Everybody likes a good conspiracy theory: shadowy secret organization holds some incredibly important information and/or wields vast power over most of the world’s governmental organizations (see also: The X-Files, most of the right-wing militia fringe, and the current Vice President).
Now, anybody who’s into conspiracy theories will recognize the driving conspiracy behind Dan Brown’s The Da Vinci Code quite early on. Let’s test your CQ (c’mon: Conspiracy Quotient) out with one phrase: Priory of Sion. Got it? Good.
Okay, one more hint: if you’ve read Holy Blood, Holy Grail, you know the whole basis of the conspiracy.
(I knew I was over the whole conspiracy theory thing when I read the follow-up to HBHG, The Messianic Legacy, and found myself far more intrigued by the bits concerning Biblical interpretation and what information was found in the Gnostic Gospels than I was by anything having to do with the modern-day conspiracy stuff.)
All right, enough background—on to the book. The Da Vinci Code is extremely entertaining. The best description I’ve heard of it is “Eco-lite,” which should give you an idea of the flavor: lots of esoteric information, with very little of it in other languages so you don’t feel like a moron the way you do with Eco. Robert Langdon, an American symbologist, is in Paris to give a talk. The curator of the Louvre Museum, Jacques Sauniere, asks to meet him for drinks but poof! gets murdered before they meet. Robert teams up with Sophie Neveu, a master cryptologist—and, conveniently, the curator’s granddaughter—and together they go on the run to solve the murder and uncover what Sauniere wanted to tell them before he was killed.
Brown propels the story along, even as he manages to spill a lot of cocktail-party information along the way. You know, the kind of tidbit that’s so much fun to toss off at a cocktail party: are you aware of the reported symbology in Leonardo’s The Last Supper? The story’s also written in “real-time”—once it kicks off, we see everything that happens, from Robert and Sophie’s run to a sinister Bishop with Opus Dei to an assassin trailing Our Heroes across Paris.
The Da Vinci Code: entertaining, with no academic requirements whatsoever before diving in.
And hidden here is an extra-special note for people who’ve read Holy Blood, Holy Grail:
The unfortunate thing about the whole Priory of Sion/Christ’s bloodline story is that it is, unfortunately, a hoax. A hoax dreamed up by the main character in the conspiracy, Pierre Plantard. The whole Priory-Merovingian-Knights Templar thing, totally made up. So sad.
Brown managed to write a very entertaining book about somebody else’s fiction. Hey, he’s #14 on Amazon, so he’s doing okay.
i just got done reading this book last night and i would have to say it’s definitely one of the better books i’ve read in the past year or so. highly recommended, and through-provoking. it’s good to see other people liking it.
Picked up The Da Vinci Code early this week and finished it yesterday. It completely blew me away, Dan Brown is a genius!
And did you see the game he’s posted check it out- it’s a codebreaking kind of thing:
http://thedavincicode.com
oh and it’s #1 on the NYTimes list. I’m pretty sure
I read “The Da Vinci Code” as someone who’s been studying Leonardo for a long time. It’s a reminder why I don’t read “mystery/thriller” novels: two dimensional, cardboard characters, and an over-wrought, cliched plot. I found the writing style and exposition extremely clumsy, and I was at least five pages ahead the characters in solving the mystery, which seems to be a pastiche of “Holy Blood, Holy Grail”, “The Woman with the Alabaster Jar”, et al. Plus, there are out and out sloppy and inaccurate details (the new moon and Venus do not rise in the east in early evening ANYWHERE, Leonardo did not recieve “countless” commissions from the Vatican, and whether he was a “flamboyant homosexual” is still debated by art historians). And, has been pointed out, the whole Priory of Sion thing was a big hoax anyway. I had high hopes for this book, and was disappointed.
I’d be interested in any other pointers to articles proving the Priory of Sion is “a big hoax,” along the lines of the article here.
If anyone has such pointers, please send me an email (clint at robotic dot com).
Thanks!
It would be neat in a book like this to print the FACTUAL components in a different type or color. That would give the reader a better basis for understanding the book and in reviewing the necessary historical data. Fascinating book though.
One problem that plagued me throughout the book was the omission of any reference to the Virgin Mary who occupies such a revered place in Christianity and who is certainly a figure compatible with the sacred feminine; also no reference was made to the masonic symbol which combines the grail and the blade. A double entendre opportunity was also missed by not referring to the perfect vee/grail formed when a woman spreads her legs to make the rose of her vagina more accessible.
Complaining that Dan Brown isn’t a Dickens or a Dostoyevsky is like complaining that your kettle won’t make toast. Top notch Hollywood type hokum that teases the brain cells without pretending to be a work of high art. Can’t believe that anyone would read The Da Vinci Code expecting more than a fast paced mass market thriller – suggest a bottle of wine and an ashtray to give company while the book takes you late into the night.
Whether you read the book with the eyes of a historian, a believer, a painter, a student, a book-worm, a social studies teacher, it boils down to one point: the book is entertaining. It is not a story that was written to enlighten the world or change one’s belief, nor does it want to challenge human history and religion. Anyone who finds themselves arguing the story is missing out on the actual “mystery/thriller.” I must add however that once again a book has raised my curiosity in learning more about what I’ve read.
If you liked the Da Vinci Code – you’ll love SecretAgentMan!
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http://www.anexx.com/AnEx/anexhome.htm
I thought the book was awesome!!! D. Brown is a genious!!(did i spell that right?) well anyways, just thought you’d like to know. but when i told my dad about it, he completely flipped!!! Poor guy… stuck in all his computer books…
Good book, fun read, interesting premise, and hoax? Who’s to say. Certainly Dr. Brown seems to have got people talking.
Da Vinci Code is making the rounds through the members of the church I serve (I’m a Presbyterian pastor). Lots of intriguing material in the book that could call into question much of traditional Christianity. I know enough church history to know some of the conspiracy theory stuff in the book is of questionable authenticity. And no respectable New Testament scholar – even the most liberal-would support a supposed liaison between Jesus and Mary M. that produced an offspring.
But we’re having fun with the book. I’m recommending it to any and all. It’ll probably find its way into some sermons in the Fall.
It’s a great read!
Love to hear from any Christians out there as to what you think of it all.
Peace!
For me, the most interesting info in _Holy Blood, Holy Grail_ and the follow-up book (_The Messianic Legacy_?) was not about the supposed direct line descended from Jesus, but all the stuff in the Gospels that certainly got glided over in my religion classes. You know, like how big a Roman cohort was (a cohort, evidently, was sent to pick Jesus up in the Garden of Gethsemane). Or how a man needed to be married to be considered a rabbi (and we all know what Jesus’s title was). Or…
These books led me to pick up Elaine Pagels’ book on the Gnostic Gospels, which was certainly very interesting.
Anyone have a good pointer to whether the history of how the Council of Nicea (was that it?) chose the current crop of “accepted” Gospels/New Testament books?
Chaz Truog’s 4-26-03 comments had it right, cardboard and more cardboard. Shallow, silly, and would look damn good in a “Harlequin (Romance) dress”.
As for all the hyerbolic praise on the back jacket, all NY Times best Selling Authors; and how many of these do you think have the same publisher as Mr Brown?
You see the real conspiracy is how this thing is an American pop culture event in trhe first place, but then sheep have to do something between episodes of American Idol and George Bush photo ops, I mean oops!
I don’t know why the lack of depth (or “cardboardness,” if you will) of TDVC didn’t bother me. It was a heck of a good read, even if you go, “Wait a second, this guy is dying a slow and painful death…but he has time to put together this incredibly intricate code that has several layers of meaning to it?”
I have a review of a similar book that I found excessively wanting that I haven’t posted yet but will do so soon…the cardboardness offended me a heck of a lot more there.
Chacun a son gout, I suspect.
Reading the book, I assumed the information about early Christianity was correct. Really upsetting to know it was all made up. So if you’re a scholar, I guess you’ll have fun finding the mistakes.
I guess it upset me because I have wondered about a lot of things I thought this book explored factually, not as fiction.
This book was my first introduction to the Priory of Sion and it was a great read. I am now very interested in reading more on the conection with the church and the obliteration of Goddess worship. It seems that those who reacted to the book with passionate negativaty may be more insecure than literate. There seems to be a small percentage of the population that reacts strongly to any suggestion that masculine dominance is not the natural law. Tsk..Tsk..Tsk
What a great book! Should make any Christian
question his religion.
What a great book! Should make any Christian
question his religion.
I think we can all at least agree that the book was intriguing enough that it kept us reading through the night. Whether the claims are fiction or fact are merely to be debated by thos who find them interesting enough to research. I think, that while this book may be somewhat elementary in it’s narrative, the ideas that it raises are perfectly appropriate for those who would never, ever pick up a book that raised such questions in any kind of serious context. I think it gives a wide readership the opportunity to question. To question. That is certainly an opportunity ill afforded most mainstream readers, without a pretext of solving all unsolvable riddles. I think this book is great, and I don’t discount it in the least for the fact that the narrative is simplistic. It serves it’s purpose well. And it does what it was intended to do. This could make a great movie, we just have to wait and see what the studio does with it.
Loved and hated it. Similar thoughts on the comments about what is based in “fact”..? Being a Christian myself, there was a point in the book where I had to stop and look at the picture of D.Brown and the thought did cross my mind that he looked rather like the devil himself to spin such a simplistic tale that was prefaced by saying that much of the historical references are “factual”. I got angry and somewhat afraid to think of the masses of people buying into this book and D.Brown, many of which may blindly take more as fact than is actually present in this book. At times, it was predictable and the characters lacked depth, but I kept reading it till all hours of the night. All in all, the book piqued my emotions as well as my interest to research further. Basically, the book has made me want to make my own quest to find out more about the “missing” gospels, as this was always something I thought about throughout my Christian life. It seems impossible and improbable that there wasn’t anything written about Christ throughout the majority of his (albeit short) life. And where is the gospel of Thomas? And, being a woman, I have always believed that God would not discriminate women as the bible so often tends to do. From God’s lips to men’s minds??? It’s entirely possible there was some level of miscommunication. (Sorry, fellas. But for millenia of discrimination to the sacred female, it’s granted.)
I had the same thoughts as T.Blanche about the praise on the back cover. Not from the N.Y.Times but ALL from N.Y.T. “best-selling authors”. That’s actually rather pathetic. It says to me, “We have no real reviews to give (and we really want to push this book as quickly as possible), so let’s just get a few of OUR guys to write some trite comments.”
Loved and hated it. Similar thoughts on the comments about what is based in “fact”..? Being a Christian myself, there was a point in the book where I had to stop and look at the picture of D.Brown and the thought did cross my mind that he looked rather like the devil himself…and to spin such a simplistic tale that was prefaced by saying that much of the historical references are “factual”! Something fiendish there, if only for the evil and almighty dollar! I got angry and somewhat afraid to think of the masses of people buying into this book and D.Brown, many of which may blindly take more as fact than is actually present in this book. At times, it was predictable and the characters lacked depth, but I kept reading it till all hours of the night. All in all, the book piqued my emotions as well as my interest to research further. Basically, the book has made me want to make my own quest to find out more about the “missing” gospels, as this was always something I thought about throughout my Christian life. It seems impossible and improbable that there wasn’t anything written about Christ throughout the majority of his (albeit short) life. And where is the gospel of Thomas? And, being a woman, I have always believed that God would not discriminate women as the bible so often tends to do. From God’s lips to men’s minds??? It’s entirely possible there was some level of miscommunication. (Sorry, fellas. But for millenia of discrimination to the sacred female, it’s granted.)
I had the same thoughts as T.Blanche about the praise on the back cover. Not from the N.Y.Times but ALL from N.Y.T. “best-selling authors”. That’s actually rather pathetic. It says to me, “We have no real reviews to give (and we really want to push this book as quickly as possible), so let’s just get a few of OUR guys to write some trite comments.”
As a Catholic I have always had doubts about
my religion – specifically 3 points:
1) The story of the virgin birth 2) why
the Jews at the time didn’t embrace Jesus
if he was really the Messiah 3)The resurrection-
How can the son of God be killed? For the sins of
mankind? Too Pat. Thank you Dan Brown for filling
in the details and showing me how Constantine
took what was essentially a following (like Martin Luther King, Jr) into a religion and
perpetuated it onto mankind.
Booksellers,
I loved this book and more should be written about the Catholic Church’s condemnation of the Feminine Spiritual and the necessity of women in our world societies. The Catholic Church is to blame for the whole disappearence of the feminine in nature and in life and until it relinquishs its hold on millions of Catholics and accepts the social order of civil responsibility, there will only be oneof of the scissors required to live on this planet.
It may well be that the Priory of Sion thing is a hoax, but I was interested to see that the first posting here (by Diane) used a link to the Alpheus website as the authority for refuting the Priory. Alpheus is a site of the Theosophical Society – a fraud in itself, and hardly a sound basis of authority for refuting anything else.
Thank you Dan Brown for straightening out all the B.S. I learned in Sunday School. Constantine took what was essentially a Jewish sect(like the current day Mormons are to Christianity)and for political reasons transformed it into a religion; He turned a human being into a deity.
As a Catholic woman it finally answered some of the questions I’ve never been able to resolve:
1) Why when I go to Church I feel I’m really praying to a pagan religion 2) Why women have been 2nd class citizens for 2,000 years 3)why historians at the time of Jesus don’t mention him
(there was nothing to talk about- he never claimed to be the Messiah). I guess Islam got it
right when they claim Jesus was nothing more than another human prophet. Jesus is the greatest story
ever sold.
Pat in New York
That’s hilarious — I didn’t even realize that was a Theosophical Society link!
I’m about a quarter into this book and so far it’s pretty exciting. However, my excitement was rather dampened by the fact that I came across what seems to be a major mistake on the Author’s part with regard to a particular artistic reference. In the very beginning of the book, the author states that “All descriptions of artwork….in this novel are accurate.” Well, the way he describes da Vinci’s Maddonna of the Rocks seems inaccurate. He states that, in the painting, the baby John is blessing the Christ child, while the Christ Himself is in a submissive posture. As a matter of fact, if you look at the painting (in both versions, even) it is the other way around. The kneeling child IS John the Baptist, NOT Jesus! And the child giving the Blessing is the Christ child himself. Also, look at the ages of the children. The child giving the blessing is clearly younger than the submissive child. Jesus was younger than his cousin. I don’t know, but the harder I studied the painting, it just seemed more obvious to me.
Anyhow, my point is this: although a non-fiction book, clearly Dan Brown’s descriptions of artwork may not always be factual, but may be his own interpretations, or even just completely misrepresented. Being a graduate of the Arts, as well as a major art history buff, this really, really spoils the story for me, and makes me question the author’s intent and the authenticity of the book’s “facts.”
My friend is runs a book of the month club in the UK and I asked him to recommend one book to me (he reads about 250 a year). He recommended the The Da Vinci Code. I have thoroughly enjoyed it and it has encouraged me, like so many of the commenters above, to research the ‘facts’ laid out in the book and scarry conclusions. As a Christian and instinctive question-asker, I have always come away with sufficient answers to any doubts I have had regarding Christianity.
Now, as I question Dan Brown’s ‘factual’ web that he has woven in his book, it seems to me that he had an agenda more important than the facts to which he has aspired to cling, and as a result, has formed story to fit his agenda rather than the facts. There isn’t enough space to go through the errors, but many are pointed out in seperate postings and a little web research reveals numerous inconsistencies and biases of the author.
My disappoint, like others who have posted, will be that it plays right into the hands of people who want to believe the conspiracy. Additionally, it victimizes many who don’t know the facts and are willing to completely believe Dan Brown’s side of the story because it sort of fits into today’s pop culture and much of what our education system reinforces.
I ran across a good quote the other day…The test of a first-rate intelligence is the ability to hold two opposed ideas in the mind at the same time, and still retain the ability to function. – F. Scott Fitzgerald. It is amazing how many seemingly intelligent people read a book like Dan Brown’s and believe it, carte blanche, without testing as they would any other theories they come across in other areas of their lives, like in business or sibling rivalries.
All too often, window dressing that presents fiction as facts, as in The Da Vinci Code, exposes self-appointed intelligent readers as lemmings.
I don’t know how much of the priory of Scions and the Holy Grail is true and how much is enhanced by the author for story purposes(It would seem to me that if it were all true then it would have been made public by now). However, this should not diminish the fact that Dan Brown’s portrayal of Jesus’s life and Constantine’s starting of
Christianity by blending it with paganism are accurate. How many of you out there know that Jesus’s birthdate of December 25th was made to
coincide with the pagan festival thanking the gods for not ending the world – (December 21st being the shortest day of sunlight of the year)?
Constantine was a genius! He combined a cult with pagan rituals, turned the sacred feminine upside
down, and formed the greatest political male dominated structure ever to exist (the Church).
It had (and still has) enormous wealth and
power. If Islam had not come along to challenge
the Church, we all would be ruled by it’s
archaic power today. I’m surprised the Church hasn’t condemned this book as pure heresy.
Unfortunately youi have all strayed off topic, but no matter, the author of this post is a fanatical fool. What proof have you that it is false? There is proof that it true. You have no proof.
Honestly, I think the point of the book, besides being a great mystery/thriller was the help disseminate factual and hypothetical information about the origins of christianity. Regardless of whether the information concering the Priory of Sion is a hoax or not is really quite irrelevant, what is important is that there is something tragically missing from the mainstream monotheistic tradition and that is the idea of communion with the divine being a possibility outside of a religious establishment and that this idea has not only been around for thousands of years but was also propogated by the people credited with beginning the religions that have no taken that idea away. And it’s more than just Da Vinci, any secret society or esoteric mystic group has imagery that points towards a synthesis of opposites as being a place of communion with the divine, that includes combining the sacred masculine and sacred feminine as well as other opposites. The hermetics even used to say “as above so below” and would associate that phrase with the synthesis of opposites. The Knights Templar, the Rosicruscions, Illuminate, Masons, Alchemists, Kabbalists, all use symbols (like the double tetractys, or roses with crosses) that point towards a bringing together of opposites for divine communion. More than this, the catholic church has not strayed entire from this idea as their is little that the Church holds more sacred than Holy Marriage between people, but these ideas have been perveted and over-shadowed by a power hungry organization, and that information is the point of the book, to let us know that the world of the divine is accessible to us at all times.
Only those who are really weak in their faith would question it in light of some book of fiction that someone wrote in their basement.
I could write a book about how Muhamad or Moses was a false profit and how Islam and Judaism are false religions and back it up with all kinds of interest lies. And if you bought it and it changed your view then youre a true idiot.
If you read this book and questioned your faith youre IQ is that of a monkey and you dont deserve to be a Christian anyway!!
The Da Vinci Code blurs the lines between fiction and fact – in a way that comes across to me as deceptive, false and willfully misleading – such that many readers actually believe the book exposes the truth about “the Church.†And many more wonder what is true and what is “fiction.†I have spoken with countless numbers of confused people – who have read the book, and simply don’t know what to make of the supposedly factual remarks by the book’s “scholarly†characters.
I like historical fiction – James Michener, Ken Follett, and Umberto Eco are favorites of mine. By different degrees of creative brilliance, Michener, Follett and Eco have each written books which merge bible or church history with legend and their own invention. Michener and Follett are known for a high degree of factual content in their novels, and Umberto Eco is himself a university academic.
Of the three authors I mention, Eco is a good foil to compare Dan Brown. At least three of EcoÂ’s books – Name of the Rose, FoucaultÂ’s Pendulum and Baudolino — involve an intellectually challenging and delighting blend of invention and historical fact concerning the Church. Eco himself is rather like the real-life version of Dan BrownÂ’s Robert Langdon character. Robert Langdon is a professor of the practically fictional discipline he calls “symbology†– Umberto Eco is a professor of the real-life academic discipline called semiotics. Eco is an agnostic – with no Christian agenda at all, and Brown appears to have an insipid New Age sensibility. As well, Eco often writes fantastic stories involving the Church, the Knights Templar, Post Modern philosophy, etc. Sort of like Brown.
But the difference between the two appears to be this: Eco doesn’t make claims of fact which anybody with a basic church history text and a Bible dictionary can demolish in under five minutes. Brown does. Moreover, it seems that Brown mixes fact with open fraud. Yet, Brown could have written pretty much the same book, without making up a single historical fact. He could have criticized historic Christianity, taken up the cause of women, and triumphed the place of the “sacred feminine†within the factual context of real Church history. He likewise could have retold the same Holy Grail stuff – with little or no need to invent anything outside of the now vast canon of established Grail Lore.
Now, I basically enjoyed the Da Vinci Code, except for those times when I saw an outright factual lie and felt my blood pressure go up. And I will never have time to address every single error made by The Da Vinci Code, but I hope to address the things, which drove me the most nuts.
Most important, perhaps, I would like to discuss the themes raised by the book, which are of great importance for Modern Christians. Most important of these are: where is the feminine side of Biblical theology and our understanding of the divine; what roles did women have in the early church of the first two or three generations; how did the early church grapple with gnosticism, the creation of the canon of Scripture, and the eventual rise of “imperial Christianity�
See full lecture at http://www.fatherjones.com
Growing up non-religious to a Catholic-raised father and a Buddhist-raised mother, I found TDVC absolutely intriguing. I’ve never been in a church, nor read the bible and tend to question what most say in regards to it. However, whether you find Dan Brown’s work too “cardboard” and phantasmic or brave for exploring controversial theories – he did get me to not only start reading the bible to look for facts to prove or disprove theories…he got me to examine in great detail works of art that I’d seen many times before but never paid that much attention to…I’ve read Holy Blood, Holy Grail and took notes to further research things I questioned (I never take anyone’s word for anything)…and got me to spend countless hours on the net reading about how Plantard supposedly made-up much of what he said. If anything, I commend Dan Brown for getting my mind to move and helping me exercise my braincell’s in a world where the latest television shows and series do everything they can to kill them!
first off all I would like to thank Ara for her thoughtful remarks about Christians questioning there faith in the light of this fictional novel. How could any God fearing Christian be fooled by this garbage.This is what is obvious Satans way to once again distort the word of God as He did in the Garden of Eden. When Satan told eve , Ye shall not surely die. for God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof,then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil. Lies, Lies all Lies. After all the earth is Satans stopping ground and Dan Brown must be one of his most loyal serpents opps I meant servents.. If you really want to read a Great book filled with all kinds of codes and mystery then read the book of Revelation. It’s the last book of the Bible and it will tell you were you are all heading if you do not except Jesus as your Lord and savior. Simple as that. Jesus Said, ” truely,truely. I say unto you, He that heareth my word and believeth on him that sent me hath everlasting life,and shall not come into condemnation: butis passed from death unto life.”Jn 5:24.
There is so much we don’t know and so much more that has been hidden from us. Whether we are people of faith or people of mystery novels, Dan Brown’s book gets us thinking about what we believe and why. That is never bad! So what do we do with it next? How does the possibility of Jesus having a mate make a difference in the way we live life? How we treat women? and even how we pray? Mary M has been hidden and/or disguised for a long time. Who was this woman who ministered to the apostles and taught the Gospel in France where “JeSuis” translates I AM! I’m curious as to what her role in the relationship will bring us in the long term. What I love is that truth is being revealed by fiction or not.
I cannot believe that “mccglothin” actually suggested looking at Dan Brown’s picture and relating him to a devil. That effort would be better spent looking at Leonardo’s Last Supper and seeing the WOMAN painted there.
What seems important isn’t that Eco is a better writer/historian/intellectual than Brown, or what is provable and what isn’t…the DEBATE is everything. The lines written here by the various individuals and their beliefs would never have been so easily allowed in my grandparent’s lifetimes. This seems like some progress – however minimal and long overdue.
Pagan, earth-based, and gender-balanced spiritualities were co-opted by modern christianity. Get over it folks. Let the balance realign itself and evolve. The biggest problem with (most) current religions is the destructive and downright intollerant concept of “we are the one, true and only”. That is rather like saying that only male caucasians have intellect and power. Hmmmm. What does that sound like? We are a deverse planet of people. Hardly seems sensible to have only one belief.
to jbeek,
FYI Your comments about the Madonna on the Rocks is incorrect. As a “retired” Catholic, I remember clearly that a blessing is GIVEN by holding up TWO fingers and making the sign of the cross. The recipient assumes a prayerful posture such as bowing one’s head or holding one’s hands in the “prayer” position. Therefore, although he is on the ground, John is, in fact, blessing Jesus.
I could not put this book down. I am so impressed with all of the discussion it has generated. I hope that Mr. Brown’s intentions were to inspire us to be open-minded and introspective about our own faiths, rather than to cause a scandal to get rich off of this book. My first thought after putting it down was of Salmon Rushdie (sp?). I seriously think Mr. Brown should hire himself a bodyguard with his profits!!
I am most shaken by all of Brown’s refernences to a King Constantine(?) who picked and chose what gospels got to be in the bible. Was there really 80 gospels at one point?!?! my goodness. what kind of “holy book” are we reading? i hope someone more learned can ease my fears about the bible.
Dan Brown graduated from my high school and so he’s coming to my English class this next week. Everyone in my class just plain loves the guy, so I’m hoping to ask him some particularly incisive questions. If anyone has a potential stategy… please post it. Thanks
I JUST FINISHED THE DA VINCI CODE AND CHECKED THE WEB TO SEE IF ANYONE ELSE FELT LIKE I DID?
I FOUND THE WRITING AT THE BEGINNING OF THE BOOK
MILDLY GRIPPING BUT ONCE THE PROTAGONISTS LEFT FRANCE DAN LOST IT.
IF ANYONE DARES COMPARE THIS TO THE GENIUS OF UMBERTO ECO HE OR SHE SHOULD CONTINUE TO READ THE CAT IN THE HAT BECAUSE THATS THE LEVEL OF LITERARY
INTELLIGENCE THAT THE DA VINCI CODE REQUIRES.
I WAS CONTINUALLY INSULTED WITH THE WAY THE AUTHOR FACTUALIZES FICTION. AND QUITE FRANKLY I WAS BORED AND FOUND THE INIGMAS VERY PREDICTABLE.
PLEASE PEOPLE DO NOT USE THIS BOOK AS A HISTORY LESSON !!! IF YOU BELIEVE THIS YOU WOULD BELIEVE HISTORY TELEVISION AS A TRUE PORTRAIL OF HISTORY AND NOT HOLLYWOODIANA.
SO DON’T WASTE THE MONEY ON THIS BOOK OR ON THE QUOTED ‘HOLY BLOOD HOLY GRAIL ‘
IF YOU’RE LOOKING FOR GOOD HISTOICAL FICTION READ ECO YOU WON’T BE DISAPPOINTED
In enjoyed the book as light, airplane or vacation reading. The action is non-stop and some of the “clues” and riddles are intriguing. But most of the theological, “root of Christianity” claims are simply made up, or are factually easy to check and rebut. There were certainly other gospels (clearly later than the four in the Christian Testament) but the number “80” for gospels is pulled out of the air. The Roman Emperor Constantine was far too late to make much difference in Christian theology, and had nothing to do with the selection of the books which make up the canon. He did, however, play a part in making the church an institution allied with the powerful and not the poor (as in the New Testament). And as to some decision made by “voting on the divinity of Jesus”, that is pure fantasy. The term “Son of God” was clearly in use by early Christians in the First Century (read the letters of Paul and the New Testament Gospels).
It is certainly true that for a good deal of its history the church has been anti-feminine (again, not in accord with what we know of Jesus), and it is certainly no secret that Christians have perpetrated some dreadfully bloody and unjust actions.
So, the book is not an “expose” of Christianity (and I assume most people know that December 25th was almost certainly not the date of Jesus’ birth). Just read it for the plot and the action, and accept it as simply a simple novel.
Just finished reading this most entertaining book!
The book certainly brings up many questions about
Christianity alluded to by other e-mailers above.
As a Lutheran we never put much stock into the Virgim Mary anyway; but the conflicting and
contrary accounts of Jesus by the other gospels conveniently forgotten as well as Constantine
himself is mind boggling. Not to mention the pagan aspect of Christianity stolen from others
as well as the bias against women.
Is Jesus real or a figment of some very clever
minds?
December 23, 2003
I READ HOLY BLOOD, HOLY GRAIL, YEARS AGO AND IT WAS TYPICAL OF A LOT OF THE PSEUDOHISTORIES WHICH CAME OUT OF EUROPE IN THE LATE 1970S AND EARLY 1980S. IT IS INTERESTING TO SEE THAT IF YOU WAIT LONG ENOUGH , YOU CAN PUBLISH ANYTHING AND FOOL A LOT OF PEOPLE. IF HE CAN WAIT ABOUT FIVE YEARS, MAYBE DAN BROWN CAN REPUBLISH HITLERS DIARIES. I FOUND THE DA VINCI CODE ANNOYING AT BEST.
Anyone with any common sense and some smarts
has to feel somewhat betrayed by Our Churches after reading this novel. Points to consider:
l)Why do we celebrate Jesus’s birthday On Dec. 25
when it is clear he was born in the summertime?
2)Why isn’t Jesus mentioned by historians of his time?
3)Why are only 4 gospels part of the bible when
there are many others that contradict these 4.
4)Was Jesus married and a father?
5)If Jesus was a Rabbi and the Messiah why
wouldn’t the Jews accept him – after all they
were looking for a savior?
6)Why did the Church make women 2nd class
citizens?
7)Is Constantine really that central a figure in
Christianity?
8) What does the Church really know about
the Holy Grail?
8)
you are wrong “madonna on the rocks” and most famous and not hidden “virgin on the rocks” are too totally diffrent panitings! da vinci was told to do another copy of his work and change it becuse the church didnt like it
you are wrong “madonna on the rocks” and most famous and not hidden “virgin on the rocks” are too totally diffrent panitings! da vinci was told to do another copy of his work and change it becuse the church didnt like it
As a Pastor and historian I received numerous comments and questions from friends about this popular book. Because of the book’s hype I launched into Brown’s masterpiece myself. I found it extremely entertaining and thought provoking to any serious reader. Unfortunately, the historical inaccuracies (and there were many) made this book the only book that I’ve ever read that left me feeling dumber than when I first started reading it. The Dead Sea Scrolls were found in 1947, and not in the 1950’s as Brown points out in his book. In addition, the Dead Sea Scrolls make no mention of “any” New Testament writings or make “any” mention of Jesus or the disciples writings – oops! Any historian would have laughed at Brown’s mistake (just at this mistake alone) and noted that Brown’s book truly does belong in the fiction section of any library. Since there no footnotes or refrences for Brown’s broad historcal statements, Brown hopes that the reader will go for the bait and believe each word as truth. To secure this approach, Brown tells his reader in the first few pages of his book, “FACT: All historical data and documents are accurate.” Brown must have copied this statement from an Enron hearing.