Customer Reviews

The Da Vinci Deception

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

With all due respect to previous reviewers who may have glanced at this book,Opus Dei is NOT a monastic order and has zero monks.
Dead Sea Scrolls are Jewish and make zero reference to Jesus OR Xty. There was NO Vatican in the "early centuries of Xty." not until 12th century, a fact explained concisely with precision in Deception Q+A format. Easy to check and a quick read. Just the simple fact that the Church venerates (not worships) the Blessed Virgin Mary completely displaces all DVC claims that the Church suppressed women.Myth after manufactured,conjured misleading 'facts' are dispelled.Another key fact recalls that the earliest Christians DID believe Jesus was divine, 250 years before Nicea! There are no rabbits appearing from Brown's hat just $$$$ into his hat. A brief look(as this book aptly explains) at the New Testament itself mentions Jesus as God's Son over 100 times and early Christian writers Ignatius,Justin Martyr, Irenaeus and Tertullian as well.Christ's humanity is very clear in the Gospels not the Gnostic writings, but the New Testament. Christ bleeds real blood, cries tears at the death of his friend Lazarus,desires to share Passover with his friends,the Apostles and so on. Great for subway,bus,doctor appointment waiting room times. Best book for the price and info. This book exposes countless deceptions and provides the facts without clutter.

This is not "is not, is too" writing, as one reviewer has allueded.

Here's a snippit to show this:
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QUESTION: But the Da Vinci Code says the bible evolved though countless additions and revisions. After all, there weren't printing presses or copy machines in the ancient world. How do we know that the New Testament we have today is an accurate representation of the original NT?

ANSWER: Let's compare the NT manuscript traditions to the second best attested work of antiquity: The Iliad, the ancient Greek epic by Homer. Homer wrote The Iliad around 800 BC, but we have no original manuscript of the work. Or modern day editions of this classical work are based on manuscripts that date from long after Homer's lifetime. Of the approzimately 650 extant manuscripts of The Iliad, the oldest dates from around AD 200 to 300 - about 1000 years after Homer's lifetime! Nevertheless, most scholars recognize that these very late copies of The Iliad are reliable representations of Homer's original work, even through they date from more than a millenium after Homer himself.

The New Testament has a much stonger manuscript tradition than The Iliad. First, there are many more ancient manuscripts of the New Testament: we have well over 5000 manuscript copies of the New Testament in whole or in part. Second, these manuscripts are much closer in date to the originals. The New Testament was written within the first century AD, and we have copies of some of those New Testament writings within just a few decades after they were composed.

We have fragments and major portions of individual New Testament books dating from the second and thrid centuries, AD, and we ahve bond copies of the entire NT from the 4th and 5th centuries. So there are only 200 to 300 years between the copies and their original manuscripts. But with the very reliable Iliad, there's a 1000 year gap between Homer and the earliest extant copies of the work. Therefore the NT has a much stonger manuscript history than any other work of the ancient world.

QUESTION: Okay. But how do we know these NT manuscripts faithfully represnent the original texts?

ANSWER: Because when you place those 5000 or so existing NT manuscripts side by side, they match up almost perfectly. It's importaint to note that these manuscripts were copied by many different people, from various parts of the world, at different times. Yet scholars have shown how these 5000 copies are 99.5% a match with each other on all major points. There may be some minor variations in terms of spelling or word order or vocabulary, but nothing that changes the sense of a particular verse or passage - nothing affecting matters of doctrine or morals.

This remarkably low rate of variation between the thousands of NT manuscripts should not surprise us. Remember the early Chritains who passed on the Scriptures were copying the sacred texts they used fo rteachign, praying and worship. Indeed, they believed they were copying the very Word of God Himself. These manuscripts were copied with great care and reverence. In sum, the NT is the most relyable text we have from antiquity...

If the New Testament is not trustworthy, then no writings from the ancient world can be considered relyable - not Cicero, not Homer, not Plato, not Caesar. If we can't trust the NT manuscripts, then all university history and classics departments across the country should be shut down because they have no relyable documents from which to teach!
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Buy this book. It's one of the best I've seen on this matter.

I own and have read several similar books by both Catholics and Protestants.
This is one of the best. It uses a Q and A format to present Brown's errors and then uses legitimate scholarly sources to refute them.
The book is a very easy read but provides enough "meat" so that you are not bored.
The authors do not talk down to you and they don't overwhelm you with information.
They also do a great job of providing you with their sources so that you can verify what they have told you. This is something that is severly lacking in Brown's book, His charectors are are always referring to experts that are unnamed.
The reason I gave this 5 stars was that 5 was the most I could give.

This book was a gift from a friend, and before I read it, I didn't have a solid opinion either way on the Da Vinci Code. This book really takes you through all the major points and shows why it's not only important for Catholics to stand up against the Code, but how to do it. It's fast-paced, witty, and a great read! Parishes should buy these to give to their parishioners!

I would recommend this book to anyone over the age of 13. The authors also have a ton of free resources on their website at www.davinciantidote.com.

An easy-to-read format! Instead of preaching at you all throughout, the book takes commonly asked questions and then answers them for you. This book is a must-have for anyone who is unfamiliar with the antiquity of the Church or who has questions about the Dead Sea Scrolls, Mary of Magdala's role in Christianity (and history in general), the Nag Hammadi, or Dan Brown's credibility in the claims he makes in his novels.

Something else I like about this is the fact that they priced it reasonably so it was obtainable for all. There is no fancy binding here and they are not trying to make a profit off of this book. Rather, they are trying to spread the message that Dan Brown's book, The Da Vinci code is false in most all of its claims.

Good Catholic Book, Great Response to The Silly Da Vinci Code Phenomenon, A Slanderous, Libel book, Why is it Okay to Bash Catholics? Especially in America? Let's not Forget The Church(Catholics) Were the First Chosen Christians,The only reason for the split is due to the reformation and many splinter groups and myths. The Da Vinci Code "Novel" is not only ANTI-CATHOLIC but Anti-Christian.. And this Response to it along with credible others sheds light on it for the weak minded.

The Da Vinci Deception by Mark Shea, Dr. Edward Sri, and others is a concise guide, from a Roman Catholic point of view, of the errors in Dan Brown's popular and notorious novel, The DaVinci Code. It is written in an FAQ format. Not much depth here and nothing new that cannot be found in the myriad of other tomes written in response to author Brown's mediocre and poorly researched novel. If this book does have one advantage it is that in answering frequently asked questions about assertions made in The DaVinic Code it does get quickly to the point. If you want a book that will get you up to speed in answering friends and acquaintances that take the notions in Brown's novel seriously, The Da Vinci Deception by Mark Shea, Dr. Edward Sri, et al, this is the book for you.

With all due respect to Reech, I refuse to believe that he/she has even looked at this book. If you wish to see the depth of analysis, check out all her/his reviews. This book is pretty well documented and sets the record straight on several of the big oopsies in the Da Vinci Code. As for the "get over it, it's only fiction" argument, many is not most of the people reading Da Vinci Code believe it to be full of facts. [...]

Presented by the indignant but scholarly editors of the Catholic Exchange" this excellent 130-page treatise exposes in forthright terminology the shoddy "research" and creative liberties taken by author, Dan Brown (THE DA VINCI CODE). Despite his flagrant anti Christian bias readers can well imagine the controversial author weeping all the way to the bank--thanks to phenomenal book sales and movie rights/attendance. He deserves kudos for stimulating a mass resurgence of interest in the birth of Christianity, by means media manipulation-fiendishly reshuffled and disguised as the Truth, for the edification and moral confusion of less scholarly believers.

In a readable, easy-to-digest format of 100 questions, presumably posed by bewildered and frustrated Christians, this slender volume offers the historical truth and Biblical basis regarding the founder (Jesus Christ) and the foundation (the Bible) of the Christian faith. Revealed for the flamboyant but shabby scholar he was, Brown emerges as a literary villain in his own right; he attempts--and nearly succeeds--to smear the Church--with particular venom directed toward the Vatican. Using techniques to confuse and brainwash interested readers Brown manages to vilify a noble institution, thereby causing lukewarm Christians to question their own faith. Opus Dei? Try, Opus Satanica! Despite its pious but smugly anti- Protestant bias this book (reminiscent of a mini Catechism) ranks as a crucial read for all those who have swallowed the distorted version of Brown's admittedly clever novel and/or have enjoyed the chilling but twisted movie. The Truth is not just "out there." It is right here!

After reading the Da Vinci Code novel by Dan Brown, I had concerns and started researching the supposed facts and historical basis for the book. I discussed the novel with some individuals and found that people believed that the fiction of the book is actual historical reality. Some people actually admitted that it impacted their Faith. During my research, I found the Da Vinci Deception. I found an intelligent Catholic book that contained all the information I was searching for. Christians need to have their knowledge of history and Faith strengthened and this book will show the truth about Jesus, Mary Magdalene, the Gospels and many of the other questions that may be raised by the current attacks against Christ's Church.