Jesus did not claim to work miracles, according to the authors. When Jesus claimed to have raised Lazarus from the dead, it was intended as an allegorical reference; followers were referred to as the "living" and others were referred to as the "dead" in certain Jewish esotericism of the time. Similarly, Jesus' turning water into wine merely meant elevating people to a higher status within the framework of the sect. A supposed purposely-designed head in Rosslyn Chapel in Scotland also appears to correspond with these death wounds. More below. Those records were lost for over 1,000 years, at which time they were quietly uncovered and then interpreted by the Knights Templar. Those rituals were then adopted into the Templar’s teachings and rituals. So, the authors claim.

Four stars for the extensive research these two authors have completed to write this book. It’s certainly a game changers for everyone who has read the bible but is it here-say and what do we really believe. I’ve no doubt despite being brought up in a Christian home and going to church each Sunday, there are errors and ‘romanticism’ for want of a better word, in the Bible. The New Testament for me, was read more as the Old Testament was very hard to comprehend. There are many versions of the Bible nowadays but I’ve had mine since I was 4 months old. It was a sign of protection in a Scottish Protestant house. They did a vigorous analysis and comparison of ancient Egyptian records and compared them to the Old and New Testament as well as the Dead Sea Scrolls. I cannot comment on how versed they are in ancient languages, so it is hard for me to really conclude how accurate these comparisons are. The do seem to make a decent case for early Christian rituals and some of the Masonic rituals, however. The biggest problem I ran into was their claim that the Christian Church was a political creation and had really had no connection with Jesus Christ. I reject that having been a practicing Christian for well over 20 years now, with far too many personal encounters with the Holy Spirit (including Christ). Related Mysteries eventually wound up in the Gnostic Nasorean sect at Qumran, burial place of the Dead Sea Scrolls. This sect was where the historic Jesus and his brother James the Just (apparently also known as Jesus) came to power. James as priest-king supposedly led the sect after death of the “kingly” Jesus. Creeping assertion - caveats on statements are reduced as the statements are used as foundation for further development. In Chapter 5 of the Hiram Key, Jesus Christ: Man, God, Myth, or Freemason?, the authors state: "We realise that this is a statement that will offend many Christians, and particularly many Roman Catholics," but the conclusion they came to, based upon historical context derived outside the accepted religious context, was that Jesus was a Freemason.Though, most of the book is based on the imaginary connection between 2,000 years of symbolism. The biggest mistake that they make in my view is that over time, symbolism, even if held in strict hidden social societies, has been consistent to them. This is by far the truth. Sure symbolism can hold a similar meaning, though the interpretation and its 'popular' views of the time it represents may become deluded to the now scholar. By the end one realizes that the scrolls are wishful thinking, though that they have had indeed pointed out some small threads as leads for their assumptions. Most of their evidence is a single thread of almost opinion, which allows their research to unfold. This was a great book which touched on so many subjects that ultimately made me feel almost overwhelmed. The information came in like bullets, 'there is a second jesus', 'the shroud is from a templar' etc. Access-restricted-item true Addeddate 2020-07-30 19:06:26 Associated-names Lomas, Robert, 1947- Boxid IA1885319 Camera USB PTP Class Camera Collection_set printdisabled External-identifier In reality, the "history " they weave is built on a great deal of speculation, combined with hints at evidence. Like many pseudo-historians, however, they mistake evidence for proof. Many of their threads can easily have gone in other directions while they are adamant that they can be only interpreted in one way. They're fond of taking evidence which is coincidence and assigning a "cause and effect" relationship where there is none. On a few occasions they made statements like "coincidence can definitely be ruled out" without supporting why it can be. The original “Hiram Abif” (in ritual, the architect of Solomon’s Temple), was actually Seqenenre Tao (c. 1614-1550 BCE), last Pharaoh of Thebes during the Seventeenth Dynasty of the Second Intermediate Period, whose death wounds (evidenced by his mummy) appear to correspond with those of Hiram Abif.

The authors of The Hiram Key propose a possible sequence of events that led to modern Freemasonry, although much of their narrative has been debated by historians and other researchers. A criticism of their approach by those unfamiliar with the science of "dialectical progression" is that the authors have gathered irrelevant and often unevidenced 'facts' to arrive at an equally unproven theory. Even those familiar with the application of dialectics may concede that the conclusion of such logic is only as good as its weakest link. All Historical study is based on dialectical appraisal of evidence, and all sources of information subject to interpretation as the "weakest link." I read this at an interesting period of my life where things I know I no longer know if I know for sure. This book only added to questions I have about life, God, and what we really know about history. The authors, both Masons, set out to find the origins of freemasonry they had no idea they would find themselves unravelling the true story of Jesus Christ and the original Jerusalem Church. Or at least that is part of the case they make in this book. They do make a reasonable case for many of the Masonic rituals and the parallels with the early – New Testament Bible. Are Jesus Christ and his disciples somehow directly connected with the freemasons? I am not convinced. When Scotland became unsafe for the Templars, they incorporated their beliefs and history into the rituals of Freemasonry as it is known today. However, these theories seem rather mere speculations, as the authors have very few sources and bibliography, and although the book presents these hypotheses as a consistent and solid all, would have been better if it had more opinions from the experts, which the authors are not. Other books dealing with similar themes have more than one hundred bibliographic sources, this barely reaches twenty.Of interest to pagans, they mention in passing the “five points of fellowship” that apparently correspond to the Gardnerian Great Rite refer to, in Masonry, a five-fingered grip used to “resurrect” the candidate during the Third Degree initiation. The Hiram Key, by Freemasons Christopher Knight and Robert Lomas, is a work of speculative non-fiction in the tradition of Michael Baigent and Richard Leigh’s The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail (which though uncredited, likely inspired Dan Brown’s The Da Vinci Code). It documents their quest to discover the answers to two mysteries of Masonic ritual: the nature of the “lost secrets of Freemasonry,” and the identity of Hiram Abif, whose assassination and resurrection figures significantly in their Third Degree. Potential spoilers ahead; along the way, some of their conclusions include: Knight and Lomas are not professional historians nor have they any qualifications in history or research, and their case is open to the criticism that they accept references that fit their theory and reject those that conflict with it. . Knight and Lomax claim to have analysed their sources rigorously, including the Old Testament and New Testament of the Bible, ancient Jewish texts, the Dead Sea Scrolls, the Gnostic Gospels, and Masonic rituals to support their conclusions. They note the global significance of religion and that any major refutation of commonly held beliefs would meet resistance from the established and orthodox authorities in any particular religion. In support of that point Knight and Lomax cite the treatment of the Dead Sea Scrolls. They note that, 40 years after their discovery, only about half of the available material had ever been published or made available for independent review. It was not until 1991 that public access restrictions were lifted. The scrolls contained various versions of Biblical texts, all of which were more than 1000 years older than the oldest surviving Hebrew texts that were produced by Aaron ben Moses ben Asher in AD 1008. The texts of these scrolls are believed by the authors to have been written by ancestors of the same Qumran community of the Judaean hills that found them. The authors also believe that the Qumran Community were Essenes, and that they and the Nasoreans and the original Jerusalem Church were all one and the same. That is, the ancient Qumranians were the first Christians. Although not apparently named in some translations of the bible, others, such as the Coverdale translation and the original Martin Luther translation do indeed refer to him as "Hiram Abiff" or as "Huram Abi". The word "abi" is translated as "father" or "my father" in other translations whilst the Luther and Coverdale translations treated it as a personal name. The Jewish Study Bible suggests that the word "father" is an honorific title applied to a skilled craftsman. The use of "abu" meaning "father" as an honorific is still used in the Middle East today, hence "Abukir" named after "Father" or Saint Cyril.

The Knights Templar, discovering the Qumran communities' records in the vaults under the Temple in Jerusalem, transported them to Rosslyn Chapel in Scotland. The “lost secrets of Freemasonry” in part refer to the lost king-making rituals at the time of Seqenenre Tao’s ascension, lost due to his assassination. I really enjoy their theory and think it would be cool if a genuine history of thousands of years for Masonry could be proven. For now, I'll accept it as a nice little fantasy that is fun to think about but is not grounded in any evidence close to certain. I would like to see a more detailed version of this work with more references and multiple threads of possibilities for their many conclusions.urn:lcp:hiramkeypharaohs0000knig:epub:232be1d2-c389-4ce0-8393-b1fd98635d41 Foldoutcount 0 Identifier hiramkeypharaohs0000knig Identifier-ark ark:/13960/t7mq42345 Invoice 1652 Isbn 0099175622 In this book one learns about the concept of Me at, thee twin pillars and King Makig rituals. We also learn that the Templars perform excavation n th temaple mount and recovere Israaelitee Rituals We do know that the early Christians buried their most precious scrolls beneath Herod's temple shortly before they and that city were destroyed by the Romans in 70 AD. The authors believe that Jesus did not claim to be divine, but was instead a messiah in the Jewish sense of the term, a good man and a freedom fighter, trying to liberate the Jews from Roman occupation.

Moses merged this event with Sumerian and Egyptian mythology, symbols and philosophy, to create a putative 'royal line'.

Following the diaspora of the Templars due to their outlawing in 1307, many settled in Scotland; Rosslyn Chapel was built in the image of a “New Jerusalem”, with a floor-plan identical to Herod’s Temple, to house the Nasorean scrolls at a point corresponding with its Holy of Holies. Knight and Lomas believe they have identified this location based on the layout of pillars in the Chapel.