The Da Vinci Code - fact, fiction, or heresy?

self | 1 September, '03 | J, King

[The Right Stuff]

The recent bestseller, "The Da Vinci Code" purports to unveil timeless Christian mysteries, such as the myth of the "Holy Grail". For most, the Holy Grail means the chalice which Christ drank from at the Last Supper - "After He had given thanks, He bid them, "drink" "this is My blood of the New Covenant.."

For author Dan Brown, the Grail is actually the personage of Mary Magdelene, in Scripture a redeemed prostitute, in DVC the wife of Jesus Christ and the mother of his children.

In Mr. Brown's world, the early church found it necessary to suppress the "goddess" woman centered pagan religion by a) demonizing women (i.e. the apple and Eve) and b) stealing pagan ceremonies for its own (see: Christmas).

Much of Mr. Brown's theory is laughable, although the book is an enjoyable and fast paced read. Let the scholars debate:

Although many "creation" and "flood" myths are similar, don't the Hebrew ones predate them all?
Ditto with the virgin or godly inspired birth (see Leda and the swan in Greek mythology)

Have at it, guys..

[NotQuiteCricket]

"Although many "creation" and "flood" myths are similar, don't the Hebrew ones predate them all?
Ditto with the virgin or godly inspired birth (see Leda and the swan in Greek mythology) "

No. No. and No.

[farmfriend]

Although many "creation" and "flood" myths are similar, don't the Hebrew ones predate them all?

I believe that there is one very similar to Genesis that predates the Hebrew one. I don't remember the culture though.

[Shermy]

in Scripture a redeemed prostitute

What scripture says that?

[hergus]

"Although many "creation" and "flood" myths are similar, don't the Hebrew ones predate them all?"

NOOOOOOOOOOO

[AEMILIUS PAULUS]

Question: "The Da Vinci Code - fact, fiction, or heresy?"

Response: None of the above. The book is blasphemy.

[ChadsDad]

An excellent read. With interesting twists. I highly reccomend it to any one who enjoys a good page turner / suspense thriller.

[ChadsDad]

Not blasphemy, fiction.

[firewalk]

.

[hergus]

I agree, great read for the open minded. His book Angels and Demons is just as good.

[Numbers Guy]

Not blasphemy, fiction.

Brown's a good writer. What he wrote wasn't an advocacy piece for the view advanced in the book, it's just his way of getting a plot rolling for a story. He had another twist on the Catholic Church and so forth in "Angels and Demons". But all his books are worth checking out, only those two deal with religious issues.

[Velveeta]

An excellent read, a thrilling writer. Angels and Demons was terrific as well.

[dogbyte12]

Mary Magdalene was not considered a prostitute for 4 centuries, until a theologian decided that she was the anonymous prostitute being stoned. There really is no biblical basis for it, but it has become tradition. Even though there is 16 centuries of that tradition, it is extremely dubious.

An early sect of christianity followed her, and believed that she was one of Jesus' closest disciples. Their facts may have been off kilter, but the prostitute thing is a 4th century slur against Magdalene.

[SamAdams76]

I read this book back in June in about four days while I was in Alabama. It was a good read, very well written, but I thought the timeline was ridiculously farfetched (all the action takes place over a single evening and a LOT happens).

Yeah, I know it's only fiction but still. I like to have my fiction be somewhat plausible.

I never really gave much thought as to whether the premise (of a secret society that held the secrets of the Holy Grail) had any truth to it or not. The foreword does mention that the secret society really exists and that Leonardo da Vinci, Victor Hugo and Isaac Newton, among others, belonged to it. But as for the Holy Grail, I just don't know.

PJ, I ping you to this thread to see if you read this book and if so, what you thought of it.

I have Dan Brown's Digital Fortress on one of my bookshelves waiting to be read. Has anybody read that one?

[Cicero]

I haven't read the book, because it looked like a piece of junk, but I did read a review of it in the latest issue of Crisis Magazine.

I hesitate to speak of a book I haven't read, but I have no reason to doubt the review in Crisis. It demonstrates that the book is unhistorical nonsense, and makes a good case that it is filled with anti-Catholic bigotry.

Among other things, the author seems to think that the figure of St. John in Da Vinci's Last Supper is Mary Magdalene. Yes, he is depicted with long hair, but he is not Mary Magdalene.

There are very early traditions saying that Mary Magdalene repented and became a saint. In part that depends who you think the woman is who enters the Publican's house while Jesus is at dinner, washes his feet with her tears, and dries them with her hair. A long Catholic tradition going back to early times says that the woman is Mary Magdalene, but she is not named in this particular scene, so many Protestant biblical interpreters denied it.

In any case, there is no reason to believe that Jesus and Mary Magalene married and had children, which I gather is what the novel claims. Destructive nonsense, with an obvious antichristian as well as anticatholic agenda.

[Numbers Guy]

I have Dan Brown's Digital Fortress on one of my bookshelves waiting to be read. Has anybody read that one?

Yes, I picked it up this summer. You'll like it. Very different from the two religion related books, but it flows very well. "Deception Point" is also good. He's 4 for 4 so far in my book.

[ChadsDad]

Read "The Confessor" another great religion based thriller.

[StatesEnemy]

Read the gnostics.

[Cicero]

P.S. I didn't think the review article debunking The da Vinci Code would be online this soon, but here it is:

http://www.crisismagazine.com/feature1.htm

[RikaStrom]

I've read Digital Fortress and I found it highly interesting and also a good read. It's his first book, and I read it after Angels and Demons.

If you didn't already wonder about Big Brother, Digital Fortress will really have you wondering!

[eddie willers]

(all the action takes place over a single evening and a LOT happens).

Yeah, I know it's only fiction but still. I like to have my fiction be somewhat plausible.

Same reason I wouldn't watch the TV show "24".

[SamAdams76]

Now THAT was a scathing review!

[tortoise]

Although many "creation" and "flood" myths are similar, don't the Hebrew ones predate them all?

Not by a longshot. The Hebrew mythologies and cultural epics are greatly pre-dated by similar ones from other much older cultures from which we have archaelogical records.

[CaptainK]

Read Gilgamesh for the the earliest flood tale. It's one of the oldest recorded stories in the world. The story of Gilgamesh is Sumerian and versions were widely known in the third millennium B.C.

[cookcounty]

The Christian-hating bigots are always eagely stumbling over each other to link early Christianity to all manner of pagan cults, utterly ignoring the obvious Jewish intricacies of the New Testament.

The "chalice" would have been the "Cup of Redemption" or the "Cup of Salvation" (the 3rd or 4th cup of wine) from the Jewish Passover.

[blam]

"I believe that there is one very similar to Genesis that predates the Hebrew one. I don't remember the culture though."

I think the Gilgamesh flood story predates them all and has a lot of similarities. There is also a story about Gilgamesh being set adrift in a basket as a baby just like Moses.

[cookcounty]

""Although many "creation" and "flood" myths are similar, don't the Hebrew ones predate them all?"

"NOOOOOOOOOOO"

Difficult to know which came first. Among the old myths are the Aboriginal (Australian) flood story and the flood story of the Lummi Native American tribe (of Puget Sound area) . Both are shockingly similar to the biblical account.

[tortoise]

The story of Gilgamesh is Sumerian and versions were widely known in the third millennium B.C.

It is worth pointing out that the Hebrews are one of the many genetic and cultural descendents of the Sumerian civilization. It is therefore not surprising that their epic stories are derived from the epic stories of Sumer. The Judaic religion emerged long after the Sumerian epics from which a portion of their religious texts are derived.

[PJ-Comix]

PJ, I ping you to this thread to see if you read this book and if so, what you thought of it.

Nope. I haven't read this book.

[cookcounty]

Scattered fragments of Gilgamesh go back before 2,000 BC.

Anti-scripture folks sometimes assume that this invalidates the Genesis record. But just as Peter Jennings may make his account of Hillary and Bill's day available before I do, it doesn't follow that his is more accurate.

[blam]

"It is worth pointing out that the Hebrews are one of the many genetic and cultural descendents of the Sumerian civilization. It is therefore not surprising that their epic stories are derived from the epic stories of Sumer. The Judaic religion emerged long after the Sumerian epics from which a portion of their religious texts are derived."

Suprisingly, Dr Robert Schoch in his book, Voyages Of The Pyramid Builders, thinks the Sumerians were the refugees from the Sunda Shelf (around Indonesia) and travelled all over the world spreading their pyramid building culture everywhere. The Sunda Shelf went underwater at the end of the Ice Age.

[jscd3]

I believe that there is one very similar to Genesis that predates the Hebrew one. I don't remember the culture though.

The culture was Sumarian and the actual tale was the Gilglamesh Epic

[EdJay]

"Although many "creation" and "flood" myths are similar, don't the Hebrew ones predate them all?

I believe that there is one very similar to Genesis that predates the Hebrew one. I don't remember the culture though."

I think you are referring to The Epic of Gilgamesh (Sumerian). Here's the part about the flood:

 In the time before the Flood, there was a city, Shuruppak, on the banks of the Euphrates. There, the counsel of the gods held a secret meeting; they all resolved to destroy the world in a great flood. All the gods were under oath not to reveal this secret to any living thing, but Ea (one of the gods that created humanity) came to Utnapishtim's house and told the secret to the walls of Utnapishtim's house, thus not technically violating his oath to the rest of the gods. He advised the walls of Utnapishtim's house to build a great boat, its length as great as its breadth, to cover the boat, and to bring all living things into the boat. Utnapishtim gets straight to work and finishes the great boat by the new year. Utnapishtim then loads the boat with gold, silver, and all the living things of the earth, and launches the boat. Ea orders him into the boat and commands him to close the door behind him. The black clouds arrive, with the thunder god Adad rumbling within them; the earth splits like an earthenware pot, and all the light turns to darkness.

 The Flood lasts for seven days and seven nights, and finally light returns to the earth. Utnapishtim opens a window and the entire earth has been turned into a flat ocean; all humans have been turned to stone. Utnapishtim then falls to his knees and weeps.

Utnapishtim's boat comes to rest on the top of Mount Nimush; the boat lodges firmly on the mountain peak just below the surface of the ocean and remains there for seven days. On the seventh day Utnapishtim releases first a dove and then a swallow, both of which circle around and return. He then releases a raven, which flies off and finds land.

[Between the Lines]

Another current thread on this subject in the Religion Forum:

Dismantling the Da Vinci Code

[Constitution Day]

I've never read this book, but it sounds interesting.

Re: Gilgamesh -

I thought you might find the following link interesting.
I haven't heard any more about the expedition and assume everything is on hiatus because of the war.

IRAQ: Gilgamesh tomb believed found

[jscd3]

Thanks for the link...

I read The Gilgamesh Epic and Old Testament Parallels as part of an Old Testament Bible Study class many years ago in college (it was a state college, so the course was named "The Bible as Literature". Right.) Taught as a serious theology course by a very knowledgable professor who had studied to be a nun.

[IronJack]

What's that the Bible says about men rewriting the scripture in the last days to suit their own venal ends ...?

[Sam Cree]

Yeah, I am in the middle of reading this book, it's lots of fun. Very provocative, and, I am sure, mostly bull. But what fun! Trashy, but fun.

[RightWhale]

An early sect of christianity followed her, and believed that she was one of Jesus' closest disciples.

Her skull is supposedly in the south of France now and they bring it out for a special ceremony every year.

[Cicero]

For a couple of years I used to hand out the relevant flood passage from Gilgamesh to students when we read Genesis for a core course I teach. There are a lot of differences in the accounts. Among many others, the Babylonian deities bring on the flood because they are jealous and fearful of humans, not because they are sinful. Then the gods themselves become frightened by the resulting storm. Polytheistic gods do not stand above nature in the same way as the Jewish/Christian God. The whole tone is very different.

I had to drop the handouts because of the laws about using xeroxed copyrighted materials in class. It wasn't worth paying a royalty or making the students buy the whole text for the sake of a brief comparison, and we didn't have time to read all of Gilgamesh.

[Sam Cree]

Here's another review, not quite as harsh, but still makes a couple good hits.

http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/ae/books/news/2040694

[chuckles]

The real underlying purpose of the stories of Jesus getting married and running off to France is to explain how Jesus was SEEN ALIVE after His crucifiction. Many people saw Him out of the tomb and it must be explained somehow other than supernaturally. The Muslims also say Jesus' followers gave Him poison on the sponge lifterd to His mouth that made Him appear to die. Then confederates robbed the tomb and gave Him the antidote. I find it reassuring that so many must try to explain why He was seen and not whether He was seen.

The problem is, some of this bilge is working it's way into the theologic academia and they are the ones teaching future priests and preachers. In many denominations today, they don't believe in the virgin birth, healings, resurections of the dead, especially Jesus'. If Jesus wasn't able to rise from the tomb, then why would anyone trust Him with their own resurection? Kinda takes the whole purpose of Christanity away. Why would someone want to be a priest for an impotent god?

[tortoise]

Suprisingly, Dr Robert Schoch in his book, Voyages Of The Pyramid Builders, thinks the Sumerians were the refugees from the Sunda Shelf (around Indonesia) and travelled all over the world spreading their pyramid building culture everywhere. The Sunda Shelf went underwater at the end of the Ice Age.

I've never heard of this before, but it sounds vaguely plausible offhand. Interesting. One thing that has become clear as archaeology has improved, is that the ancient peoples traveled around the globe FAR more than we have historically given them credit for.

[Swordmaker]

There is a tradition in Europe that the royal blood of the European houses can trace their lineage back to the children of Chirst and Mary Magdalen through the Carolingian (Charlemagne) line.

This was outlined in a scholarly book "Holy Blood, Holy Grail" by Michael Baigent, Henry Lincoln, and Richard Leigh. The Priory of Sion does exist... but whether it was established to protect the "royal blood line of Jesus Christ" or is an ancient secret society for the protection of ancient secret kooks is unknown: members do not talk.

[Swordmaker]

Also the main theme of the book about the co-equal divinity of the Virgin Mary, Mary Magdalene, and Jesus and the "conspiracy" to hide the "sacred feminine" also exists:

[Shryke]

Why would someone want to be a priest for an impotent god?

What? God is impotent without a virgin-born, resurected Jesus? Like in the entire old testament?

[yhwhsman]

I think the story of Atlantis is another version of the Flood story.

[Woahhs]

Personally, I found the book highly over-rated. The writer plays pretty fast and loose with the scholarship angle, though if you respect the opinion of theological "scholars" that believe a homosexual bishop is just dandy, I guess it's up to you.

Trite and banal is all I could think of the book. It reads like a teleplay, and not a particularly good one either. I got about three quarters of the way through on its reputation, and figured is wasn't going to get any better, so I didn't even care enough to finish it. I'd already had a belly full of that cheap literary device of telling the reader the protagonist found something significant, then waiting five pages to tell what it was.

Also, it almost seemed like plagerism for the writer to flood the landscape of his story with historically great works of art. Kind of a literary equivalent to the nut-case that has a collection of pictures of himself with notable celebrities.

The "sacred feminine" the protagonist explains as an ostensibly neutral observer just showed a lack of guts on the part of the writer in that while our hero takes no position, he speaks rather reverentially of the ancient gnosis.

All in all, I thought the book was the offering of a very gifted person with a tainted taste for the tawdry.

[gonzo]

Hi, Jenn. Long time............FRegards

[dixie sass]

After reading the review, I came to the conclusion that she didn't like the book! The review reminded me of two books by Umberto Eco, "THE NAME OF THE ROSE" and Foucault's Pendulum.