Christians try to debunk the "DaVinci Code"

The Seattle Times ^ | 02/28/04 | Mark O'Keefe

[garylmoore]

The fundamental question is whether the Bible is the insprired word of God or not. (It claims to be over 1500 times).

And it has stood the test of time, the most read and popular book that there is, God will not allow His Word to be distorted, the Bible and the truth will prevail.

[Just mythoughts]

"Why is it that Christ, with nothing more than a simple message, peace, good will, harmony, love caring etc. is attacked so vehemently?"

Some HATE what is required to have that simple message of "peace", "good will", "harmony", "love caring etc.....". CHRIST


This is a WAR of GOOD and EVIL. Christ says He will return with a DOUBLE-EDGE SWORD and it cuts both ways. You think cleaning out the temple was viewed as a peaceful, good will gesture.

[Savage Beast]

Live a life of truth, peace, good will, harmony, love, caring, etc., and you're likely to get yourself crucified. I'd be particulary cautious about trying it in one of the Islamic theocracies.

[PLK]

Anyone who begins to "question their faith" as a result of reading this entertaining novel would again believe in the tooth fairy if they found a dollar under their pillow following a tooth extraction!

The book The Lovely Bones had a similar effect on gullible people. A woman I know actually said she "didn't know heaven was like that." OMG!! Can you believe it?

[Dave S]

You forget that the scriptures you have today are virtually identical with the oldest manuscripts known.

I didn't realize that the scriptures were written in 20th century English.

[armyboy]

IF a book the is FICTION causes people to question their beliefs about Christianity, then their beliefs wern't too stong to begin with.
Alarmed by reactions like these, defenders of traditional Christianity have launched a counteroffensive against author Dan Brown's fast-paced thriller, which is in its 48th week on The New York Times' fiction best-seller list. It has sold more than 6 million copies, is being translated into more than 40 languages and will be made into a Columbia Pictures film directed by Ron Howard
Ron Howard hasn't done anything good with the film industry since he was on Andy Griffith with the exception of Apollo 13

[Ditter]

I agree, I read it & found it to be an enormous *crock*!

[Just mythoughts]

Good point.

We do have an example a little closer to home. President Bush came into office promoting all these things.

Look at all the good will he has reaped from these communists liars.

[Savage Beast]

Yes, that's a good point too.

[Savage Beast]

I'd also be particularly cautious about trying it in the "Liberal" enclaves of America--which are not much different from the Islamic theocracies and would be even more like them if the "Liberals" could get a way with it.

[Just mythoughts]

Yes, indeed. Those who are for us, and those who are against us. They desire their system of government, in opposition to "Freedom". Ends justify the means, and means justify the ends.

[Aquinasfan]

Christians try to debunk "The DaVinci Code"? It's a lie from beginning to end.

Dismantling the DaVinci Code

[Aquinasfan]

Compare Revelations and and the Gospel of John.

Compare Revelation to the Old Testament> book of Daniel. They're both examples of apocalyptic literature which is highly symbolic. In fact, Revelation is heavy on liturgical imagery, that is, the Mass.

[VermiciousKnid]

I haven't read the book but why would anyone think Da Vinci would have any special knowedge about any of this? The guy was born one and a half millennia after the events in the New Testament.

Bingo! I have read the book, and I am astounded at the number of people who think that Leonardo Da Vinci somehow had some special knowledge about the events of the Bible which took place fifteen hundred years before his birth. Most people who think that he did also think that Da Vinci and Jesus Christ were contemporaries!

That being said, I found the book to be amusing entertainment, and I admit that I did enjoy looking at Mr. Da Vinci's artwork again to find the "clues."

Regards,

[BibChr]

Good grief in the morning.

IT'S A FICTIONAL NOVEL!

This never fails to numb my skull. People don't even bother to shrug at the central, clear, Technicolor, hammering truths of the Bible (God's holy sovereignty, man's guilty desperation, the one road to salvation through repentant faith in Jesus Christ, the life that comes out of this) — but let some jackass weave some yarn based on the spaces between two words in a 1743 edition of the KJV, and it's stop the presses!

Just... just... aah!

Dan
Biblical Christianity web site

[G Larry]

'Nuff said!

[David]

The real response to this book is an understanding of the history of the New Testiment text and the origin of the Roman Church.

Prior to Constintine, the Romo-Byzantium empire had an official state religion which we would today call a form of paganism. The head of the religion was a Roman official, the Pontius Maximus, based at Rome. The Vestial Virgins served in the formal practices which also included a large group of priests.

As the empire expanded to the east, the official religion adopted some of the festivals and practices of the assimilated religious groups--the feast of Evergreens on December 25 during the week of renewal that begins on the winter solstice; the feast of Eashtar at the Vernal Equinox celebrating the egg and fertility.

In 325 AD, Constintine became a Christian and adopted Christianity as the state religion--the origin of the Roman Church.

The Council of Nicea was a political exercise--resulting in adoption of a number of the bureaucrats and practices of the pagen religion in exchange for agreement to the Roman Church and supremacy of the Bishop of Rome who also became the Pontinus Maximus, a title the Pope still holds.

On the other hand, whatever negatives were involved with its creation, God prospered the Roman organization in the west as the body of believers. During the period, to enhance its political control, credibility, and political power, the Roman organization concealed documents, created fictions, and did all the things modern political organization do to enhance their power. All in a period long before the printing press during which believers did not have access to their own copy of a Bible to study; most could not read; and most local churches did not have copies of the Bible either.

The truth prospered anyway by the Will of God--Jesus is Lord.

To the modern era in which we can not only study the translated Bible; but also copies or transcriptions of original Greek, Latin, and Hebrew texts.

And the historical texts confirm the Bible we venerate. Again, as someone else points out, we find earlier and earlier copies and fragments of manuscripts, all of which, without exception, confirm the text of the words we now use. The Roman Church has a copy of a very early text (40-60 AD) "sayings of Jesus Christ from unknown scribe" which appears to be handwritten quotes from an oral rendition. Some Bible scholars contend the Unknown Scribe is really the writings of Mark but other quotes that do not appear in Mark's gospel (referenced in other gospels or elsewhere) are included.

Whatever, the credibililty of the Bible as we now have it as a collection of writings in general circulation at the end of the first century is soundly attested by evidence that would be accepted in any modern courtroom as proof.

Meanwhile, on another front, the Old Testiment is developing a sounder historical record also. The Dead Sea Scrolls contain copies of every book of the old testiment, particularly including a pristine copy of Issah dating at least 260 years before Christ, and a copy of Daniel including Daniel 9:24-27 and the prophecy that the Messiah would be "cut off but not for himself" 483 years after the going forth of the commandment to rebuild Jerusalem. A prophecy that until the 1950's, the critics claimed was written after the fact.

You are welcome to believe or view the Bible anyway you like--but for the careful student of the evidence, the only conclusion available is that it is the revealed Word of God demonstrating his Son, Jesus Christ, the Messiah, who was sacrificed for our sins, who rose from the dead, alive, on the third day, and who will come again in power and glory to rule the world.

Was Jesus married? There is no evidence one way or the other. I wonder how, as the perfect man, Jesus could have been perfect and not married. But there is no evidence that he was. God does not tell us. Lots of other things God does not tell us also. But it is very difficult to imagine some important element of God's Plan not revealed to us through the Bible and concealed through documents held in secret for 2000 years. So I consign this book to the nonesense pile.

[general_re]

Some texts were rejected by early church fathers as not divinely inspired - for example the Gospel of Thomas. But if one looks at the rejected texts, what you will find is that they bare little resemblance to the accepted texts often containing fantastic elements and myth - for example, giant dragons and enormous crosses and the like.

Thomas is (purportedly) a collection of the sayings of Jesus, and contains no dragons or giant crosses or the like. Plus, given the difficulty of dating early Christian works, as discussed below, the provenance of Thomas is, for the moment, about as good as it is for any of the canonical gospels. One may debate whether it is divinely inspired or not, but the historical and archaeological evidence does not resolve that debate in and of itself.

Finally, if we look at the history of New Testament development, we find that by about 160AD we have a copy of the New Testament that is essentially what we use today....

There is no real support for such precise dating in the archaelogical and historical record, and such a contention is almost purely a matter of opinion, rather than of fact. The written gospels almost certainly predate the second century, but by how much, no one can really say with any certainty.

[Pikamax]

bttt

[Poison Pill]

I have not read The Da Vinci code but I did read Holy Blood, Holy Grail, the "non-fiction" book that it drew most of the material from. In Holy Blood, Holy Grail the claim is made that Da Vinci once headed a secret French society that was set up to protect this secret. This secret order created the Knights Templar who went to the Holy Land and there found certain treasures that were hidden from the Romans when the Temple fell in 70. Among these was the information aluded to in the code.

A few years ago a French court exposed the current leader fo the society as fraud. The secret society in Holy Blood, Holy grail was really created from whole cloth in the 1950's so the whole story with regards to Da Vinci and any secret he could have known has been debunked.