(Chris Detrick/The Salt Lake Tribune)
Posted on 01/20/2006 10:28:11 AM PST by TFFKAMM
Dan Brown clearly enjoys playing with legends, history, symbols and secrets. And readers' minds. In his best-selling novel, The Da Vinci Code, Brown wove all these - real and imagined - into a breathless mystery about Christianity, Mary Magdalene and the Divine Feminine that has spawned an industry of de-coders eager to separate fact from fiction.
Now that he has turned his attention to the mysteries of Freemasonry, the centuries-old fraternal order, the new book also might deal with Mormonism.
But rather than announce the Da Vinci sequel in a news release, Brown embedded tantalizing clues to its subject on the book's jacket. Written in typeface that is slightly larger and bolder than the rest (it requires a magnifying glass to find them all) are the words: is there no help for the widows son.
"O Lord, my God, is there no help for the widow's son?" was used historically as a Masonic distress call, but when journalist David Shugarts plugged it into Google, the first hit was a 1974 speech given by an LDS Institute of Religion teacher, Reed C. Durham, at the University of Utah.
Joseph Smith, the founder of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, reportedly began to utter the call as he fell from a second story window after being fatally shot by a mob in a Carthage, Ill., jail in 1844, Durham said.
In an electrifying presidential address to the Mormon History Association meeting in Nauvoo, Ill., he traced close parallels between Smith's account of digging gold plates out of a New York hillside and Masonic tales of Enoch and buried treasure. Smith wore a "Jupiter talisman," or what his wife called "his Masonic jewel," and LDS temple ceremonies bear a striking resemblance to Masonic rituals, he said.
The
|
||
|
|
|
|
|
||
|
The Winding Staircase, like all Masonic symbols, is illustrative of discipline and doctrine, and opens to us a wide field of moral and speculative inquiry. (Chris Detrick/The Salt Lake Tribune)
|
|
|
|
||
|
||
speech was so controversial that Durham's superiors in the LDS Educational System forced him to issue a public apology.
The speech was never published but was surreptitiously taped and has floated around on the Internet for years.
It may have also caught Brown's attention, Shugarts speculates, and may provide one plot twist in Brown's next book, tentatively titled The Solomon Key. Brown confirmed in a speech last year that the book's mystery will be set in Washington, D.C., where many architectural features were drawn from Masonry, and will feature the same lead character, Harvard-professor-turned-detective Robert Langdom.
Getting a jump on the novel's historical context, Shugarts has written Secrets of the Widow's Son: The Mysteries Surrounding the Sequel to The Da Vinci Code.
He provides a broad history of Mormonism, including its brush with Masonry in the 19th century. It also offers nuggets about Masonic history such as these: At least eight signers of the Declaration of Independence were Masons, as were 13 U.S. presidents including George Washington. A Freemason released Paul Revere from British custody on the night of his famous ride, after he determined that Revere was a Mason. Mozart's "Magic Flute" and Rudyard Kipling's The Man Who Would Be King were written as Masonic allegories.
The Washington Monument and a similar monument on Bunker Hill in Boston, were not just coincidentally shaped like an Egyptian obelisks, but intentionally designed to honor Masonic allusions to ancient Egyptian mystical wisdom.
Much of the symbolism is mathematical, even geometrical, which could explain why the fraternity has attracted rationalists such as Voltaire, Goethe, Benjamin Franklin and Mark Twain.
"We've heard from Masons
|
||
|
|
|
|
|
||
|
One of the rooms in the Temple. The Salt Lake Masonic Temple was completed in 1927 and was built in 1 year, 3 months, and 22 days. The architect of the temple was Carl W. Scott and George W Welch. (Chris Detrick/The Salt Lake Tribune)
|
|
|
|
||
|
||
that they feel that [Brown is] going to do them justice," says Dan Burstein, who wrote the introduction to Shugarts' book. "He seems to be favorably disposed to thinking of Masons as an important historical underground movement, pushing the world towards democracy and enlightenment."
Today there are nearly 2 million Masons in the United States, with 2,250 members in 29 Utah lodges.
"We have a lot of Mormons who are Masons in this state, but we don't know exactly how many," says Ridgley Gilmour, Grand Master of Utah Masonic Lodge. "Anyone with a belief in God can petition to join but we don't ask what religion they are."
Gilmour was adamant the Masonry is not a "secret society," but a fraternal order with large-scale charitable giving built on deeply held American values of family, God and country.
"The only secrets we have are little signs and passwords which we use because it's an ancient custom, and, frankly, it's fun,'' Gilmour says.
It remains to be seen how much Mormon history will feature in the novel, (Brown's wife reportedly was raised in the LDS Church) but if the reaction to Durham's 1974 speech is any indication, any link between the two could be controversial in Utah.
For his part, Nicholas S. Literski, an active Mormon and Mason living in Nauvoo, thinks Latter-day Saints misunderstand the similarities. But they are significant.
"Everybody wants to obsess over supposed similarities in ritual," he says. "But that's just one aspect. Everything about Joseph and his family was tied into Masonic legends."
The Mormon connection: Smith's father, Joseph Smith Sr. joined a Masonic lodge when the family moved to Palmyra,
|
|||||
|
|||||
|
|
|
|||
|
|||||
N.Y., in 1816. Later, Smith's brother Hyrum also joined. From them, Smith heard the story of a lost sacred word that was engraved upon a triangular plate of pure gold. The word was the name of God.
It makes sense that he would go searching for such treasure in the large American Indian burial mounds near his home, says Literski, author of the forthcoming book, Method Infinite: Freemasonry and the Mormon Restoration.
And when Smith reported finding an ancient record written on plates of gold, he used "distinctively Masonic language to describe the experience," Literski says.
The church, which claimed to restore ancient truths of Christianity lost through the ages, attracted many members of the Masonic fraternity who traced their own roots back centuries and had similar esoteric teachings.
By the 1840s, many Mormon leaders in Nauvoo, including Smith and apostles Brigham Young and Heber C. Kimball, became Masons and organized a lodge there under the auspices of the Grand Lodge of Illinois. It wasn't long before nearly every male member of the church in the area had joined. At the same time, Smith introduced LDS temple rituals that included secret handshakes, signs and symbols like the all-seeing eye, the compass and square (tools of the mason's trade) and the sun, moon and stars that echoed Masonry.
Soon, though, other Masons felt that the Mormons were dominating the fraternity. In 1842, the Nauvoo Lodge was suspended. Many Mormons believed that Masons contributed to the murder of their prophet.
Antagonisms built up between the two groups. In Utah in 1860, Masonic lodges were established but they prohibited Mormons from joining. At the same time, Young forbade Mormons from joining and refused to allow any Mason to hold
priesthood leadership positions in the church, Literski says.
It wasn't until 1984 that LDS President Spencer W. Kimball removed the prohibition against Latter-day Saints becoming Freemasons. Later that year, the Grand Lodge of Utah removed its own ban on Mormon membership so that, in the ensuing years, many Latter-day Saint men have returned to this part of their heritage.
In the novelist's mind: Shugarts says it was not his intention to be a plot spoiler for Brown's sequel. He couldn't do that if he wanted. But he did offer a primer on Masonry and Mormonism for those who will want to explore, as they did with Da Vinci, just how much of what Brown writes is really history.
"I had to push out in every direction possible," Shugarts said in a phone interview from his Connecticut home. "I read five books about Mormon history and thousands of Internet Web sites. I tried to be thorough and fair."
Though he only dedicated four or five pages to Mormons in a 200-page book, he's already heard from unhappy Latter-day Saints who accuse him of misreading or a biased approach to LDS history, a charge he rejects.
"Prior to embarking on my research, I had no particular opinion of Joseph Smith or the details of the founding of the [LDS ]Church," he wrote to one critic. "But I had met a few Mormons and they always impressed me as fine people. After delving into the story of Joseph Smith, I understood a lot more about LDS. I remain impressed that Mormons are fine people."
It will be interesting to see if Brown sees them that way as well. Literski isn't worried.
"He'll weave a good conspiracy," Literski says, "but no matter how inventive Dan Brown gets in terms of the connection, he will fall short of just how deep
that story does go."
Even in Smith's day, there were Masons who believed the legends were historical truth and saw Freemasonry as a deeply spiritual, mystical quest. Other, more sophisticated members, discounted the old stories, wanting to refocus it along the lines of a charitable and benevolent institution.
The Smiths were about as far into mysticism as you can get, Literski says. "Joseph was rebuilding Solomon's temple with all the legendary baggage that came along with that."
Seeing the relationship between the two groups forces Mormons like Literski to revise his ideas about how God interacts with a prophet.
"You cannot understand what is going on in Joseph's mind unless you can know what he is seeing, hearing, feeling and touching," he says. "That gives me a stronger position of faith than would this idea that revelation is ex nihilo. Joseph was not a puppet."
---
Contact Peggy Fletcher Stack at pstack@sltrib.com or 801-257-8725. Send comments on this article to religioneditor@sltrib.com.
When I went into the Army, I tried to explain that and they just said, well we will just list you as Protestant.
I gave up and wore my dog tags anyway.
J, just quit while you're behind. You seem to get in deeper trying to correct the last dumb thing you said. You have no idea what you're talking about.
You can call me a Mormon basher if you will. The fact is Lee was captured in my hometown. Panguitch, Utah....I have visited his gravesite...in fact I have tended it. I am related to most of the participants in the horrible affair. My family has lived in shame to have a murderer as an ancestor....You have a lot of nerve to call me anything!
The ignorance you have of the facts are showing. There is proof out there. Your Church has admitted more men than John D. Lee were involved. Grow up.
Why did this supposed murderer accompanied President and Prophet, Brigham Young into the Panguitch valley 13 years AFTER the murder. Are you trying to tell me Young didn't know? Of course he knew...there is documented proof that he did. Oh well...go bury your head in the sand
http://www.johndlee.net/quarterly-panguitch.htm
Yes and exactly so! LOL
Dan You mean were not Orthodox? What does being "Orthodox" have to do with it?
"orthodoxy" as in accepting the trinitarian nature of God - its a giant mooring pin - found in the creeds - Mormons reject the creeds
Christ was a Jew, but he wasn't an Orthodox Jew. That is why he was Crucified.
huh...I thought my sins nailed Him to the Cross
I have the bible on my computer. I searched for "Trinitarian" and variations of the word and never got a hit.
Can you point me to the place in the Bible that explains about the "Trinitarian nature of God"?
White Salamander letter would make for interesting plot line.
Ah yes --- Dan Rather isn't the only one to make forged documents and claim to have gotten them from some really old source.
The guy that came up with that is still in jail for killing someone with a bomb, and then having a "work accident" when he was going to blow someone else up.
He forgot that he couldn't turn the box over.
That also happened to Eastern Orthodox Christians in the military until fairly recently. It must have been particularly galling to them to be called "Protestants."
Please FREEPMAIL me if you want on or off the
"Gods, Graves, Glyphs" PING list or GGG weekly digest
-- Archaeology/Anthropology/Ancient Cultures/Artifacts/Antiquities, etc.
Gods, Graves, Glyphs (alpha order)
Hahahaha, best response I've heard.
Can you point me to the place in the Bible that explains about the "Trinitarian nature of God"?
be glad to - lets start with the duality of Christ - wholly human - wholly divine
John 3:16 "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. 17`For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. 18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God's one and only Son
we also note in this passage that Jesus is the only Son of God -
Look at acts 9 as well, Sauls conversion - "I am Jesus" - I am being another name of God - we can argue the context of "I am" - however the fact that Christ came to Saul in invisibility and a bright light indicates divine origin
thats two divine aspects so far.....
the final aspect of the trinity is demonstrated in the Gospel of Matthew
3:16 As soon as Jesus was baptized, he went up out of the water. At that moment heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and lighting on him.
so no, you wont find "trinity" in the Bible in a keyword search - but a simple exegesis demonstrates it's actuality
My understanding of Mormonism indicates the LDS believe in the triad nature of God rather than trinitarian,but your comment leads me to think that you discount even that.....
With regards to the creeds - some Catholic, some Protestant.....all were crafted to make a clear statement with regards to the nature of God in light of heretical teachings at the time....one of them being a triune nature of the Godhead. Protestants and Catholics alike agree in the trinitarian nature of God.
Now lets look at the Nicene creed - the only creed accepted not only by Catholics, but Orthodox and Protestant as well...
Nicene Creed
I believe in one God, the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth, and of all things visible and invisible.
And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son of God, begotten of the Father before all worlds; God of God, Light of Light, very God of very God; begotten, not made, being of one substance with the Father, by whom all things were made.
Who, for us men for our salvation, came down from heaven, and was incarnate by the Holy Spirit of the virgin Mary, and was made man; and was crucified also for us under Pontius Pilate; He suffered and was buried; and the third day He rose again, according to the Scriptures; and ascended into heaven, and sits on the right hand of the Father; and He shall come again, with glory, to judge the quick and the dead; whose kingdom shall have no end.
And I believe in the Holy Ghost, the Lord and Giver of Life; who proceeds from the Father and the Son; who with the Father and the Son together is worshipped and glorified; who spoke by the prophets.
And I believe one holy catholic and apostolic Church. I acknowledge one baptism for the remission of sins; and I look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come. Amen.
would you kindly indicate what aspect of that creed the LDS find distasteful?
In the meantime - please stop identifying youselves as Christian - the LDS claim no apostolic lineage through the Catholic church (That would be the church of Peter), so to characterize yourselves as "Christian" is deceitful at best...you discount the trinity for a triad, reject the creeds, claim a different apostolic lineage, revealed text (oddly in the Kings english) and notably not part of accepted canonized Scripture, so please stop piggybacking on the very denominations the Mormon church consideres to be untrue, and preying on the theologically ignorant who dont investigate or care to know what distinguishes us
Simply stated, believe what you like - this is after all America - I will defend your right to it......
However I will not stand for deception, and claiming to be part of the body catholic is precisely that
It is a novel of fiction. Let's all remember that.
The Veggie Tales = A cult of BOTANY
bttt
White Salamander??
16 ¶ For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
"18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God's one and only Son"
18. He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.
And most others will refer to themselves as Baptist, Catholic, Presbyterian or Methodist before they will call themselves Christian.
3:16 As soon as Jesus was baptized, he went up out of the water. At that moment heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and lighting on him.
What I see in those quotes is three individuals:
God, --- His one and only Son --- The Holy Ghost
I don't see where that is a "trinity"
Oh yes --- I see it now in the added scripture you sent. Right there in Constantine chapter 3 verse 5.
(I thought you guys believed in the last part of Revelations where it says you shouldn't change or add any of the words in the scriptures.)
I accept what is in the scriptures, not what was decided by the delegates to a meeting called by the Roman Emperor, Constantine.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.
