Breaking the Da Vinci Code: Answers to the Questions Everyones Asking

If you loved DaVinci Code or if you hated it, you must admit it did get a reaction from you....which in itself is one definition of a successful novel. Many readers have found themselves more interested in the information detailed in Dan Browns books, and if so, this book is a good choice to begin to learn about the amazing history of the Christian Church. Especially Gnosticism and the early Christian Church, and especially the creation of the New Testament Bible. For a different review....here is my review of books that build on these interests, especially the lost books of the New Testament Bible and the concepts of Gnosticism. Nearly all knowledgeable Biblical scholars realize there have been a wide range of writings attributed to Jesus and his Apostles..... and that some of these were selected for compilation into the book that became known as the Bible.....and that some books have been removed from some versions of the Bible and others have been re-discovered in modern times. The attention focused on Gnosticism by Dan Browns DaVinci Code may be debatable, but the fact is that increased attention on academics tends to be predominately positive, so I welcome those with first-time or renewed interest. At least first-timers to Gnosticism are not pursuing the oh-so-popular legends of the Holy Grail, Bloodline of Christ, and Mary Magdalene. This is great......I seldom quote other reviewers, but there is one reviewer of Pagels books who confided that he had been a Jesuit candidate and had been required to study a wide range of texts but was never was told about the Nag Hamadi texts. He said: Now I know why. The Gospel of Thomas lays waste to the notion that Jesus was `the only begotten Son of God and obviates the need for a formalized church when he says, `When your leaders tell you that God is in heaven, say rather, God is within you, and without you. No wonder they suppressed this stuff! The Roman Catholic Church hasnt maintained itself as the oldest institution in the world by allowing individuals to have a clear channel to see the divinity within all of us: they need to put God in a bottle, label the bottle, put that bottle on an altar, build a church around that altar, put a sign over the door, and create rubricks and rituals to keep out the dis-believing riff-raff. Real `Us versus `them stuff, the polar opposite from `God is within You. `My God is bigger than your God the church(s)seem to say. And you can only get there through my door/denomination. But Jesus according to Thomas had it right: just keep it simple, and discover the indwelling Divinity `within you and without you. Here are quickie reviews of what is being bought these days on the Gnostic Gospels and the lost books of the Bible in general: The Lost Books of the Bible (0517277956) includes 26 apocryphal books from the first 400 years that were not included in the New Testament. Marvin Meyers The Secret Teachings of Jesus : Four Gnostic Gospels (0394744330 ) is a new translation without commentary of The Secret Book of James, The Gospel of Thomas, The Book of Thomas, and The Secret Book of John. James M. Robinsons The Nag Hammadi Library in English : Revised Edition (0060669357) has been around 25 years now and is in 2nd edition. It has introductions to each of the 13 Nag Hammadi Codices and the Papyrus Berioinensis 8502. The Complete Dead Sea Scrolls in English (0140278079) by Geza Vermes has selected works....a complete work is more difficult to achieve than the publishers marketing concept indicates. His commentary generates strong reactions. Elaine Pagels has 2 books (The Gnostic Gospels 0679724532 and Beyond Belief : The Secret Gospel of Thomas 0375501568) that have received considerable attention lately. For many, her work is controversial in that it is written for popular consumption and there is a strong modern interpretation. She does attempt to reinterpret ancient gender relationships in the light of modern feminist thinking. While this is a useful (and entertaining) aspect of college womens studies programs, it is not as unethical as some critics claim. As hard as they may try, all historians interpret the past in the context of the present. Obviously there is value in our attempts to re-interpret the past in the light of our own time. If you want the full scholarly work it is W. Schneemelchers 2 volume New Testament Apocrypha. Also, to understand the Cathars......try Barbara Tuckmans Distant Mirror for an incredible historical commentary on how the Christian Church has handled other points of view

This book is really an essential. It covers everything from the theory of Jesus being married to Mary Magdalene, to the Canonization of the Bible, to the Secret Gnostic Gospels. A must read for those who have read the Da Vinci Code

Like several other authors eagerly attempting to debunk The Da Vinci Code, this one shows no evidence of having read two books by Margaret Starbird actually mentioned by Dan Brown in his work (on page 253). One might expect that intellectual curiosity might have persuaded Rev. Bock to read The Woman with the Alabaster Jar or The Goddess in the Gospels, since these books provided background research for assertions made in The Da Vinci Code relating to Mary Magdalene as well as some of the symbols, fairy tales, and medieval artifacts found in the book. Starbird rests her case squarely on canonical Scriptures and is worth reading on that grounds alone. When fiction is stripped away from The Da Vinci Code, what remains is powerful evidence of the Sacred Union at the very heart of the Christian story.

Although understandably this book is geared for the lay reader, Bocks methodology is seriously insufficient and therefore subverts his argument. Not only does he fail to engage real Jesus research scholars (like Charlesworth, Levine, Sanders & Johnson), he sets up John Dominic Crossan as a straw man. In other words he sets up arguably the most liberal of scholars engaged in Jesus Research so that he can easily dismiss his argument. This is called a straw man and is a logical fallacy. Many people want to read this book to discover whether or not there is any shred of plausibility to the claim that Jesus was married to Mary Magdalene. If so, this is not the place to look! Bock does not engage the issue using appropriate methodolgies and hence his work ought not be trusted.

This is just another book in a long line of Christain apologetics trying to squash The Da Vinci Code message. The only Da Vinci Code Guide Ive found that actually supports the theories in Browns novel is Da Vinci Code Decoded by Lunn.

I agree that the book lost its references somewhere.. but besides that, I have to say that the book contains a good material. In this not-too-long book, Bock has succesfully convey some thoughtful reasoning which should be carefully weighed by all who are interested in the isue. He put side by side arguments from both sides, e.g. why do some people believe that Mary Magdalene was married? He gave his considerations on it and then move on by giving arguments why he thinks that Mary Magdalene wasnt married. To make this review short: all I want to say is.. yes, this book lacks references, probably because the author intended the book to be welcoming to all readers... but besides that, his thoughtful opinion deserves every sincere considerations. If you plan to buy another book alongside, this will serve as a good companion.

Although this book is easy to read, I was unimpressed by the lack of REAL, factual evidence. The Da Vinci Code is a work of fiction, and this book tries to poke the many holes in THAT dreadful work of art. But how do you refute a work of fiction by using the same source? What I mean is, the Da Vinci code is basically saying the Bible does not tell the whole story. Ok, fine, but how is Bocks book going to refute Browns work by using the Bible and scriptures as its main source? The Bible is what they are arguing, so you cannot use the source of the problem as the answer. They are like two children saying Did not!, Did to!, and so on. Its just poor research. I want different proof.

Darrell Block definetly did his homework,easily breaking the Da Vinci Code in his book.He made logical statements,and unveiled countless mistakes in the code, including the council of Nicea, the knights Templar, the prory of Sion, and(ofcourse)Mary Magdelane.The only problem for me is this: I need more evidence. Being a Catholic,I just want to be sure. I would recomend to every other fellow searcher of the REAL TRUTH to get as many more books as possible on the topic, and for God sakes, pick up the BIBLE.

All one need do is read the blurbs at the beginning of the book to realize that this book isnt so much about refuting anything presented in The Da Vinci Code so much as is its about doing damage control for what they perceive to be an attack upon the validity of their faith. One cannot refute the accuracy, or lack thereof, of any historical reference by summing it all up with faith, as I feel this book does by way of the last chapter. The mere mentioning of the word faith in a book claiming to deal with historical accuracies, quite frankly, removes all threads of credibility.

It is interesting to note the approaches to rebutting the historical claims of Dan Brown that he used as the basis for his popular novel The Da Vinci Code. While the initial challenges to Brown came from the Evangelical camp, too many of these efforts, perhaps following the proof text methodology common in much of their apologetical work, have concentrated on the minutiae of Browns asides into art and history while ignoring the more profound questions of the theological implications of his rewriting of the Christian story. While a laundry list of Browns many historical faux pas make for amusing reading, it leaves the syncretistic presuppositions prevalent in his thesis untouched. Daniel Bocks Breaking the Da Vinci Code is a marvelous exception to this pattern. By not being lured into secondary matters, he manages in a somewhat short treatment to get at the heart of Browns claims about the New Testament canon and the relationship between Jesus and Mary Magdalene. Focusing on key themes within Browns presuppositions, Bock performs a thorough deconstruction of Browns ideas and shows the underlying premises to be completely without merit. Browns distorted view of Jewish ideas of marraige and celibacy, his use of later discredited Gnostic texts while discounting the canonical Gospels written centuries earlier, and his complete misreading even of his own evidence (e.g., the Gnostic texts give no evidence of Jesus ever being married) all are placed under scrutiny and Browns entire intellectual edifice crumbles into dust. Those looking for a point by point refutatation of Browns claims will have to look elsewhere. However, such efforts serve to attack the facade of Browns views while leaving the underlying structure intact. Bock has largely ignored the externals and went straight to the heart of the controversy. For this reason, Breaking the Da Vinci Code stands as the greatest response from the Protestant side and is an essential read on the topic.