The Book of Hiram: Freemasonry, Venus, and the Secret Key to the Life of Jesus

viii, 482 pp. "When Freemasons Christopher Knight and Robert Lomas set out on a personal quest to search out the origins of old rituals used by their Order, they did not expect to become involved in prehistoric astronomy or enmeshed in the development of Christianity. Fourteen years later they conclude their mission with The Book of Hiram. It puts forward explosive new evidence drawn from the latest archaeological discoveries, the Bible, and early versions of Masonic rituals. The authors have now painstakingly rebuilt the long forgotten story contained in the scattered rituals of Freemasonry. They call this reconstructed legend "The Masonic Testament" because it tells a parallel story to the Bible, and describes events the Bible does not mention — including a secret science of astronomy that they reveal is encoded in the Bible. The book concludes with the startling revelation that a lost science has changed the world before and could change it again: Did the early kings of Israel, including David and Solomon, practice ritual child sacrifice' Was the famous Jerusalem Temple dedicated to Venus worship' Was the birth of Jesus long preordained by astrological events' Or did he plan his life and actions by the movements of the stars and planets'"