The Da Vinci Code; just started reading it and need to see the movie as well. Fascinating so far. Why do "Christians" swallow what the early church, pre-catholic, taught against? Gnosticism isn't new, the questions presented are old, the "gospels" in question are false teachings and for that reason were not included in "The Bible" canonization, so WHY are people getting so in love with what the closest followers of Jesus would have called "heresy"????
Now, I will continue to read, for the sake of reading through cover to cover what has become a monumental collision with God the Son and a modern "culture".....even to the point of turning those who claim to be followers of Christ.
I DO believe it is a classic and will be around till the end of time and am intrigued by the story, even though I do not swallow the heresies in question. Most literture has points we cannot just simply "go along with". It's good to read differing opinions, but with a critiquing mindset.

Keep in mind, though, that what is included in today's Bible was decided around 8 centuries post Christ. In such a dark age, there is no telling whether the teachings of Jesus taught around Italy, or Rome, were more historically accurate than those of other places. To dictate the copyright of God's teaching is something that political powers have used throughout the history, and I don't think this would be an exception.

Despite Brown's claim that all the history and document data are true, one can't take him at his word on this. He makes blatant mistakes like claiming the Gospel of Phillip was written in Aramaic (it was in Coptic) and that the Dead Sea Scrolls are some of the earliest Christian documents we have (they are actually writings from a tribe of Essene Jews, not Christians).

The canonized gospels are actually the earliest written gospels, and (according to most historians) the most historically reliable, with the addition of the Gospel of Thomas. That isn't to say they are 100% accurate - they were all written forty to eighty years after the death of Christ, and by people who were not eye witnesses.

Gnosticism came about well after the Christianity put forth by the four gospels we're familiar with - sometime around the end of the second century.

As far as what the "closest followers of Jesus would consider heresy," all forms of Christianity would fit that bill, since the gospels seemed to be quite adamant that the end-times were at hand, and would take place within their generation (Mark 9:1, 13:30, Luke 21:34-36, 12:39). They also believed the kingdom of god would be brought down to earth, not like the modern belief of after death, ascending into heaven (Matthew 19:28, 24:27-39, Luke 22:30, 17:24-30, 21:34-36).

So while you say it's "good to read differing opinions, but with a critiquing mindset", I suggest you do the same with Brown's work. For a brief explanation on the fallacies in The Da Vinci Code, I'd highly recommend "Truth and Fiction in the Da Vinci Code" by Bart Ehrman, a brilliant New Testament scholar.

please remember this book is FICtION

I like discusions. I won't comment on everything as it comes up, but will keep it all in mind as we go along.
Yes, it is fiction.
........but there is an agenda there and I see it clear as day.
This is interesting. kep talking!
i'll be back.....

thanks for comment! i love discusions and presentations of ideas. yes, it's fiction. :)
all fiction has ideals presented, both good and bad. it can be calle dpropoganda in certain situations, and i think this is one of them....

now i se how this all works in here, so i'll pose challenges to all i guess.
when a tornado hits, do people study how it worked by going 1000 miles away.....or at ground zero?

and that is exactly what i am doing.
r u?

I'm curious as to what you mean by implying that you're "studying at ground zero of the tornado."

I'm also wondering where you learned about tornado studying outside of the movie "Twister."

Whilst you are absolutely right, this isn't a particularly strong argument. After all, there are plenty of people who believe that the Bible is ficticious. Fiction is actually an incredibly good way of communicating ideas and beliefs which have a basis in reality. Simply put, more people read fiction than fact. The ancient Greeks wrote many fictional plays which were based on Gods and legends that they believed in. A modern example is Orwell, who presented his sociopolitical ideas through fiction and through characters that his readers could relate to. To go back to our example, the 'Da Vinci Code' has had far more impact on this age old discussion than the factual book he based it on, 'Holy Blood, Holy Grail', which hardly anyone has even heard of.