Customer Reviews

The Hiram Key: Pharaohs, Freemasons and the Discovery of the Secret Scrolls of Jesus

5 star:		(91)
4 star:		(60)
3 star:		(23)
2 star:		(30)
1 star:		(45)

 

 

I read The Hiram Key a few months ago and I cannot in any number of words say how interesting it was. I was raised in a very strict church that believed only in a literal translation of the Bible. The content of The Hiram Key shocked me. Instead of being turned off, I read hungrily. Believing the authors to have honorable intentions, I finished the book and then researched every avenue I could via the footnotes,etc. It all proved out.I was amazed at how long some of this knowledge has been out there and how long it took to come to the eyes of the general public. I am 48 years old and feel released for the first time in memory. I finished The Second Messiah last week and last night started Uriel's Machine. Christopher Knight and Robert Lomas are refreshing, intellegent, courageous and so much more. I will read anything they write and wish I could share with them the dept of effect they have had on my family and many of our friends. Of course, I read the other reviews that would make them out to be of the devil or some such nonsense as that and surely there are many who would agree. It is threatening to read substantive material that flys in the face of all the beliefs that make up our eternal retirement plan. Truth doesn't set everyone free. Everyone can't handle the responsiblity. Hurray for these men and thank you so very much.

I have read many of these reviews and some of the fiercest criticisms as well. Almost uniformly the critics seem to read as live people I have met who are Christians who become quite shrill when certain newer historical concepts are mentioned or written about. But in the interest of my own satisfaction, I went back and researched a few of the cheif complaints.

It turns out that many of the criticism repeated over and over are nothing more than petty objections to historically controversial "facts" that historians have debated for a long time. The existence of Nazareth is one example. Yes, you can find it on maps of the first century period because their is much assumption that it existed then. But the town is not mentioned in the Hebrew texts, not in Josephus, nor in the Talmud. Jerome in the 5th century says that it was a vicilus or mere village of perhaps a couple hundred people. It was a satellite of the larger city of Sepphoris four miles away. To add to that, the respected historian Zindler argued as did many others, that Nazareth did not exist in the first century. He cites Paul, Josephus, the Hebrew Bible and the Talmud as well as the statement that the brow of the hill near Nazareth is not steep enough for someone to be thrown off and killed, referring to Luke 4:28-30. Add to all this the very diverse historical evidence of an active Nasoean sect and the Ebionites who seemed to be the real source of Jewish "Christianity" - rejected by the Paulinians and you have just the beginning of what is really an much more complex historical setting than just saying one thing or another and sticking to it for two thousand years. A deep study of early Christianity or a good reading of Gibbons classic history "Fall the of the Roman Empire" will lend more support than not to "The Hiram Key."

It is my guess that what irritates most people aside from those who react as true-believing modern Christians, is the writing style of the two authors. That and the lack of a Bibliography. Certainly, Knight and Lomas have noticed that error and their subsequent books have very long Bibliographies. But the writing style is casual, and people used to reading solid historical works are made to feel that they are being taken on a fantasy ride, however plausable the narrative manages to make itself. And that rise and falls throughpout the book. The two slimest sequences are the story of the murder of Hiram Abif and the story of the mock crucifixion of Jaques de Molay.

But the reader must understand that the book has been written by those and for those who are very familiar with the traditional history of Freemasonry. Knowing it as well as I did, I could see how this could be an explanation. Time perhaps will add or detract from their theory. The story of Jaques de Molay was very rich because it was written almost as a play might have been written. But it does appear that the victim was nailed to a door and the door slamed over and over. This was not an unusual torment during that period, and if you have traveled in Europe and visited a few dungeons, you will find that this was not the most inventive torture that was invented by apparently horribly bloodthirsty monks in the service of the Lord. The more intiment I have become with the entire history of Christianity and Europe in general, the more likely I can find a scenario such as the torture of de Molay as described. Certainly, he was tortured- there is plenty of historical record on that and all the other Templars that were tortured and burned to death during their suppression.

So what? Well, I say read the book and then do real objective research. You will find as I have that the critics tend to fall into certain classes and much of what these men quote is either well known to many in the field or at least the opinion of learned scholars if not completely agreed upon.

Certainly, the world needs a cleansing from these bloody, middle eastern religions. Books on alternative theories highly substantiable at some points - like this one are needed. For a good review of Christianity's start read Joel Carmichael's "The Birth of Christianity."

However, I am amazed over and over at how few people seem to have noticed the really remarkable message that this book contains. The book of Enoch survived in Freemasonic literature and appears no where else until the Dead Sea Scrolls are made available for public study and voila, there it is, the Book of Enoch. How did the Freemasons in England come to be the custodians of such an important text? Yes, there must be a link and the most logical link is the digging of the temple ruins by the original nine Templars and the bloodline connection that other authors have discussed. The Dukes of Lorraine and Burgundy knew they were there!

Unfortunately, too much of history is the history of cover-up and usurpation. It is going to require people like PhDs of engineering and graphic artists who excel in historical research and alternative thinking to crack the "good old boys" club of established historical tradition. If for no other reason than that you can't get into the club if you don't sing the right tune. But that is changing, slowly.

Finally, one must realize that Freemasonry itself underwent a huge change after 1717 and was greiviously mangled by Christian apologists who added many degrees and Christian tradition to what had previously existed. There is a historical competition of the London - York Rite against the Scottish Rite and the authors have been attempting to prove with their research and writings to show the London Grand Lodge that there needs to be a huge revision, bringing a completed and rational read to the story of Freemasonry in order for it to survive much longer. If the reader understands some of these things, then the many turns of the book is easier to understand.

I gave this book four stars simply because it lacks a bibliography, which would have eliminated at leat 50% of the critics outright.

And that's how it goes

There is a lot of evidence out there that the 'traditional' Christian view of World History is at best inaccurate, at worst deliberately distorted. And possibly this is the definitive and most accurate account yet of how things actually happened. The problem is, it's impossible to tell from this work. Badly sourced and referenced, this is a work that fails to meet all accepted standards of academic and scholarly argument. In particular the authors have a nasty habit of confusing terms like 'possible' with 'proven'. There are numerous occasions within the book where a theory is presented as a possible interpretation of events - so far, so good. The problem is that on the next page a sentence will begin along these lines 'As we have already proven...' and the possibility is now upgraded to an established fact. Once would be a problem, but their argument as a whole consists of a linear trace through history, which ends up as a heap of suppositions all transformed like this into facts, tottering on top of one another. Remove ONE of these guesses and the whole edifice comes down. In many other places ideas are presented as accepted facts, when a closer reading (on your own initiative, and not at the authors instigation, as most of these are unsourced) reveals that the point in question may be hotly contested or dismissed by most scholars. There are some nice ideas in the book. Some of it may be right. But personally, I found that from about page 70 onwards I was reading it as I would a novel, suspending disbelief, with every few pages causing a sharp intake of breath as another conclusion is drawn without the help of Occams Razor, or another supposition metamorphasises into fact over the course of a few paragraphs. Read it by all means, but keep your critical faculties handy at all times.

While authors Knight and Lomas can get dangerously speculative at times, their conclusions are plausable.

The Hiram Key persents many theories to complete it's 'presented' history; and while it's unlikely that all of their speculation is true many of the statements undoubtably are correct.

The prinicpal value of the Hiram Key would be to as a starting point for further academic research in an environment that lends itself to such study (ie, a University). To the casual reader it might spark an interest in other works on related topics.

Unfortunatly, due to it's speculative nature and controversial subject matter, this book will come under fire (with whatever ammunition) is available ) by those who find the topic offensive or dangerous. But, despite it's speculative nature I would reccommend the material to anyone willing to further thier understanding of either Free Masonry or the modern Christian church.

This is one of the most interesting books I've read if not for the history, then the storytelling. There's a lot of really interesting stuff in here. Some of the book seems to be dead on (the masons coming from the templars), and some may be a little too far fetched (ancient king making rituals and the true identity of Hiram Abif), BUT who knows and with time, more light will certainly be shed on the issues.
In my opinion, the authors make two important mistakes:
1) In the way they present the material they attempt to make fact out of conjecture. Some of their deductions are quite good, but they often fail to present them as deductions (as opposed to recorded history).
2) They provide almost *no* references. Some people will definitely want to do more research into the subjects addressed.
This is some fun stuff, but treat all read with a grain of salt.
Anyway, the book provides a very good introduction into early christianity and helps to point out why there is such a huge discordance (at least for me), between the old testament and the new testament, and maybe how it happened.
If you read it, enjoy, and I'm certainly curious to see if they can excavate Rossylyn.

This is one of the great key-stone books of the popular history/religion genre.

The Hiram Key combines an interesting review of the history with some compelling theories, fascinating new ideas, and informed speculation.

The book is essentially a review of the mysterious history of freemasonry in the light of information from ancient Egypt and Christian scripture. A revised version of historical events is proposed, and some intriguing solutions offered to some unanswered questions.

The authors argue their points so confidently that the less sceptical reader might be convinced by everything they read. The purpose of this text is to present a new theory, rather than consider the opposing arguments. The reader should explore other sources for additional evidence to balance the author's arguments.

I strongly recommend this book to anyone interested in secret societies, history, or religion - especially freemasonry, ancient Egypt, Christianity, or the knights templar.

You'll enjoy reading this fascinating book and perhaps learn a little bit of history too.

I read this book (the paperback version--yes, it's out) right after reading Bloodline of the Holy Grail by Laurence Gardner, and the two make a very interesting set. They contradict each other in places (particularly concerning James the Just, younger brother of Jesus) but overall they complement each other. The authors of this work, having joined the Masons, set out to find out what the rituals they went through really mean and where they came from. The key question they attempt to answer is, who was Hiram Abif, a key figure in Masonic ritual, supposedly in charge of building Solomon's temple who supposedly died rather than reveal the secrets of a master mason to three of his workers who tried to get them by intimidation. They came up with some interesting theories which I would dearly love to see expanded upon, but some of their supposed solutions hang on very tenous evidence and dubious interpretations. I'm sure they're right to trace the origins of Freemasonry to the Knights Templar, who had to go underground after being declared heretics on the infamous Friday the 13th of October 1307. (See Born in Blood by John J. Robinson.) They also seem to be on solid ground in tracing some rituals and traditions back to the early Christians of Jerusalem and the Essenes by way of scrolls probably discovered by the Templars while excavating the ruins of Herod's temple. Their attempt to trace them even further back to the murder of Pharoah Seqenenre (whom they see as the prototype for Hiram Abif) is much shakier (tho they may be onto something). Even shakier is their attempt to blame the murder on Levi and Rueben, two sons of the Jewish patriarch Jacob/Israel (and thus the eponymous founders of one of the tribes of Israel and of the Levite priests of Israel). The chronology is all wrong, and their only basis for this claim is their interpretation of a single ambigous verse in Genesis. The later chapters of the book, which are very interesting, are devoted to a detailed examination of the Chapel of Rosslyn in Scotland, which seems to be a Templar/Masonic reproduction of Herod's temple, and they predict that at least some of the scrolls the Templars found in Jerusalem are buried in vaults beneath the floor of this building. They say there is some support for the idea of excavating the site, and I certainly hope that they're right, for what they find could be even more important than the Dead Sea Scrolls!

I stumbled across this book while searching for some information on the history of religions. What an incredible find! Although this is a lengthy book, I could not put it down! I am not a Mason, and I really have no interest in becoming one, but this book convinces me that there is much more to the order than most people, including most Masons, know. Knight and Lomas present a fascinating well reserached history of the Masonic order and of religions in general. Their descriptions of Rosslyn Chapel made me want to hop a plane to Scotland to check it out for myself. They shed light on the identity of the mysterious Hiram Abif and tie the whole thing neatly together with a history of the Nights Templar. Their theories on Jesus Christ and his teachings would make interesting fodder for a long talk with your minister.

If you only read one book about religion or freemasonry in your life, let this book be it! If you ever considered becoming a mason, then this book is a must. (Christopher and Robert, please continue the story of Rosslyn Chapel. I'm hooked!)

As a Freemason, I am always curious to see what new and interesting bits of information and knowledge have come out lately. And this book does warrant scrutiny. While I found the exposure of Christian mythology interesting, it really did not come up with anything new to the Gnostic with the exception of how it relates to Freemasonry. I find the expose on fundamentalism, fanaticism and intolerance priceless. How some people find the mythos of other religions as little more than fairy tales contrived by the ignorant, yet they won't waste any time preaching about he "Immaculate Conception," (not the 1st one in history, sorry to say) walking on water and raising the dead. Believable truths to them as told about a man who become God over the centuries, but did not start out that way. You can thank Constantine for that one. What Rome could not conquer with the sword it did with religion. The Romans were excellent record keepers but evidence, or the lack thereof, seems to fail to corroborate any part of the story as told by the Bible. How history knows full well the invention of what is modern Christianity has always been a quiet little fact. Fear of being burned alive helped with that I'm sure. Faith or fire. What a choice. So to believe one myth and not the other is intellectually like saying one believes in Santa Claus, but not the Tooth Fairy. About this Seqenenre Tao mummy being Hiram Abiff? I think it's fascinating how it was pieced together. And no one should debunk the effort these men put forth in their investigation. But it would be more credible to admit this as theory instead of the gospel truth as no evidence can really support this except in the explanations of the storyteller(s). It still is a stretch to think this mummified man is the be all end all source of our legend. However, to point out the sculptures of the Maize and Aloes' plants indigenous the "The Americas" that were built into Roslyn Chapel clearly points that the Templars were here before Columbus. That small little detail has escaped attention for centuries. How could someone had sculpted those without 1st being here? This chapel was built before Columbus came here. That fact alone has been the inspiration for continued study by various prestigious research bodies within Freemasonry. I salute the discovery. My only major complaint is the book ended much the way so many British movies do. Quickly, without warning and leaving you hanging. To build the climax of the story to what promises to be the revelation to end all revelations, and then to deliver nothing is purely disrespectful. If you're going to shell out $25 to buy this book it should be provided with some closure. The book promises to reveal the "Hidden Scrolls of Jesus" and has in fact having the authors claiming to know the EXACT location of their position. Only to have the book END. Just like that! I don't know about anyone else who read this, but THIS READER checked the book over to see if it was missing any pages before exclaiming quite audibly: "Well? Where is it? What does it say?" Cheesy boys, really cheesy. But for the most part, it asks very good questions and brings several good things to light. All in all it is a good book. Though admittedly wordy, somewhat tiring and at times boring with a vicious tease for an ending, but it is most definitely well worth the read. But the REAL hum-dinger is these reviews. All these people claiming to be Freemasons yet at the same time engaging in hateful name calling forgetting their Masonic obligations to improve themselves and keep their passions within due bounds. These people are the same ones who will slam this book, yet cannot produce one example of the book they disagreed with! Almost like---they didn't read it! Hmmmmm. To any one who is offended by this book as "Anti-Christian" turn off the 700 Club just long enough to get on the Internet. These miracle faith healers will still be there when you get back to it. I promise. Check out what some "Christians" are saying about Freemasonry and what scathing hatred full of out right lies are being put on these sites by people who don't like anyone who is not just like them. We had another group of individuals like them. Only we called them Nazis. I can't believe what hatred is being leveled at a fraternity who helps crippled children walk and supports some many charities for children without DIME ONE FROM THE GOVERNMENT. While so many churches spend money on luxuries for their buildings we're collecting $$ for orphans and learning disorders. So the next time you hateful book-burners want to light up someone else's beliefs look at yourselves. Masonry has never attacked or slandered anyone and hasn't even REALLY defended itself! We "turn the other cheek." Boy doesn't THAT ring a bell. This is just a book! If you don't like it, don't read it. Fact is as the world gets more and more educated and people get more and more informed and more and more discoveries are found in archeology, the "Greatest Story Ever Sold" gets harder and harder to believe. Anything worth knowing does not have to be taught through fear and guilt at such an early age. Freethinking is just that. FREE THOUGHT. The facts in this book are a little reaching but it brings up some very good points. I find it hard to take anyone seriously that tells me this research is pure fiction-then proceed to tell me they can talk in tongues. Seems the only ones out there who really hate us, are these fascist-minded bible-thumpers. Why are you all so easily threatened? Aren't you tired of throwing darts at what you don't or can't understand? Give it a rest already.

Of course I was intrigued with the subject matter--who doesnt want to learn about secret societies that tie together 5,000 years of separate civilizations, and turn our own culture's underpinnings upside down to boot.

With all the research cited, ('alluded to' might be a more appropriate description), I decided to find some fact to check...and found an easy one. Among other claims from the book was that Jesus was not "Jesus of Nazareth" but rather "Jesus the Nasorean," a member of a secret sect, rather than someone from the outskirts of the Jewish territory. The evidence given was that "...there are no historical records referring to the town (Nazareth) that predate the mentions in the Gospels, which is a unique situation as the Romans kept excellent records...". The authors then use that fact to completely reverse our current understanding of the historical Jesus.

Well, that seemed easy enough to check, and one quick trip to the library later, I can report that the town of Nazareth does appear in 'Barrington's Atlas to the Greek and Roman World'.

There are many interesting ideas, legends and myths presented in this book, and if you're not too particular about truth versus speculation, you should enjoy 'The Hiram Key'.