Customer Reviews

Cracking Da Vinci's Code: You've Read the Fiction, Now Read the Facts

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1 star:		(47)

 

 

CRACKING DAVINCI'S CODE is an interesting book which attempts to dispute many of the assumptions made in THE DAVINCI CODE by Dan Brown. In particular Garlow and Jones disagree with Brown's description of the attitude of early church leaders towards women, sex and the divinity of Jesus Christ and especially Brown's suggestion of a marriage between Jesus and Mary Magdalene which produced offspring.

Garlow and Jones write in the style of two fundamentalists who feel threatened by a New Age heresy. They see a connection between the ideas expressed by THE DAVINCI CODE and the work of some of the scholars from The Jesus Seminar such as Elaine Pagels. Ultimately they predict the world will be divided into only two religious groups - pagan monism and biblical theism. The latter places God outside the circle of creation instead of in it as in pagan monism. In biblical theism God has a special place as creator apart from his creatures. In their view THE DAVINCI CODE preaches a form of pagan monism with God seen as an impersonal force of nature. Garlow and Jones stand firmly opposed to this view since they are on the side of the biblical theists.

I don't think that Dan Brown is motivated by much more than a strong desire to tell a good story and sell a lot of books. Garlow and Jones act more like they are on a crusade but they also want to sell books. I feel certain that more books on the subject of the DaVinci Code are definitely on the way.

REASONS TO READ THIS BOOK

1. These authors know what they are writing about. Between the two of them they hold degrees in theology and history from Asbury Theological Seminary, Drew University, Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, Harvard Divinity School, Princeton Theological Seminary, and the University of Wales. Between the two of them, they have authored 14 books (not fictious novels).

2. Previous reviews are sharply divided. It has been my experience that some books are loved by everyone and some are hated by everyone, but the real thought-provoking books (such as The Da Vinci Code) also provoke great emotion and debate.

3. In spite of the title this is not a book about Brown's novel, but about a rising challenge to traditional Christian theology behind the novel. Many people remind us, "It's only a fictious novel!", but after seeing the newer editions, teaching cds, and books tied to "The Da Vinci Code" the serious person must conclude that there is more.

4. The book is designed for small group study. At the end of the book is a personal study guide and addresses to three web pages for further information.

WARNING!

This book is blatantly evangelistic with its message. This could prove distasteful and hard to overcome for many readers. It begins each chapter with a short portion of a fictional story. The authors must have thought they needed this, but I think they went over the top a bit and almost made themselve appear paranoid. If you have the ability to get past this flaw, you will learn a lot from this book.

While reading this book if found it very poorly put together. The book is written by two authors with very few clues as to what was written by whom. Occasionally one of their first names will appear in parenthesis, but there is little clear delineation who wrote what. To simplify I'll just refer to them as he. Each chapter is prefaced by a progressive symbol of half a circle which he refers to as the Divine Arc next to a full circle which he doesn't refer to at all. Near the end of the book he gives a weak explanation of his symbolism, which is within a few pages of writing about paganism in which he devaluates the importance of symbols in religion. At the beginning of each chapter he has a "after school special" type drama for a couple of pages. He also repeats the points he wants to make twice at the beginning of each chapter. I found this annoying chapter after chapter. Though the "after school special" is supposed to be a college age drama, it is written so poorly I suspect that most college age people will gloss over it quickly.

The body of the book is written trying to defend traditional Christianity from the evil of feminine paganism. His references to Da Vinci are actually very few. He presents the theory that Dan Brown is not writing a novel based on "secret hints" that can be found in Da Vinci's work, but that Mr. Brown is actually hoping to seduce our youth into ancient paganism. Paganism is generally pictured by modern people as hedonistic tribal affairs with lots of drinking, sex, and dancing in a circle around a fire. He tries to give an objective description of paganism but fails to point out that it is a very ancient and noble religion that predated Christianity, and probably Judaism. He doesn't mention that Aristotle and Plato were pagans. He puts comments about Da Vinci in column sidebars in each chapter. That means you have to stop reading the body of the chapter to read about Da Vinci. It makes for very choppy reading.

Though he apparently intends the book to be used as a study guide, he leaves out an index. This makes it very difficult to look back for previous references. I see this as a very irresponsible deletion. As far as the body writing itself, it is apparent that it was written very quickly and with little overview. He misguides the reader into thinking he knows the true facts about history, however checking his footnotes reveals that "facts" should be substituted with "opinions". It leads me to believe that he is "proof-texting" history (the art of only choosing what reinforces your case) to build his case. The subtitle of this book is very misleading in that very little in ancient history can be proved now. Most "facts" from that period are still really theories. He really has it in for the Gnostics, and writes about them as though he went back in a time machine to observe them. It's apparent that his views are shaded by his religious background, and not really an objective historical observation. This is typical of denominational based authors.

He takes some very risky shots at Hillary Clinton connecting her with Jean Houston implying that Hillary will be trying to bring the "sacred feminine" into the White House in the future. His source is a Time article about the book. It's ironic that he didn't mention Nancy Reagan and her astrologer. He views the "sacred feminine" as a threat to Christianity in general, however the Roman Catholics have revered "the Virgin Mary" for centuries. The main "mystery" of the Brown book is that Mary Magdalene had a closer relationship with Jesus than Christians are comfortable with. Da Vinci's painting of the Last Supper shows the apostles and Jesus lined up behind the table. Dan Brown points out that the person to Jesus' right (a position of great honor in Jewish tradition) is actually Mary Magdalene. Garlow (or Jones) points out that Da Vinci had specific notes about the painting and that the person to Jesus' right is an apostle. I've looked at pictures, posters, JPEG's, and the foldout that's in their book. Sorry guys, "the dude looks like a lady."

It's of little importance to me what little pranks Da Vinci put into his art. Most brilliant creative minds play with their work. The Mona Lisa may be a disguised self-portrait of Da Vinci, a prank. It doesn't have to represent a diabolical subversive plot. It did make a very interesting novel. The Mason's have always been secretive, but the biggest secret is probably how much alcohol they consume each meeting.

Garlow (or Jones) does make one very offensive reference to Da Vinci's mirror writing.
"Da Vinci didn't do this in order to hide information or as part of some trickery or deceit; rather, he may have had some form of dyslexia or other difficulty with perception."
This statement alone causes me to really doubt this man (men's) intelligence. First, he's claiming he can read a genus's mind. Second, Da Vinci's writing was too neat to be a dyslexic's work. His comment reflects his own hidden agenda to ridicule his opposition with "made up" facts. He obviously can't out think them.

My recommendation: Read "The Da Vinci Code" if you haven't already. It's a well-written book, and though it has snippets of little known history, its purpose is fiction. My recommendation on "Cracking Da Vinci's Code" is pass, and wait for the sequel "Cracking-Cracking Da Vinci's Code."

And in ending the beginning of the book has a recommendation from our favorite facts man Tim LaHaye glorifying the book and accusing Dan Brown of "outright lies." This from a man who co-authored a series has made over 60 million dollars by fictionalizing Revelations. (Shouldn't the church be calling that series heresy?--a word Garlow/Jones like to use.)

This book does not deal at all with Brown's Da Vinci Code in any way that would be appreciated by non-fundamentalist types.

First of all, it is cheesy, insipid, tasteless, and really offensoive in its little fictional vignettes about a girl confused by Brown's book. It's so gratuitously anti-secular (anti-gay, I might add) and way-over-the-top hokey.

Second, it's blatantly a Christian defense-and that's about it. All these authors say is, bottom line, believe that Christianity is true-don't thnk any other way. This is not too bad, except that the way they try to prove it is so narrow in their appeal to mostly the Bible.

Third, they really do not deal a lot at all with Da Vinci, his art, the Priory of Sion, and related issues (like the Knights Templar). You don't get the facts about these these or even any resources to help you look up stuff yourself.

Making a buck. That's what this one is about, at least in my opinion. Check out the other books at amazon on this subject. Some are better than others. All seem to be better than this one (based on available reviews only).

I'm going to order "Breaking the Da Vinci Code" (Bock) and "The Truth Behind the Da Vinci Code" (Abanes).

And FYI to all readers, I'm a Cat'lic (so maybe I'll pick up Kellmeyer, too, not sure).

The main thing I dont get about this book is how serious it takes itself. In the book they go in depth about what Dan Brown's hidden agenda is when writing the Da Vinci Code. Take a look at Dan Brown's other works. Digital Fortress and Deception Point are both about cracking some sort of codes. Nothing to do with religous codes just codes in general. And like those books, this book is FICTION. Hmm .. I wonder what his next book will be about.

The authors of this book try to make you believe that Dan Brown is out to infect the world with some personal agenda and is using this medium to transport his theories. I can sum up very quickly what Dan Brown's motives were behind writing this book.

- New York Time bestsellers sell tons of copies
- Only the best and most engrossing books make the list
- If I write a book about something I know (ie codes) and make it engrossing, I can rake in the cash too.

There you have it, the whole point behind the book. Dan Brown is an author. Authors write for a living and for money. Dan Brown writes to make money. Simple as that. No hidden agenda, no conspiracy, simple economics.

Christian apologists have been quick to respond to the historical inaccuracies taught in The Da Vinci Code. However, few have done much work on one of its central themes, "the sacred feminine," which is deeply rooted in a pagan worldview. Pastor James Garlow and Dr. Peter Jones co-authored Cracking Da Vinci's Code to respond to the historical errors of Dan Brown's novel, as well as its paganism.

Garlow and Jones begin with a chapter explaining why they wrote their book. "Cracking Da Vinci's Code is for you if you have stopped to ponder Brown's `code' woven into his novel. It is for you if you are now questioning all you have learned about Jesus. We are writing for you if you are now saying, `I once thought of Jesus as the Son of God, but I guess I was wrong. He is simply a man after all.' For your sake, and His, we feel we must respond." (23)

The first issue addressed is Brown's characterization of sex and the Christian view of it. Garlow points out that, "Sex is God's idea, and second to salvation, it's the best idea He ever shared with us." (51) The authors go on to discuss the "sacred feminine," Jesus, historical revisionism, the canon of scripture, the Gnostic gospels, secret knowledge, and pagan symbols. The conclude by showing that, "Under the guise of a novel, The Da Vinci Code is an ideological call to arms." According to them, it is a call to embrace pagan monism. They ultimately present to the reader a choice between paganism and Biblical theism.

At the beginning of each chapter is a brief narrative about their own fictional character, Carrie Williams. Carrie is a practical agnostic who is attracted to the claims of The Da Vinci Code, but she's turned off by her extremely pagan roommate. In the middle of the book is a foldout color insert of The Last Supper, explaining its history and the figures in it. In the back is a reader's guide with four to five questions for each chapter to help facilitate reflection and discussion, as well as a spread of others books for further reading.

Cracking Da Vinci's Code covers a wide range of issues, but hones in on the most important- the underlying worldview of pagan monism. The authors carefully explain each point and argument, showing the weaknesses of Brown's claims and worldview. The narrative about Carrie reminds us that the issues being dealt with are of practical and eternal importance. By the end of the book, James Garlow and Peter Jones have offered an excellent exposition of The Da Vinci Code as well as a clear and compelling case for the truth of biblical Christianity.

This book is a must read for anyone who has read The DaVinci Code and has had their faith shaken by it. The DaVinci Code is purportedly based on historical facts, but it is not. This book will explain why, in easy to understand writing. One of the claims The DaVinci Code makes is that the Gnostic Gospels were deliberately left out of the Bible to supress the so-called truth. The authors show you how that cannot be possible. This book also explains why the Gnostic Gospels are unacceptable as the truth.

This book's argument can be summed up in a few easy premises: (1) Dan Brown is trying to pass off Gnosticism as real Christianity; (2) Gnosticism is bad, very bad; (3) Dan Brown is therefore very bad, mostly because he's one very effective part of a Gnostic revival that would threaten to undo the Christian Church in a post-modern world; (4) Don't fall prey to the deception -- accept Jesus and become a real Christian.

The only thing even nearly original about this book is the insertion of a few details (and not even the most interesting ones) from The Da Vinci Code -- the rest is old hat, overly recycled arguments against anything that contradicts a fundamentalist reading of the Bible. They don't even begin to deal with the serious textual and historical issues raised by the Nag Hammadi texts, and they set up lots of straw men to knock down.

In the end, the book will only convince the already-convinced, and with its preachy style will likely alienate the people the authors most would like, I assume, to reach. I expected more out of authors with these academic credentials.

If you want a Christian book that handles the issues far more effectively, try Darrell Bock's Breaking the Da Vinci Code. Bock's book could have been more comprehensive, but addresses the questions in a vastly more intelligent manner that respects the reader. Garlow and Jones' effort falls way short of this.

I enjoyed reading the Da Vinci Code, but I knew it was full of fiction labled as facts. I wanted to read a book that would address some of the more egregious examples as well as answer questions about Da Vinci's art, the Priory of Sion, and the Council of Nicea. Instead I read a book which (a)did a fairly decent job of explaining Christian theology mixed in with (b) a cheesy narrative of one-diminsional stereotyped characters and (c) an obvious bias against anyone who did not follow the authors' prescribed beliefs. For example, every time the word "feminist" is used it is preceded by "radical". Hilary Clinton is even mentioned because she is friends with a pagan! I am a deeply committed Christian and I found this book to be offensive. If the intent of the book is to evangalise, it will fail because of its shrill voice. On top of that, other than the Council of Nicea, I still don't have any answers to my questions!

The bottom line is that you're looking for an unbiased straight facts from authors without an agenda, you had better keep looking. This ain't it.

After reading the Da Vinci's Code, I was pretty sure that Dan Brown used at least some artistic license as to the facts of the matter. None the less I was fascinated by some of the scenarios in the book was motivated to learn more about Jesus and the history of Christianity.

So when I saw the book 'Cracking Da Vinci's Code' I was immediately interested, figured it would be great to get an unbiased opinion.

Boy was I wrong. If Dan Brown was extreme, the two theologians that wrote this book are as bad or worse then he is, just from the other side. The scary thing is that while we all know that we're reading fiction in the Da Vinci's code--some may accept the 'Cracking' book as a pure truth, which I think would be dangerous.

One of my biggest complaints is that they have questions that they will supposedly answer, such as "Is it true that the Church has repositioned sex as evil..." and their answer is basically, "No... It is true that *some* but not all of the early church folks believed this but not all. I'm hoping they will tackle or at least justify things like the fact that Catholic Priests and Nuns are still required to take a vow of celibicy, etc. and that obviously the Church is still the major purveyor's of sexual opression. The authors ignore the issue which I find offensive, because they are claiming to be speaking the truth--I want the whole truth.

The authors use these contrived 'fictional' naratives that they (I am assuming) will help readers identify with the issues. They are pure torture to read--the worst type of propoganda, pure and simple. It seriously reminds me of those insane 'public service movies' like Reefer Madness from the decades past--written by one demographic to try to appeal to another that they clearly don't understand and it ends up coming across as completely phony. I couldn't imagine two authors more out of touch with their own characters.