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Mormonism and popular media/Dan Brown's next book and Mormonism
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Speculation about Dan Brown's next book
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Question: Was Mormonism featured in a book written by Dan Brown, the author of The DaVinci Code?
Speculation about Mormonism's role in Dan Brown's sequel to The DaVinci Code turned out to be unfounded
There was much speculation that the LDS Church would be featured in the sequel to the The DaVinci Code published in September 2009 as The Lost Symbol. This speculation about Mormonism's role in Dan Brown's latest book turned out to be unfounded.
On the dust-jacket of The DaVinci Code author Dan Brown provided a clue about the nature of his upcoming novel by cryptically spelling out the phrase "Is there no help for the widow's son?" This is a phrase that is learned in every Masonic lodge when an initiate becomes a Master Mason. This clue pointed to the fact that Brown's new book would focus on Freemasonry.
When a Google search is performed on the phrase "Is there no help for the widow's son?" there are several page returns for a talk which was given in 1974 by Reed C. Durham at a meeting of the Mormon History Association. Since Durham's presentation spoke of Joseph Smith Jr. and the institution of Freemasonry some people drew the conclusion that perhaps Dan Brown's new literary work would deal, in a substantial way, with Mormons as well as Masons and it might speak of a connection between the two organizations.
It turned out that Dan Brown did refer to Mormonism in his fictional book called The Lost Symbol. The material appears in two short paragraphs within the manuscript.
On page 79 of the United Kingdom / Commonwealth edition. In an extended quote where Langdon talks about various improbable stories in various religious traditions including the parting of the Red Sea we read:
"...to Joseph Smith using magic eyeglasses to translate the Book of Mormon from a series of gold plates he found buried in upstate New York. Wide acceptance of an idea is not proof of its validity."
The last sentence being printed in italic.
BROWN, Dan. The Lost Symbol. London, Transworld Publishers 2009 p. 79
In addition, he used the erroneous phrase "baptism of the dead" (instead of "for" the dead), once. In both paragraphs in the volume where Joseph Smith or the doctrine he established or his personal history are mentioned they are being compared with other religious figures and practices.
There are no connections made in The Lost Symbol between Joseph Smith and the Masonic fraternity.
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