My, how eloquent. I'm not sure I can refute such brilliant argument. I may just get the vapors trying.
If I were you, I'd hit the silk before those flames get to the main fuel tank.
Posted on 05/27/2004 11:28:58 AM PDT by Mr. Silverback
Dan Brown’s historical thriller The Da Vinci Code has now reached its sixtieth week on the bestseller list with more than five million copies sold in the United States alone. Plans are being made to turn the book into a movie. It would seem that the influence of Brown’s novel—which is based on the premise that Jesus was only human, not divine—has never been greater.
Yet a number of Christian voices are now speaking out about the flaws and fabrications of The Da Vinci Code. The New York Times reports that in the past couple of months, at least ten books refuting Brown’s argument have been released. One such book is Dr. Darrell Bock’s Breaking The Da Vinci Code.
A lot of people don’t understand why Christians are making so much fuss about a mere adventure novel. But in his book, Bock asserts that The Da Vinci Code is much more than a novel. The book is an attempt to promote a worldview, one that’s deeply antithetical to the Christian worldview.
Through his characters, Brown argues that the divinity of Jesus and the authority of the four Gospels were not decided until the Council of Nicea in the fourth century. He also claims that the church unjustly suppressed the view of the Gnostics.
By examining church history, however, Bock proves Brown wrong on all counts. The Gnostic gospels of which Brown writes were written well after the Gospels in our New Testament, and the church never considered them authoritative. Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John were always considered the “preeminent” sources of authority on Jesus’ life.
Bock also points out what any serious reader of the Bible would realize: The original Gospels proclaimed Jesus the Son of God, and they were accepted centuries before the Council of Nicea. Gnosticism was rejected, in fact, because it differed from this long accepted and practiced belief.
What’s really surprising is that Brown doesn’t even get his facts about Gnosticism straight. According to the Gnostic gospels, Jesus is a spiritual being who didn’t die on the cross; a human “substitute” was crucified by the people while the real Jesus was “laughing at their ignorance.” And Gnosticism teaches that salvation comes not through God’s grace, but through secret knowledge that is given only to those intelligent and self-aware enough to receive it—nice if you’re one of the chosen ones, but not so nice for the rest of us.
But we get none of this in Brown’s account. To the contrary, Brown misstates Gnosticism by asserting Jesus was human. The book is yet another example of what Frederica Mathewes-Green calls “our culture’s penchant for pick-and-choose religion.” She goes on to say that, “every pick-and-choose religion has this limitation: The follower can never grow any larger than his own preconceptions. He has established himself a priori as the ultimate authority, and his thoughts will never be larger than his hat size.”
By contrast, Christian truth is rooted in the authority of the Scriptures—tested, reflected upon, and debated over two millennia—and is rooted in the Church and creed, not in personal preferences.
Critiquing The Da Vinci Code is a matter of defending truth, and you need to learn to do this from Bock’s book or from another. Set your neighbors straight; with five million copies out there we’ve got a big job.
Heh-heh
Post 75 is pretty good.
Good for you. If anyone says, "It's just a novel," tell them so was Uncle Tom's Cabin. of course, you might have to tell them what Uncle Tom's Cabin was...
Slavery was a cause. States' rights was a cause. Self-determination was a cause.
But the sparks that lit the fuse of the Civil War were John Brown and Uncle Tom's Cabin.
UTC was just a novel, and it had errors. Why anyone would be averse to pointing out those errors and giving the book perspective is beyond me. The same could be said for The DaVincie Code.
It's a novel. Many read it as fact and assume the history presented is true. Why would anyone have a problem with those who point out that the history presented in the book is false?
Oooh, I like that! That's one I will be using. I'm looking forward to more 'debate'. At our last Parish Council meeting, one lady, a librarian, wanted to set up a group to 'debate' the points in the book. Before I could chime in, one other guy mentioned "IT'S FICTION." He was quickly shot down. Our pastor said nothing! Debate what? It's fictionality? We are through the looking glass.
Whatever.
Thanks for providing some historical evidence on this otherwise mess of a thread. While I wouldn't take a novel's word for anything, Elaine Pagels is an awfully interesting scholar that gives a lot of food for thought.
Please add me to your Colson ping list! :)
Why, thanks! I always like to interject reason into an emotional discussion. I haven't read any of Pagels' work, but it's moving higher on my list.
It is a very entertaining novel and I enjoyed it. The painting of the Last Supper that has Mary Magdalene seated at Jesus' right was somewhat disturbing, however. I found the painting on the web, downloaded it and enlarged it. That person looks like a woman to me! Jewish tradition says that a man is not complete until he is married and the question remains: was Jesus married to Mary Magdalene or not? But the book is still only a novel. I've read all of Brown's books and they are also just novels. You have to give him credit--he knows how to get his reader's attention and thus produce more book sales. How many authors have their books on the best seller list for months?
The DaVinci Code is entertainment, not theology.
Amazing how many allegedly intelligent people don't comprehend the difference.
My, how eloquent. I'm not sure I can refute such brilliant argument. I may just get the vapors trying.
If I were you, I'd hit the silk before those flames get to the main fuel tank.
An assessment of intelligence from a person who believes "Whatever" is a proper argument. Truly valuable.
Heh-heh.
Carolyn
You seem to be stalking me.
You are one sick dude.
Do yourself a favor, Liston, and stay on the canvas.
Such delusions of grandeur.
"The DaVinci Code" is equivalent to "Mein Kampf."
You are equivalent to Mohammed Ali.
As I said, you are one sick puppy.
You should get help.
Society is anti-Darwinian. The stupid actually multiply while the intelligent limit their progeny.
Shalom.
So, shall we subject Mr. Brown to an Inquisition for spreading heresy?
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