can the davinci code please be explained for someone not a scholar to understand?
345469
Basically, Jesus was a man, who married Mary and had children.  His bloodline survives to this day.  The Holy Grail is not a chalice of any sort, it's his and Mary's descendants.  The Catholic Church thought it would be best to keep this hidden from the public, and to also turn Mary into a whore so that people would lose respect for her, the position she held as the wife of Jesus, and for women as a whole.  It also goes on to explain how the Catholic Church has used it's position to change actual history and have us raised to believe in stories that in fact didn't happen.  \n\nReally, just read the book.  Twice if you have too.  Besides being entertaining and a very good read, it leaves you with lots to think about.  Being raised a Catholic and having doubts about my beliefs for years and years now, this book was a real kick ..........
479402
If you do a little anthropological or sociological research on religions, you will learn that *all* religions require rituals (or sacred ceremonies) and priests (or other officiants) to perform those rituals.\n\nAs for "The DaVinci Code" ... Its a work of **fiction**!  Ie, not real.
500917
The scientist believe that Davinci was just more than a artist, they believed he was one of the most intellegant people of his time. They believe he encoded all of his works (paintings, sculptures, etc) with some sort of code that modern man is not able to break at this time. They belive Davinci had the answers to some of the most asked questions.
908845
How much proof can there be for a book writen under the auspices of a pagan roman emperor who worshiped the sun God to his death.\n\nEven The four gospels were not written by the apostles.\n\nThey were written close to the end of the first century long after the apostles were dead and gone. The john who wrote revelations was not the apostle john. He was a poor man kept in prison so long that he simply lost his mind and started to imagine a vengeful God who would punish his captors and anyone like them.\n\nThe bible was created 2 centurys later by the roman empire to change the message of Jesus to something that the Romans found more acceptable.\n\nThis is why it is often difficult to understand. The message of Jesus on the other hand is elegant and simple to understand. You need to separate the message that Jesus left for us from all of the nonsense that the Romans overlaid it with and it will start to become quite easy to understand.\n\nDon't take my word for any of this. Study biblical history for your self and draw your own conclusions. There are many good books on this subject by some intelligent and thoughtful people. Take advantage of their efforts. \n\nEmail if you are interested and I will send so suggested reading material.\n\nLove and blessings.\nDon
583358
I don't see why not. Surely Christians are capable of distinguishing between truth and fiction. Just because the DaVinci Code has a high degree of verisimilitude and is virtually impossible to prove untrue (not being composed of scientifically verifiable statements) doesn't mean it's the TRUTH.\n\nOr does it?
599437
It is a major puzzle, no one is quite sure. See the attached article for more details...
402425
No...and I believe the following will enlighten you to some of the falsities of The Da Vinci Code.  It was a very good book, and I enjoyed it, but remember, it's fiction.  It's not a historical account, a classroom text, or any other nonfiction work.  It does not have to be (and is not) true.\n\n\nThe Da Vinci Code, the Catholic Church and Opus Dei\nA response to The Da Vinci Code from the Prelature of Opus Dei in the United States. \n\nApril 17, 2006 \nMany people are intrigued by the claims about Christian history and theology presented in The Da Vinci Code. We would like to remind them that The Da Vinci Code is a work of fiction, and it is not a reliable source of information on these matters. \n\nThe Da Vinci Code has raised public interest in the origins of the Bible and of central Christian doctrines such as the divinity of Jesus Christ. These topics are important and valuable to study, and we hope that interested readers will be motivated to study some of the abundant scholarship on them that is available in the non-fiction section of the library. \n\nThose who do further research and exercise critical judgment will discover that assertions made in The Da Vinci Code about Jesus Christ, Mary Magdalene, and Church history lack support among reputable scholars. By way of example, The Da Vinci Code popularizes the idea that the fourth century Roman emperor Constantine invented the doctrine of the divinity of Christ for political reasons. The historical evidence, however, clearly shows that the New Testament and the very earliest Christian writings manifest Christian belief in the divinity of Christ. Other examples of discredited claims presented in The Da Vinci Code can be found in this FAQ from Catholic Answers or at the US Bishops' website, www.jesusdecoded.com. For those who are willing to take the time to get to the bottom of the issues raised in The Da Vinci Code, we recommend reading The Da Vinci Deception, De-Coding Da Vinci, or The Da Vinci Hoax. \n\nWe also want to point out that The Da Vinci Code’s depiction of Opus Dei is inaccurate, both in the overall impression and in many details, and it would be irresponsible to form any opinion of Opus Dei based on The Da Vinci Code. Those interested in learning more about the real Opus Dei may wish to read What is Opus Dei?, by Dominique LeTourneau, or Uncommon Faith, by John Coverdale. For those interested in further information about the various false impressions The Da Vinci Code gives of Opus Dei, please continue reading. \n\nPlease let us know if you need someone to speak about Opus Dei for a panel or other event about The Da Vinci Code -- we may have a speaker available in your area.  Also, free resource downloads for study groups and parishes are available from the group, Da Vinci Outreach.\n\n\n1. Opus Dei and monks \n\n\nThroughout The Da Vinci Code, Opus Dei members are presented as monks (or, rather, caricatures of monks). Like all Catholics, Opus Dei members have great appreciation for monks, but in fact there are no monks in Opus Dei. Opus Dei is a Catholic institution for lay people and diocesan priests, not a monastic order. \n\nOpus Dei’s approach to living the faith does not involve withdrawing from the world like those called to the monastic life. Rather, Opus Dei helps people grow closer to God in and through their ordinary secular activities. \n\n“Numerary” members of Opus Dei – a minority – choose a vocation of celibacy in order to be available to organize the activities of Opus Dei. They do not, however, take vows, wear robes, sleep on straw mats, spend all their time in prayer and corporal mortification, or in any other way live like The Da Vinci Code’s depiction of its monk character. In contrast to those called to the monastic life, numeraries have regular secular professional work. \n\nIn fact, The Da Vinci Code gets Opus Dei’s nature 180 degrees backwards. Monastic orders are for people who have a vocation to seek holi
525865
I wish people would understand that the DaVinci code is just another da*n book!  The author said so himself! It's not based on any fact or anything, it's just the writers imagination!  Some people need to stop taking the movie and the book so seriosly, it wasn't supposed to be this way!
483801
Obviously, proof is a little hard here. It is quite impossible for anyone to PROVE they know anything about this topic.\n\nTry reading Dante's "The Divine Comedy". It is quite intriguing to say the least.
198026
It's about how there is some belief that one of Jesus' apostles was actually a woman and how there are clues to this being true within Leonardo DaVinci's artwork. Apparently this was a HUGE secret in the past because the church did not want to include women as important figures in the Bible, and supposedly an elite group in Italy knows the truth and passes it along through the generations in different ways (DaVinci passing along the info within his art)
499047
I just saw the film.\n\nThe part about how Christianity took pagan beliefs and mixed them in is correct. The fact that Constantine changed the religion (at least to a degree) is correct.  In fact when he ruled that in order to hold government office you had to be a Christian he managed to turn a bunch of pagans into Christians (in name only) over night.  Their underlying pagan beliefs remained the same, they just changed their title.\n\nThe part about the museum having bathroom windows that can be opened is absolutely false. Nor does the museum have bar soap that you can stick a GPS tracer into, they have liquid soap in the bathrooms.\n\nThe Priory has been pretty much determined to be a fraud. (Discovery Channel ran a series of shows which demonstrated this.) Of course, the paranoid will say that the "fraud" is just a cover story and it is exactly what the Priory wants you to think so that they stay secret.  \n\nThe idea that the "royal bloodline" filters down to one and only one woman in Europe seems pretty unbelievable. The Merovingians had many kids, there would have to be several thousand Merovingians by this point in history.\n\nThe idea that Jesus and Magdelene were married, well, not much proof one way or the other. Even if they were, it is that thing about rising from the dead that still sets things apart.\n\nOne idea that I don't think most people have considered is the possibility that the entire DaVinci Code movie and book might just be designed as a meme (brain virus as it were). Designed to "inject" the concept of this bloodline into the populace. Then, when the time is ripe, "they" will unveil a person who is supposedly the descendant in question whom "they" want to setup as a One World Leader.\n\nFrankly I think there is more "fact" in "The Norman Rockwell Code".
519225
I don't like the fact that some people are reading it as fact when it is fiction. The man who wrote it(Dan Brown) was charged with plagiarism. I haven't cracked the book but know someone who is reading it but aren't taken in by it's lies. I find it just as abusurd as the supposed "book of judas."  \n\nHere is one of the lies of this book and the truthfull answers to it.\n\nThe Da Vince Code says...\nIn 325 the council of Nicea decided by vote to make Jesus divine. "Until that moment in history, Jesus was viewed by His followers as a mortal prophet." It was a close vote at that.  P.233\n\nFACT:\nThe council, of which we have the historical writings and decisions, had mothing to do with the divinity of Jesus. They were didscssuin Arius, who had begun teaching that Jesus was not eternally co-existent with the father but was divine, The discussion was around whether Jesus was eternally co-existant with the father not wherether Jesus was divine. The close vote.... was almost 300  to  2. WE WOULD call that a landslide in today's English. Consider these Verses.\n\nMatt 16:16  Simon Peter answered and said, "You are the Christ, the Son fo the living God" NKJV\n\nMark 15:39  So when the centurion, who stood oppostie Him, saw that He cried out like this and breathed His last, he said,"Truly this Man was the Son of God!"\n\nLuke 4:41   And demons also came out of many, crying out and saying. "You are the Christ, the Son of God!?\n\nJohn 10:33  The Jews answered Him, saying, "For a good work we do not stone You, but for blasphemy, and because You, being a Man, make Yourself God."\n\nJohn 20:28  And Thomas answered and said to Him, "My Lord and my God!"\n\nThe Da Vinci Code says...\nThe church demonized the sacred feminine and the goddess by reaching teh concept of original sin, "whereby Eve tasted the apple and caused the downfall of the human race." P238\n\nFACT:\nThe Bible actually blames Adam much more that Eve and nowhere does the Bible mention an apple, merely fruit.\n\n! Cor 15:21-22  For since by man came death, by Man also came the resurrection of the dead.  22.  For as in Adam all\ndie, even so in Christ all shall be made alive.\n\nRom 5:12 Therefore, just through one man sin intered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned-\n\nSo if they read the Bible they will see that the Da Vince Code is a joke. The fact that it is a novel: n. a fictious prose narritive of considerable length... fictious: adj. \n1. created or assumed for the sake of concealment; false.\n2. of or consisting of fiction; created by the imagination.\n\nThese definitons came from Websters Dictionary not something I made up.
674335
BASIC SYNOPSIS OF THE DA VINCI CODE:\n\nThe Da Vinci Code directly challenges many essential Christian beliefs, claiming the Bible is unreliable; the resurrection of Jesus is mere mythology; Jesus was married to Mary Magdalene and they had a child; descendants of Jesus are still alive today; and a secret society guards this “truth” about Jesus, Mary Magdalene, and their descendants.\n\nClaims of this magnitude certainly need solid evidence to support them, something not found in The Da Vinci Code.  As a matter of fact, historical evidence serves to refute these claims.  For example, Dr. Bart Ehrman at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill states, “Not a single one of our ancient sources indicates that Jesus was married, let alone married to Mary Magdalene.”\n\nDespite the fact that The Da Vinci Code belongs squarely in the category of fiction, there is a very real danger that with millions of people either reading the book or viewing the movie, many will accept the story’s theories about Jesus as truth.  Skeptics are already using these conspiracy theories to support their arguments that the Christian faith is founded on mere myth.
1139381
I have no clue as to the story you've spoken of. \nIf you began to research, and have begun to read the bible in search of this tale.. why not continue reading the bible, and get the true answers you're seaching for. You may not even be aware of the right question.. but your answer awaits you, in God's word.
480865
The secret behind the Da Vinci Code is that it's claims are flat wrong and that the major basis of has already been proven bogus and manipulated.  \n\nIt tried to disprove the bible.  Dan Brown claims that:\n\n-"The Bible is a product of man...not of God." (Page 231)\n-"The New Testament is false testimony." (Page 345)\n-"The New Testament is based on fabrications." (Page 341)\n-"The Bible... has evolved through countless translations, additions, and revisions. History has never had a definitive version of the book." (Page 231)\n\nIs there a woman in Leonardo’s Last Supper?\nLet’s do the math. Jesus and twelve apostles (all men) = 13 people. That’s how many people are in the picture. If Leonardo wanted Mary Magdalene in there, he would have to paint 14 people. \n\nLet’s do the history. The Last Supper was painted to decorate a dining room of a group of Dominican friars. Anyone of them was surely capable – especially when the painting was fresh and new – of noticing and asking why a woman was in the painting. But there is no record of anyone thinking that the figure to Jesus’ right was anyone but St. John because St. John was usually portrayed as a beardless, “pretty” rather than handsome youth. This “prettiness” was the artist’s way of highlighting his youth.\n\nLog on to www.wga.hu, click on Enter Here, click on “B” under “Artist Index,” scroll down and click on Bassano, Jacopo, scroll down his paintings and click on his Last Supper to get an enlarged view and see another young and “pretty” St. John.\n\nOr just think of Jeffrey Hunter playing Jesus in the “King of Kings” for a modern counterpart.\n\nAllow me to refer you to websites that would provide answers to your questions.
45252
Ok, I could find very complicated explanations and then I found this one.  Hopefully it will help.  Read it carefully.
434024
Contrary to what a lot of Englightened people on here will have you think, the Bible isn't just for scholars or spinners. If it is true, the Bible is God's Word to man, then I think it is safe to take the book at face value assuming that most people were quite illiterate at the time of its first use. \n\nGod would not make his only word to man undicipherable to all, save the rich intellects of the world. This seems like the biggest, most obvious trap, out there! The rich have the key to salvation, but of course they do! The rich Europeans, to take it even further and make it better! Give me a flippin break. This is getting stupid.\n\nThis is one of the major "flaws" in the entire idea of the Bible being God's Word. Does God not know that most people on Earth are hardly literate, can't understand Hebrew or Aramic, and by inspiring a 3,000 plus page text, he has put the salvation of nearly everyone on earth in the hands of a very few who can actually READ who came from Europe and were bent on ruling the world at all cost??! Impossible for God to do such a thing to 90% of the rest of his own creation!\n\nSo, read the Bible just as it comes to you. Yes, God asked God why he forsakened himself. That is the surface interpretation, no spin. Unless your parents could afford to send you to private school, where they teach you how to spin, I mean interpret the Bible, or unless you were born into Christianity where there are churches all around you that teach these spin techniques, you would never know that when you read page 2,198 in the Bible, that it is ACTUALLY refering to page 1,328 which REALLY means what page 498 said in the third paragraph referring to page 20.\n\nThe logical or face understanding of the text, is that God called out to himself(strange indeed), in a manner that seemed  much like begging of himself to help himself. It's ridiculous.