Posted on 03/16/2005 7:46:15 PM PST by kevin fortuna
ROME -- As is just about everywhere else in the world, Rome is awash in editions of "The Da Vinci Code," the blockbuster whodunit with a narrative that includes a Vatican coverup of an explosive theological secret: Jesus was married! Despite the heretical plot twist, in which Jesus fathered a child with his wife, Mary Magdalene, Dan Brown's novel was on sale at the bookstore of Gemelli Polyclinic, the Rome hospital where Pope John Paul II underwent a tracheotomy last month and spent 18 days recovering before being released Sunday.
Well, enough is enough. Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, once a top dogma enforcer in Vatican City and currently archbishop of Genoa, broke the Vatican's virtual silence on the book this week and told Vatican Radio that nobody should read it and certainly Catholic bookstores should stop selling it.
"Don't buy and don't read that novel," he said. And in remarks to Il Giornale, a conservative newspaper, Bertone declared: "There's a big anti-Catholic prejudice. It aims to discredit the church and its history through gross and absurd manipulations."
Bertone explained why, two years after the novel's debut, the church ought to be putting its foot down: Too many people are taking the book's mix of art, architecture, secret societies, weird symbolism and hocus-pocus as -- if you'll excuse the expression -- the Gospel truth.
"You can't be a modern youth without having read it. The book is everywhere," Bertone said. "There is a very real risk that many people who read it will believe that the fables it contains are true." Until two years ago, he belonged to the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, the official defender of orthodoxy in the Vatican.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
Regardless of the book (which I have not read), would it make any difference if Jesus was married or not? Most men marry and it seems to me that we could use a good example.
Thanks, I've read it and his Foucault's Pendulum, too, although it has been years. I have no idea if I've spelled that properly, but you get the drift.
Somewhat along the same lines, I read a book several years ago called Byzantium which I recall being quite entertaining.
Hey, check this thread out!
I read Angels & Demons. About a month's worth of narrative packed into 24 hours. Entertaining, as was the Nicolas Cage film National Treasure. (BenFranklin Code)
I'm in the middle of Mika Waltari's 'The Egyptian.' (1949) I was recommended to read another of his books, 'The Roman,' but I can't seem to find it used anywhere and hardback versions seem to be running north of $40.
If you enjoy historical fiction, 'The Egyptian' is a good read so far. (I'm guessing 'The Roman will be about as good.) It's all about the travels and intrigues of one Sinuhe, a physician by trade. It is set in the time of the Pharoah Aknhaton and also covers the intrigues of his court to some degree and the impact of the new state religion he imposed: the worship of Aton.
Waltari was Finnish and, as I mentioned, the book was published in 1949. Because of the displacement of the writer in time and culture, any overt political or religious message he tried to impart is lost upon me at the moment.
"Too many people are treating a pice of fiction as though it was true.
Exactly."
Oliver Stone's fiction convinced a generation that the CIA killed John Kennedy.
From a theological point, yes it matters. Jesus was no ordinary man, but God made flesh. It was not His purpose here to lead an ordinary life. He had a calling which precluded a family life which centered around their needs. He didn't have time for that because He was here to serve all mankind and be the ultimate example of selflessness and He was that.
HA! Good one!
Part of its popularity is that it's anti organized religion...in this case Catholicism. Most liberal publishing houses will go out of their way to buy, print, and promote to the hilt a book like The Code.
Not sure about the media, but some folks get REAL offended by novels. Just ask Salmam Rushdie!
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