Hey Royston
Great to see you after such a long time!
And great question. I was asked just four days ago about this book & had no answer to give except that I knew it contained stuff that was against the Catholic Church.
Thx to Seeker's link, I am shocked to see the
rotten extent Author Dan Brown has gone to!
The problem is that many of the ideas that the book promotes are anything but fact, and they go directly to the heart of the Catholic faith. For example, the book promotes these ideas:
*Jesus is not God; he was only a man.
*Jesus was married to Mary Magdalene.
*She is to be worshiped as a goddess.
*Jesus got her pregnant, and the two had a daughter.
*That daughter gave rise to a prominent family line that is still present in Europe today.
*The Bible was put together by a pagan Roman emperor.
*Jesus was viewed as a man and not as God until the fourth century, when he was deified by the emperor Constantine.
*The Gospels have been edited to support the claims of later Christians.
*In the original Gospels, Mary Magdalene rather than Peter was directed to establish the Church.
*There is a secret society known as the Priory of Sion that still worships Mary Magdalene as a goddess and is trying to keep the truth alive.
*The Catholic Church is aware of all this and has been fighting for centuries to keep it suppressed. It often has committed murder to do so.
*The Catholic Church is willing to and often has assassinated the descendents of Christ to keep his bloodline from growing.
Also got to learn a lot about "Opus Dei" which Author Dan Brown describes in his
"Bizarre True Facts from the Da Vinci Code"243 Lexington Avenue, New York
The Vatican prelature known as Opus Dei is a deeply devout Catholic sect that has become controversial recently due to allegations of brainwashing, coercion, and a dangerous practice known as "corporal mortification." Opus Dei has recently completed construction of a $47 million, 133,000-square-foot American Headquarters at 243 Lexington Avenue in New York City.
This actually is a whole lot of rubbish!! (As is most of the book
) as proved by Opus Dei's web
here (worth a read along with the link Seeker provided)
Perhaps the most riduculous thing of all, is Dan Brown's answer to the question: ARE YOU A CHRISTIAN?
Yes. Interestingly, if you ask three people what it means to be Christian, you will get three different answers. Some feel being baptized is sufficient. Others feel you must accept the Bible as immutable historical fact. Still others require a belief that all those who do not accept Christ as their personal savior are doomed to hell. Faith is a continuum, and we each fall on that line where we may. By attempting to rigidly classify ethereal concepts like faith, we end up debating semantics to the point where we entirely miss the obvious--that is, that we are all trying to decipher life's big mysteries, and we're each following our own paths of enlightenment. I consider myself a student of many religions. The more I learn, the more questions I have. For me, the spiritual quest will be a life-long work in progress.
Yes, very Christian indeed
Blessings on all who've read the book (& those that haven't, praise God),
Melody
The Glorify God Community
Author
