Why are Christians scrambling to defuse the popularity of DaVinci Code?
493604
I'm not scrambling, although I do find the concept of the movie offensive.  What you wish to fill your mind with is your choice, but it saddens me that people will grasp at any fantasy one of these pseudo-intellectuals spins rather than the truth that a loving God has placed within your reach if you would only seek Him.
931540
I didn't know that Christians are afraid of the DaVinci Code.  Everyone knows that it's all fiction.
450518
it's a good entertainment but it is filled with falacies, lies and evil.  \n\nthe book is a fiction but the author continued to claim that it is based on historical fact.  what's so funny is that the book can't produce solid evidence of its claims.  on the contrary, there are even more evidence that would show that the book and its basis is bogus.  \n\nCatholics should be concerned about the book because it not only misrepresents their Church as a murderous institution but also implies that the Christian faith itself is utterly false.\n\nOther Christians should also be concerned.  Only some of the offensive claims of The Da Vinci Code pertain directly to the Catholic Church. The remainder strike at the Christian faith itself. If the book's claims were true, then all forms of Christianity would be false (except perhaps for Gnostic/feminist versions focusing on Mary Magdalene instead of Jesus).\n\nIt isn't a defense to say that The Da Vinci Code is a work of fiction. Fiction can't change the basic facts about major historical figures without being subject to criticism. People would be outraged if Doubleday printed a novel portraying Adolph Hitler in a positive light. Christians have a right to be outraged when the basic historical facts about Christ are falsified. The criticism will be even more intense when a publisher releases a book parodying the most sacred beliefs of others in this fashion.\n\nThe author and the publisher  have gone to great lengths to mislead people into thinking that the novel has a historical basis. They deserve especially sharp criticism for this, and when criticism is made they cannot hypocritically hide behind the "It's just fiction" allegation after having made such extensive efforts to convince the reader that it is not "just fiction."
591175
The Da Vinci Code, the movie, is based on a FICTIONAL book, so the whole big stink is being made over someone's imagination.  Yes, little facts are mixed in here and there, but freaking out and saying the movie is an attack on faith is ridiculous.  At the very least, the movie should be encouraged because it motivates people to THINK, to examine their beliefs...regardless of how good or bad the acting may be.  Additionally, as for people being upset that some believe Christ married, it should be pointed out that NO WHERE in the Bible is marriage considered a sin.  Rather, the union between man and woman through marriage (made official in that time by sexual intercourse) is considered a GIFT from God. :-)\n\nAs for Pirates...WOO HOO!  I can't wait to see it!
380079
No.  It is interesting to me that the same people who bash Christians and deny the authority of the entire Bible are always the first to jump on the latest theological bandwagon as long as it runs contrary to accepted beliefs.  Take for instance the Divinci Code.  Now the hot topic is the gospel of Judas.  It reminds me of the way Hollywood is quick to make movies about the powers associated with the devil and demons, but rarely makes one portraying God's side of the picture.  How many horror movies have been made about demons?  How many movies have been made about Christian faith?  Beware of the latest fad -ALWAYS!  To me the good news about the latest debate is that anyone seriously engaged in it, has already admitted some very basic truths.  Namely that Jesus existed, that he was crucified, that his follower Judas handed him over to the authorities.  Those truths have never been in question.  Any historian will tell you that the life of Jesus is THE most well documented event in history.  That in itself should tell you something.
378024
I agree with Donna. The Da Vinci Code says alot of things about Jesus like he was married and had kids that are historically and biblicaly inaccurate. They are blaphemous and it is unfortunate that such a thing has become so popular. Also remember even though there are people who believe the false facts in the Da Vinci Code to be true they are not true and the book is listed as fiction not historic.
1014192
daVinci had nothing to do with this book.  He is a famous Renaissance artist and inventor/engineer.  So he got dragged into this because the author of this book used his name and fame in this work of fiction.  As to the underlying premise, well, the author of "The Da Vinci Code" stole it from other guys, who wrote a couple of books on the subject, one of which is "Holy Blood, Holy Grail."\n\nTheir books are much more credibly written and make the deal sound much more plausible.  How "real" their claims are is anybody's preference.  Baigent et al, the authors, claim that this Jesus was married, probably to Mary Magdelene, was slipped off the cross while still alive, recovered, and he and his family escaped to what would become France.\n\nWell, Baigent and his coauthors do in fact raise some very good questions about the whole traditional story of the lives of Jesus and his crowd.  Things there are not the neat and tidy package that traditional Christians like to think, so to speak.
926422
Don't be deceived my friend by the DaVinci Deception....\nThe Scripture foretold of deceptions like these....\n\n" Now the Spirit speaks expressly that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits and doctrines of devils, speaking lies in hypocrisy..."(1Tim.4:1)\n\nBut there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who shall privately bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, bring swift destruction upon themselves". (2 Peter 2:1),
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
310328
Catholics are not worried about the fiction in the DaVinci Code, we're worried about the foolish who take this story to be word-for-word truth (much like how we fear people who take the Bible for word-for-word truth).
637305
It messes with people's comfort zone.\n\nThe people that have used the bible to control the masses\nhave taught us to never question the content that THEY \nprovided.\nSo most of us are trained to believe that if we use the brain that God gave us, and actually applied critical thinking to the provided bible,--we go straight to hell.\n\nGreat form of control.\n\nAnyway, please remember that King James only printed what King James felt we needed to know.\nHow biased is that?\n\nFurthermore, don't forget that Jesus was indeed a man, with\na penis, and carnal desires.\nHe was only human.\n\nBottom line---If King James had his writers include the books that told the account of Jesus marrying and having offspring, it would not be disputed today.\n\nDoes anyone ever question how the Catholic bible has a full\nten books MORE than the KING JAMES Version?\nWhat is in those books?\nIs there knowledge that KJ wanted to keep from us?\nOr are the Catholics on to something?\n\nAnd by the way, to see a true account of the real King James, see Mel Gibson's "Braveheart".
503287
Christians are pissed off because although the Da Vinci Code is a complete piece of fiction (and marketed as such), the scenario is real and the things they say make a lot of sense and are very plausable.  They complain about it as though the author is telling a true story when in fact it is not.  \nThat being said, it is a very good read.  I recommend it.
1005131
As a Christian I can tell you that those who want to be so very vocal against the gift of Christ are doing so because they are sick and tired of some of our more vocal believers being so insistent on trying to make them believe something that they don't want to believe in.You either accept Christ or you don't.\n\nBut when Bible thumpers run around trying to enforce their beliefs in everything and force their views on everyone then you are going to have people who will fight back and demand you to not only stop but try and give something more then your little book to prove that you're anything more then another nut who got deceived by a magical cult of stories.\n\nYou see?I actually understand their position.
1087736
they believe in deviating from the mainstream christians and plagiarised the bible to have one that suits them
547782
Because they're narrow-minded and stupid. I've read the book too (and I'm CATHOLIC for Christ's sake) and I agree that it is a lovely piece of FICTION. If they can't see that, then I feel very sorry for your friends because they are missing out on a wonderful book.
446861
First, as is obvious from the above comments, people don't read historical documents.  They hear something from a preacher and accept it as true.\n\nSecond, I believe the primary source of the current conspiracy theory on the bible is Chick Publications who do publish actively pamphlets on a Catholic Conspiracy to alter the bible.\n\nThird, in one case a denomination really did edit the bible.  The Jehovah's Witnesses have mistranslated, or from their point of view correctly translated, the bible.\n\nFourth, the Deuterocanonical books are a source of confusion.  Luther removed James, Jude, Revelations, Tobit, 1 & 2 Maccabees, Wisdom, Sirach, Baruch, parts of Esther and Daniel.  Lutherans put James, Jude and Revelations back after the Ecumenical Council at Trent.  The other books remain out of their canon.  The problem comes with the novel idea of sola scriptura.  Like predestination, it lacks any precedent prior to the 16th century.  It is a purely man made, unscriptural doctrine and goes against all prior Christian thought.  However, if you decide to use sola scriptura as your decision tool, then what makes it into scripture matters at a profoundly different level than in the older forms of Christianity because it alters the role of scripture completely.  This means that if you base your appeal on scripture and someone is using a different set, the charge that "they" edited it comes up pretty easily.\n\nThe process of choosing books was in process long before Constantine and was really triggered by the presbyter Marcion's heretical sect forcing orthodox Christianity to look at the books read during the Mass.  The current list was promulgated by Pope Innocent and Damasus following the local synod at Carthage's work and the synod at Hippo Regius and possibly a synod at Rome as well as prior work by other of the Fathers.\n\nConstantine's role was somewhat practical.  The books were in separate form and most congregations could not afford all the books and there wasn't agreement until the year 405 what books should be in it.  His role was to push for a single set of books and that the church spend to get them.  He returned three centuries of seized property of Christians tried and executed for their faith.  He didn't make Christianity the state religion, but in handing back all that property and making it legal, the effect was about the same.\n\nFinally, until the late 19th century many Protestant translations were quite poor.  A simple example of this comes from the "scriptural" Christmas carol.  The verse, "Peace on Earth, good will toward men," is not in the bible.  It is "Peace on Earth toward men of goodwill."  It wasn't really the translator's fault.  They lacked access to the oldest documents, which were in Catholic and Orthodox hands.  When they were permitted access they began retranslating the bible and found that their bibles often matched Catholic bibles.  This triggered a big response in many Protestant denominations because key verses disappeared.  Some extreme denominations lost their justification for existance.  So, it wasn't really "editing," so much as correcting and improving as the textual record improved.\n\nThat, while a long time ago, is retained in the oral traditions and memories of some modern Protestant groups.\n\nLike evolution, arguments about the trinity are arguments about sola scriptura.  Without sola scriptura, the evolution problem disappears as does the trinitarian problem.  If you take sola scriptura to its logical extreme, you have intelligent design, Christomonism, and bibliolatry.
674086
I am in agreement with you...there is no reason to censor the movie... years ago I believe there was also an outcry over "The last temptation of Christ" as well.....religions tend not to be very tolerant of anything that could  possibly contradict any of their version of history or potentially influence people to question the version...... people have to keep in mind that all religions are man made , the bible was written by men ... which logically means that much of what is written in it must be  questioned...or at least  viewed as embellished to suit  the writers preference ......