Posted on 03/15/2005 8:29:04 AM PST by Crackingham
The Roman Catholic Church in Italy has spoken out against what it says are "shameful and unfounded lies" in the best-selling novel The Da Vinci Code. Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, Archbishop of Genoa, broke the church's official silence on the controversial book.
Its story about the Church suppressing the "truth" that Jesus had a child with Mary Magdalene has convinced many fans.
But the cardinal's spokesman denied reports that the clergyman was asked by the Vatican to hit back at the book.
Carlo Arcolao told the BBC's News website that it had been the cardinal's own decision to make a public statement about the book.
Mr Arcolao confirmed that the cardinal told an Italian newspaper: "It astonishes and worries me that so many people believe these lies."
The archbishop told Il Giornale: "The book is everywhere. There is a very real risk that many people who read it will believe that the fables it contains are true."
No thanks, it's too long, and I hate reading stuff on a screen that is that long...I'll take your word for it, that you have proven beyond a doubt, that the book is fiction.
Are you talking about the Da Vinci Code or the Bible? Both are equally poor works of fiction.
Ha ha.
Ironic, isn't it?
"A good knowledge of the history of the apostolic and early Church usually suffices"
Also, the earliest Gospels refute Gnosticism. John's Gospel, especially, points to the fact that while God is transcendent, He cries (last week's Gospel reading of the raising of Lazarus) and has no problems dealing with a social outcast (woman, samaritan, ethical) from the week before's Gospel on Jesus at the well with the Samaritan woman. Both of these stories refute the Gnostic idea that God doesn't care about His creation, that the material is worthless, etc., that Gnosticism stresses. Jesus' teachings are NOT Gnostic, and only later works try to come up with such "secret" teachings.
I feel a funny role reversal here, with you talking about the Early church and me about the Bible!
Regards
"Are you talking about the Da Vinci Code or the Bible? Both are equally poor works of fiction."
Rather than make such statements, perhaps you should elaborate on your opinion of the latter being fictional?
Regards
Many people can't recognize the smell of crap.
Absolutely, and I didn't mean to ignore that side of the apologetic at all. My point in getting to the early Church history is that it refutes some of the ideas touted in Brown's book that are touted as fact, like the idea that Christ wasn't seen as divine before Constantine, or that the four Gospel accounts were simply plucked from dozens of equally qualified candidates for political purposes, etc.
Btw, re: our other debate, I'm not ignoring it, but I haven't had the time to transcribe the pages I need to for my response. Thank you for your continued patience there.
Brown opens his novel with the words “FACT” in bold, capital letters and this statement:
All descriptions of artwork, architecture, documents, and secret rituals in this novel are accurate.
Regarding Historical FACT: Brown is incorrect when he reports that the ancient Olympics were held to honor Aphrodite. They were held to honor Zeus.
Contrary to Brown, the Knights Templar had nothing to do with the building of cathedrals.
One of the antagonists in the book is identified as a “monk” of Opus Dei the Catholic organization, the organization has no monks.
For architecture: Brown reports that the Pyramid of the Louvre is composed of 666 panes of glass. In fact, it is composed of 673. See “The Louvre's Pyramid celebrates its 10th Anniversary from 7 to 21 April 1999,” http://www.louvre.or.jp/louvre/presse/en/activites/archives/anniv.htm
More history; and this is a particulary dirty anti-Catholic smear: Brown claims that The Church burned five million women as witches over its history. The actual number executed in the “witch crazes” of Europe was somewhere between 30,000 and 60,000; not all were women, not all were burned, and not all were executed by the Church, but rather by political figures using religion to “justify” their deeds [See Bob and Gretchen Passantino, Satanism [Zondervan, 1995), 33-34).
The assertion by Dan Brown that these are either FACTS or accurate is demonstrably false.
Brown states in the Forward, I believe, that evrything in the book is true or accurate
Below is what the Forward states:
FACT:
The Priory of Sion – a European secret society founded in 1099 – is a real organization. In 1975 Paris’s Bibliotheque Nationale discovered parchments known as Les Dossiers Secrets, identifying numerous members of the Priory of Sion, including Sir Isaac Newton, Botticelli, Victor Hugo, and Leonardo da Vinci.
The Vatican prelature known as Opus Dei is a deeply devout Catholic sect that has been the topic of recent controversy due to reports of brainwashing, coercion, and a dangerous practice known as “corporal mortification.” Opus Dei has just completed construction of a $47 million National Headquarters at 243 Lexington Avenue in New York City.
All descriptions of artwork, architecture, documents, and seret rituals in this novel are accurate.
No where in there does it state that "everything is true or accurate."
No flames from me. You're right on the mark. The good archbishop sounds like one cult leader calling another a heretic.
Come on, man. All I was saying is that people who live in glass houses should not throw stones.
The Davinci Code Scam, another of the Anti-Christ projects to hurt the Christians belief in our Lord and Savior.
Ops4 God BLess America!
My priest friend is a historian, with a master's degree, and is fluent in a number of languages. The DaVinci Code is bunk.
Below is what the Forward states:FACT: The Priory of Sion – a European secret society founded in 1099 – is a real organization. In 1975 Paris’s Bibliotheque Nationale discovered parchments known as Les Dossiers Secrets, identifying numerous members of the Priory of Sion, including Sir Isaac Newton, Botticelli, Victor Hugo, and Leonardo da Vinci.
No where in there does it state that "everything is true or accurate."
The Priory of Sion was not founded in 1099. It was founded in 1956. The list of members was a hoax. Here is a good primer.
Thanks for the link (I may read it on a slow day), but I really don't care.
I posted the forward in rebuttal to EA_Man's statement "Brown states in the Forward, I believe, that evrything in the book is true or accurate"
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