Brethren, when a candidate is to be initiated, and before the degree is to proceed, the first question asked of the candidate as a prerequisite for being initiated is "Do you believe in the existence of a Supreme Being?"  The remaining questions confirm further the existence and belief in a Supreme Being.    For Freemasonry,  the belief in a Supreme Being is one of the oldest and most fundamental of the ancient landmarks of our ancient Craft.

Recently, I researched the 1885 Masonic Trial of Bro. John Harrison, King Solomon’s Lodge No. 22, Richmond Hill for a historic play that I was writing. Bro. Harrison was tried and expelled from his Lodge for " Unmasonic Conduct for being an Agnostic, a Secularist and a Freethinker, and being such, that he held religious views and opinions not consistent with the doctrines and principles of Freemasonry".   During this research period,  I had an occasion to discuss the details of the trial and its outcome with another Mason,  who commented that   "if a similar situation occurred today in a Craft Lodge, I am positive that the outcome of that Masonic Trial would be quite different."    This comment gave me cause to stop and to consider whether the Ancient Landmarks of Masonry were really changing, or being eroded, or not.?  From time to time during conversation, we all comment on how slowly things change in Masonry.    Is this Landmark one that has changed.? If so, has it changed so dramatically that a candidate or a member of a Masonic Lodge could possibly not believe in a Supreme Being?

As Masons today, we are proud that our Order practices universal tolerance regarding religion, so that any man may sit in a Masonic Lodge, whether he be Moslem, Jew, Buddhist, Hindu, Christian or of other religious persuasions., which believe in the teachings of a Supreme Being as set out in those three questions asked of the candidate at the door of the Lodge. The Belief in a Supreme Being is an Ancient Landmark not to be trifled with. However, Freemasonry, from its origin to the present time, in all its vicissitudes, has undergone some interesting and significant changes regarding the question of religion in Masonic Life.

In the centuries prior to the establishment of the Grand Lodge of England in 1717, Masonic Lodges were governed in accordance with the Old Charges. Under the Old Charges, a candidate for admission into Freemasonry was required to be of a Christian Religion and to declare a specific belief in the Trinity. This practice continued until 1723, when the new Book of Constitution was introduced. This version contained several significant changes which caused considerable concern and discussion among the Brethren of the time. One of the principle changes was that Freemasonry, as a purely Christian character, was abolished, and was replaced with one based on a Deistic approach. In 1813 with the Union of the Two Grand Lodges, the Entered Apprentice degree was again changed so that Masonry definitely ceased to be a strictly Christian Order. For now a candidate was not asked about his own particular religion; from that time forward, the only question asked of the candidate of a religious nature was to be asked at the commencement of his Initiation: " In whom do you put your trust ?" with the reply being "In God". Thus, as a Mason, he was "Free" to interpret Masonic symbols, allegory and actions according to his own conception of their spiritual meaning, whether he be Christian, Hindu, Moslem, Jew, Buddhist, or other religious persuasion.

Since 1813, the concepts and practices adopted by the United Grand Lodge of England have not changed significantly and, while the chiefly Christian basis of the Order some 200 years earlier, ceased; nevertheless, a fundamental belief in a Supreme Being has changed only for the better, in order to encompass all like minded men and to show the Universality of the Science, and the Universal Nature of the Masonic Order.

Do you believe that in today’s Masonic Lodge that a Brother would be expelled from this Order because his religious beliefs were not consistent with those of the Masonic Order: - That being the belief in a Supreme Being, who will punish vice and reward virtue, and who has revealed his will to man.

In 1885, Brother John Harrison appealed his expulsion from his Lodge to the Grand Lodge Board of General Purposes, and ultimately it was referred to the Grand Master, M.W. Bro. Hugh Murray, for his decision. After reviewing all the evidence given at the trial in the Lodge, during the appeal to the Board of General Purposes, and finally after a personal interview with Bro. John Harrison, M. W. Bro. Hugh Murray came to a decision which he declared was "one of the most important decisions ever considered by this Grand Lodge. " In his address to the Grand Lodge Communication in 1886, The Grand Master defended a brother’s right to believe in a God of his choosing, and that he "would be among the first to defend" a brother, or man "from intolerant persecution". Then the Grand Master expressed his views with regard to the decision which he had reached, in part as: "Masonry has been, and continues, to be tolerant of a man’s religion, or mode of worship be what it may, he is not excluded from the Order, provided he believe in the Great Architect of the Universe, and practice the sacred duties of morality." In Masonry, "there are certain landmarks which cannot be changed, the most important being the belief in God, and the immortality of the soul. There can be no doubt upon this question, for this Grand Lodge has over and over shown its adherence to this landmark." He therefore declined to interfere with the action of the Lodge which had suspended the Brother, and Grand Lodge concurred in his finding.

That, my brethren, was over 100 years ago. Would this Grand Body still hold to this principle? I don’t know if any of you have any special knowledge of any man being excluded from Masonry because of his religious beliefs. But there is a Lodge in this Grand Jurisdiction which recently had an applicant, who after being balloted for and accepted, was asked what VOTSL he wished to be obligated on. His response was the Book of Oden, a God in the Norse Mythologies. This request caused great concern with several members of the Lodge. The Lodge referred this request to the Grand Lodge, who sought advice from the Grand Lodges of England and of Norway. It was concluded that Oden was one of several minor gods in the Norse Mythologies; and therefore not a Supreme Being. On this basis the applicant was advised that his religious beliefs were not consistent with those of this Grand Lodge, and therefore he was not admitted to the secrets and mysteries of ancient Freemasonry.

Based on this event, it seems apparent to me that the Ancient Landmark which refers to the Belief in a Supreme Being is still being maintained, upheld and is secure from encroachment in this Grand Lodge.