Product Description

For almost seven-and-a-half centuries, a piece of cloth was venerated because it bore the image of the crucified Christ. However, results of carbon dating have shown that the fabric could not have predated 1260. Now new evidence conclusively proves that it is not a face.. .yet neither is it the image of Jesus.

In the follow-up to their groundbreaking first book, The Hiram Key, Knight and Lomas continue their research into the mysteries of Freemasonry and the true historical Jesus. In the course of those explorations, they uncover the precise time and place of the Shroud's creation. The answer to the great mystery will surprise and astound as the authors unlock the secrets of abandoned Freemason rituals and the man who would be called the Second Messiah.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #241233 in Books
• Published on: 2001-08-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 400 pages

Review
One hundred years ago, an amateur was allowed to photograph the Shroud of Turin. The negatives he produced of that famous image captivated the Christian world and strengthened their belief that it carried the imprint of Christ's face and body. In The Second Messiah, authors Knight and Lomas, who are Freemasons, build a meticulous case against this theory. Although they use recent scientific data that proves the linen shroud could not have predated medieval times, they go well beyond proving it is not the burial shroud of Jesus. The Second Messiah not only pinpoints the exact moment in history during which the Shroud of Turin took the imprint, it actually names the man whose image the Shroud holds.Like any good mystery story, this one begins in medias res. The opening chapters recount centuries of suppression of certain "truths" of Freemasonry by the English Grand Lodge, which led the authors to believe that secrets were being kept from other Freemasons in the service of a Christian agenda. To the uninitiated, this might seem like petty in-fighting within the membership of a clandestine club. Read on. The authors soon paint a larger history of the Knights Templar, the Crusaders who were the originators of modern Freemasonry, and their oppression and eventual eradication by the Roman Catholic Church. The torture and martyrdom of Jacques de Molay, the last Grand Master of the Knights Templar, are at the center of this remarkable book's search for historical authenticity.In their introduction, the authors propose that "History seems not so much a record of past events, more a catalogue of preferred beliefs expounded by people who have a vested interest." One of their purposes in writing this book is to show how Freemasonry's rituals and secrets were twisted and used by the Catholic Church to persecute the Knights Templar and their followers. The chapter entitled "The Tarot and the Templars" fascinates with its explanation of how the allegorical cards were used by the Knights to instruct members in the secrets of Freemasonry, and how the Church misinterpreted the meanings of the Tarot and outlawed it.At the conclusion of their well-documented search for the origins of the Shroud of Turin and the Great Secret of Freemasonry, Knight and Lomas say they reached a "new vantage point," from which they see "people huddled together with their eyes squeezed shut _ all facing inwards and repeating the same words, "This is the only highground, there can be no other."" After publication of this painstakingly researched and utterly convincing book, it will be hard for readers, Freemasons or otherwise, to keep their eyes and their minds closed. -- From Independent Publisher

About the Author
Christopher Knight has a degree in advertising and graphic design and is the managing director of a marketing and advertising agency. In1976 he became a Freemason.

Robert Lomas has a degree in electrical engineering and currently lectures at Bradford University Management Centre. He became a Freemason in 1986, and quickly gained popularity as a lecturer on Masonic history.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
Introduction

In our previous book, The Hiram Key, we uncovered the early origins of Freemasonry, which showed how modern Masonic rituals have developed from those once used by the Jerusalem Church and later adopted by the famous crusader order of the Knights Templar. These warrior monks had a very strange history that started with a nine-year-long excavation of the ruins of Herod’s Temple following the First Crusade and ended, nearly two hundred years later, with them being arrested as heretics.

Our findings were controversial, but they were warmly received by many biblical, Templar and Masonic scholars, as well as several Catholic priests.

Over the months following publication we met hundreds of Freemasons of every rank, all over England, Scotland and Wales, and we received nothing but support and congratulations from them.

The notable exception to this reception was that of the United Grand Lodge of England, which did not even acknowledge the pre-publication copy of the book we sent. It appeared to consider that, as Freemasons, we had committed the sin of conducting independent research past the golden year of 1717. We had not contravened any rule of the Order, but we soon became aware of a letter sent out from Grand Lodge to the provincial grand lodges of England and Wales, giving a short and extremely disingenuous account of our findings.

Shortly afterwards the worshipful master of a famous Masonic lodge attended one of our bookshop talks with the intention of gathering evidence against us, but at the end he congratulated us, bought a copy of our book and asked us to sign it for him. A constant stream of letters continued to arrive from people all over the world, many providing us with yet more supportive evidence. Some very senior Freemasons were extremely complimentary: for instance, David Sinclair Bouschor, Past Grand Master of Minnesota, was kind enough to say:

“The Hiram Key could spark the beginning of a reformation in Christian thinking and a reconsideration of ‘the facts’, which we have so blindly accepted and perpetuated for generations. This book is a must for freethinkers.”

Another American, a Doctor of Divinity, who we perhaps should not name, wrote to us saying:

“I am a 32 degree Scottish Rite Mason, Master of my lodge 3 times, Past Wise Master of Rose Croix, a member of The Order of Amaranth and a Shiner, in addition I am an ordained minister in the Reformed Baptist Church. All this experience and education did not prepare me for the material contained in your book. If I had not been searching for our ancient origins and had the courage to look outside the dogmas of the establishments, perhaps I would not have finished reading The Hiram Key, however, I was, I did and I too find your data totally acceptable to what I have found. This has led me to believe that perhaps there is some truth to the accusations leveled against Masonry that ‘only the top (HIGH) degrees know the truth’.”

This last comment was particularly fascinating because, as far as we know, there is only one degree higher than the 32degree to which this gentleman belongs. Could there be a secret so great that only a handful of Freemasons know it? Perhaps, we thought, this great secret has been lost and now needs to be rediscovered.

The situation was far too intriguing to ignore. We knew for certain that Freemasonry had developed the rituals used by the Jerusalem Church and the Knights Templar and it seemed likely that the United Grand Lodge of England had either lost contact with its own origins or it was deliberately concealing something very big indeed — even from its own officers. Its determination to prevent discussion about anything outside of its official doctrine was very different from every other grand lodge that we know of, and we decided that our researches must continue.

When we set out on our quest, six key questions lay before us:

1.Have some Masonic rituals been deliberately changed or suppressed?

2.Is there a great secret of Freemasonry that has become lost, or has been deliberately hidden?

3.Who was behind the formation of the Knights Templar?

4.Why did the Templars decide to excavate beneath the ruins of Herod’s Temple?

5.What were the beliefs which led to the destruction of the Templars as heretics?

6.Can the deeper rituals of Freemasonry shed further new light on the origins of Christianity?

We knew that the answers would not be easy to find, but as our researches progressed we found the answer to one very important question that we had not posed ourselves: what is the definitive origin of the Shroud of Turin?

We had previously speculated that there could have been a Templar connection with this unique relic, but we were not prepared for the magnitude of its role in history and the importance of the man whose image it bears.

Customer Reviews

The most extraordinary book I have ever read.
The authors present their latest findings concerning the links between Jesus, his brother James, the first Jerusalem Church, the Knights Templar, the Turin Shroud and Freemasonry.

Without wishing to give away too much, the stories they unravel and the picture they lay before you develop and appear like the mysterious image of the Shroud itself; any hints given here would detract from the final impact as the book picks up more pace and rushes headlong to its conclusions. If they are to be believed, their theories will force a re-examination of the origins of Christianity - so this book will shock readers possessing less than open minds.

The authors' style of writing - almost conversational - is one which I expected to find distracting; far from it! It turned out to be especially appropriate when one considers the very special nature of some of the (purely coincidental) conversations they did have with some key characters who have been introduced to them. Their revelations are truly stunning.

Both authors are Freemasons of some years' standing; it is fascinating to see, even given that, how many obstacles to genuine research were placed in their way. In their words, "what is there to hide?" They found plenty.

My only criticism is of the authors' tendency to present their theories as fact... but the sheer weight of documented historical evidence lends a high degree of plausibility to those theories.

With every chapter containing so much complex detail, the inclusion of a brief, simple summary of each one is especially welcome and I have been stimulated to go in search of more books on the subject; I bought two more this week.

Prepare to be left feeling shattered

Tarot, Arthur, Shroud, Scrolls, what DIDN'T they have??????
Christopher Knight and Robert Lomas present a clear, well-documented model of religious and Masonic history. I read this a long time ago... Then I read the Hiram Key... Then the Templar Revelation.... and then the Head of God.... and tonight I read this again. (The Second Messiah, and oh, for the un informed these books are a few of the many focusing on the Templars Jerusalem treasure and great heresy) I find this book more believable than its prequel (Hiram Key), though much of its work is based on the conclusions of that piece. And this is MUCH MUCH MUCH more credible than "The Head of God." It has the same idea of the royal blood line however, but doesn't take as far back as Akhenaten/Moses. First the authors set out to show that Paul's theology was at direct odds with the Jerusalem church, which was completely Jewish, not viewing Christ as anyone supernatural. But Paul's religion conquered it, which further expounds their idea that there were many secrets to Jame's church. If you haven't read the Hiram Key, this is their formula [Nasorean=Essene=Christian] They also get into the feature of all the books I mentioned-Rosslyn Chapel. Their finds in the ancient decorations of this temple prove that Freemasonry is centuries older than the English Lodge says. In fact, their dogma is rather evasive. It claims 1717 was the birth of modern Masonry, and doesn't appreciate Freemasonry historians to look further in the past than this date. It is amazing how all the books on these same subjects come up with such different conclusions. The engraving of the "Veronica" was interpreted by "The Head of God" to be just that (a severed head) and here it is identified with the Shroud of Turin. And speaking of the Shroud, here they establish that the most feasible theory regarding its origin is the image of Jacques de Molay. (And they at the same time debunk "The Templar Revelation"'s theory surrounding its mystery) It is surprising to note that in Templar history we find an interesting alternative in interpreting eschatological fulfillments-specifically the book of Revelation. And that is their big claim. Jacques De Molay became the "Second Messiah." He was their High Priest of Yahweh. I'm not going to get into detail explaining this, but it is profoundly interesting. By now you will not want to put this book down. And once you hit the last chapter it is utterly FASCINATING. And that is of course, if it is all true. But the jigsaw puzzle fit of most of their theories certainly suggests that they have found something rather arcane and revolutionary.

A wonderful Gift for all Truth Seekers and Free-Thinkers
This Investigation into the cloudy history of Freemasonry and the Origins of The Shroud of Turin is so well-conceived, written, explained and researched that I am amazed the general public has access to the material. Normally, I tend to write flippant, funny reviews.... However, "The Second Messiah" is such a truly illuminating book that I feel compelled to tone it down, considerably. Reverence? Perhaps. I have been dropping hints here and there, in other reviews, but would not specifically back certain theories ---e.g., the concept of the Shroud being painted by Leonardo da Vinci ("The Templar Revelation," by Picknett & Prince)....great read, but not plausible. My grandfather owned two volumes called: "The Complete Works of Leonardo da Vinci" (fully Illustrated, with notes made by Leonardo). Somehow, after growing up with those books, I don't think the Leonardo theory jives. This work, by Knight and Lomas, however, is based on terrific research and is based on a real-world hypothesis. It seems, to me, after studying everything I can get my hands on about Masonry, that Knight and Lomas know more than they let-on....or, have been extremely "lucky" with their insights, informants and book discoveries, but that makes it even more interesting to me. I keep wondering what the Next book will reveal ! This one Reveals quite a lot.....in fact, I doubt it could-have been published ten years ago. I feel that the Masons must be ready to join the Information Age, or Knight and Lomas would not have gotten this book printed. They have done a wonderful job and everything makes sense. There are no Loopy Theories or silly proposals, based on illusive myths. I believe they are onto something and that something is quite possibly The Truth.