Why is the "Da Vinci" code book so offensive.?
463544
It is a book of fiction . . . but it raises valid doubts . . . in the Christian Cults . . . because Christianity is a work of fiction too . . . .
503407
Have ANY of you actually READ the book? \nI never cease to be appalled at the absolute blindness of the Jesus freaks. Not to mention that not one of you has yet answered the main question posed here.\nYes, the main theory behind the premise of the book is that Jesus has actual blood descendants still alive today. And that there is a secret society whose duty it is to trace the blood line through history and present the knowledge at the right time. \nNow, everyone here loves to just immediately scream "It is fiction!" and "Dan Brown made it up!" Well, if they had ANY idea what they were talking about, then they would know that Dan Brown DID NOT make up the theories presented in the book. The plot of course is his own idea, and is fiction, but the historical background he uses, which is what everyone is upset about, is NOT his idea.\nPlease, folks. Educate yourselves, find out WHAT he wrote. How can you say that what he wrote isn't true, if you don't even know what he wrote?\nBecause most of you have put your brain in the hands of various spiritual leaders, and you have made the conscious decision not to think for yourselves.\nSince my personal belief is that Jesus may have existed, but not as the son of God, then I believe that his blood line could still exist. Does a secret society exist for just this reason? Difficult to believe, but a cool idea.\nAnd because this stuff just really gets me going, I have to say something else. If all of the "Christians" truly believed they are following the One True Religion, and they also believe that every word of the Bible is true (my other favorite subject due to all of the discrepancies in it) why  aren't you showing mercy and compassion for all of the misguided?\nInstead you choose to scream for a banning of the book and a worldwide boycott of the movie. These are the actions of scared people. These are the actions of third world leaders who see their power crumbling. Those who have absolute faith in the truth of their beliefs would only grin, slightly amused, at all the turmoil.
553337
The problem is that too many Christians claim to follow Christ but are scripturally illiterate--they haven't read the Bible they claim to believe. So of course the "Da Vinci Code" would threaten their belief system, because their belief system hasn't been solidified yet. It's kind of like freshly poured cement on a sidewalk--until it's firm, anyone can put any impression into it. Christians need to go back to the source of their belief--the Bible--and then movies like this will be seen for the fiction they really are.
349300
I don't know but it is stupid.  It just perpetuates the image that they want to be rid of.  And it is just offensive for all people.
505723
A Response to "The DaVinci Code": What's the Problem?  \n\nSince its release in 2003, forty million hardback copies of The Da Vinci Code have sold. Six million paperback copies also are now in circulation, and this weekend, a major Hollywood movie will be released. In both the book and the movie, the central character is one who does not actually appear in either, and that is Jesus Christ. Because of that, many of our friends and neighbors are going to be talking about who Jesus is and why He came. Many of our neighbors are going to be seeing, perhaps for the first time, an explanation about who Jesus is and why He matters, and our great concern is that the entire story presented in this movie is a lie. \n\nThe interest in this book and movie should remind us that there is going on right now a spiritual battle, not only between light and darkness, and between the truth and the lie, but also between life and death. Our great concern therefore should not be merely that people might be confused, but that people would be blinded and held captive by a story that appeals to them, and yet a story that is an anti-Gospel, a false gospel, the very thing that the Apostle Paul warned against when he said, "If I or even an angel were to come to you preaching any other gospel, let him be anathema." \n\nYou see, sometimes the church does not remember this, but it is the church's responsibility to anathematize. That is something we don't talk about very much, but it is the church's responsibility clearly to declare as false anything which stands against the true gospel of Jesus Christ. We live in a harmonious age when everyone wants to nod at everything, smile appreciatively at everything, and not pass judgment on anything. In the midst of such an age, however, the church is called to say "no" and to identify the false as false. Otherwise we cannot truly honor the truth. \n\nAuthored by Dan Brown, The Da Vinci Code is a conspiracy story. It is a mystery suspense thriller, and Americans love mystery suspense thrillers. What makes this story different, however, is that the conspiracy theory that lies at the very heart of the book's plotline has to do with the Gospel. What drives the action of the story is the argument that the church's traditional teachings about Jesus are all a fraud. Instead of revealing who Jesus really was and what he really did, the book argues, the church buried the truth in an intentional conspiracy, claimed that Jesus was divine, and said that He had come to save sinners from their sin.\n\nBeginning in chapter 55, Brown gets to the very heart of the story when the central character begins to reveal to another character the truth about the conspiracy. Consider what the character Leigh Teabing says: "The Bible is a product of man, my dear, not of God. The Bible did not fall magically from the clouds, man created it as a historical record of tumultuous times and it has evolved through countless translations, editions and revisions. History has never had a definitive version of the book." \n\nNow if that is true, then we are reading a kind of committee report when we open the Scripture. But it is not true. This is one of those insidious statements that makes sense to sinners, because in effect, that one paragraph has just declared that we do not have to take the Bible as the Word of God. It is just a human document, says the book. \n\nHe goes on: "Jesus Christ was a historical figure of staggering influence, perhaps the most enigmatic and inspirational leader the world has ever seen. As the prophesied Messiah, Jesus toppled kings, inspired millions, and founded new philosophies. As a descendant of the lines of King Solomon and King David, Jesus possessed a rightful claim to the throne of the King of the Jews. Understandably, his life was recorded by thousands of followers across the land. More than eighty gospels were considered for the New Testament, and
151384
Hm attacking the author of a book for his creativity. So the book is fiction. You do realize that there are those that claim your new testament is fiction as well, right? Im might tell you as well not to believe everything you read. Right? I want to know why you think Dan Brown needs professional help, amanochev. What leads you to make such an intolerant and vapid statement? Bred2B, people could say the exact same things about the bible. Pure fantasy. Why is it blasphemous? Its a novel. Dont tell me youre starting to act like someone published a cartoon of sorts...People have freedom of speech and expression. Dan Brown wrote an entertaining book, that millions have enjoyed. Blasphemy? Dont you think thats a wee intolerant...And maybe a little dumb sounding? LIke it could have been said centuries ago? Im just curious. In the meantime, heres a post of mine, I think some of you should read.http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=AqkU6qiSgh7Cn30xkZZXD8fsy6IX?qid=1006022602143\nBeruch hashem
1180218
Because most modern people are idiots. The fact that the Da Vinci Code even exists proves that. Also we have great books like "The Darwin Awards" (great couple of books if you want something to read) that prove beyond a reasonable doubt that most people are idiots.
733301
As Dawkins put it...\n\nThe God of the Old Testament is arguably the most unpleasant character in all fiction: jealous and proud of it; a petty, unjust, unforgiving control-freak; a vindictive, bloodthirsty ethnic cleanser; a misogynistic, homophobic, racist, infanticidal, genocidal, filicidal, pestilential, megalomaniacal, sadomasochistic, capriciously malevolent bully.\n\nWhy would I want to worship that?
657931
Why would you take it seriously though?\n\nIt is fiction, that is like asking if Harry Potter would make Muslims give up their faith.\n\nWhile Dan Brown does site some facts, they are hard facts such as the existence of Opus Dei and facts taken out of context can make any fiction seem real.
1147963
The "Da Vinci Code" is basically a mixture of distorted facts and fiction. I think the book is composed of about 90% fiction.\n\nThe author, Dan Brown, claims in his fact page that all his depictions of artworks, secret societies, and rituals are true. However, his main sources for the his 'facts'--"Holy Blood, Holy Grail" and "Templar Revelation"--are only pseudo-histories. Even the authors of "Holy Blood, Holy Grail" accept that Jesus MIGHT have been married, but it is UNLIKELY.\n\nThe Da Vinci Code supports the claim that Jesus might have been married by mentioning the Gnostic gospels. In reality, the Gnostic gospels don't mention much about Jesus's life. The only Gnostic gospel that suggests that Jesus was married was the Dead Sea Scrolls--but it is impossible to know whether the word "companion" meant "wife," because the words are in Coptic and they can't be translated the way Dan Brown says.\n\nOne more thing Brown claims to be true is that a secret organization, the Priory of Sion, exists to protect the "secrets" of Jesus's real life. The Priory of Sion was NOT created by Godfrey of Bouillon in the 11th century, it was only actually created in the 70s by an anti-semitic supporter of the Vichy government, Pierre Plantard, fir personal gain. He wrote a family tree of the Merovingian royal family and included himself on the list. He also made a list of the "Grand Masters" of the Priory of Sion. A great Renaissance painter, Leonardo Da Vinci, was included in the list. After writing all those documents, Pierre Plantard deposited them in the Bibliotheque Nationale and claimed to have "found" them years later. So the Priory of Sion was actually only a fake organization created by Plantard.\n\nBrown also says that the Church "demonized" Mary Magdalene. But she is actually a saint in both the Catholic and Orthodox churches. The only thing close to "demonizing" Magdalene that the Church did was sometime during the 6th century when Pope Gregory merged three women named "Mary" in the Bible into one person.\n\nOne more thing, Brown says that Jesus's divinity was created by the Council of Nicaea. The Council of Nicaea in A.D. 325 was actually a response to the threat of the Arian heresy, which claimed that Jesus was a semi-divine creature, not of the same being as God. This was quickly becoming a popular belief and threatening the unity of Christianity. \n\nThere are more facts that I can write, but I hope what I did write is enough. Read the books below in the sources.
988691
I can only speak from my personal experience in this life. I have read the bible and I have done some reseach. I have been in church and heard sermons. The conclusion I came to, is that the bible is for the most part a well intentioned spiritual text. It is written by men inspired by that which inspires all human kind. I do not believe it was written by God anymore than the Da Vinci Code is written by God.  Perhaps God wrote both? Perhaps Dan Brown in 1000 years will be considered a prophet of God. Who knows? The world is very crazy place. A person writes a book with certain intentions and before they know it , the world has twisted the message. So, quoting the bible to me as an authority on spiritual matters is a waste of time.  Just my two cents.
1028691
the "scandals" written in the Da Vinci Code have been around for centuries. heck, authors have written books about it since the middle ages. even the author of the Da Vinci Code admits to fudging "facts". it's a book/movie, and a bad one at that. if you believe one book/movie without doing your own research, then you're full of bologna too
493150
Um... It's just a movie. It's pretty unimportant. In fact, I'm a bit puzzled as to why there's so much attention being placed on the issue. All it's doing is getting persons more riled up to see it. Protesters have merely propagated a movie that would have probably been only mildly successful were it given less concern. The Da Vinci code isn't a distraction from Satan. Personally, I think it's just some attempt at stirring people's beliefs and making some good cash in the process. We're always going to be presented with compromising views. It's best to just stick to what you believe in and not be too easily perturbed by 'the others'.
129543
I think censorious people are pretty self-righteous, and probably believe that they are taking offensive books off the shelves for the good of the public.  Makes them feel they are justified, and they get still more self-righteous.  It's a delusion, but not one we can help them with.  We need to fight on the basis of free speech, not on a self-righteous attempt to "cure" self-righteousness!
671379
the plot:  a man gets caught up in a quest to find the "holy grail. Murder, deceit and high states adventure.\n\nThe underlying theme: The Bible is baloney and Christ was a married mortal man and not the Son of God. \n\nIn numerous places in the book scholarly looking persons with fancy degrees go into speeches about how the Bible is a bunch of bunk. To the average person they seem like powerful arguments but in reality NONE of the arguments (some could say blasphemies) about Christ hold up to the facts of History.\n\nWhats Real?\n\nThe names of places, artwork, historical figures, the names of documents like "Q" and the "gnostic gospels"\n\nWhat's false?\n\nEverything else, the conclusions and "facts" presented about the above people, documents, and artwork.\n\nThe book took great liberty with history (AKA LIED) in order to create a scenereo where the Christ of the Bible could be turned into a regular person. \n\nThe book says that a church council gave christ his deity a few hundred years after the fact; when the gospels were written well before that coucil was even a thought. The book also draws heavily on the errors and traditions within the Roman Catholic Church to attempt to discredit the bible. While the Roman Church did bring in pagan idols (re Icons, praying to saints) This does not alter the integrity of the Bible, but merely of the Church, since these things are in violation of the 10 commandments(ye shall have no other gods before me)\n\n\n(spoiler: (from book - i borrowed a copy)\nOne of the characters turns out to be a descendant of Christ, thus "proving" Dan Brown's point.\n\nAt the end, Langden (main character) bows and prays over the bones of Mary Magdaline\n\nEven most critics are giving the movie bad reviews\n\nBottom Line: \nAs a Christian, I cannot justify sending money to a person who tries deceitfully to destroy the Christ I worship.
543124
It's controversial by it's very nature.  However, the book is a piece of fiction, the second in a 3 book fiction series.  It's based upon some real theories perhaps, and it does make people think, but nonetheless it is still fiction.\n\nFor more details, check wikipedia; there's a bit of info about the book.
655666
Nothing, everyone wants to make a fuss over it because it contradicts the bible.  However, the author of the Da Vinci Code says himself that this is fiction.  He made it up, it is a story just like every other movie we watch.  If you want the truth go to the bible.