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Monday, April 03, 2006

Take a breath...

Before we freak out about The DaVinci Code, know that there are some major flaws to expose in the first place.

This is not intended to be an itemized list of the errors or misinformation that Brown presents (I'm trusting some other books I read will help expose some of those I haven't even thought of) but just some of the biggies I noticed:

1. Renaissance without Reformation. Brown loves the mystique of the Renaissance period, however, he somehow missed a thing called the Protestant Reformation. His attention is placed on the Catholic church, with a few obscure branches of Catholicism. His "cover-up" argument would be greatly weakened if he acknowledged protestantism...for then he has to acknowledge a whole group of churches who oppose one another, but are working together to cover a lie.
2. Only the Priory would benefit? Brown suggests that the Priory are the sole defenders of this truth. But wouldn't many more groups prosper to find that Jesus was not divine and had a child? Wouldn't Islam, Secular Humanism and even Buddhism do well to find Jesus was not the Son of God? It seems the priory should not have to work alone.
3. Dead Sea Scrolls argument is dead. As I mentioned in my review, he says the Dead Sea Scrolls talk about Jesus and that He wasn't divine. Problem is, the Dead Sea Scrolls don't speak of Jesus at all. There's countless stuff like this in the book.
4. Something about Mary. Brown's characters spend significant time establishing that they do not believe Jesus to be divine (nor do they believe He ever claimed to be). They then explain they believe Jesus married Mary Magdalene and had offspring. They swear oaths to protect these offspring and worship Mary as the divine feminine. But why? If Jesus was not divine, what special significance does his wife or children carry? The argument does not hold up...but you aren't supposed to notice that.

Of course, there are many other issues of exagerated numbers and false documentation...it is fiction. But these are a few of the things I believe you could easily refer to when talking to someone about the truth that may exist. In fact, many of these errors are so obvious, you have to wonder if Brown ever meant for the conspiracy to be taken so seriously. Now that it's making cashloads, I can understand the marketing ploy for Brown to pretend it's real. However, a little investigation shows the characters and the setting are quite fictional.

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