Vatican Appoints Official Da Vinci Code Debunker

U.K. Guardian ^ | March 15, 2005 | Michelle Pauli

[srm913]

Dan Brown

We are indeed living in interesting times.

[bmwcyle]

Why waste time on a novel of fiction?

[evad]

The book is FICTION.

Why are they concerned?

[evad]

LOL..you beat me by a minute

[Russ]

It's as bogus as Bill Clinton's autobiography. 100% fiction...

[Borges]

G.K. Chesterton once said that the trouble with people who belive nothing is that they'll believe anything...Scientology, The Celestine Prophecy. etc.

[Bones75]

Aparently even a work of fiction is threatening to them. Why? I have no idea.

If they are so firm in their beliefs they should have faith in their ability to stand up to a fictitious novel.

(It is a damn good book, BTW. All four of his books are excelent)

Bones

[bmwcyle]

Mass Stupidity due to half truth. The same thing that happened in Germany, CCCP, etc.

It looks like you are on the edge of being sucked in.

[evets]

Must have Vatican secret decoder ring

[Mark in the Old South]

Well I am glad they are making the effort to defend Christianity from some heresies at least. This is good news BUT I hear they sell this book in the Vatican Bookstore, to tourist no less. If true, perhaps they can start by removing the book from their shelves and thereby remove the legitimacy such an act implies.

[vmivol00]

How about the fact that everyone in Da Vinci's painting is white? How many non-olive skinned people were running around the area at that time.

[nina0113]

>>The book is FICTION.<<

You mean PLAGIARISM, don't you?

http://news.scotsman.com/uk.cfm?id=42132005

[sharktrager]

Perhaps because many non-believers and uninformed believers don't know what in it is real and what is not. There are numerous stories of readers who believe that it is a fictional presentation of fact.

The church has a responsibility to try to inform the public of what is and is not true in this area.

I applaud their reaction, and I'm not even Catholic.

[Rutles4Ever]

They're concerned because they are shepherds and this book is leading people astray. Why WOULDN'T they be concerned? I work with a slew of nominal Catholics who now think there's something to the Magalene-and-Jesus thing. It's fiction, sure, but people are approaching it like it's truth - or close enough to be possibly the truth.

[SedVictaCatoni]

If they are so firm in their beliefs they should have faith in their ability to stand up to a fictitious novel.

They are standing up. They've appointed an archbishop to rebut it.

[Rutles4Ever]

Where in the heck did you hear that?

[Rutles4Ever]

It's not for their benefit, it's for the benefit of our impressionable society that eats everything the media feeds it.

[Mannaggia l'America]

How about the fact that everyone in Da Vinci's painting is white? How many non-olive skinned people were running around the area at that time.

Granted, the book is fiction. One of my biggest issues with it even as fiction is that it looked upon Da Vinci's Last Supper painting as if Da Vinci himself was a witness to the event. He painted it 1500 years later!

[bmwcyle]

It will be in the time of return of Jesus that people will believe in this junk. Satan will blind the masses. The Sheeple will follow the lie. The elites follow the novels they read. This is why the elite Euro thinkers fade with history and pollute the culture.

[Mark in the Old South]

Re: "The book is FICTION. Why are they concerned?"

I will tell you why. It is not folks such as yourself, you know it is fiction and approach it as such. Alas not all have a head on their shoulders. They are mesmerized by the book and the possibilities it provides them in their faith (such as it is). The book is based on the Gospels of Thomas, a fraud that the Church debunked as early as 350 AD (at least). It was written by former pagans who did not want to give up the sensual pleasures their old religion permitted. Christianity has this funny notion about reforming the man to God's will and denying the will of man. Alas there are those who want the name of Christian or Catholic without the reform. It was true in 150 AD it is true today.

I was in an antique store talking with the manager, a cradle Catholic waxing eloquent about this book, she had a gleam in her eye and clearly thought the book was based on real events and facts. Pointing out it was a work of fiction didn't have a dent. There was a time a Catholic would not be allowed to read such a book. If a book tried to speak on religious matters it had to have an imprimatur. Such a quaint notion was largely abandoned with Vatican II. The result is all the old heresies are coming out of the woodwork. Will man ever learn from past mistakes? I doubt it.