You might want to check the inventory in your "cults" corner, as church members may be looking for information about the Freemasons.

The group has been brought to the fore this week by best-selling novelist Dan Brown, whose The Lost Symbol centers on the secret fraternal order. Knopf Doubleday printed 5.6 million copies of the 528-page thriller, which broke Barnes & Noble records for first day sales of adult fiction on its release, Tuesday.

Brown's previous The Da Vinci Code—which has sold more than 80 million copies worldwide—spawned a slew of Christian books debunking its assertion that Jesus had a child with Mary Magdalene.

Brown told USA Today that he had not read any of the books challenging his claims, but "I've always said there's room for different opinions. Controversy is a good thing when it gets people thinking and talking."

In regard to his own beliefs, Brown—who was raised an Episcopalian but no longer attends church—described them as a "work in progress." He said: "My spirituality is a private thing. I spend part of every day thinking about religion, spirituality and God-maybe more than people who go to church. By Sunday, I'm pretty tired."

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