Good read.
As a skeptic and an artist......this was right up my alley. Dan Brown sure did some homework.
As a skeptic and an artist......this was right up my alley. Dan Brown sure did some homework.
DaVinci Code.......
- Thread starter Greyhound
- Start date
Good story, but if you've read any of his other stuff you can predict the ending half way through.
That said, I liked it, even if it made a lot of stuff up and didn't follow anything accepted in the academic world. I would suggest reading it though, Angels and Demons is also very hard to put down.
The Ito
That said, I liked it, even if it made a lot of stuff up and didn't follow anything accepted in the academic world. I would suggest reading it though, Angels and Demons is also very hard to put down.
The Ito
The entire premise of the story is borrowed from Holy Blood, Holy Grail
Sweet 
I just bought the book yesterday and can't wait to settle down with some hot tea and read it!!! 
I just bought the book yesterday and can't wait to settle down with some hot tea and read it!!! 
Ok, now that you all love it, what is it about?
Knuck
Knuck
I loved it and plowed right through it.TreeSaw said:Sweet
Murder/conspiracy mystery with sub plots of Catholic/papal smear campaigns and history modification all in the search of the Holy Grail.Knuckleslammer said:
Has anyone read any of Dan Brown's other books?
Holy Grail...........like the cup Jesus drank from at the Last Supper..........you have got to be kidding me. I hope this book is fiction and not asserting any historical significance that there really does exist a Holy Grail.
Ppppppppppppppuuuuuuulllllllleeeeeeeeaaaaaassssssssssseeeeeeee!!!!!!!!!!!!
(and no I have not read the book)
Ppppppppppppppuuuuuuulllllllleeeeeeeeaaaaaassssssssssseeeeeeee!!!!!!!!!!!!
(and no I have not read the book)
That I believe (I've studied it) and how the Church erased all things Hebrew from 300 AD and after due to Constantine. IMO, when Christianity took a HUGE wrong turn............... :angry:Yossarian said:
Read the book........... it's an interesting read.Andyman_1970 said:
-S.S.-
I've read all of his stuff. I liked Angels and Demons the best. The man does his research and puts up some very interesting arguments.
Deception Point would make a great cheesy-action-thriller-type thing.
Deception Point would make a great cheesy-action-thriller-type thing.
Andyman_1970 said:
Ignorance abounds in this country....As Brown passes much of this work off as non-fiction and MANY people believe that it is.
The facts at the beginning of the book are the only true thing in it. And the Opus Dei stuff is a pretty nice stretch as well.
i plowed through that book in two days, couldn't put it down. i'm reading angels&demons now, and its just as captivating
Holy Blood, Holy Grail published years before the Brown book, proposes that the holy grail was not an actual cup, in this case one that caught blood from the wound in Christ's side as many believe it to be, but instead a very well protected secret. The secret? That Christ had a child by Mary Magdelaine and that his bloodline continued through the Merovingian (sp?) line and continues to this day.Andyman_1970 said:
There is no Holy Grail, regardless of what the Catholic church or any church says.SkaredShtles said:
Think about it, in 1st century terms. You have this group of disciples following this subversive rabbi, the majority of whom are around 15-17 years old, John was probably 12-13 at the time of the Last Supper. Peter besides Jesus was the only one over the age of 20. This was a poor group of people, during what we would think like our day before Thanksgiving. They find a place to meet in secret (because the authorities are looking for them), when they left that night to go to the garden of Gethsemane, I garuntee not a one of them had an idea of the gravity of the situation they were in (or about to face), they were teenagers. It was not even their house they used for the supper, and there is no indication that the owners saved what Jesus ate off of, for the most part at this point the majority of His followers had no clue He was the Messiah and what would happen to Him. Even after His ressurection, His followers we still scared, and following Pentacost they were still dealing with being arrested by the authorities rather than saying "hey lets go find what Jesus ate off of, this might mean something some day".
The sad thing is this "grail" becomes a god for some people, there is a reason, no one has found it, just like there is a reason no one knows where Moses is buried.
It's funny to see people "americanize" or "Catholicize" or "Hellenize" what went on in the 1st century. And as for "church tradition" (well church tradition tells us..........), that is HIGHLY suspect at best, remember the church wanted to obliterate all things Hebrew from Christianity (of which it gets it's roots from and will forever be "grafted" into).
Anyway, sorry for the rant..............
I'll have to put it on my "to read" list, right now I'm wading through the Talmud and the Mishnah.
Holy crap! No one said it was a lost book of the New Testament. It's an interesting read, that's all, nothing more.Andyman_1970 said:
I think some of you are taking a work of fiction and making a whole lot out of it.
There is to a Grail, "I can lead you to the most holiest of GGGRRAILLSS" Tim the Enchanter
It's in that Castle with all the nymphomaniac virgins that need a good spankin!
I also recommend watching the Life of Brian and the meaning of life....
Life's a Piece of Sh!t when you look at it.
Always look on the bright side of life......
It's in that Castle with all the nymphomaniac virgins that need a good spankin!
I also recommend watching the Life of Brian and the meaning of life....
Life's a Piece of Sh!t when you look at it.
Always look on the bright side of life......
Again this is a classic "Westernizing", "Catholicizing" and "Monday Morning QB'ing" the event that took place. These followers of Jesus were so scared of being arrested they denyed Him, they ran, and they went back to their old jobs (which is significant). See in the 1st century as a disciple of a rabbi (which the 12 disciples were) your WHOLE life was devoted to being around your rabbi so that you could learn from your rabbi, not just what he knows but the whole intent of disciples was that you would follow this rabbi so that you would become like him. So if the disciples go back to their old jobs, they don't think they can be like their rabbi anymore, the thinking is "evidently this gig is done". Only after Jesus comes back to they understand the "gig" is not over.BikeGeek said:
To assert that anyone knew the gravity of the events the day Jesus was curcified (like having the presence of mind to catch some blood) is to "spiritualize" the Text rather that critically look at it in it's proper historical and cultural context.
This kind of skewed view of the events that happened is the unfortunate result of the "Hellenization" of Christianity.
NOT! And when did this story surface, what year?BikeGeek said:
BikeGeek said:Holy crap! No one said it was a lost book of the New Testament. It's an interesting read, that's all, nothing more.
LOL...........sorry let me take a deep breath..................
Ok much better. I hear people all the time talking about that book like it is some new revelation or something............so I get a little cranked up about it.
Anyway, sorry for the rants.......................
African or European?DVNT said:
African or European?DVNT said:
Andyman_1970 said:LOL...........sorry let me take a deep breath..................
Ok much better. I hear people all the time talking about that book like it is some new revelation or something............so I get a little cranked up about it.
Anyway, sorry for the rants.......................
No new revelation.......but something to think about, and a springboard upon which one can continue further research to expand their spiritual horizions.
Interestingly enough.......the author points out that, in nowhere in DaVinci's "Last Supper" do you see the cup of christ. I believe his premise of what the grail really is, and to quote Sir Leigh Teabing "My dear, the church has two thousand years of experience pressuring those who threaten to unviel its lies."
deception point was very blah. deserves a spot on the safeway checkout rack.aussiedude said:
as i did last time this book was discussed, i recommend umberto eco's "name of the rose" as a similar type of book with much more "meat" to it.
Full documentation on the Priory of Sion here.
The book is a good read and have lots of interesting stuff, although not very well researched as most critics have claimed. Lots of holes in the story, and a lot of "facts" not true.
I couldn't put it down when I read it.
The book is a good read and have lots of interesting stuff, although not very well researched as most critics have claimed. Lots of holes in the story, and a lot of "facts" not true.
I couldn't put it down when I read it.
DaVinci was a great artist and scientist, but a Biblical historian he is not.........with any accuracy that is.Greyhound said:
Toshi,Toshi said:deception point was very blah. deserves a spot on the safeway checkout rack.
I just started reading DC and I can't stop. What do you mean by "Name of the Rose" having more 'meat' to it? The story is deeper?
Thanks, Snacks.
i agree, the book is a page turner, but it's in a very straight-to-tv-movie kind of way. doesn't make you think.Snacks said:
name of the rose is a whole different ballgame. it's very dense, filled with things that (hopefully) should make you run to the computer so that you can google them to figure out what eco is talking about
, and its world and characters are significantly more complex.
Hey thanksToshi said:i agree, the book is a page turner, but it's in a very straight-to-tv-movie kind of way. doesn't make you think.
name of the rose is a whole different ballgame. it's very dense, filled with things that (hopefully) should make you run to the computer so that you can google them to figure out what eco is talking about
I'll go out and get that one when I'm finished with this one, sounds real interesting. I read too much
:
D
Dingus McGee
Guest
They call the Bible the 'greatest story ever told'
Da Vinci code is pretty good too...
both are decent fiction, IMHO.
Da Vinci code is pretty good too...
both are decent fiction, IMHO.
Well put.
Great read. I too got lost in it for a couple straight day. Something about secret socities and conspiracy theories that always suck me in. Toshi is right though, it's not impeccable writing. For that, Umberto Eco is your man. Outstanding works. All of them.
It's seems Andyman played write into the authors plan, spirited debate ! Always a good thing. I don't know near enough about biblical history to even begin faking a rational discussion - but it's fun to read others ideas.
Clicky for what the author has to say about the book.
It's seems Andyman played write into the authors plan, spirited debate !
Always a good thing. I don't know near enough about biblical history to even begin faking a rational discussion - but it's fun to read others ideas. Clicky for what the author has to say about the book.
Brown's literary mechanisms are shallow gimmicks at best...the way he ends each chapter made me feel the same way I used to when the Dukes of Hazzard would go to commercial just as the General Lee took off over the washed out bridge.
Another vote for Eco here...Focault's Pendulum shares a lot of subject matter with DaVinci Code but it doesn't make me feel like a cheap prostitute when I'm reading it.
Another vote for Eco here...Focault's Pendulum shares a lot of subject matter with DaVinci Code but it doesn't make me feel like a cheap prostitute when I'm reading it.
Yes, but don't forget......Brown did put this information within the subtext of a fictional story. Honestly, I could have done without it, but it did facilitate a smoother explanation of things when set in a "conversational" tone.
I'll have to check out Eco, though.......my interest has been peaked.
I'll have to check out Eco, though.......my interest has been peaked.
The Bible is a historic document. As far as historic documents go the gospels of the NT are considered extremely reliable sources. If you want to discredit the books of the NT as fiction then you should also be ready to ignore most of the textual history we have on the ancient world. The fact is that the books considered authentic were written between 20 and 80 years(most would say 50, but some still argue this) after the death of Jesus(who is a historic figure mentioned by several very well respected ancient Roman and Jewish historians). The fact that a peasant man from Isreal is mentioned in official Roman documents nearly 150 years after his death should tell you that he was a man of some significance. In the documented debates between Jews and the early Christians there is not one person who tries to claim that Jesus's tomb wasn't empty, the only dispute is how it became empty. I'll leave my argument at this, the majority of the books in the NT are of historical importance and are accepted by most authorities on the subject as free from addition of legends and exagerations.Dingus McGee said:
If you enjoyed the DaVinci Code and want to learn more about the issues put together by Dan Brown I'd suggest reading Cracking the DaVinci Code, lots of good and accurate information.
Too many people believe whatever they read. Brown didn't get published because he was correct, he got published because he can tell a decent story.
Toshi, thanks for the list of authors, I think just found some new stuff to crack into.
The Ito