The Second Messiah
Created | Updated Jan 28, 2002
Author: Christopher Knight and Robert Lomas
Title: The Second Messiah
Published by: Century Books, 1997
ISBN: 0 7126 7719 4
Main Topics: Freemasonry; Jesus Christ; Egypt; Knights Templar; The Bible; The Dead Sea Scrolls; The Nag Hammadi Library; Sacred Science; The Holy Grail; The Shroud of Turin; Christianity.
It's a sequel without actually following on. It starts off at the crucifixion, when Jesus' true followers were driven underground. The book traces their dispersal, and the wait that they endured before they could re-enter the holy city. Eventually, the Templars did enter the city - were the spiritual descendants of Jesus amongst them?
They introduce the reader to Jacques de Molay, the last Grand Master of the Templars. He suffered massively at the hands of the French King, Philip le Bel and his inquisition, before eventually being burned. He cursed his tormentors to join him within a year, which they all did. They introduce the notion of the Shroud of Turin being the sheet in which Molay was wrapped, still alive, after his torture. There's a very graphic section, including diagrams, of how Templars were tortured. Did you know how effective three big nails and a door are? Try nailing someone to a door, arms in an L shape, and then slamming the door!
The last thing that the Church leaders need at the time is an alternative icon. It's bad enough that Molay's death threat has been seen to be carried out, and the Templars were popular amongst the French population. If a relic were to surface that cast a supernatural light on Molay posthumously, the Church would have a problem. So when such a relic - the item that we now know as the Turin Shroud - starts being exhibited just a few years after Molay's death, you can see the Church's predicament. And you have to admit, there are very few mentions in history of anything that could be the Shroud before, ooh, 1311. And the date of Molay's death?
There's a scientific appendix, with photos, of the process they propose created the shroud. They have carbon dating data on their side. I have to admit I'm a historian and not a scientist so I cannot vouch for the validity. Also, we are introduced to the concept of the Rex Deus dynasty.
Other evidence notwithstanding - and I confess I'm not up to date with Shroud research - I still find their hypothesis more plausible than any other I have seen. I never believed it was Jesus' bedclothes, and I don't think it's a clever forgery.
There's more discussion on the Templars, on Christ's true intentions, on where he acquired his beliefs from, and plenty more on Freemasonry. Once again, recommended.
