The Hiram Key

The Hiram Key
The Gllostic Connection
access to their own secret sources of apostolic tradition, in direct rivalry
to that commonly accepted in the churches. In the GnosticApocalypse of
Petcr the orthodox Church's claim to religious authority is undermined
by an account of the risen Christ explaining to Peter that:
'those who name themselves bishop and deacon and act as if they
had received their authority from God are in reality waterless
canals. Although they do n.!!!Enderstand myste they boast that the ~
mystery of truth belongs to them alone. They have misinterpreted
that apostle's teaching and have set up an imitation church inplace
a/the true Christian brotherhood.'
This point had been picked up and expounded by the scholars who had
translated the Gnostic Gospels. We were both struck by the political
importance of this idea of a living resurrection when one afternoon in
Sheffield University Library we found this comment by the respected
_Gnostic scholar Elain=. Page.!!:
' Recognising the political implications oj the doctrine oj the
resurrection does not account for its extraordinary impact on
religious experiences oj Christians ... but in terms of the social
order ... the orthodox teaching on the resurrection had a different
effect. It legitimised a hierarchy of persons through whose
authority all others must approach God. GnosticJ ea.ching was
subversive of this order, it claimeil to ofier t02 ery initiate a mealE
.!!I di ~ c L a££es.!!f!.. Goj. of which the priests and bishops themselves
might be ignorant. ,1
We now knew that the interpretation of the resurrection had been a
I
tremendous source of controversy in the early Christian Church and that I
there had be,;n aj£.c.Iet tra~ , iJi9 Jl concerning living spiritual resurrections
connected with a group of Christians labelled Gnostics and denounced
for political reasons as heretics. because their interest in gaining \
knowledge undermined the authority of the bishops of the orthodox }
Church.
The resurrection also figured very prominently in the ritual of the
Masonic Third Degree, but there it was very much a story of a li vi ng
resurrection mixed in with the story of an unlawful killing and the
I Elaine Pagels: The GMllie GQsptls
40
recovery and re-burial of a dead body. We had found references to the
living resurrection element in the Gnostic Gospels but we now needed
more infonnation to try to work out what the Templars might have
found. so in order to pursue this further we read the discoveries from Nag
Hammadi in translation.
The books relating to Thomas in particular gave us additional c1ues.ln
the Gospel olThoma e (ound a sentence whic ~ espo nd s direct'r
with the basi of.theMark Mason's Ritual:
-
'Jesus said, "Show me the stone which the builders have rejected.
That one is the cornerstone. '"
We were aware that similar passages occur in the New Testament:
'Jesus saith unto them, "Did ye never read in the scriptures, The
slone which the builders rejected, the same is become the head of
the comer: this is the Lord's doing, and it is marvellous in our
eyes?'"
Matthew 21:4
'And have ye not read this scripture; The slone which the builders
rejected is become the head vJ the comer.'
Mark 12:10
'And he beheld them, and said, "What is this then that ;s written.
The SCOne which the builders rejected, the same is become rhe head
oflhe corner? '"
Luke 20:17
These quotations from the Synoptic Gospels (Matthew, Mark and
Luke) all speak of Jesus teaching from the scriptures about the
importance of a rejected cornerstone; ,gut only _ ~ n . the Gospel 0/ Thomas
.. does h.e.demand to be shown the stone which the builders have reject~
in an ~x !, ct parallel of the ritual of the Masonic MarkJv1asonry d egree.
This seemed to indicate a connection between Freemasonry an~
Gnosticism.
Furthennore. in another work, the Acts oJThomas. we found the story
of that apostle building a fine palace in Heaven by means of good works
on Earth. This story is the epitome of the address in the north-cast comer
which figures in the Masonic First Degree ritual.
Whilst these points were interesting, they did not seem enough to
explain the behaviour of the Knights Templar, which was the initial
41