Please allow me to take a slightly different approach.
A) Prior to 1717, and afterwards in
Ancient Lodges, all initiates took their oaths or obligations on The Constitutions of Masonrie, not the Holy Bible.
A hand written manuscript copy was used and after the ceremony of Fellow of the Craft the Initiate retained his copy of the manuscript Constitutions.
However, the Holy Bible was open on the table at the requisite biblical reference.
B) The questions: "Which "VSL" should be used today?", whether any book should be used, or how a book should be used?, are relatively recent ones.
Craft Masonic rituals as we know and use today, were written by Christian Masons. Even the Master Mason's degree written from scratch by Desaguliers in around 1720.
We ought not to forget that Freemasonry is a system of morality veiled in allegory. Just because a particular book is open in the Lodge, at a particular page, which includes a reference to the moral lesson included in a particular piece of Masonic ritual, does not render the reader a Catholic!
There is no reason why an initiate of any particular religion, should not read a book which contains moral references. The problem arises when he is required to place his hand on a particular Holy Book when taking his oath or obligation calling upon God as his witness.
To illustrate this, for those who have wondered why we are s..p s..d when we are initiated should read - Ruth Chapter 4. Each Craft ceremony contains similar, specific biblical references.
What is necessary is that the biblical reference is open in the Lodge at the correct reference point, and for the candidate to read. These references illustrate to any man the relevant moral lessons in the rituals. This is why the VSL being open in the Lodge is an
Ancient Landmark and can only be the Judeo/Christian Bible. It is the point/book of reference. No other book will suffice as it will not contain the direct moral references, the only reason it is in the Lodge in the first place.
C) These are the questions that we must all face up to and not skirt around. We must be honest in this as in all things. So how do we, as Universal Freemasons, square this circle?
There is no reason to insist that an initiate must place his hand on a VSL, and how many Lodges do you know which open the VSL at the correct page of reference anyway?
Why not just require the initiate to place his hand on a copy of the Book of Constitutions in order to signify his acceptance of what it contains, as we used to?
Is there even a more radical option; a Masonic body to completely rewrite the Masonic rituals, excluding all religious or biblical references?
It seems to me that what we have at the moment is a halfway house, a mishmash, which has given rise to this very thread.
Is there a case for several types of Lodges? Strict observance Lodges; non-observance Lodges; Lodges which are denominationally based?
Whichever way we seek to solve these questions, the executive bodies of Freemasonry will have to meet together to discuss and resolve these important Masonic issues. Otherwise our serious considerations of these important matters remain academic and meaningless, and Freemasonry will continue to fragment.