If the Da Vinci Code was real...

[kerrywins]

then basically, Christianity is not. I know its a best seller, but why is this book not getting more attention in the media? Maybe when its made into a movie by Ron Howard.

[TrogL]

1. It's based on a logical fallacy

also, "Christianity" is hardly a black and white issue.

What part of "Christianity is not"?

[BrotherBuzz]

5. Which Logical Fallacy?

Curious.

[TrogL]

23. See post 14

Explains it perfectly

[GAspnes]

2. it got huge attention for a while

there were reading groups formed by the hundreds across the ecclesiastical spectrum to read the book, meet and discuss it.

I even heard it being discussed on talk radio.

Google '"The Davinci Code" discussion' and you'll get hundreds of hits.

[shoelace414]

3. why is it not getting more attention?

because it's fiction.

[WilliamPitt]

4. But there are a half dozen non-fiction books that came out

specifically to refute it.

[Lex]

7. Must be something to it, then.

It did seem to throw the fundies into a tailspin.

That's always good, as far as I'm concerned!

[kerrywins]

6. but the author claims

that the Holy Grail Story and the stuff about Jesus is well documented.

[Richardo]

22. It's been #1 on the best seller list since February *2003*

Not getting any attention? What?

[Lex]

8. kerrywins, you may want to read this book

if you are looking for more information and research on the topics covered in The DaVinci Code:

"Holy Blood, Holy Grail"

amazon.com link here, if you want to read a little about it:

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0440136482/qid=1089914976/sr=8-1/ref=pd_ka_1/104-9435343-5879941?v=glance&s=books&n=507846

[kerrywins]

9. yea

i saw the author mention it in the Da Vinci Code.

[lgreen]

10. I just

finished reading that book. Very interesting. It has a lot of the history of the Priory of Sion and how it relates to the Knights Templar. They also talk about the history of the early Church and the life of Jesus. I find this stuff fascinating...I was a Medieval History major in college...

The book is also on sale at Costco

[newyawker99]

19. Hi lgreen!!

Welcome to DU!! :toast:

[Bridget Burke]

12. Yes, read "Holy Blood, Holy Grail"

To me, it seemed that the authors were not so much saying that the "bloodline" thesis is true--but that some people throughout history have believed it, with interesting results.

And then browse (online or in a store) other books in the vicinity. There's a lot to learn, even if much of it isn't literally true. All about the Templars, the Holy Grail (in Canada!) & Mary Magdalene. (Reformed harlot or the girlfriend of Jesus? Actually, she was possibly a very important disciple whose role was suppressed by sexist interpreters.)

"Foucault's Pendulum" is a deep fictional study (Umberto Eco!) of all that secret knowledge stuff. The Illuminatus trilogy isn't as intellectual, but includes more sex & drugs.

For me, a religion should be judged by the acts of its believers, not the literal truth of what happened in the past.

[AngryAmish]

14. I loved "Holy Blood, Holy Grail" some years ago

Alas, it is complete nonsense. But a great read.

The author places conjecture - ie "Some people have hypothesized..." and then adds a bunch of facts and tries to present conclusions. I love the picture of Jesus' great-great....grandson in the back. He seemed like a nice enough fellow.

Read also Graham Hancock's books. Like "The Sign and the Seal." That guy can write very well and the books are entertaining as all get out. All nonsense, but a fun read none the less.

[wadestock]

16. The story of Mary Magdelene...

was really done well on a discovery channel (possibly history) channel special. Very compelling and believable. Of course at the time there was no such theory that "behind every great man, there is a great
woman".....

At the time...men were everything....and the next KING they were waiting for was to be the "final man"...the ultimate savior.

I find the Mary story very compelling regarding how she was an inspiration to Christ.

[HallowsEve]

24. The Illuminatus Trilogy

O my goodness! The Illuminatus Trilogy by Robert Anton Wilson and the other Robert??? nononononono!! No, one mustn't read that book. I do not know how it even came up. Is it still in print? Probably not. Don't even RESEARCH it. Just forget you ever saw the words The-Illuminatus-Trilogy together in a sentence. Everything is fine...o LOOK, the sky is so beautiful today. Continue what you were doing, there is nothing to see here*

BTW...DaVinci Code was messing with the CATHOLIC branch of Christianity, not Christianity in general















*fnord

[el_gato]

11. I would suggest also reading The Story of B by Daniel Quinn

if you are interested in this subject.

[yodermon]

26. I second this.

Quinn rocks.
Read his novel "The Holy" too.

[LeftHander]

13. decied for yourself....

visit the Nag Hammandi library at http://www.gnosis.org

IT has the text of the Gospel of Thomas. Certainly the case can be made that powers along the way from Jesus to contemporary Christianity have taken advantage of people's spirituality.

ONe fact reamins that early christians destroyed a particular mystical branch of christianity now called collectivly as the gnostics. In a few short days in the third century the well known gnostics were murdered in a bloodbath, a result of the birth of heresy. The nag hammandi writings were probably hidden to preserve the early teachings which after reading you see could have implications for a church that was consolidating power.

Salvation required priests and a process. God was only communicated with through a ordained intermediary. Without successful completion of a series of sacrements salvation was not granted. (But it could be purchased...)

The Gospel of Thomas, allegedly the words of Jesus, has passages that tell a much different story in that God (As Jesus) is found everywhere and is accesible to everyone.

This for the most part is now accepted informally by most of Christianity but still the Gospel of Thomas is not recognized in any offical capacity.

There is no great desire by many christians to evolve the faith. It does change and new groups come and go but in general the texts that are the core of christianity change only to support particular social and political mores of the day and to make the texts more understandable to our dumbing society. (King James, new revised editions, good news etc...)

Books like Da Vinci Code and movies like Stigmata dramatize these early struggles of the christian faith. Entertaining, yes...true...probably not. But there is some basis in fact and does get people thinking.

Gnostic texts are enjoying a renewed interests because fo rrecent discoveries of made in the last century that have now become available on the internet.

The writings are rich and filled with imagery and philosophy that make for interesting and enjoyable reading.

Peace

[jobendorfer]

25. a key fact about the Nag Hammadi manuscripts

The best guess is that they were buried some time in the
3rd or 4th century and not recovered until 1945. Thus
these manuscripts are primary source materials on gnosticism,
untouched and unedited by 1700 years of various church
bureaucracies and councils. Before the discovery of the
Nag Hammadi codices, everything that we knew about the
gnostics came from biased sources (primarily heresiologists
working for the RCC). In these documents, the Gnostics
speak for themselves. IMHO, they're worth reading for that
fact alone.

An aside:

The Nag Hammadi manuscripts, once found, quickly made their
way onto the antiquities black market. The C.G. Jung
foundation put together some money to purchase the codex
now known as the the Gospel of Thomas.

I saw a film where Giles Quispel told the story of actually
getting the manuscript. It was like a scene out of an Indiana
Jones film -- a night-time meeting with the black marketeers
in the Marseille dockyards, Quispel showing a briefcase full
of cash, the bad guys showing a brief case with the manuscript,
exchange -- and then rushing back to a hotel for a first look.

I'll never forget the look on Quispel's face as he described
reading the first lines: "'These are the secret sayings which
the living Jesus spoke, and which Didymos Judas Thomas wrote
down.' And every line thereafter began with 'Jesus said'."

For a biblical scholar: the moment of a lifetime.

J.

[stellanoir]

15. It does not render all of Christianity as untrue. . .

It does however expose the denigration of the feminine aspect of divinity within the Christian tradition, which is undoubtedly is true.

The one interesting postulate of "Holy Blood, Holy Grail" that was not included in "The Da Vinci Code" was that the wedding where JC performed his first miracle (water>wine) was actually his wedding to Mary Magdelene. Otherwise why would his mother give a darn that they were running out of wine?

Sadly, it perhaps reveals the very energetic root of all the heinous pediphelia in the Catholic Church.

Most of the debunkers were not fluent in Hebrew and Aramaic or familiar with Hebraic tradition wherein till this day, in the Orthodox community, a man has absolutely no credibility without a wife. As single, they're seen as "loose cannons" and are usually encouraged to be married by age 18.

Just my two cents. I've studied this stuff for a long time, but am affiliated with no religion.

[wadestock]

17. The best thing for the human race right now.....

would be to give up on religion altogether....because those who run the show have it so wrong....it's just bringing the entire human race down.

But it's interesting....the human species is not generically opened minded...and very easy falls into or adapts to something which appears to create a comfort zone.

Problem is....blind allegiances seem to always lead to "de-evolution" of thought.

None of this will ever detract from Jesus' monumental philosophical message....

But there is some benefit in getting people to think in general...question things....

Ironically...this is what Jesus stood for in the first place.

[Inland]

18. Its just a book.

The book got huge attention. Including its theories. But in the end, its just a book. And I couldn't get past the first three pages.

[mr blur]

20. If it was real...

it might have been a better book. I thought it was so badly written that it was hard to keep gong through it.

[Richardo]

21. "If the Da Vinci Code was real..."

...then functional idiots could be elite symbology and cryptology experts.

I don't care HOW compelling the plot - the characters in that story are the stupidest EVER.

Who here DOESN'T know DaVinci wrote backwards? Bueller? Bueller? Well our hero, the DaVinci 'expert', apparently didn't.

:thumbsdown: :thumbsdown:

[LizW]

27. It would make a terrifically entertaining movie

especially if they filmed the scenes in the actual locales written about in the book. I would go see it.