Post by Tamrin on Oct 7, 2009 20:04:30 GMT 10
The Freemasons
[Excerpt - Transcript, Rear Vision, ABC Radio National, 7 October 2009 - Linked Above]
[Excerpt - Transcript, Rear Vision, ABC Radio National, 7 October 2009 - Linked Above]
Reporter: Dan Brown first did it to the Catholics, and next he takes on the Freemasons. Just days before his new book hits the shelves, the Australian Freemasons have launched a pre-emptive publicity strike.
Grandmaster Gregory H. Levenston: Freemasonry is open, transparent, and for the good of men, and the community.
Annabelle Quince: Hello, I'm Annabelle Quince and this is Rear Vision on ABC Radio National. Regular Rear Vision listeners will know that we don't often venture into the realm of popular culture, but with the release last month Dan Brown's new book The Lost Symbol, which focuses on the Freemasons, we thought it was a good time to look at the history of the real Freemasons.
There is much debate about when Freemasonry began. According to the legends told by Masons themselves, Freemasonry goes right back to Biblical times. Andrew Prescott is the former Director of the Centre for Research into Freemasonry at the University of Sheffield, a centre funded by the Freemasons. He questions the historical accuracy of these legends and argues that Freemasonry emerged out of the English Stonemason Guilds sometime after the 14th century.
Andrew Prescott: In the week of the Black Death there was an enormous shortage of building workers and wages shot up, and attempts were made to hold those wages down. The Stonemasons naturally resisted this, and developed various legends to illustrate that it was the oldest, most important of the working crafts, and one which was entitled to its own forms of organisations and its high level of wages. They provide the sort of seed from which Freemasonry grows.
Documentary Narrator:The story is based on a Biblical account found in the Book of Kings. King Solomon built the temple to God in Jerusalem. His top architect was Hiram Abeth. Legend says he was an ancient Freemason. Hiram Abeth knew the secret password of the Master Mason but as the Temple neared completion, he was confronted by three lesser stoneworkers who wanted to learn the secret password. Each one threatened Hiram Abeth with death unless he gave up the secret, but Hiram refused. For that, he was killed with the tools of the Freemason's trade, The death toll sounds, but Hiram's body is removed from the stage.
Grandmaster Gregory H. Levenston: Freemasonry is open, transparent, and for the good of men, and the community.
Annabelle Quince: Hello, I'm Annabelle Quince and this is Rear Vision on ABC Radio National. Regular Rear Vision listeners will know that we don't often venture into the realm of popular culture, but with the release last month Dan Brown's new book The Lost Symbol, which focuses on the Freemasons, we thought it was a good time to look at the history of the real Freemasons.
There is much debate about when Freemasonry began. According to the legends told by Masons themselves, Freemasonry goes right back to Biblical times. Andrew Prescott is the former Director of the Centre for Research into Freemasonry at the University of Sheffield, a centre funded by the Freemasons. He questions the historical accuracy of these legends and argues that Freemasonry emerged out of the English Stonemason Guilds sometime after the 14th century.
Andrew Prescott: In the week of the Black Death there was an enormous shortage of building workers and wages shot up, and attempts were made to hold those wages down. The Stonemasons naturally resisted this, and developed various legends to illustrate that it was the oldest, most important of the working crafts, and one which was entitled to its own forms of organisations and its high level of wages. They provide the sort of seed from which Freemasonry grows.
Documentary Narrator:The story is based on a Biblical account found in the Book of Kings. King Solomon built the temple to God in Jerusalem. His top architect was Hiram Abeth. Legend says he was an ancient Freemason. Hiram Abeth knew the secret password of the Master Mason but as the Temple neared completion, he was confronted by three lesser stoneworkers who wanted to learn the secret password. Each one threatened Hiram Abeth with death unless he gave up the secret, but Hiram refused. For that, he was killed with the tools of the Freemason's trade, The death toll sounds, but Hiram's body is removed from the stage.
