The search for the real historical person known as John the Baptist and the traditions that began with him
• Explores why John the Baptist is so crucially important to the Freemasons, who were originally known as “St. John’s Men”
•
Reveals how John and Jesus were equal partners and shared a common
spiritual vision to rebuild Israel and overcome corruption in the Temple
of Jerusalem
• Explains the connections between John as lord
of the summer solstice, his mysterious severed head, fertility rites,
and ancient Jewish harvest festivals
Few Freemasons today
understand why the most significant date in the Masonic calendar is June
24th--the Feast of the Birth of St. John the Baptist and the
traditional date for appointing Grand Masters. Nor do many of them know
that Masons used to be known as “St. John’s Men” or that John the
Baptist was fundamental to the original Masonic philosophy of personal
transformation.
Starting with the mystery of John in
Freemasonry, Tobias Churton searches out the historical Baptist through
the gospels and ancient histories, unearthing the real story behind the
figure lauded by Jesus’s words “no greater man was ever born of woman.”
He investigates John’s links with the Essenes and the Gnostics, links
that flourish to this day. Exposing how the apostle Paul challenged
John’s following, twisting his message and creating the image of John as
“merely” a herald of Jesus, the author shows how Paul may have been
behind the executions of both John and Jesus and reveals a precise date
for the crucifixion and the astonishing meaning of the phrase “the third
day.” He examines the significance of John’s severed head to holy
knights, such as the Knights Templar, and of Leonardo’s famous painting
of John. Churton also explains connections between John, the summer
solstice, fertility rites, and ancient Jewish harvest festivals.
Revealing
John as a courageous, revolutionary figure as vital to the origins of
Christianity as his cousin Jesus himself, Churton shows how John and
Jesus, as equal partners, launched a covert spiritual operation to
overcome corruption in the Temple of Jerusalem, re-initiate Israel, and
resurrect Creation.
