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Jared Olar just returned this to my attention, so it's time to analyze it. An article in the September 28th edition of The Australian indicates that Michael Baigent, Richard Leigh and Henry Lincoln, the authors of Holy Blood, Holy Grail, are suing Dan Brown for copyright infringement. They accuse Danny Boy of having stolen their whole jigsaw puzzle plot. It should be an absolutely easy case for them to win. But that’s not the funny part of this whole escapade. The lawsuit is hilarious primarily because their greed has forced everyone involved in this farce to show their hands. You...

Jesus conspiracy novel has earned £140 million, but now two academic writers say that their historical work preceded it by 20 years, reports Elizabeth DayIt is the biggest-selling adult fiction book of all time and has earned its author a reputed £140 million with its plot about a global conspiracy to suppress Christ's marriage. The Da Vinci Code has sold more than 12 million copies and has been translated into 42 languages. But now two writers are suing its publishers, claiming that it was copied from their bestseller that first appeared more than 20 years ago. Michael Baigent and Richard...

I have written a blockbuster novel. My inspiration was The DaVinci Code by Dan Brown, which has sold 253 trillion copies in hardcover because it's such a compelling page-turner. NOBODY can put this book down: MOTHER ON BEACH: Help! My child is being attacked by a shark! LIFEGUARD (looking up from The DaVinci Code: Not now! I just got to page 243, where it turns out that one of the men depicted in ''The Last Supper'' is actually a woman! MOTHER: I know! Isn't that incredible? And it turns out that she's . . . SHARK (spitting out the child):...

Dear ..., To thank you for your continued support of The Teaching Company, we have commissioned two free, 30-minute lectures on "Fact and Fiction in The DaVinci Code" from biblical expert Professor Bart D. Ehrman of The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. One of our most popular professors, Professor Ehrman (Ph.D., Princeton Theological Seminary) is a 15-year teaching veteran at UNC and winner of several teaching awards. These lectures are a free gift to you. You may access these free lectures online any time between now and Labor Day, September 6, 2004. Click here to access the free...

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...

In Dan Brown's best-selling novel The Da Vinci Code, villain Leigh Teabing explains to cryptologist Sophie Neveu that at the Council of Nicea (A.D. 325) "many aspects of Christianity were debated and voted upon," including the divinity of Jesus. "Until that moment," he says, "Jesus was viewed by His followers as a mortal prophet. … a great and powerful man, but a man nonetheless." Neveu is shocked: "Not the Son of God?" Teabing explains: "Jesus' establishment as 'the Son of God' was officially proposed and voted on by the Council of Nicea." "Hold on. You're saying that Jesus' divinity was...

CONCORD, N.H. -- The author of "The Da Vinci Code" -- which suggests that Jesus and Mary Magdalene were married and had a child, but the church hushed it up -- says he left out the most controversial part.

May 04, 2004, 8:43 a.m. Relative Revelations Dan Brown’s Code should be Left Behind. By Carl E. Olson Glorious Appearing — the twelfth edition of the Left Behind novels — and The Da Vinci Code are a strange couple. Yet there they sit, Nos. 1 and 2, respectively, on the April 18th New York Times bestseller list for hardcover fiction. The Left Behind books have now outsold John Grisham, and The Da Vinci Code has sold nearly seven million copies in a year. Is the popularity of the two a mere coincidence? So it would seem, based on the glaring...

The best thrillers are unputdownable--a word that many readers surely attach to Dan Brown's "The Da Vinci Code." It's difficult to ride a subway or walk through an airport these days and not see somebody engrossed in its page-turning tale of murder and conspiracy. In 13 months since publication, the book has sold more than seven million copies.

<p>DAN Brown, the author of last year's best-selling "The Da Vinci Code," is nothing but a plagiarist, charges the author of two novels that are strikingly similar to Brown's.</p> <p>Author Lewis Perdue is preparing to sue Brown for copyright infringement, claiming "The Da Vinci Code" is in large part stolen from his 1983 novel, "The Da Vinci Legacy" and its 1985 follow-up, "Daughter of God" - which were both recently optioned by "Survivor" creator Mark Burnett.</p>

Another Perspective Opinion writers know all about letters. We know, for example, that most of the letters we receive from readers will be negative. You quickly learn not to take it personally, and recognize that the same burst of energy that inspires a column when you're annoyed courses through the reading public as well. Paid pontificators also know that a fair share of correspondents will be...a little nuts. As a columnist for the Catholic press for 15 years, I've developed a fool-proof technique for gauging the sanity of my so-called fans: stickers. They put them on the outside of the...

Introduction In Part 1 of "Cracking the Anti-Catholic Code" we examined the background of The Da Vinci Code phenomenon, focusing on the Gnostic ideas that author Dan Brown utilizes in his best-selling novel (now at 4.5 million copies sold and still selling strong). This second part of Envoy magazine’s special Planet Envoy critique of the best-selling novel examines Brown’s depictions of early Christianity, especially his claims about Jesus Christ, the Emperor Constantine, the supposed reliance of early Christianity on pagan beliefs and rituals, and the Council of Nicaea. As we will see, Brown not only plays fast and loose with...

Fax from Heaven? The DaVinci Code is now listed as number one on the New York Times fiction bestseller list – and it has been on the list now for 40 weeks (as of December 30, 2003). A number of you have asked for a response to the underlying assertions of the book: Is it true? Was Jesus married? Did Christian politics result in the suppression of women and of legitimate ‘holy’ texts that should now be a part of the Bible? The DaVinci Code, because of its popularity, is gaining status as “legal fiction” which Webster’s defines as an...

Introduction The following special Planet Envoy is the first part of a critique and examination of the best-selling novel, The Da Vinci Code. In this opening edition, we examine the success of The Da Vinci Code, the apparent agenda of its author, Dan Brown, the major flaws of the novel, and the Gnostic background and neo-Gnostic beliefs the book relies upon so heavily. Future editions of this critique will discuss Mary Magdalene, Constantine and the Council of Nicaea, Brown’s Christology, the search for the Grail, the Knights of Templar, the Priory of Sion, witchcraft and the Middle Ages, and Leonardo...

<p>Everything is interwoven. Jesus tongue kissed Mary Magdalene, a lot. Potent juicy mystical secrets are everywhere, if you know where to look. Organized religion is the worst possible answer.</p> <p>What supposedly sacred truths are available to us are all relative to those who hold the power. Often, just behind the facade of things is a huge hunk of gorgeous convoluted magic you would do well to lick. Meanwhile, the divine feminine is right there, winking, sighing heavily, waiting for you. Like, duh.</p>

There is a double standard when it comes to reviewing controversial depictions of the life of Jesus. In the view of the media elite, those portrayals that raise questions about the Christian Bible or Catholic doctrine are generally applauded as courageous works of genius, while those that reinforce Christian teachings or purport to portray a literal rendering of the Gospels are viewed as backwards or intolerant. Witness the controversy over Mel Gibson's new film The Passion of the Christ, released last week in theaters across the country. Much ink has already been spilled to condemn the film about Jesus' final...

Christians try to debunk 'Da Vinci Code' By Mark O'Keefe Newhouse News Service After reading "The Da Vinci Code," Holly Jespersen wondered if Jesus Christ did in fact wed Mary Magdalene and father her child, as the novel claims. "It definitely made me question all that I have been brought up to believe," said Jespersen, a Presbyterian who lives in Chicago. Glen Gracia of Boston, a former practicing Catholic, had a similar reaction, questioning the validity of the Bible if, in fact, it was commissioned and manipulated by the Roman emperor Constantine for political purposes, as the book asserts. "I...

The Rest of the Story? Do we have the complete story of Jesus Christ's life and death? For centuries alternative ideas have circulated as to whether Christ was who the Gospels say He was. Did the early Church suppress more than 80 alternative gospel accounts of Christ's life? Now a best-selling book popularizes one of these stories. What is the truth? Can we be sure we have the rest of the story? by Darris McNeely For a Christian, there is no more central tenet of faith than the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. On...

Way back in February of 1804 President Thomas Jefferson, ever the enlightened rationalist, sat down in the White House with two identical copies of the New Testament, a straight-edge razor, and a sheaf of octavo-size paper. Over the course of a few nights, he made quick work of cutting and pasting his own bible, a slim volume he called "The Philosophy of Jesus of Nazareth." After slicing away every passage that suggested Jesus's divine nature, Jefferson had a Jesus who was no more and no less than a good, ethical guide. The third U.S. president is credited with being among...

The recent bestseller, "The Da Vinci Code" purports to unveil timeless Christian mysteries, such as the myth of the "Holy Grail". For most, the Holy Grail means the chalice which Christ drank from at the Last Supper - "After He had given thanks, He bid them, "drink" "this is My blood of the New Covenant.." For author Dan Brown, the Grail is actually the personage of Mary Magdelene, in Scripture a redeemed prostitute, in DVC the wife of Jesus Christ and the mother of his children. In Mr. Brown's world, the early church found it necessary to suppress the "goddess"...