I have seen many people (in the books post, for instance) refer to the "Da Vinci Code".

Whether we agree with Dan Brown or not, it is truly amazing that this book has been on the NYTIMES bestseller list for... what... 2 years!? Not to mention his other books.

I was thinking...

Honestly, I haven't read the book... but for those who have read it and for those who haven't, do you think the book is important enough for the responce that it has recieved from Catholics? All the books written in responce to it... all the message board discussions, etc.

Really, do you think it is worth the hype? Or, is it really that important what he has said?

Just curious.

Yes. Read the Amazon reviews some time. Read the hate mail that Carl Olson gets. People--lots and lots of people--take it seriously.

My parents both apparently had some sort of deep realization upon reading it. My mother even made me promise to read it (I'm still looking for it at used bookstores - I refuse to put more money in Mr. Brown's pocket, promise or no).

-- Christopher

Exactly Obie. We wouldnt take is seriously if many people did not believe these lies...We Catholics, and Christian denominations should take it seriously because we must defend Catholicism and Christianity itself. It is an attack on Jesus and Catholicism. It is an apostasy. Like I said, we wouldnt make a big deal about it if people didnt accept these lies.

This is what I wrote from another thread, I kinda would like to rewrite it, but right now, I am just too lazy and tired, so Ill just copy and paste because it kinda summarizes why I think it is a big deal, and youll see that many (especially after the movie comes out) will say what this other person wrote below or say, chill out, it's just a book or just a movie, but most will accept it as true history...

A person earlier said, Quote:
It is just another belief within christianity that lost out to the official christianity that we have come to accept.

I say: You sound like Brown...

Brown says, it's a "lost history".

The problem is that Brown suggests that there is more than just imagination in his book. He encourages his readers to accept certain assertions of history as factual...That the "real" message of Jesus was supressed by Peter and the Catholic Church and that we only hear the side that "won out". Brown also suggests that the early "heretics" of Christianity had the truth and that the "false" teachings of Jesus are the ones that "won out" by the Catholic Church and Peter because of supression on Jesus' "real" teachings...that Jesus' teachings were supressed by the Catholic Church and Peter, that Peter got jealous of Mary M.

Most historical fiction books promise that, while the novel concerns fictional characters engaged in imagined activities, the basic historical framework is true and should be accepted...So, many just trust that Dan is telling the truth about history, which he got from pseudo-history books--Holy Blood, Holy Grail, etc....Also, just look at his website www.danbrown.com. He even puts a quote on the front page by New York Daily News saying, "His research is impeccable." HA!

Dan Brown on his website also says:
Two thousand years ago, we lived in a world of Gods and Goddesses. Today, we live in a world solely of Gods. Women in most cultures have been stripped of their spiritual power. The novel touches on questions of how and why this shift occurred…and on what lessons we might learn from it regarding our future.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Certainly, there was diversity in early Christianity. But, you have to understand that none of this diversity, change, or development in early Christian history occured in the way that The DavVinci Code suggests it did. When early Christian leaders sought to affirm the truth of Christian teaching, their criterion was not about gender or power. It was, as we can see from their own writings, if we bother to read them, about faithfulness to what Jesus said and did. However, no where in any serious scholarly work do you find anyone taking seriously the suggestion that Jesus' mission was all about sending forth Mary Magdalene to carry His message of the "sacred feminine".

Brown' characters in the book frequently assert that the traditional Christian understading of Jesus' life and ministry is false, Hence the New Testament is completely untrustworthy, which then is completely dangerous to any Christian and Catholic.

So, when someone says, "Oh relax, it's just a book." etc etc. Well, no it's not, you'll see the effect it has on everyone after the movie comes out...And, if anyone has their feet, by the grace of God, planted in stone, they will be disturbed by this man's book and movie because they know what is True and that these are lies against our own God. So, yes, I will not just "chill out" or accept what he has to say.

I have led several Bible Studies, Workshops, and classes with teenagers and adults who picked up the book as faithful Catholics expecting to be entertained, and convinced they wouldn't get sucked in... Now, many of them are hecklers at these events telling me that Jesus was fully human, so to say that he wasn't married and having sex is a ridiculous claim... It just makes sense, right? He had a penis, so he must have used it...



Fiction can be VERY dangerous if not written as an artform for a worthwhile purpose... I cannot think of one good thing that this book has accomplished, but I know a lot of formerly content Catholics who are now questioning their faith...

I read most of it until I completely figured out the plot and ending (it didn't take long)... He is a good writer, and he knows a lot about many myths that have been dreamed up by French radicals in the 1950's... The scary thing is that he is actually a believer in what he writes... So, from his perspective, he is not really writing fiction... Rather, it is his form of reality... Thus, it is no longer fiction, but propaganda...

FJ

Afreed those who just write it off as good ol harmless fiction are a little niave.
WE live in an historically illeterate society who can't tell you what happened during WW2 much less 2000 years ago! How many Christians know much about the Council of Nicea?
Very few, many protestants think this is when Constantine introduced paganism into the catholic church so its easy where they can be led astray and catholics can be extremely illiterate even though they have access to all this if they cared to look. They say the Nicean creed every week and never think once about what all this really means but hey they read the Coucnil of Nicea according the world known historian Dan Brown and it brust their entire faith Bubble.
Many Christians faith in the good ol USA is rather shallow and emotional and it doesn't take much to rock their unformed spiritual world.

We live in a tablloid society and people beleive that if something is in print it must be true. The Danci Code belongs aside the supermarket tabloids but since it is in a nice hardcover book by a major publisher it is given legitamacy in the mind of the niave.

I picked up the book, read it, believed all the crap in it for a while, and chucked it into the trash bin once I found the truth. The aforementioned book now rests beneath a mountain of other trash about 10 miles from my front door.

Oh, I got the book as a gift from a friend of mine who recommended it.

Recently, a news story on the radio reported that up to 30% of Canadians think it is true. Shows you how dumb Canada is.

I wouldn't be so quick to slamming just Canada judging by the people I have talked to about the Book I am sure there is good percentage of Americans which think the books has some validity. Heck Hollywood is banking on it.
Canada and America could be desribed as Dumb and Dumber.
They are not alone.

Is this book against God?

I think it may of talked about mary Magdelene and Jesus having a sexual relationship but maybe that's just a rumor.

what exacly is it about? The painting of the last supper and mideval art and architecture?

And has the author written other books, including Demons and Angels?

Are his books supposed to be fact, based on fact, or all just made up things?

The book is as far against God as you can get while at the same time tricking people into thinking it's harmless. The author tricks the (often poorly educated and unable to think critically) reader into thinking it's really a book of interesting and little-known facts.

In reality, it's nothing more than repackaged blasphemy.

The most insidious aspect of the book is the way the reader is lured into a belief that everything he's reading is factual. This is accomplished in two ways (at least):

i) a statement of factuality on the front page (Brown says the priory of Sion is a real organization).

So people believe the priory of Sion is a centuries-old secret society which had Leonardo da Vinci as a member, among others. He doesn't say that the priory of Siion was founded in 1956 and has nothing to do with the imaginaty association described in the book.

Deceitful, eh?

ii) He mixes up truths with falsehoods, giving the unsuspecting reader the idea that everything is factual. Example. He describes some real paintings. Ok. He talks about the matematical number phi, for example.

Then he comes alone with utter rubbish in order to support his goddess theories. Rubbish such as:

- the planet Venus traces a pentacle in the sky (nonsense)
- the first 19th century Olympics committe originally wanted a pentacle instead of five rings (more nonsense)
- the story of Cinderella is actually a retelling of the ancient earth goddess worship!!!!

People will take this rubbish seriously so easily, just because it's mixed in with one or two factual points.

btw "Angels and Demons" is just as stupid and boorish. He describes St. Teresa of Avila as having an orgasm in the famous Bernini scuplutre "the Ecstasy of St. Therese."

Brown is a boor and a conman. But people need to know what he is about so we can help save people from his poisonous influence.


On a final note, I expect someday some smartass will come out with "The Van Gogh Code" explaining how Vince's self-portrait with bandaged ear is in actual fact proof Van Gogh was in the Garden of Gethsemane when St Peter cut off his ear, thus proving the Passion of Christ took place in France.

I'm surprised Brown hasn't though of it actually.

Just wait for the movie. Hopefully, this whole phenomenon is illustrating how bad catechesis has been for so many people.

I'll add one more negative. DVC has given media whores like McBrien a platform to slander the Church as "experts."

I read it before it became popular. In fact I first read "Angels and Demons" which is about the Church and the Illuminati.

Both caused me to question my faith. By the Grace of God, I continued to seek the truth and by immersing myself in the truth I am now able to see the lies of the Da Vinci Code for what they are.

If you read this book without first educating yourself to the lies, you may risk your eternal soul. The "Father of Lies" is very devious. He begins with a truth and builds upon it with falsehoods and he can easily mislead a person all the way to eternal damnation.

Now as Catholics, we need to prepare ourselves for the aftermath of the movie. Many will see the movie and question their faith. Many will challenge you about your faith. What better way to share the truth with someone that to defend your faith. They would not ask or challenge you if they did not want more information and were not open to a discussion.

So educate yourelf about the book first, then read it if you must. It may be a good idea to frequently pray the St. Michael prayer. Keep up your devotion to St. Benedict and the Blessed Virgin Mary and make use of the St. Benedict Medal and Miraculous Medal.

By reading this book, you are entering into the world of spiritual warfare. Put on your spiritual armor, ask for intercesory prayers, go to confession first so any moral sins on your soul will not impare your ability to distingush between truth and lies.

It has been just reported that Pope Benedict while Cardinal Ratzinger denounced the Harry Potter books this news coincides with another Release of the Harry Potter in the movie theatres. Don't be suprised to hear similar statements made by our Current Pope about the heretical Davinci Code. I think our current pope is far more engaged on pop cultural issues that can be damaging to the faith. Pope John 2 was of course extremely engaged on poltical matters but I think on these matters his awareness was not quite as engaged as others in the church had hoped. Some laugh this off as just fiction but even fiction can damage ones faith.

THis book had done damage to many well ecuated readers I can just imagie the damage it does to those who don't read but get their info via Hollywood and they see this movie as some sort of theological truth.
We as catholics need to be well informed on how to respond to those with questions about the Davinci Code as it is the catholic faith that is being primarily attacked.

I have read the book and feel that it can be dangerous. My main beef with the book is that Brown makes a statement in the front about his facts being truth, as someone above already posted. Brown believes in what he's writing. Unfortunately many Catholics are weak in their faith and may be easily swayed by the falsehoods in this story. Protestants who already have negative feelings towards Catholicism will think it confirms what they already suspected or knew.

There was a news show on not long ago where Brown's falsehoods were exposed and proven to be false. They explained who started this whole belief system.

I have Protestant friends who are excited about the book because they found some fact in the book that is true, so they figure it's all true. Then again, the Protestants I know who go to church and study the Bible are totally against the book and see its errors.

My sentiments exactly!!!!!!!

I listened to it on Audible.com. Awful, cheesy, terrible. Richard Chamberlin and Nick Cage should star in this movie on Lifetime. Just a terrible rag of a book.

Sheesh, I can't believe so many people got sucked in by this poo. After reading this thread I am a litle scared. At least get tricked by well written garbage.

Doe DiVinci code say Mary Magdelene was really an apostle and show her as having more importance than we realize?

Cause someone on another thread mentioned her saying she was on the painitng of the last supper so I am curious.

thanks

You know there might be one good that come out of the Davinci Code.
Protestant have to provide catholic sources that the whole religion of Christianity wasn't simply made up in the fourth century. All the quotes on the protestant websites that refute the Davinci Code and that proove the developement of the canon of the bible, trinity, christological theology, Sunday worship, and so forth are all quotes by the early church fathers.
There is just no way around it for their religion to have any legitamacy the catholic church basic truths must be true so they invariably proove that the church was catholic just by providing the names of the catholic church fahters. OF course they leave out the embarassing details of the catholic distinctivenss these fathers beleived in besides the Trinity and Sunday worship but it is going to give some inquiring minds who want to more about Ignatius, Clement, Cyprian, Ireneuas, Tertullian, Athanasius , etc just what did they beleive on other issues besides these few issues?

If the findings of the catholic concil of Nicea are false than all of Christiantiy falls not just catholcism.