.
I pick this book because while it strays quite far from what most probably consider to be Ancient Craft Masonry, it is a book that one can read and study and learn from for a lifetime. It's not, in my view, a book that one sits down and reads in chunks, rather it is a book that seems to demand the contemplation of its passages. I'm convinced that through its study, it can help fulfill the promise of Masonry. It can help a good man become a better man.
It would be impossible for me personally to only recommend just one book but if I could recommend the most beneficial work for an understanding with what the Ancient Craft is all about it would be "That Religion in which all Men Agree", by David Jacket.
I have said many times that if you could have only one Masonic book in your library, it should be Bernard E Jones “Freemason’s Guide and Compendium”
The one I plan to write, "The Paths of the Craftsman". I'm going to explore not just the various origins of Freemasonry but its purposes from the perspective of the four main yogas of Hinduism - Work, Love, Knowledge, and Mysticism
Well, this will probably shock no one, as I talk about it over and over, but Observing the Craft, by Andrew Hammer. If we get enough young master masons to read the darn thing, perhaps we can turn this boat around.
If this young Mason is in a grand lodge jurisdiction that has a ritual monitor, I would have him read it and work with a knowledgeable mentor to help develop his own understanding of the tools and lessons imparted by the fraternity so he may practically apply them. While it is helpful to read the history and what others have said about Masonry, the ritual outlines the tenets, moral obligations and promises we make when we become a Mason. Without a deeper understanding of the basis of what makes him a Mason, how is he expected to "walk and act as such?"
Mine is going to be an unpopular choice I fear, but it is Morals & Dogma, the Annotated Edition. I think that it does need to be the newer Annotated Edition because it allows one an easier understanding.
I pick this book because while it strays quite far from what most probably consider to be Ancient Craft Masonry, it is a book that one can read and study and learn from for a lifetime. It's not, in my view, a book that one sits down and reads in chunks, rather it is a book that seems to demand the contemplation of its passages. I'm convinced that through its study, it can help fulfill the promise of Masonry. It can help a good man become a better man.