So what's the deal with DanBrown's next book and the Mormons?

This article is a draft. FairMormon editors are currently editing it. We welcome your suggestions on improving the content.

Criticism

There has been much speculation with in and outside of the church that the LDS Church will be featured in Dan Brown's , author of The Da Vinci Code, next book.

Response

There has been a great deal of speculation concerning DanBrown's upcoming book, the sequel to "The Da Vinci Code" working title, "The Solomon Key", and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormons).

The source of this speculation is due to the words of the Masonic Grand Hailing Sign of Distress which were hidden inside the fly leafs of "The Da Vinci Code". By reading the words in bold print you will get the phase "Is there no hope for the widow's son". A phase every Freemason learns as part of the ritual of the Master Mason degree.

When entered into Google the phase returns with a reference to a 1974 speech by Reed C. Durham given at the yearly meeting of the Mormon History Association. This speech, and the accompanying paper, outlined the connection between Joseph Smith, Jr. and the institution of Freemasonry.

From this connection some, in particular members of the Church, have concluded that Brown's forthcoming book with feature Mormonism in some sort of major role. This would seem to be a rather thin line of reasoning.

Just how the phase "Is there no hope for the widow's son" became so connected with Joseph Smith, Jr. is an interesting topic. Joseph Smith was a Mason, as were most of the Latter-day Saint men of his time. When Joseph Smith was murdered by a mob at the jail in Carthage, Ill. in June of 1844 he was heard to utter the Masonic Grand Hailing Sign of Distress as he fell from the jail house window. It was from this event that Dr. Durham took the title of his now famous talk in 1974.

Brown has given no indication that his upcoming book with have anything to do with the Latter-day Saints or the faith's complex history with the Freemasons. Any Mason will tell you that Joseph Smith is far from the first or last Mason ever to have used the phase in time of need. Many accounts of its use in the Revolutionary and Civil Wars can be found in Masonic histories. Given that Brown himself has indicated that his next book takes place in Washington D.C., a city filled with Masonic symbolism in its building and even its city planning, it would seem unlikely that the LDS Church would play any role in such a title.

Conclusion

Dan Brown has given no indication of any connection between his forth coming book and the LDS Church. Such a connection is the result of speculation and nothing more.