An interesting phenomenon indeed. Society has never had better access to more information than it has today. In light of this, are we becoming a more discerning society with more rigorous criteria for differentiating between fact and fiction? You might think we’d be less tolerant of fabrications and misrepresentations of the truth. But there is reason to believe that we are in fact becoming more tolerant.
James Frey’s biography “
A Million Little Pieces” shot up to the best seller list after Oprah Winfrey gave her endorsement. When Mr. Frey later admitted to fabricating significant chunks of his biography, including his imprisonment which was connected to a girlfriend’s suicide, Oprah initially said she “would continue to recommend it, despite Mr. Frey's admission that he made up significant aspects of his story of addiction and recovery.” (1) Since then, she has publicly rebuked him for his fabrications.
What does the term biography mean in 2006?
Facts about one’s life or
fiction? Or a combo?
Even more startling is the impact Dan Brown’s book “
The Da Vinci Code” is having. People are taking his book and running with it – some whom we thought might have had better judgment and more robust and critical thought processes. People are being shaken and swayed by Dan Brown’s book.
Who is Dan Brown anyway? Answer: A thriller fiction writer who is becoming rich and famous rather quickly.
Among the startling claims in
The Da Vinci Code about Jesus and Christianity are these:
· Jesus was married to Mary Magdalene.
· Mary Magdalene and Jesus produced children who became a royal bloodline in France
· Jesus was a mere man until a church meeting long after his death narrowly voted Him in as God.
· The Christian church has worked aggressively to suppress various ‘gospels’ in order to cover up the above facts.
I looked at the opening pages of his book and read these words:
“All descriptions of artwork, architecture, documents and secret rituals in this novel are accurate.” Again in the very opening of his book there is a large title which reads:
FACT: Then it goes on to confirm the existence of the Priory of Sion and the recent exposure of secret documents which prove the existence of a bloodline descending from Jesus and Mary Magdalene through the Kings of France. The existence of these secret documents he states at the commencement of his novel is a ‘fact’.
This so called ‘fact’ is a key pillar for his successful novel. Brown does NOT tell his readers that the writer of these secret documents, Pierre Plantard confessed in a French Court of Law back in 1993 that he had fabricated
ALL the documents. Plantard completely fabricated the so-called secret document about Leonard Da Vinci (after whom the book is named) and Isaac Newton being members of the Priory of Sion.
Brown masterfully but deceitfully took pieces of history and distorted the historical facts and then wrapped his fiction around it. No one will deny that offenses, excesses and wrongs have occurred over the centuries under religious banners of all kinds. But Dan Brown obscures the real facts by presenting half truths immersed in full fiction and complete fabrications packaged as reliable facts.
One more example:
The Holy Grail is prominent in the book. One of the plot lines is to expose the truth behind the Holy Grail. But who cares about the Holy Grail anyway? The term hadn’t even been coined during the first 1000 years after Christ’s death. It had never been an issue until a medieval legend surfaced in 1170AD about the cup that Jesus used at the Last Supper. Dan Brown takes what is well-known as a legend (not a fact) and spins it, as if he is exposing a very significant and massive religious cover-up.
Brown
enlightens the readers with new evidence from those secret documents
fabricated in France: The Holy Grail is not the Cup but is in fact Mary Magdalene who carried the bloodline of Jesus Christ by having His Child.
I’ve heard some readers say: “Aha! Someone finally has the courage to rip off the lid and expose all the dirt that’s been covered up for years. Brown proves that much of what Christians believe is built upon a very shaky and dubious foundation!”
Is Dan Brown an authority on these matters – or is he a thriller fiction writer?
If you are wondering if you should swallow
hook, line and sinker Dan Brown’s thriller novel and abandon any interest you may have had in
Jesus Christ or the
Bible or the
Christian faith, I urge you to do your homework.
Here are some questions you may have after reading his thriller novel:
· Why were the Gnostic Gospels excluded from the Bible?
· Why are so many taking The Da Vinci Code seriously?
· Does the novel deserve to be called ‘historical fiction?’
· Are the novel’s claims about the Holy Grail, the Priory of Sion and the Knights Templar historical?
· Were Da Vinci and Isaac Newton members of the Priory of Sion?
· Did Da Vinci leave clues to his beliefs hidden in his art?
· Is the novel’s portrayal of the Catholic organization known as Opus Dei accurate?
· To what extent has the church devalued women?
· Was Mary Magdalene ever worshipped as a goddess?
· Did Jesus and Mary Magdalene marry and have a child?
· Why should you trust the biblical accounts of Jesus and Mary?
· Was Constantine a life long pagan?
· Was Constantine responsible for the view that Jesus is God?
· Did Constantine tamper with the contents of the Bible?
· Does The Da Vinci Code OR the New Testament give us a better ‘unbroken chain of knowledge’?
· Do the ‘winners’ rewrite history to suit their desires?
If you would like to read a brief answer to each of the above questions, click on the RBC Ministries link below (2) and you will be able to download a
pdf file for printing. Or if you would like their booklet mailed to you, add a brief note in your request for free literature on this website. (3)
In the meantime – Dan Brown’s piece of fiction has only been around for a couple of years. We are not attacking his abilities as a fiction writer – in fact, hats off to him for being able to hold people spell bound as they read. Few can do that. But we do take issue with the way he has confused facts and fables.
Return to the Word of God, the Bible and study its pages. Read on this website under the
Me and God Section, some of the facts about the Christian Faith and the Christian’s Bible. Do your homework and discover that Jesus Christ is the answer for your sins, your life and for your eternity.
(1)
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/01/12/books/12frey.html?ex=1137733200&en=113b88f284b78ec8&ei=5070(2)
http://www.rbc.org/ds/q1117/(3)
http://www.heaven4sure.com/MeandGodQuestions/FreeOffers/tabid/63/Default.aspx