Includes bibliographical references (pages 286-294) and index.

"It was a dangerous matter to be a dissenter from the orthodox Christian Church in medieval times. To be branded a heretic invited torture and execution. Courageous and steadfast dissenters included the Knights Templar, the Freemasons, the Cathars, and scientists of the day." "Their avowed intention was to safeguard the truth about Jesus Christ and his ministry, which, they believed, was revealed in early scriptures and had been rejected and suppressed. They devised an ingenious and complex secret code for communicating with others of like mind and to preserve the truth for future generations. This code was concealed in symbols which were hidden in the art and artifacts of the medieval world." "Time Wallace-Murphy has written a wonderfully accessible guide to the heretical thought secretly encoded within religious art. It is neither an exhaustive catalogue of esoteric symbolism, nor a simplistic guide to the manifold layers of meaning in the art. Instead, the author explains how mankind has always used symbolism in our exploration of the world of the spirit, and how Christian symbolism gradually became prevalent throughout the religious art of the Middle Ages. He also outlines recent discoveries of the deeper layers of meaning disguised within the symbolism."--BOOK JACKET