Customer Reviews

Preaching Another Jesus: Decoding Dan Brown's DaVinci Code Hoax

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The positives:
1) McDonnell addresses 10 issues in "The Da Vinci Code" with some information that hasn't been published in book form so far. These issues include "suppression" of gospels, dating and reliability of the New Testament gospels, the gospels and the "sacred feminine," Jesus' "marriage" to Mary Magdalene, Peter's ouster from power, the "sacred feminine" in the Old Testament, Constantine and the deity of Jesus, Mary Magdalene as the holy grail, the Priory of Sion, and the secret message of Leonardo's painting, "the Last Supper."
2) McDonnell has obviously taken time to do research on a wide variety of complicated topics. However, McDonnell's a bit disorganized in presenting all of the detailed material in a short amount of space. Tracking down the source material may also prove to be difficult (see below).

The negatives:
1) The price is high for a short, large-font publication--probably due to its independent publisher.
2) The polemic and sarcastic tone not only targets "The Da Vinci Code," but also Roman Catholicism. It's better to focus on refuting only one party at a time. (I speak here as a Protestant evangelical.)
3) The enthusiastic style is unfortunately immature, with so many words italicized that it's hard to pick the book titles out from the prose.
4) Most disappointingly, the documentation is formatted very poorly. Book titles and article titles are both italicized in the bibliography (article titles should be enclosed in quotes). It's hard to tell what is a full-length book, what is a periodical article, and what is an online article. Many of McDonnell's sources are from web sites. He does not include in his notes or bibliography the web address or the date the material was accessed.

I can give readers sites for a few of his references. Paul Smith's material may be accessed at http://priory-of-sion.com. Matt Slick's material is available at www.carm.org. James Patrick Holding's article may be found at http://answers.org/issues/davincicode.html.

With all of the foregoing qualifications, the book may be useful to someone who already has a balanced library refuting "The DaVinci Code" and is looking for more secondary source material.

It's good to see an independent researcher using an online self-publishing resource to present another contribution to the cottage industry which has grown up debunking Dan Brown's silly pseudo history. The reviewers (who all seem to be in dire need of remedial spelling classes - 'ludacris'?!) who shriek that Brown's book is 'FICTION' seem to have missed the fact that Brown has repeatedly presented the 'history' in his book as valid, legitimate and plausible. They have also overlooked the fact that *many* readers have taken the 'facts' in the book seriously - a recent Canadian survey found 1/3 of DVC readers believed its version of 'history'.

McDonnell's book is a good, brief survey of the many and various errors and distortions in the novel's historical claims and for this he is to be highly commended. This is a good quick reference guide which packs a lot of information into a brief format.

On the downside, the author's overuse of italics and capitalisation for emphasis gets rather irritating after a while. It is as though he feels the reader isn't going to get what he is saying unless he SHOUTS about once every five words. Secondly, no-one buying this book should do so under the impression that his analysis is coolly unbiased and objective. McDonnell has a clear Christian agenda, and a defiantly conservative one at that. Add to this his problems with the Christian doctrine of the Trinity, which actually puts him at odds with most of the Christians who would be the primary audience for his book.

There are a number of highly intolerant, bigoted sideswipes in the direction of the Catholic Church, and at one point - when he discusses the Knights Templar - McDonnell veers from real history into weird, Nineteenth Century Masonic pseudo history and declares that the Templars' real purpose was to excavate under the Temple Mount for the Ark of the Covenant! This is every bit as silly as anything Dan Brown tries to pass off as history and seriously undermines McDonnell's claims to scholarly analysis.

For a truly objective, scholarly and entirely non-Christian analysis of much of the same material, I'd recommend Bart D. Ehrman's *Truth and Fiction in the Da Vinci Code: A Historian Reveals What We Really Know about Jesus, Mary Magdalene, and Constantine*.

I bought this book, because it purported to not use biblical evidence to dispel Brown's claims as many other Da Vinci debunkers have done. After all when arguing over the Code, it's nice to not have to also argue for the historicity of the Bible. McDonnell does a bit of that but in a fitting manner and some were new to me (like Gesthemane).

I have not double checked the author's facts but assuming they are true, he does lay down a solid case against the Code. There are a couple quibbles though. His attack on the use of the imaginary department of Symbology in the novel was uncharitable at best. I suppose in a novel like Brown's, one gets the feel as to what the author is proposing as actual history and what elements constitute mere storytelling. It appears that Brown wants his novel to be more of a historical novel than a true fictional novel (why else the FACT page at the beginning?)

My main problem with Preaching Another Jesus, is the author's heretical views on Christian dogma or more specifically the Holy Trinity. For this reason, I would caution lending this book to a non-Christian friend, because while escaping one pitfall, one may be lead into yet another. However, for the secure believer, the book is a fun short read (however pricey).

PREACHING ANOTHER JESUS is the first Apostolic (Oneness) response to Dan Brown's controversial bestseller, THE DaVINCI CODE. With over 8 million copies in print (and a major motion picture on the way) Brown's book has led many casual Christians into doubt about their faith, and has led just as many non-Christians to become curious about the fanciful "history" his book presents. In both cases, I regard the popularity of THE DaVINCI CODE as an opportunity to witness the truth of Christ.

My book is a newly expanded edition of my teaching series from Christian Life Center (Worcerster, MA) which directly and openly addresses each of Dan Brown's ten major assertions:

1. The earliest original Christian gospels were suppressed by the Vatican.
2. The four Gospels of the New Testament (as we know it) were actually very late additions to scripture.
3. The original ("Gnostic") gospels celebrated the "sacred feminine" and encouraged a matriarchal society.
4. Jesus was married to Mary Magdalene.
5. The Apostle Peter was ousted from Power, when Jesus appointed his wife as the sacred leader of his "feminist" church.
6. The Old Testament also celebrates the "sacred feminine" and features appearances by God's female equal, who is called "Shekinah."
7. Constantine invented the Deity of Christ at the Council of Nicea in order to support patriarchal rule and the suppression of women.
8. The Holy Grail, which held the blood of Christ, is a hidden Bible Code referring to Mary Magdalene -- who "held Christ's blood" when she became pregnant with his children.
9. The guardians of this secret are an ancient society called the Priory of Sion.
10. Both the Priory's existence, and Magdalene's impregnation by Jesus Christ can be conclusively proven by a secret message in DaVinci's painting "The Last Supper."

PREACHING ANOTHER JESUS is different in nature from the several other DaVINCI CODE "responses" which preceded it, in that it is not merely a Scriptural refutation of Brown's claims. Since THE DaVINCI CODE *dismisses* the message of Christ by calling into question the history and authenticity of the Bible itself, I consider the now-popular tendency of using Scriptures to denounce Mr. Brown to be self-defeating. In order for this book to be of value to sceptics, and not only to Christians seeking reinforcement for something they already believe, I felt it necessary to approach matters from a historical perspective as well as a theological one. I feel I am able to dispel many of Brown's most convincing arguments at the source by demonstrating the manner in which he reshuffles historical events and confuses or misquotes ancient texts in order to support that viewpoint.

The current edition of PREACHING ANOTHER JESUS available through Amazon includes numerous illustrations -- including the little-seen but highly telling DaVinci pencil sketch for the Apostle John in "The Last Supper" which should permanently dispel any lingering idea that the hard-to-discern figure in the crumbling fresco is a woman!

I think the point that the previous reviewer has missed completely is that ALTHOUGH -The Davinci Code- IS Fiction, Dan Brown HAS REPEATEDLY claimed that it is NON-FICTION. I've read at least a half-dozen interviews with him where he talked about all the research he did, and said all the historical facts in his book were TRUE. The impression he has left with MOST PEOPLE is that the only fictional part of the book involves the manner in which the "facts" wre discovered (by the fictional detectives and scholars in his book, or by him personally in real life). Not only does Dan Brown claim that his history is all true (when it clearly isn't) and that he himself is now 100% convinced by his own discoveries (at least once he has said he was a "new believer" or something to that effect) he has also helped franchise the historical lie of Mary Magdalene as the Grail. The primetime TV special about -the Davinci Code- book presented all Brown's history as fact, and Brown's book has resurected the ridiculous and hugely inaccurate "history" book -Holy Blood Holy Grail- which not only claims to be full of facts but is openly marketed as non-fiction!! Just because -the Davinci Code- has the word "fiction" printed in tiny letters on the dust jacket doesn't relieve the fact that it is being marketed as NON-fiction. I read an earlier version of this particular "response" which was getting handed around to all the pastors in my (church) district, and the original title didn't even mention -the Davinci Code- it was just called -Preaching Another Jesus- and it used the popularity of the Dan Brown book as an opprtunity to address a number of very untrue and un-Christian claims which are becoming WELL KNOWN because of -the Davinci code- but were ALREADY published by other writers beforehand. I'm curious what is different about this version, or if it's mostly the same book dressed up for a nat'l audience (the edition I got was just plain text and staples!) But I thought this book was very fair in only answering points which Dan Brown or others have distinctly presented as FACT. I heard a response to -the Davinci code- by "The Bible Answer Man" on his radio show, where he was just sort of mean and spiteful without any agenda. I specifically remember that "TBAM" REFUTED the way one of the fictional characters drank their tea! To me, that's just petty and cheap. This book (-Preaching Another Jesus-) has a little sting, too, but's it only because the book presents SO MUCH evidence... it's like watching someone have their story shredded by an attorney on cross examination until they just look ridiculous. This book (or at least the earlier version I read) made Dan Brown's (and others') stories look ridiculous. Well, they ARE ridiculous.

I have no idea what the fuss is all about. Dan Brown clearly states his book is a 'novel', fiction. I have not witnessed any person or persons trying to pass it off as non-fiction. As a person who usually hates history I found this book an excellent source of history facts that made it fun-learning and just opened my mind to taking a different view. [...]The bible is fiction too people and is less believable than Dan Brown's DaVinci Code

I find all of these "responces" to Dan browns book to be ludicris! The Davinci Code is a novel people, a work of fiction. If it causes anyone to investigate history, art, or heven forbid their faith, that is terrific! The more educated you are about religion, it's history, art, and world influence, the better armed you will become against those who will try to sell fiction as fact. Mr. Brown has not tried to sell his story as fact, rather he call what he has written a "novel" a work of fiction. Please do your homework before buying anyone's stories as fact, even if it is your pastor/priest/rabbi/mulla 's story.

I'm not sure what the fuss is about. The Bible is also a fictional work!