Breaking the Da Vinci Code: Answers to the Questions Everyones Asking

Dan Browns DaVinci Code is one of the best selling novels in the country. It is also poorly written, with 1 dimensional characters and dialog, and a barely believable story line. So why does it sell so well? The answer is that it attacks Jesus Christ and the church. Attacking the church is one of our countrys favorite pastimes, but this is nothing new. What is new is this wonderful and scholarly book by Dr. Bock. I have read much of the anti DaVinci code literature. This book is by far the best one written from a protestant perspective. This author is a scholar of serious weight, and he has produced a popular and accessible book that is well researched and fair minded. Dr. Bock is a serious Christian, and thus, he does not hate. This book is far better than the truly awful Cracking Da Vincis Code by Garlow and Jones. (stay away from this one... its just as much a pathetic anti-Catholic diatribe as the Da Vinci code itself) I must admit that I found The Da Vinci Hoax by Olson and Miesel to be the best of the bunch in terms of its research and excellence. (However, this one is from a Catholic perspective and I may be biased... I am a Catholic) This book is strongly recommended as a gift for anyone you know, especially protestants, who have been entrapped by Dan Browns propaganda, and for yourself so you can understand why the Browns facts are so very untrue. Dr. Bock has given all of us a great gift with this book. God Bless

All that Dr. Bock seems capable of is mouthing religious ideals. I bought this little book hoping to get a more detailed look into some of the views that were expressed in The DaVinci Code. Instead a got a lecture on how right and pure the early church fathers were and pages of Dr. Bocks defense of his Christian faith. Dr. Bock should confine his writings to church publications and not try to make money off popular best sellers. Rather tacky!

If you loved DaVinci Code or if you hated it, you must admit it did get a reaction from you....which in itself is one definition of a successful novel. Many readers have found themselves more interested in the information detailed in Dan Browns books, and if so, this book is a good choice to begin to learn about the amazing history of the Christian Church. Especially Gnosticism and the early Christian Church, and especially the creation of the New Testament Bible. For a different review....here is my review of books that build on these interests, especially the lost books of the New Testament Bible and the concepts of Gnosticism. Nearly all knowledgeable Biblical scholars realize there have been a wide range of writings attributed to Jesus and his Apostles..... and that some of these were selected for compilation into the book that became known as the Bible.....and that some books have been removed from some versions of the Bible and others have been re-discovered in modern times. The attention focused on Gnosticism by Dan Browns DaVinci Code may be debatable, but the fact is that increased attention on academics tends to be predominately positive, so I welcome those with first-time or renewed interest. At least first-timers to Gnosticism are not pursuing the oh-so-popular legends of the Holy Grail, Bloodline of Christ, and Mary Magdalene. This is great......I seldom quote other reviewers, but there is one reviewer of Pagels books who confided that he had been a Jesuit candidate and had been required to study a wide range of texts but was never was told about the Nag Hamadi texts. He said: Now I know why. The Gospel of Thomas lays waste to the notion that Jesus was `the only begotten Son of God and obviates the need for a formalized church when he says, `When your leaders tell you that God is in heaven, say rather, God is within you, and without you. No wonder they suppressed this stuff! The Roman Catholic Church hasnt maintained itself as the oldest institution in the world by allowing individuals to have a clear channel to see the divinity within all of us: they need to put God in a bottle, label the bottle, put that bottle on an altar, build a church around that altar, put a sign over the door, and create rubricks and rituals to keep out the dis-believing riff-raff. Real `Us versus `them stuff, the polar opposite from `God is within You. `My God is bigger than your God the church(s)seem to say. And you can only get there through my door/denomination. But Jesus according to Thomas had it right: just keep it simple, and discover the indwelling Divinity `within you and without you. Here are quickie reviews of what is being bought these days on the Gnostic Gospels and the lost books of the Bible in general: The Lost Books of the Bible (0517277956) includes 26 apocryphal books from the first 400 years that were not included in the New Testament. Marvin Meyers The Secret Teachings of Jesus : Four Gnostic Gospels (0394744330 ) is a new translation without commentary of The Secret Book of James, The Gospel of Thomas, The Book of Thomas, and The Secret Book of John. James M. Robinsons The Nag Hammadi Library in English : Revised Edition (0060669357) has been around 25 years now and is in 2nd edition. It has introductions to each of the 13 Nag Hammadi Codices and the Papyrus Berioinensis 8502. The Complete Dead Sea Scrolls in English (0140278079) by Geza Vermes has selected works....a complete work is more difficult to achieve than the publishers marketing concept indicates. His commentary generates strong reactions. Elaine Pagels has 2 books (The Gnostic Gospels 0679724532 and Beyond Belief : The Secret Gospel of Thomas 0375501568) that have received considerable attention lately. For many, her work is controversial in that it is written for popular consumption and there is a strong modern interpretation. She does attempt to reinterpret ancient gender relationships in the light of modern feminist thinking. While this is a useful (and entertaining) aspect of college womens studies programs, it is not as unethical as some critics claim. As hard as they may try, all historians interpret the past in the context of the present. Obviously there is value in our attempts to re-interpret the past in the light of our own time. If you want the full scholarly work it is W. Schneemelchers 2 volume New Testament Apocrypha. Also, to understand the Cathars......try Barbara Tuckmans Distant Mirror for an incredible historical commentary on how the Christian Church has handled other points of view

Bock is an evangelical, and it shows, even through his scholarship. His discussion of women and Christianity omits, oh,..2000 years of Catholic and Eastern Christian tradition. Hardly a word about art, Priory of Sion, Grail, etc. NOT the questions everyone is asking. Only a couple of them. I want my money back!

Mr. Bocks writing style is not the greatest but he does do a good job of explaining very clearly why Dan Browns book is a fictional novel based on a fictional theory. You can call me many things, Actively Religious is not one of them. I read Mr. Bocks book because Dan Browns book was simply too incredible to believe. If you would like a better understanding of what historians and biblical scholars understand about the beginnings of Christianity, I recommend you read it. If by the end of the book, you still believe the Da Vinci Code gives an accurate historical depiction then you probably also believe a vast right wing conspiracy forced Bill Clinton to have sex with Monica.

This is yet another attempt to cash in on Dan Browns brilliant thriller The Da Vinci Code. It is as dull and uninteresting a book as you will find this year. Bocks book is a bust. It may appeal to the PH.D. crowd, but if you are seeking a book that enhances the information in The Da Vinci Code, this one is a pass. Save your money unless you have trouble sleeping at night.

I just saw Darrell Bock this week as he shared some of this information in a radio broadcast regarding The Da Vinci Code. A rare blend of grace and scholarly wit, Darrell precisely targets the key Christian information conflicting in the novel. This book will be especially useful for those seeking quotes from the ancient sources that prove the truthfulness behind church history and Christianity. The books only weakness is that its actual dialogue with the text of The Da Vinci Code is limited. Like some of the other Christian-related Da Vinci Code titles, he spends the vast majority of his time demonstrating the weaknesses of the controversial topics rather than picking the specific points of the novel that reveal the controversies. In the end, Ive found it one of the better reads in this area. Having researched this topic heavily (see my The Da Vinci Code Controversy book), I can definitely recommend this as an added tool in defending Christianity in response to Da Vinci Code issues.

Breaking the Da Vinci Code was a wonderful read. Enlightens the soul that the truth is always in the Holy Scripture, and never in the mind of man. Have recommended to my friends. Robert C. Frank

I bought this book because I thought it was further research into the subjects covered by the original Da Vinci Code Book. The book is a rip-off on the name and contains some of the worst religious hypocrisy and dogma I have read. The Catholic Church demeans women by not allowing them any position of authority and relegates them to minor helper roles, i.e., the mother or helpmate of someone. This book attempts to refutes this accusation by claiming the church does look up to women and cites two examples: 1) Martin Luthers MOTHER who was a great influence on him. Martin Luther could not have started the religion he did without her influence. 2) The woman, who in CONJUNCTION with her husband started the Salvation Army. A mother and a help-mate. These look like helper roles to me. And yet according to these authors these examples absolve the church of their demeaning treatment of women. What about Joan of Arc, Saint Margaret of Scotland, or Eleanor of Acquitaine? Eleanor was one of the wealthiest women alive and barely 20 years old. She supported the Crusades financially and she and her other female friends marched onto the battlefield as nurses during the crusades. After that the Pope no longer allowed women to participate in the Crusades under any circumstances and in any role. If the authors have their way the status quo will continue. Women will be relegated to helper roles and allowed only minimal and non-authoritative participation. This is not what Jesus intended. According to the early Bible (the Bible we know was not formed until the third century A.D.) Christ allowed women to preach the gospel and to be fully involved in the church in any way they chose. It was not until 300 years after Christ died that women were relegated to mothers and help-mates. The authors of this book would like to continue this shameful policy. Truth means little to these authors. They are more concerned with maintaining the status quo of third century religious dogma.

Dr. Bocks book engages the early history of the church brought up in Dan Browns The Da Vinci Code in a clear and logical manner. It allows the reader to analyze the fundamental claims that Browns book makes about Jesus, Mary Magdalene, and early Christianity from a scholarly and historical perspective. Dr. Bock lays the facts before the reader and guides them through the debates surrounding these subjects as the arly church was being formed. He has been able to break down the political and religious arguments in a way that the reader can easily follow. The facts contained in the pages of this criticism are not restricted to the The Bible and accepted Christian dogma, but also include a detailed investigation of the Secret Gospels and other extrabiblical material. This analysis is not the argument of only conservative biblical scholars, but also extends into the realm of liberal historical Jesus followers. It is an analysis that focuses on history and not interpretaton. The bottom line is after Dr. Bock is through with his investigation, the historical basis for The Da Vinci Code is debunked, and the rest of the story, including Da Vinci and his artwork, is a novel construct for an author to tell a good tale and nothing more.