Witch Hunt...

[Kevin Mowad]

Hey there,

What do we know about how the illuminati began? In dan browns book Angels and Demons he claims writes that they were formed during the great purges to escape being burnt at the stake, and consisted of learned women, and scientists and other "smarter" people. They called themselves the illuminati which meant the enlightened and that's how they began.
Is there some truth to this or is there a different explanation all together?

[DavidObeid]

I don't have much expertise in this area. I will do some research and get back to you when I find out more.

The scientists and "smarter" people in the middle ages were just about all churchmen by the way.

[DavidObeid]

I got this reply from a friend of mine who has some expertise in the matter:


Illuminati is the name given to a Masonic society established in or around 1776. Before one can understand what the Illuminati were about, one must understand what is meant by Masonry (Freemasonry).

Freemasonry is one of the innumerable evils that flowed from the Protestant Revolt precipitated (at the theological level) by Martin Luther and (at the political level) by Henry Tudor (Henry VIII). It may well be the worst of those evils.

Though in fact it is idolatrous, Freemasonry presents itself in a quasi-religious cloak. In truth, it substitutes for Almighty God a created entity or entities whose identity is kept secret. Masons will tell you that they are religious: but they are not.

The essence of the Masonic conspiracy lies in the blasphemous oaths that each initiate must take.

Now, an oath is a solemn promise made in the name of Almighty God. It is to be taken only on some serious occasion, such as the undertaking of public office. Each Masonic oath mocks Almighty God to His face: in effect it says, “I promise in Your Name, that I will break the very commandments You have laid down.” In this it emulates the effects produced by Henry VIII’s henchman, Thomas Cromwell, who required each citizen of the English kingdom to swear that what was false (e.g., that Henry had never been married to Queen Catherine of Aragon) was true, thus implicating the citizen in an overt rejection of God and of His reign.

For a detailed study of its evils in the Church and in the world today see the superflumina.org website in the index ‘Freemasonry & the Church’ and in particular, Leo XIII and Freemasonry at http://www.superflumina.org/PDF_files/freemasonry.pdf

The Illuminati are members of a secret society, Masonic in structure, founded, allegedly in Bavaria. The name (literally, ‘the enlightened ones’) reveals its Masonic ground in gnosticism, which names a group of heresies whose adherents have ever (over nearly twenty centuries) asserted the possession of a knowledge of reality superior to that of the common man, a knowledge they are bound to keep secret. It is rooted in pride. Many agree with the Popes that both Freemasonry and the association of the Illuminati are satanic in origin. For a reasonable analysis of its history see the wikipedia website at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Illuminati

Needless to say, Dan Brown’s rendition is the stuff of fairy tales.