Customer Reviews

The Truth Behind the Da Vinci Code: A Challenging Response to the Bestselling Novel

5 star:		(32)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

I just finished reading "The Truth Behind the Da Vinci Code" by Abanes and LOVED it (for reasons I will explain).

But first, and this is hysterical-ABANES INSERTED A CODE INTO THE INTRODUCTION OF HIS BOOK. I couldn't believe it until I noticed certain letters that seemed to make words. And, as I continued to piece together the letters, sure enough, it all created a sentence with a message for readers. I won't spoil it for anyone, but it's there as plain as any code can be. You have GOT to try to figure it out. Way to go Abanes. This shows, at least to me, that Abanes has a sense of humor and is keeping all of this in perspective.

Now, on to the serious critique. Abanes shows in his very concise, fun-to-read, and highly informative book that Dan Brown, for all of the PR on his novel, is not only not a scholar, but actually seems to have deliberately misrepresented key historical documents and historical events. This is shown beyond debate.

One example, is how Abanes pulls two quotes from Brown's novel where a character quotes Leonardo Da Vinci's scathing words supposedly about the Bible (see Da Vinci Code, p. 231). Abanes, however, actually tracked down these citations and shows that in their context they have NOTHING to do with the Bible!!!! There is no way Brown could not have known that Leonardo was not talking about the Bible. It is very clear from the writings.

This is only one example of how the research in this book is phenomenal. I encourage everyone who wants to get into this type of fun stuff to get Abanes' book. I am very, very impressed.

As much as Brown's fans and critics of books like this one from Abanes are screaming about how ridiculous it is that anyone would be troubled about a work of fiction, Abanes smartly documents places where Dan Brown is saying that what he wrote is absolutely true (p. 9). I'd love to see Brown and Abanes in a debate. Now that would be fun.

Despite all the hype surrounding it, the DaVinci Code is really nothing new. For the longest time, enemies of the Christian faith have tried to falsely ascribe its teachings to pre-existing pagan beliefs. Abanes shows the essential differences between pagan and Christian teachings. Decades ago, the feminists had developed an elaborate mythology, not founded on facts, of onetime global goddess worship. This has been repeated by the DaVinci Code, and Abanes exposes the baselessness of this feminist pseudohistory. Likewise, Abanes exposes the long-rejected error of "older" gospels giving an authentic alternative view of early Christianity. Then, besides showing the fact that recognition of the Deity of Jesus Christ long predates Constantine, Abanes also debunks the alleged powers of the Emperor Constantine in enforcing Christian doctrine. Abanes also shows how the persecution of witches has been greatly exaggerated.

In a postmodern culture that often relativizes religious truth, it becomes harder to tell the different between fact and fiction. In the introduction to The Truth Behind the Da Vinci Code, Richard Abanes notes that, "too many readers of The Da Vinci Code have already responded to the novel by trustingly embracing it as historically accurate." (9) Abanes' response is to compare the historical inaccuracies of the novel with the facts.

Richard Abanes groups his analysis into five main categories, each comprising a chapter of his book. These are roughly historical revisionism, the canon of scripture, the Christian view of women, the history of the Priory of Sion, and Leonardo Da Vinci. Each chapter has a very structured order- an introduction, a series of claims by the novel countered with the facts, and a conclusion.

Some will note that the last two chapters aren't so much a defense of Christianity as they are correctives of general history. There's an explanation in Abanes' conclusion. "This is not even a `Christian' issue. The issue is fact versus fiction. Truth verses lies. Accuracy versus inaccuracy. In other words, The Da Vinci Code would still be just as offensive if its misrepresentation of historical facts were used to attack Buddhism, Islam, or any other world religion instead of Christianity." (77)

The great strength of this book, as with other books by Richard Abanes, is the depth of research. Historical research is a skill that Abanes has refined well, in this case to the point of providing facts that many critics haven't uncovered. He's also very straightforward with his arguments. For instance, in discussing Dan Brown's confusion of male and female symbols with Egyptian ones, Abanes asks, "But why would Magdalene be associated with an Egyptian cow?" (47)

Though the book covers many issues, it fails to offer a helpful response to Gnosticism or understanding of the "sacred feminine." It also does not provide any resources for further study of the issues.

The Truth Behind the Da Vinci Codeshows Richard Abanes' strength as a historical fact-checker. Some will find a few of his points irrelevant to defending the Christian faith, and others will find it lacking in some crucial areas, but on the whole he offers an effective response to Dan Brown's novel.

Dan Brown explicitly states in the beginning of his novel "The Da Vinci Code" that "All descriptions of artwork, architecture, documents, and secret rituals in this novel are accurate." In a Today Show interview on June 9, 2003, Brown confirmed that his intention in writing "The Da Vinci Code" was to "challenge certain long-held beliefs or truths about religion." Therefore, those who make claims that "this is only a work of fiction" are clearly uninformed on the issue.

While I've disagreed with Abanes' conclusions in other writings ('Harry Potter and the Bible'), 'The Truth Behind the Da Vinci Code' draws upon documented historical fact rather than Abanes' personal opinion, and thus is the same data provided in numerous other books published to answer Dan Brown's flaw-riddled conspiracy theories.

The reason I recommend this book above the others that I've read ('Breaking the Da Vinci Code' by Darrell Bock, 'Cracking the Da Vinci Code' and 'The Da Vinci Codebreaker' by Garlow and Jones, 'The Da Vinci Deception' by Erwin Lutzer, 'The Da Vinci Code: Fact or Fiction' by Hanegraaff and Meyer, 'Cracking Da Vinci's Code: The Student Edition' by Palmer and Dunn, and 'Fear Not Da Vinci' by Flory, Monroe, and Gasque) is that the information here is concisely presented; Brown's claims are quoted verbatim from 'The Da Vinci Code' and reproduced in shaded boxes (with page references), followed by the facts which contradict Brown's claims. It is an ideal "quick reference guide" for those interested in discussing the issues that "The Da Vinci Code" book and/or movie raises.

Abanes' book is also the only among these volumes I've already mentioned which deals with the person of Leonardo da Vinci to any degree. Da Vinci's own writings tell far more about the Renaissance Man's religious convictions than Dan Brown's imagined "secret messages," and those historical documents are helpfully quoted here.

Again, the facts that Abanes lists here are available in many other books on this same subject, but I recommend 'The Truth Behind the Da Vinci Code' specifically for those who want to learn as many of the facts in as short a time as possible (it's a quick read, at 96 pages with footnotes. Those who care to do deeper research can easily begin an investigation of their own starting with these footnotes, or with some of the lengthier books on the subject.

For the individual who wants to learn what's wrong with 'The Da Vinci Code,' there's certainly no shortage of information available.

Organization of this short response (although more than adequate) is very nice. Abanes starts with a short intro that lays out The Da Vinci Code plot (warning - spoilers present) and highlights how many people are viewing Brown's book as fact - really, as fact (not the general story, of course, but the underlying historical information). This, of course, is what Dan Brown himself believes (as documented by Abanes).

Then, we get 5 short chapters that are laid out in a truly unique way-Abanes first gives a short excerpt sentence or two from Brown's book that provides a historical claim of some kind, then ths is followed up with Abanes' response that pulls from all kinds of sources in order to show just how off base Brown was. The chapters are:

1 - Conspiracy Theories, Mass Confusion, and Rewriting History; 2. Gnosticism, Ancient Gospels, and the Bible; 3 - Mary Magdalene, the Church, and Goddess Worship; 4 - The Grail, the Priory of Sion, and the Knights Templar; 5 - Leonardo, the Mona Lisa, and The Last Supper.

Pretty complete. And one great thing about this book is that Abanes does NOT pull only from Christian or Roman Catholic sources. He actually draws information from Christian, non-Christian, Wiccan, Gnostic and other sources to show that no matter what views you personally take on spirituality, the issue is NOT one's religious beliefs per se, but rather, is truth. He even quotes from scholars somewhat hostile to Christianity, whose work on history in general shows that Brown is simply wrong on so many things.

This one by Abanes is a major eye-opener, and thank God, he does NOT beat you over the head with the Bible (although he does quote when necessary to demonstrate a point). I never felt like someone was preaching at me, but instead I felt like I was simply hearing someone talk to me and show me documents to back up his point.

And, I gotta say, the reading was a breeze. I read it in one day and felt like I had a wealth of information ready to talk to others about The Da Vinci Code. Really interesting style of writing, very refreshing word usage. NOT boring. I enjoyed it very much-and hey, I'm a Dan Brown fan (of his FICTION).

Finally, Abanes didn't attack Brown as a person, or belittle his beliefs. This book just offers the facts and let's people take from it what they want to take from it. He has a particularly enlightening section on the European Witch Hunts. Very, very interesting!

I tried to post this review earlier, but for some reason the review never made it online, so here I go again-only because I believe it is very important that people understand how great a book Abanes has produced.

Abanes is an accomplished author who has stuffed just about all of the information the average person would need to: 1) talk intelligently about The Da Vinci Code; 2) respond to Dan Brown fans who say the novel is based on fact.

Unlike the other responses to Dan Brown, Abanes seems to have wanted to do several different things for different audiences. Christians get information that helps defend Christianity; 2) Roman Catholics get material that deflects the most outrageous claims by Brown; and 3) secular readers get a great crop of facts without hearing any religious preaching.

This is clearly the volume that stands head and shoulders above the other books about Da Vinci. I say this wih no malice, but simply as an observation. Abanes gives the reader all the facts they need to make an informed decision about Brown's book, and without much of an agenda except to get the truth to people. Money will be well-specnt on this book

FAVORITE QUOTES: "Extrico subjectio quod verum ero evidens." (p. 10) "This is not even a "Christian" issue. The issue is fact versus fiction. Truth versus lies. Accuracy versus inaccuracy" (p. 77).

I've been waiting for this book to come out for several weeks and am so glad I finally got it. Many aspects of this book make it a clear winner above similar books.

1. Good pricing
2. Sticks to just the facts
3. Addresses the fascinating aspects of The Da Vinci Code
4. Short -- great bathroom reading (sorry, but its true)
5. Easy to understand
6. VERY quick and to the point
7. Does NOT talk about Dan Brown like he's an idiot
8. Presents some complex historical events very clearly
9. Covers Knights Templar, Priory of Sion, Gnosticism
10. Respects all religions

What I really like about this book is how Abanes so clearly explains wht the Priory of Sion really is. Pictures are included. And his explanations of Leonardo Da Vinci's works are really insightful. I found myself saying, "Well, yeah, that makes sense."

I think the one person who really needs to read this book is Dan Brown. I really like The Da Vinci Code by Brown as a work of fiction. And that's what I now know-it is just that, TOTAL fiction. Abanes has given the reading public a super guide to historical inaccuracies in The Da Vinci Code.

Abanes discusses, among other things, what Dan Brown says about: Tarot, Venus, goddess worship, Gnosticism, the Gnostic Gospels, Constantine, the formation of the Bible, the Merovingian dynasty, the Mona Lisa, The Last Supper, early Christianity, and more-all in 96 pages. Incredible.

Love this book.

This book is a bit of mixed bag. I have listed what I liked/disliked about this book below.

What I liked:
1. This book is concise and to the point
2. It offers a fairly thorough critique of the Da Vinci Code
3. The author's arguments are generally pretty sound. This book does a good job refuting the DVC's arguments.
4. In many ways, this is a good book to hand to a friend who asks "what's wrong with the Da Vinci Code?" It's also a good book to equip yourself to defend the Bible against the false claims in the DVC.

If you were confused by the Da Vinci Code this is worth reading.

What I didn't like:
1. It didn't seem to shed much new light on the issue; I had already heard most of the stuff I had read in it. In all fairness, it is hard to be TOO original on the subject (given how many critiques of the book there are out there), but it seems like if you're going to publish a book you should at least have something to say that hasn't already been said a million times.
2. The writing and format of the book could have used quite a bit of help at times. The format was unimaginative and never varied from the format of a quote/claim from the Da Vinci Code in a gray box followed by a refutation of the claim. The book often read like a "laundry-list" of problems with the Da Vinci Code, which gives the book a "cranked-out" feel, like the author and publisher put little thought into it. The writing isn't always that much better to be honest. It provides a lot of information, but it could have been delivered better. Quite frankly, this book sometimes looks and reads like the author Googled the Da Vinci Code and he and the publishers threw this together in a hurry using Word and a desktop printer.
3. The most serious problem I found with it, though, was that it spends nearly all the time refuting the Da Vinci Code's claims in the negative sense but doesn't always present the truth. Showing that your opponent is wrong is not the same as showing that your position is right. Even if someone is convinced to reject the Da Vinci Code's claims, so what? Unless they are also pointed towards the real Jesus and the real truth contained in the Bible, I don't see how they're much better off than they were before.

In summary, this book is OK at very best, an extremely generous 3 stars. I would recommend "The Da Vinci Code: Fact or Fiction" by Hank Hanegraaff and Paul Meier instead of this book. It is really a much better book. Not only do they refute the main points of the Da Vinci Code, they use this as an opportunity to defend the reliability of the Bible and historic Christianity, all the while pointing people to the real Jesus and challenging people to accept Him. They both refute the DVC in a negative sense and provide the accompanying truth; for example, they refuted the DVC's claims about Jesus' divinity and also defended the fact that Jesus really was who He claimed to be, whereas Albanes' book stops at refuting the DVC. It is also much better written, and the authors put much more thought into their book. Their book has more imagination and creativity, doesn't look like it was slapped together in a week like Albanes' book does, and probably covers more information. Hanegraaff's book is a great evangelistic tool as well; you can give it to your unbelieving friends to help them see that the Bible can indeed be trusted. As I mentioned before, I really wish that Albanes' book had been more clear about presenting the positive truth of the Bible; this would have made it more useful as a witnessing tool I think.

This book is, however, a handy reference tool. The one nice thing about the organization is that, if you can't remember how to refute a specific DVC claim, it makes it easier to find.

Abanes, as well as the many other authors who have responded to "The Da Vinci Code," were recently featured in an online roundtable discussion of Brown's bestseller (...).

As part of this very informative feature, Marcia Ford from Publisher's Weekly gave her assessment of each of the books and picked her favorite one. Abanes came in second place behind Dan Burstein's "Secrets of the Code: The unauthorized Guide to the Mysteries Behind The Da Vinci Code." But interestingly, Burstein's book is "technically not a debunker," according to Ford. It is really "a compilation of writings from people all along the DVC spectrum."

In other words, when it comes to actual books that debunk or refute Brown's The Da Vinci Code, Abanes is the one who has come out on top. Ford describes Abanes' The Truth Behind the Da Vinci Code" as "a quick and thorough read." She also writes the following:

"Yet another short book that contains a lot of information, including, in this case, details about Leonardo's writings and belief system that I don't recall reading anywhere else. Abanes, who really is a recognized expert (see Martin Lunn's dubious credentials) on cults and religions, arranges his highly readable text topically by chapter and according to the specific error within the chapter. It's well-organized and accessible, and yes, there really is a code embedded in the introduction. Abanes correctly identifies the problem with DVC as not a Christian issue: "The most flagrant aspect ... is not that Dan Brown disagrees with Christianity but that he utterly warps it in order to disagree with it --- to the point of completely rewriting a vast number of historical events. And making the matter worse has been Brown's willingness to pass off his distortions as `facts' with which innumerable scholars and historians agree." Amen. (96 pp., including several images of The Last Supper)"

I couldn't agree more with Ford and allow her words to speak for me.

This title by Abanes is an excellent, concise resource for anyone wanting to clarify or verify the claims made in Dan Brown's book, "The DaVinci Code." The format of Abanes' book is a great help, for it lists various controversial areas that Brown addresses then provides an accurate, Christian response. This little volume is a breath of fresh air for the layperson who has been suffocated by the Code's academic-sounding arguments.