Discusses the misconceptions and historical errors of "The Da Vinci Code" while examining early Christian origins, Gnosticism, the role of Constantine in Christian history, and the novel's accusations against the Catholic Church.
The most closely guarded secret of the western world is about to be revealed—and you will never see Christianity in the same light again. In a remarkable achievement of historical detective work that is destined to become a classic, authors Lynn Picknett and Clive Prince delve into the mysterious world of the Freemasons, the Cathars, the Knights Templar, and the occult to discover the truth behind an underground religion with roots in the first century that survives even today. Chronicling their fascinating quest for truth through time and space, the authors reveal an astonishing new view of the real motives and character of the founder of Christianity, as well as the actual historical—and revelatory—roles of John the Baptist and Mary Magdalene. Painstakingly researched and thoroughly documented, The Templar Revelation presents a secret history, preserved through the centuries but encoded in works of art and even in the great Gothic cathedrals of Europe, whose final chapter could shatter the foundation of the Christian Church.
Jack Dunn was devastated to discover Dan Brown had stolen the story from his novel The Vatican Boys to create the international bestseller The Da Vinci Code. The plagiarism was obvious. There were hundreds of similarities between the two books, including characters, settings, plot lines and subject matter. The discovery changed the course of Jack's life. He began an extraordinary fight for justice which pushed him to the depths of despair as he tried to prove his work had been copied by Dan Brown. The Da Vinci Fraud is Jack's story, his explosive true account of the greatest literary fraud in history and a book which will change forever the way the world sees one of the most successful writers of all time.
A Valuable Guide to the Errors and Omissions in the Blockbuster Novel and Film The Da Vinci Codebreaker provides answers to the questions readers most often ask about the popular novel. Included are more than 400 terms, people, locations, events, and definitions, including explanations that are historically and theologically correct--all arranged in an easy-to-use dictionary style. Ideal for Christians who want the facts and seekers who want more information about the claims of the novel and film.
What is "The Da Vinci Code" about? What does Dan Brown himself believe and what is his evidence? Where does the truth lie? In this short booklet, the author addresses these and other questions.
Secret Mark first became known to modern scholarship in 1958 when a newly hired assistant professor at Columbia University in New York by the name of Morton Smith visited the monastery of Mar Saba near Jerusalem and photographed its fragments. Secret Mark was announced on the heels of many spectacular discoveries of ancient manuscripts in the Near East, such as the Dead Sea Scrolls and the Nag Hammadi gnostic corpus in the late 1940s, and promised to be just as revolutionary. Secret Mark presents what appears to be a valuable, albeit fragmentary, witness to early Christian traditions, traditions that might shed light on Jesus's most intimate behavior. In this book, Stephen C. Carlson uses state of the art science to demonstrate that Secret Mark was an elaborate hoax created by Morton Smith. Carlson's discussion places Smith's trick alongside many other hoaxes before probing the reasons why so many scholars have been taken in by it.
Was Leonardo Da Vinci a member of the "Priory of Sion," a secret society reaching all the way back to the Crusades? Does his famous painting, "The Last Supper," contain a hidden code about this society's most precious secret? Did Jesus father children by Mary Magdalene? What was the Holy Grail? The best-selling novel The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown has stirred the popular imagination by cleverly interweaving theories about such questions with a fast-paced fictional narrative. Many readers have been so swept away by the drama of this murder mystery that they have accepted Brown's fictional reconstruction of Christian origins and medieval history as established fact. New Testament scholar Robert M. Price, a member of the prestigious Jesus Seminar, examines the creative uses of history in Brown's novel, showing that, however intriguing Brown's fictional speculations may be, the real facts behind the novel are even more fascinating. What does the best historical evidence say about the possibility that Jesus might have survived the crucifixion? How did the Gospels come to be accepted as the established accounts of Jesus' life and why were other Gnostic traditions suppressed? How did the Roman Emperor Constantine figure in the development of Christian dogma? What was Mary Magdalene's role in early Christianity and how was it adapted in later attempts to develop a "sacred feminine" element in Christianity? These are some of the important questions about Christianity that Dr. Price pursues in this engrossing discussion of Christian history. Price combines sophisticated historical analysis with completely accessible and witty prose in this enlightening, factually based analysis of Brown's speculative bestseller.
Is the traditional, accepted view of the life of Christ in some way incomplete? • Is it possible Christ did not die on the cross? • Is it possible Jesus was married, a father, and that his bloodline still exists? • Is it possible that parchments found in the South of France a century ago reveal one of the best-kept secrets of Christendom? • Is it possible that these parchments contain the very heart of the mystery of the Holy Grail? According to the authors of this extraordinarily provocative, meticulously researched book, not only are these things possible — they are probably true! so revolutionary, so original, so convincing, that the most faithful Christians will be moved; here is the book that has sparked worldwide controversey. "Enough to seriously challenge many traditional Christian beliefs, if not alter them." — Los Angeles Times Book Review "Like Chariots of the Gods?...the plot has all the elements of an international thriller." — Newsweek
Looks at the theories about Christian origins and church history suggested in the novel, The Da Vinci Code, and explains how they ignore or misinterpret the available information as it has been understood in Catholic tradition.
The “fascinating” #1 international bestseller of a quest across centuries by two intrepid women to reunite the pieces of a powerful, ancient chess set (Los Angeles Times Book Review). A fabulous, bejeweled chess set that belonged to Charlemagne has been buried in a Pyrenees abbey for a thousand years. As the bloody French Revolution rages in Paris, the nuns dig it up and scatter its pieces across the globe because, when united, the set contains a secret power that could topple civilizations. To keep the set from falling into the wrong hands, two novices, Valentine and Mireille, embark on an adventure that begins in the streets of Paris and leads to Russia, Egypt, Corsica, and into the heart of the Algerian Sahara. Two hundred years later, while on assignment in Algeria, computer expert Catherine Velis finds herself drawn unwillingly into the deadly “Game” still swirling around the legendary chess set—a game that will require her to risk her life and match wits with diabolical forces. This ebook features an illustrated biography of Katherine Neville including rare images from her life and travels.