The tragic fate of this man in many ways repeated the earthly path of Jesus Christ. Just like Jesus, he kept knowledge of the true faith, distorted by his predecessors, and tried to bring it to the world. He was also subjected to severe torture and crucified. His death, like the death of Christ, became a legend and the reason for the emergence of the modern “Catacomb Church”. Finally, it is quite possible that it was his image that was captured on the famous Shroud of Turin... The authors of this book began their research by studying some inconsistencies in the history of the first Masonic lodge in London. Gradually they came to the conclusion that the early history of Freemasonry was deliberately distorted and falsified by the top of the organization. Trying to find out the reasons for such strange actions of the masters, Christopher Knight and Robert Lomas came to absolutely amazing conclusions: after the Crusades, a new messiah appeared on earth, who was also mercilessly executed - his version of Christianity was strikingly different from the one preached by the Catholic Church, and the Vatican has always jealously guarded his monopoly on the Truth... This searingly fascinating book looks even more sensational than “The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail,” which became the basis for Dan Brown’s “The Da Vinci Code.” The authors' research covers a huge period of time - from Christ and the destruction of the Jerusalem Temple to the present day. The mysterious brotherhood “Rex Deus” and the Order of the Templars, the Freemasons and the Holy Inquisition, the Crusades and the mystery of the appearance of a miraculous image on the Shroud of Turin - all this is the elements of a grandiose mosaic, which the authors painstakingly compose, revealing to the reader new aspects and amazing eventual relationships that overturn existing ideas about the history of the Christian church.

Christopher KNIGHT & Robert LOMASTHE SECOND MESSIAHTranslation from English by Y. GoldbergBinding design by artist E. Savchenko