Da Vinci Code

[Affinity]

well...i just finished it and i need advice about it- im not sure to believe it or not- the thing about the last supper by da vinci is true so what else is??

I just got done reading the book, and having a little knowledge of christian history, I was sort of able to read between the lines.

The whole premise of the book is actually based on the beliefs of the Gnostic sect of early christians, who were certainly a minority among the whole group of early christians. What Dan Brown did is try and make it sound like the Gnostics were the only group of early christians and that there beliefs represented the majority, pre-constantinian.

This is actually not true. The majority of early christian (although they weren't then called "christians") held beliefs about Christ that were very similiar to what we believe today. The only major difference was the ideology of the trinity, which didn't come about till the Nicene Councel. The major group of early christians were acctually a odds with the gnostics for there unorthodox beliefs about Christ, and when Constantine came to power, at the prompting of the church leaders of that time who represented the majority of christians, he proceeded to attempt to wipe out the unorthodox branch.

DM

 

[D'Ann]

I've combined the two Da Vinci threads together.

God bless,

Debbie

 

[Antigone]

I've never given the validity of Brown's claims much thought - nowhere does he say that he is writing a work of scientific value (correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't remember him saying so). Dan Brown didn't do research to support his claims, but to find clues and items that would fit into his story.

Neither did I take offence at it the way the catholic church does. It's a fictional story, not an accusation.

 

[good4u]

The Da Vinci Code is a NOVEL, okay?

A novel is a fictional story.

In other words, Author Brown made it up.

It confuses the heck out of nominal Christians because they are not grounded in sound Christian doctrine. If they understood sound Christian doctrine they would not waver about IF such a book were true. Author Brown says it is a novel. But when you spin a story as possibly true and you don't know who is truth, then you get confusion.

It is terribly sad that this book asserts this which attacks the Christian faith:

1) The Bible cannot be trusted.

2) Jesus is not God.

3) Jesus did not die, but carried on a human blood line thru marriage to Mary Magdalene and came to restore goddess worship!!!

These assertions are lies and it is no wonder orthodox Christians are offended and should understand how to refute such lies when asked.

 

[soblessed53]

Taken as a "Fiction" mystery/thriller,I enjoyed the book very much.It is well written and exciting,but I have no clue how any Christian can even think there is any truth to the conspiracy theory! Remember there is not one reputable theology scholar who agrees with this!

 

[Seonta]

Well, even though Im stupid I might as well relate to you what I read somewhere. But I've never read the Da Vinci code.
The books are based on some kinda Gnostic records thing, like the gospel of Judas, but those records were written a long, long time (I forget how many centuries) after the bible scrolls were written. And the auther basically said, "hey, Da Vinci was known for doing Cryptic stuff. Maybe he put some kind of Jesus conspiracie in his paintings." Its all just fiction! Apparantly theres also some part about a guy that claimed to be a descendent of Jesus in like the 1600's or some early time like that, but he just wrote all these stupid books or something and put them into libraries. He went to court and confessed that they were fake. Theres also something about knights who all got slaughtered by some church because of the "conspiracie" but that wasn't true either. All that stuff is taken from little bits of history and completely altered. The Da Vinci code is just fiction.

 

[cm24]

I started this thread a while back, and hve now finished both "The Da Vinci Code" and "Angels & Demons". One person got it right when they said the two books are essentially the same guy, doing the same thing, for different reasons. They are both good books, however.

The Da Vinci code's entire premise is that the Church, for hundreds of years has been trying to eliminate the "sacred feminine", I.E.-Mary Magdalene.

Two points ruin the basic premise of the entire book-
1-Christianity, along with Islam, are Abrahamic faiths, and trace their lineage to the Jews. So why doesn't Brown Say that the Christians, Jews, and Muslims have conspired to eliminate the sacred feminine? Because no author in his right mind would say anything about the Jews or Muslims, but the Christians are still fair game.
2-The books thrust is against the Catholic Church. I am A Catholic. I Pray to Mary every day (I Pray to God twice a day for you protestants who feel like arguing).
Mary the mother of God, Queen of Heaven. Why would the Church go to all the trouble of covering up one woman, and raise another?

Good books both, and I am going to see the movie because I like Tom Hanks and Ian Mclellan. But there are also reletivist themes all over these books. Everybody has there own way to God? Everybody's right? It Just Doesn't work.

 

[Danielle]

I started this thread a while back, and hve now finished both "The Da Vinci Code" and "Angels & Demons". One person got it right when they said the two books are essentially the same guy, doing the same thing, for different reasons. They are both good books, however.

The Da Vinci code's entire premise is that the Church, for hundreds of years has been trying to eliminate the "sacred feminine", I.E.-Mary Magdalene.

Two points ruin the basic premise of the entire book-
1-Christianity, along with Islam, are Abrahamic faiths, and trace their lineage to the Jews. So why doesn't Brown Say that the Christians, Jews, and Muslims have conspired to eliminate the sacred feminine? Because no author in his right mind would say anything about the Jews or Muslims, but the Christians are still fair game.
2-The books thrust is against the Catholic Church. I am A Catholic. I Pray to Mary every day (I Pray to God twice a day for you protestants who feel like arguing).
Mary the mother of God, Queen of Heaven. Why would the Church go to all the trouble of covering up one woman, and raise another?

Good books both, and I am going to see the movie because I like Tom Hanks and Ian Mclellan. But there are also reletivist themes all over these books. Everybody has there own way to God? Everybody's right? It Just Doesn't work.

The Catholic Church suggests that we don't read the book or see the movie. We are giving these people money, and they are letting rumors spread about the Christian and especially the Catholic Church. So I would suggest not wasting your time and money on something like this. The Gospel of Judas is something else that needs to be ignored.

 

[ScMay]

The Catholic Church suggests that we don't read the book or see the movie. We are giving these people money, and they are letting rumors spread about the Christian and especially the Catholic Church. So I would suggest not wasting your time and money on something like this. The Gospel of Judas is something else that needs to be ignored.

Great mentality, if you don't agree just ignore the thing and hope it goes away.....

Put you whole 'I'm offended because it disses christians' to the side and look at it for what it is, entertainment with SOME historical facts and a lot of fiction. The world is not going to take the Da Vinci code as absolute truth, it will however stir many people to investigate what is the truth. So don't get ino such a fuss, if you're so right about your religion Christianity should gain out of all this inquiry and investigation, if your not well then.... you have reason to be afraid.

Beside the "genie is out of the bottle" already so to speak, you going to see the movie or not is not going to change this (Dan Brown is already rich and famous, even if every christian refuses to see the movie which I know wont happen). So go see the movie to enjoy the fiction like it was made for.

 

[Danielle]

Great mentality, if you don't agree just ignore the thing and hope it goes away.....

Put you whole 'I'm offended because it disses christians' to the side and look at it for what it is, entertainment with SOME historical facts and a lot of fiction. The world is not going to take the Da Vinci code as absolute truth, it will however stir many people to investigate what is the truth. So don't get ino such a fuss, if you're so right about your religion Christianity should gain out of all this inquiry and investigation, if your not well then.... you have reason to be afraid.

Beside the "genie is out of the bottle" already so to speak, you going to see the movie or not is not going to change this (Dan Brown is already rich and famous, even if every christian refuses to see the movie which I know wont happen). So go see the movie to enjoy the fiction like it was made for.

It's no wonder you think the way you do. You're an atheist. If you were Christian at all, you would be offended as well that these lies are being presented. I feel sorry for those who are led astray by Dan Brown and his so called "research." By the way, a lot of people are believing it as accurate historical knowledge, or there wouldn't be such a big controversey about it. If you were a Christian, you might understand a little better. I love God and my faith more than anything, so why should I or any other Christian support something that takes hits at God and the Christians? As for Dan Brown already being rich. Yeah I agree, he made his quick buck, but I'm better off if he doesn't get my money. Hey, I save money and my soul by not supporting the guy or anyone else who isn't for God.

 

[comana]

It's no wonder you think the way you do. You're an atheist. If you were Christian at all, you would be offended as well that these lies are being presented. I feel sorry for those who are led astray by Dan Brown and his so called "research." By the way, a lot of people are believing it as accurate historical knowledge, or there wouldn't be such a big controversey about it. If you were a Christian, you might understand a little better. I love God and my faith more than anything, so why should I or any other Christian support something that takes hits at God and the Christians? As for Dan Brown already being rich. Yeah I agree, he made his quick buck, but I'm better off if he doesn't get my money. Hey, I save money and my soul by not supporting the guy or anyone else who isn't for God.

I have yet to meet anyone who buys any part of the book as truth. I think the controversy is the creation of Christians who fear masses of ignorant people are going to believe a fiction book.

 

[Danielle]

I have yet to meet anyone who buys any part of the book as truth. I think the controversy is the creation of Christians who fear masses of ignorant people are going to believe a fiction book.

Believe me there are people that believe it. Why are they bringing up some lie that came out of the book that Jesus had children with Mary Magdelene. There are numerous other lies as well that are in the book that will definitely make Christians question their faith. One of those being Opus Dei as a secret cult of the Catholic Church. I've read up on Opus Dei, and it's no secret at all and much less a secret cult. It's Satan at work if you ask me. Plus, my money could be used for better things such as giving it to those who need it. From what I heard also, if you just want to look at a literary perspective, the book was poorly written.

 

[Danielle]

I have yet to meet anyone who buys any part of the book as truth. I think the controversy is the creation of Christians who fear masses of ignorant people are going to believe a fiction book.

And it's not a fear about ignorant people believing a work of poorly written fiction; rather, it's an offesiveness that we as Christians have experienced from the pack of lies that Brown has woven.

 

[comana]

And it's not a fear about ignorant people believing a work of poorly written fiction; rather, it's an offesiveness that we as Christians have experienced from the pack of lies that Brown has woven.

The liberties he takes with Christian doctrine were not entirely his invention. Take a stroll down the religion section of a bookstore and you will find similar ideas presented as non-fiction. If controversy is to be targeted at any books it should be those.

If not for all the broo-ha-ha it would be tucked back in the mystery aisle under Brown in the local bookstore instead front and center for the past two years.

 

[Danielle]

The liberties he takes with Christian doctrine were not entirely his invention. Take a stroll down the religion section of a bookstore and you will find similar ideas presented as non-fiction. If controversy is to be targeted at any books it should be those.

If not for all the broo-ha-ha it would be tucked back in the mystery aisle under Brown in the local bookstore instead front and center for the past two years.

So who's to say he didn't steal ideas. Isn't he in a lawsuit now for that?

 

[comana]

So who's to say he didn't steal ideas. Isn't he in a lawsuit now for that?

I'm sure of the details of the lawsuit, I think he won though. But yes, he did get the holy grail idea from Holy Blood Holy Grail.

I think the other authors would be thankful he wrote Da Vinci Code since their book has been flung into the spotlight now as well.

 

[cm24]

The Catholic Church suggests that we don't read the book or see the movie. We are giving these people money, and they are letting rumors spread about the Christian and especially the Catholic Church. So I would suggest not wasting your time and money on something like this. The Gospel of Judas is something else that needs to be ignored

You have no right to comment on wether or not anyone should read the book, having not read it yourself. I choose to read it and will choose to see the movie, so that I am not ignorant of what they say.

If the Church had forbidden me to read the book, I probably wouldn't have. However I beleived that my faith was strong enough to withstand this small test, and it was. I beleive the exact same thing I beleived before I read the book. If you do not beleive your faith is strong enough, that's your problem.

 

[cm24]

From what I heard also, if you just want to look at a literary perspective, the book was poorly written.

Oh, from what you heard. But you don't actually know do you?

 

[cm24]

I'm sorry, that was rude.

 

[Danielle]

I'm sorry, that was rude.

And who are you to tell me anything about my faith? As a fellow Catholic, I believed I was doing the right thing in telling you what the Church teaches. Well here's something...if you know pot is bad for you and your family tells you it's a bad thing, are you going to try it so that you aren't ignorant of it? That's pretty low. I don't need to read the book or see the movie to know what it's about. I've seen plenty of documentaries and read plenty of articles to know what it's about. If the Church suggests that I shouldn't read the book or see the movie, then I will listen to the Church. My faith is in God and the Church not in whether the entertainment industry can satisfy my want for "good" movies or books.

I'm sorry as well. I thought I was doing right, but from what I can see you're a grown man. You don't need anyone telling you what to watch or read.