book

Br. Christopher Allan Knowles – author & publisher

May 2, 2009 by Greg Stewart

Join us for an exciting evening of murder, mystery, and intrigue as we are joined by Brother Christopher Knowles who is the author of “Murder in Georgetown Lodge: Prelude to Armageddon“(print), “Murder in Sugarbush Lodge: A Study in Brotherhood(print)”, and “Murder in Martha’s Vineyard Lodge: A Masonic Allegory” (available on Amazon Kindle).

What makes this so exciting is that the book sare works of Masonic fiction, a vein of Freemasonry little seen in today in Masonic literature.

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The stories are without a doubt fiction, but every bit intrigue and “who done it”. And what makes this series so interesting is that it explores the realm of the Masonic “what if” as the possibilities unfold of what brotherhood could be called to task for.

And, as most of these editions are books in Amazon Kindle editions, it gives us a unique chance to talk about publishing for the new millennium in e-editions.

Join us this Sunday at Masonic Central on Blog Talk Radio at 9pm EST / 6pm PST. To listen to the show live, you can stream it from FreemasonInformation.com on our player widget or from the Masonic Central Home on Blog Talk Radio!

To join the conversation, call (347) 677-0936 at 6pm PST / 9pm EST

Nobly Born and The Compasses and the Cross by Stephen Dafoe

March 24, 2009 by The Euphrates

Note: Stephen Dafoe is a contributor to this site, but this review was conducted independently. In fact, the author of this review has no personal relationship with Bro. Dafoe. Therefore, this critique is that of an unbiased reader.

Stephen Dafoe has two recent releases on the Knights Templar: Nobly Born and The Compasses and the Cross. The former was released in 2007, the latter in 2008. Nobly Born is a book which gives an unromantic account of the medieval order of the Knights Templar. It is a book based strictly on documented historical evidence and serves to debunk many of the myths surrounding that order.

The author of this review admittedly has very little prior knowledge of the Knights Templar, beyond the documentaries shown about the order on the History Channel which appear to encourage the viewer to create suspicions about the secret nature of the Templars. Therefore, it was great to discover that Nobly Born is written in a way so that the Templar novice can truly grasp the history of the order. The book gives an excellent brief history of the crusades and explains the society in which the Templars existed. Perhaps the most impressive part of this book is the look into the lives of the Templars, which was more monastic that chivalric. Many common myths which have surfaced concerning the Templars are specifically rebutted with historical evidence. If you currently believe that the Templars discovered some great treasure beneath King Solomon’s Temple and escaped with the goods to Scotland or the New World, this book is a panacea for your ailment.

The Compasses and the Cross by Stephen Dafoe

The Compasses and the Cross gives a detailed history of the modern day fraternal order of the Knights Templar. This book discusses many of the works of invented history which have misled many Masons to believe that the modern day organization somehow is the descendant of the Templars of old. However, like in Nobly Born, Dafoe refutes these claims with historical evidence. A large amount of the book is a summary of the information found in Nobly Bor

n. It serves as a great refresher on medieval Templar history, but if you read the books back to back (like the author of this review) it can seem repetitive. Nevertheless, this account of Templar history is absolutely necessary for the reader who is unfamiliar with the order’s story. The Compasses and the Cross also gives a detailed account of the reception of new Knights in the medieval order to show the separation of modern day ceremonies from the rituals of the original Templars. The best quality of The Compasses and the Cross is that it devotes a chapter to the fraternity of the Knights Templar in Britain, the United States, and Canada. This focus on the fraternity’s history in each of these countries shows how each locale developed its particular flavor.

My only complaint with these two works is their format. The books are large (10×8 in) which makes them inconvenient for packing them in a bag to read on the airplane or a park bench while on break. However, these books are illustrated histories and the photos and art work provided in them are needed. The illustrations play an important part in visualizing the regalia and equipment of both the medieval and modern day Templars and the books without them would doubtlessly be less informative. The size of the books is the unfortunate form of their function.

I highly recommend both of these works to any Mason who is interested in the Templars of old and their connection with Freemasonry or the modern day Templars and the history of that fraternal organization. They will provide the reader with an excellent education on both subjects. You can find ways to purchase these books on Stephen Dafoe’s website.

Further Light…by Jim Tresner

March 10, 2009 by The Euphrates

This work is a little informational book subtitled Helpful Information for New Master Masons, by Jim Tresner, and is intended for those Masons just beginning their journey in the fraternity. It is published by the Masonic Service Association and contains a general summary of the basic fraternal knowledge.

One of the book’s triumphs is that it gives a small discussion for most of the symbols found in each degree. However, unlike most pamphlets created for similar purposes as this, it does actually mention some very esoteric Masonic concepts. These include a brief mention of some Jewish mystical concepts such as the Tree of Life. The book also includes a section pertaining to the Landmarks of Freemasonry which are so often ignored in these types of publications. While this discussion only lists Mackey’s list of Landmarks, it is still better than no mention of the Landmarks. It also contains a few points about lodge protocol such as not walking between the Master and the altar, how to address the lodge, and the attitude of prayer. These customs are rarely mentioned in text.

The book has some shortcomings as well. The information on the symbolism of the degrees found in this booklet is already printed in some sort of introductory Grand Lodge publication in most states. This leads to yet another iteration of the processed and formed definitions of Masonic symbolism to which young members have already been exposed. The brief Masonic history given is also a rather romantic account of the fraternity’s development. It includes the possibility that the Knights Templar somehow influenced Freemasonry and covers Masonic history at at period of time which offers only speculative history at best. Also, 19 and a half pages of the book’s 49 pages deal with nearly ever single Masonic affiliated body, including some of the most obscure of Masonic organizations. It would seem that a little more time on the symbolism of the Blue Lodge and a little less on the subject of other bodies would be more useful to the new initiate.

Overall, the book is a decent resource for those Masons who have not been provided with any information about the degrees. However, there are a number of better resources available through the Grand Lodges as well as the Internet for those looking for a cursory knowledge of the fraternity.

You can find the book at the Masonic Service Association’s website.

The new Bible called “the book”

January 10, 2009 by Greg Stewart

There was an article on NPR’s Marketplace a short while ago that talked about a new high gloss slick designed Holy Bible called Bible Illuminated: The Book coming from illuminatedworld.com, whose publisher Dag Soderberg released it in Sweden to a seemingly starving audience of believers to ashamed to carry and display the good book. Sales of the book were “unprecedented” because people no longer found a connection to reading these historical texts as the traditional text and design “turned people off”.

That idea led to this new version simply called “The Book“. What makes this new edition of this centuries old best seller is that it taps into our modern day material culture of images and celebrities to illustrate the moral parables from the past.

With a slick magazine look like Vogue images of post Katrina New Orleans and men on fire are indicative of Revelations and Andy Warhol in Drag illuminates the book of John. This new approach is geared for slick urban hipster who is more familiar with twitter and more likely to read facebook than carry a bible. The goal of the publisher is to put the “the book” into the hands of the younger set, in a way that they want it.

I’m interested in seeing what the new text looks like and what its impact will be on the religious marketplace. Not that there haven’t been publications like this before, but it seems like a new way of trying to market a very old product to keep it in the hearts and minds of the adherents.

Maybe it would be a snappy way to update the lodge room to place it as the VSL.

I picked up a version at the book store and spent some time with it. It really does have the look and feel of a high end magazine, which may have saved in the high end emboss of a more traditional publication, but I can see their marketing plan and their product vision. It definitely has the interest of a new generation in mind.

The publisher Illuminated World

On Amazon Bible Illuminated: The Book