There were also many other religious groups throughout Europe, and when political freedom came to Europe many of these groups faded into the background. There was still however, an interest in mysticism throughout Europe, so many of these disbanded members joined the Freemasons (Spence, 174-175). .
In 1717, the first Grand Lodge of England was founded. In the earliest part of the lodge's history it was challenged by other lodges that had formed throughout the British Isles, by 1813, these lodges had been unified. Yet, the initial split caused rifts throughout Masonry in the United States and beyond.
The early American Freemason lodges were chartered by ones in the British Isles. Soon the American Lodges had started chartering other lodges of their own. The most predominant lodging throughout the modern day United States today is the Blue Lodge Masonry, also know as the Craft (Dumenil, 9). One must remember that there are discrepancies between the regulations and rituals of Masons throughout the world, so when speaking of Freemasons we are now referring to those belief and regulations of the Blue Lodge.
Today the Bible is considered the most sacred of texts of the Masons in most Western Lodges. The Bible serves as one of the three pieces comprising "The Three Great Lights," the most common and important Masonic symbol. The other two pieces of the "three Great Lights" are the compass and the square, the Bible itself is not necessary, any text held sacred by that lodge can be used (Hamil, 151).
The Freemasons do not consider themselves a religious organization in terms of religion, but more as in faith, being that different lodges can vary from Christian to Muslim. Beyond that they more consider themselves to be fraternal, or a brotherhood. The Freemasons boast to be the biggest fraternal organization in the world, with five million plus member worldwide and over half residing in the United States.
