Comments on "The Da Vinci Code" Under Fire From Vatican Cardinal

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pardon me.  that should've read "of cryptograms."

posted by saul_relative on March 19, 2005 at 7:10 PM | link to this | reply

Hey, SpitFire70,
it'll definitely do that, not to mention opening up the amazing world to cryptograms.

posted by saul_relative on March 18, 2005 at 5:01 PM | link to this | reply

Yes, RAME,
fiction is fiction, speculation, sometimes extrapolation.  Sometimes it hits closer to home than we would like to realize.  And sometimes truth is stranger than fiction.  And we'll probably never know how close to being true Dan Brown's book is.

posted by saul_relative on March 18, 2005 at 5:00 PM | link to this | reply

My brother in law told me about the book
a long time ago and I have yet to read it. I want to make it a priority to do so. If only to broaden my perceptions and opinions.

posted by SpitFire70 on March 17, 2005 at 3:21 PM | link to this | reply

People, even Cardinals, need to realize
that when a book is listed as fiction, that that is just what it is. It was an interesting book, had an interesting story line, but it was just fiction and nothing more.

posted by RAME on March 17, 2005 at 3:07 PM | link to this | reply

Thanks, Ariala, I'll do that.
In the meantime, you might want to look at Baigent and Leigh's Messianic Legacy.  It's an eye opener.  So is the Dead Sea Scrolls Deception.  These guys contend that Jesus was a Zealot, like those that died at Masada.  Interesting, considering that he was tried for sedition. 

posted by saul_relative on March 16, 2005 at 4:14 PM | link to this | reply

If you want to read a really good book on the life of Christ (written way
after his death though) read Desire of Ages by Ellen G. White.  What a beautiful book!

posted by Ariala on March 16, 2005 at 3:28 PM | link to this | reply

I, DarrkeThoughts,
am a firm beleiver in Jesus.  That the man existed, walked this world, was a leader of some sort, all of that.  The rest takes a leap of faith I'll never have.  And if it were proven Jesus married Mary and had children, well, that wouldn't change my beleifs neither.

posted by saul_relative on March 16, 2005 at 3:27 PM | link to this | reply

Quite right, empty_handed_painter.
The Catholic Church has a vast and continuing history of not be broached in doctrine or methodology. 

posted by saul_relative on March 16, 2005 at 3:24 PM | link to this | reply

Ariala, we don't know a lot about Jesus,

save through the writings of the apostles and such (Paul didn't even know Jesus, but he knew James, Jesus' brother).  There are only a couple of legal Roman documents mentioning Jesus.  Also, most other writings concerning Jesus have been subverted or are controlled by the Catholic Church.  What little we have been allowed to see adds little to what we already know of the man.  Son of man?  Yes, he did exist.  Son of god?  Who knows.  Debate is still open.

My personal favorite is that Jesus was the leader of a radical Jewish cult that used psychedelic mushrooms.

posted by saul_relative on March 16, 2005 at 3:22 PM | link to this | reply

He was supposed to have all the trials of any human being, how could he if he was never a parent?  I don't find it so hard to believe that he could have been married or had children.  Nor would it change my faith if he did.

posted by DarrkeThoughts on March 16, 2005 at 2:23 PM | link to this | reply

speculation

although if we were to think that this Yeshua person was human, then we would also have to think that he could have married.

he was a rabbi, and someone brought up the premise that Jewish rabbis needed to be married.

the medieval view is that this was a god in a man's body -- raised birds from the dead as a toddler and pronounced curses on his playmates when they did him wrong.

far removed from what we poor humans are.

Catholicism does not broach opposition.

posted by Xeno-x on March 16, 2005 at 2:09 PM | link to this | reply

saul, it sits on my bed stand so I have yet to read it...I do think the
"church" tried to keep a lot of truth from the people, but I do not believe for a minute that Jesus married Mary Magdalene and all that hog wash.  But, everyone has a right to believe what they want, right?

posted by Ariala on March 16, 2005 at 1:58 PM | link to this | reply

It is fiction, but the research it is based upon may not be, Ariala.
Sensationalist, yes.  Dead wrong, maybe not.  Questionable, certainly.  Debatable, undoubtedly.  Could it all be true?  Yes.  Could the New Testament of the bible be true?  Yes.  Could the Hopis be correct?  You betcha.  No one really knows, but it's nice to see some people keeping an open mind, instead of just relegating the tome to a pile to be burned.

posted by saul_relative on March 16, 2005 at 1:55 PM | link to this | reply

Well, I rarely agree with the Vatican, but this piece of fiction is just
that, fiction.  To take fiction and make it truth is silly, but I guess they say that about anyone who claims to believe in God or religion -- that it's a myth.  Well, if the Vatican starts burning people at the stake like they used to, I'm heading for the hills.

posted by Ariala on March 16, 2005 at 1:48 PM | link to this | reply