President Joe Biden’s Family Bible is the latest fodder for Illuminati conspiracy theorists.

On January 21, a Facebook user posted a photo from Biden’s hand on the Bible. First Lady Jill Biden is pictured in the lower right corner.

“So has anyone else ever realized this or ???? Masonic / Illuminati Bible that Biden swore to yesterday,” the photo caption reads.

The post has over 16,000 shares. It was reported as part of Facebook’s efforts to tackle fake news and disinformation on its news feed. (Learn more about our partnership with Facebook.)

(Screenshot from Facebook)

The term “Illuminati”, translated from Latin to mean “revealed” or “enlightened”, refers to a secret society called the Illuminati of Bavaria which sought to infiltrate powerful institutions, such as monarchies, to promote the ideals of the Enlightenment. “Masonic” means Freemason, the practices of the oldest and largest fraternal organization in the world. The Bavarian Illuminati infiltrate Masonic lodges before dissolving in the 18th century.

The Bible to which Biden was sworn in is not related to either of the two organizations, which have were the subjects many conspiracy theories. Other fact checkers having demystified similar claims.

Biden used this heavy Bible, with a Celtic cross, throughout his career in public service. He told Stephen Colbert in December that it has been a family heirloom since 1893.

“Every important date is in there,” he said. “For example, every time I took an oath for anything, the date was on it and is written in the Bible.”

The book is pictured in photos from Biden’s first swearing-in as a senator in 1973. He also used it during his inauguration as vice president.

(PA)

As proof that the Bible is linked to the Illuminati, the Facebook post includes two screenshots.

The first screenshot shows a listing for a Haydock Douay-Rheims Bible, a 19th century translation with comments from Christian scholar George Leo Haydock, on the website of a third-party auction house. The second screenshot shows text from a website claiming that the Haydock Douay-Rheims book contains information on how the Illuminati “changed the name of God the Son of the Trinity Catholic” – a “trick Masonic “which the website calls” the Da Vinci Code “. . “

Biden’s Family Bible is indeed a Haydock Douay-Rheims edition, which was common among English-speaking Catholics in the United States until the 1940s. But claims that this edition of the Bible is linked to the Illuminati are linked to a long line of conspiracy theories about the Illuminati, which have only operated for a decade in the 1700s and research replace Christianity with a “religion of reason”.

“Beginning in 1792, several conspirators began to combine Masons, Illuminati, Templars and Jews in various combinations to create a worldwide conspiracy of universal control,” Christopher Hodapp and Alice Von Kannon wrote in “Conspiracy Theories and Secret Societies for Dummies. “

“The Da Vinci Code” is a book about an elaborate plot to suppress information that Jesus may have had a child with Mary Magdalene. It is a work of historical fiction that was discredited by churches, clergy, and Bible scholars.

We could not find any credible evidence that Biden’s Bible is related to the Illuminati. While many former presidents were freemasons, we found no evidence that Biden is a member of the fraternity.

The Facebook post is inaccurate and ridiculous. We rate it Pants on fire!

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