Path: typhoon.sonic.net!pants.skycache.com!newsfeed.skycache.com!howland.erols.net!news.idt.net!news-FFM2.ecrc.net!news.mindspring.net!firehose.mindspring.com!not-for-mail From: Paul Trejo Newsgroups: alt.religion.gnostic Subject: Hiram Key wait... Date: 24 Feb 2000 00:18:18 GMT Organization: MindSpring Enterprises Lines: 83 Message-ID: <891tca$c0n$1@nntp1.atl.mindspring.net> NNTP-Posting-Host: c7.b7.09.75 User-Agent: tin/pre-1.4-19990517 ("Psychonaut") (UNIX) (SunOS/4.1.4 (sun4m)) Xref: typhoon.sonic.net alt.religion.gnostic:21328 So I agreed on this List to read THE HIRAM KEY, and I set out to buy a copy. The Internet sites were back-ordered. Borders was backordered. Barnes & Noble was backordered. Tower books was backordered. My local library never heard of it. No used book store has it yet. On and on. So I ordered the book from one of these fine retailers and I am still on the waiting list. Still, I surfed the Internet a bit to get a whiff of this new spirit. And here is what I found (while I'm waiting...) 1. The basic idea is that there was a Masonic Organization in Jesus' day, and it had a big part in Jesus' Mission. 2. Even more, the Masonic (or quasi-Masonic) Organization actually sponsored Jesus, who was both a member and a leader, but not necessarily the highest leader of the movement. He was groomed and supported by wealthy Masons. 3. The dramatic theatrics of Jesus' career were staged by the Masons, including the Crucifixion and Resurrection itself. This is the 'two Jesus theory' according to these Masonic authors. Granted, I have not yet read the book for myself, but this is the whiff I got from the Internet. Now, before I get my copy and begin reading, I want you dear readers to know I am going to be very critical of my reading of THE HIRAM KEY. Why? Because if this whiff is anything like the actual odor of this piece of work, then I must say that I've heard it all before. I have read well over 200 scholarly books critical of the Bible, and THE HIRAM KEY does not offer anything new from what I've gleaned so far. Let me explain. In the year 1782 a Lutheran minister named Karl Bahrdt wrote a book entitled, AN EXPLANATION OF THE PLANS AND AIMS OF JESUS. In this book Bahrdt tries to show that Jesus was a member of a secret Order of Essene monks, and these monks were the 'angels' spoken of in the Gospel. It was a Secret Order, like the Masons, and had an international membership from Babylon to Egypt. This Order had many secret medical practices for eyes and for nervous disorders, and Jesus was a member from birth since his parents were both 'Essenes.' Joseph of Arimathea, the one who recovered Jesus body so soon after his Crucifixion, knew what he was doing when he knocked Jesus out with a sponge of 'vinegar' (MARK 15:42-46) and then carefully treated Jesus with Essene Order medicine and revived him. Remember that MARK says Pilate could not believe Jesus had died so soon, and the reason was that he wasn't dead, he was drugged by Joseph of Arimathea, and revived. In the year 1800 a Swiss scholar named Karl Venturini wrote a more elaborate, and much longer, much more detailed account of Bahrdt's book, and he titled it, THE NON-SUPERNATURAL HISTORY OF THE GREAT PROPHET OF NAZARETH. In this elaboration, the role of the Secret Society is greatly increased, and the Secret Society actually controlled every move Jesus made, giving him continual instruction and correcting his errors. All the 'speeches' of Jesus were written by the Secret Order. This book made such a popular impression in the 19th century that Albert Schweitzer wrote a hundred years later that, "All the fictitious biographies of Jesus go back directly or indirectly to Venturini. It is plagiarised more freely than any other Life of Jesus, although practically unknown by name." So it is not surprising that in 1929 the founder of the American Rosicrucian Society, H. Spencer Lewis, wrote a very similar book entitled, THE MYSTICAL LIFE OF JESUS. Now, it was considered in 1929 that the 'Essene Jesus' was known only to the wisest scholars, and that the Dead Sea Scrolls would prove once and for all that Jesus was an Essene. But Lewis wanted to add one other little tidbit. For Lewis, Jesus was an 'Aryan.' The Secret Lodge to which Jesus belonged was known as the Great White Brotherhood. They traced this back to Egypt, somehow (despite the fact that Egyptians are not Aryans.) I won't go into this any further. I only want to say that all these theories about a Secret Order and Jesus are NOTHING NEW. Also, the theory of an Aryan Jesus is NOTHING NEW. However, the fact that modern Dead Sea scholarship has shown conclusively that Jesus was *not* an Essene makes me hold my sides laughing at all these pompous clowns throughout the 20th century. So, I will be taking a very critical look at THE HIRAM KEY when I finally get my copy. You can be sure of that. Best regards, --Paul Trejo