Blue_Metal

Has anyone read The Hiram Key, by Christopher Knight & Robert Lomas? It's about freemasonry, and how stuff in the bible can be related to the start of freemasonry and the knights of templar.

I was wondering how much of the stuff they claim could actually be true. Has anyone even heard of it? It's an interesting take on biblical history, and a good read.

Their second book, the Second Messiah, is about the shroud of Turin. It's less interesting, and I honestly can't remember much about it.

Blue

[ February 22, 2002: Message edited by: Blue_Metal ]</p>

Egoinos

Yeah, I've read the Hiram Key. It seems to be in the same league as "The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail" - wacky history, in other words.
Its been a while since I read it, but don't they claim that secret scrolls from Jerusalem were brought by the Knights Templar to Scotland and hidden under the Master and Apprentice Pillars at the Rosslyn Chapel?
There is a similar book claiming Jesus' mummified head is under the master pillar there, too.
It all seems a little wierd, to me.

--Egoinos--

Blue_Metal

Yep! That's the one!

Blue

Egoinos

The Rosslyn Chapel owners sell those books at the chapel when they take tourists round...nice little money spinner!

I've always found, with the other books, that they start off from a reasonable position, they give lots of accurate data about the 1st century or earlier...then they go loopy. You only notice after you've finished how mad their conclusions are - quite skillful, really.

Marduk

I'm sure the Mason's would like to think they have an unbroken link back to the Bible and beyond but I doubt it. I think this organization only dates to the 1700's.
But to be technical the Temple was built by stone masons who were not slaves, as were the Pyramids so you could say they were 'Free Masons'.

CX

Warning! Any book about the freemasons is probably bullshit. The fact that these goofballs also wrote about the shroud of turin is a dead giveaway on the crackpot index.

godfry n. glad

Quote:

But to be technical the Temple was built by stone masons who were not slaves, as were the Pyramids so you could say they were 'Free Masons'.

.

Ahem... To which Temple are you referring? The first Temple, which was reputedly destroyed by the forces of the Babylonian Nebucanezzer early in the sixth century BCE? Or, the second Temple, which was reputedly reconstructed under the sponsorship of Cyrus after the return of the exiles from Babylon near the end of the sixth century BCE? It, in turn, went through major reconstruction under the direction of Herod the Great just prior to the turn of the first millenium CE. Herod found it necessary to train huge numbers of priests in the niceties of masonry in order to complete the project without offending the sensibilities of the Judeans (as per Josephus). Is it possible that Herod was limited by tradition to using priests to do the masonry to construct the temple? Thus, the term "Freemason" is a secret codeword for "Temple Priest"?

Then... Have you ever considered that the "free" in Free Masons might mean that their services were obtained at no cost, rather than their not being in bondage?

godfry

Marduk

Nudge nudge (secret handshake) wink wink

Marduk

"Has anyone read The Hiram Key, by Christopher Knight & Robert Lomas? It's about freemasonry, and how stuff in the bible can be related to the start of freemasonry and the knights of templar."

I have the book but as of yet haven't gotten around to reading it. I did see a special on the Masons on the History Channel and the initiation ritual contains a reinactment of the the slaying of Hiram, I guess he is the guy Solomon hired to build the first Temple.
An even more interesting book on secret societies is Bramley's "The Gods of Eden" but it is pretty wild, think David Icke, but fun. As Kevin Nealon says on "The Conspiracy Zone" "If we've made even one person just a little more paranoid than we've done our job"

I've heard that "The Keys of Enoch" is also very good, but I can't find it anywhere. And by very good I mean strange.


[ February 25, 2002: Message edited by: marduck ]</p>

Christopher Lord

I have also read it. There is some intresting history in there, but I think some of their conclusions are off the wall.