Cracking Da Vinci's Code: 2 [Englisch] [Taschenbuch]

REASONS TO READ THIS BOOK

1. These authors know what they are writing about. Between the two of them they hold degrees in theology and history from Asbury Theological Seminary, Drew University, Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, Harvard Divinity School, Princeton Theological Seminary, and the University of Wales. Between the two of them, they have authored 14 books (not fictious novels).

2. Previous reviews are sharply divided. It has been my experience that some books are loved by everyone and some are hated by everyone, but the real thought-provoking books (such as The Da Vinci Code) also provoke great emotion and debate.

3. In spite of the title this is not a book about Brown's novel, but about a rising challenge to traditional Christian theology behind the novel. Many people remind us, "It's only a fictious novel!", but after seeing the newer editions, teaching cds, and books tied to "The Da Vinci Code" the serious person must conclude that there is more.

4. The book is designed for small group study. At the end of the book is a personal study guide and addresses to three web pages for further information.

WARNING!

This book is blatantly evangelistic with its message. This could prove distasteful and hard to overcome for many readers. It begins each chapter with a short portion of a fictional story. The authors must have thought they needed this, but I think they went over the top a bit and almost made themselve appear paranoid. If you have the ability to get past this flaw, you will learn a lot from this book.

CRACKING DAVINCI'S CODE is an interesting book which attempts to dispute many of the assumptions made in THE DAVINCI CODE by Dan Brown. In particular Garlow and Jones disagree with Brown's description of the attitude of early church leaders towards women, sex and the divinity of Jesus Christ and especially Brown's suggestion of a marriage between Jesus and Mary Magdalene which produced offspring.

Garlow and Jones write in the style of two fundamentalists who feel threatened by a New Age heresy. They see a connection between the ideas expressed by THE DAVINCI CODE and the work of some of the scholars from The Jesus Seminar such as Elaine Pagels. Ultimately they predict the world will be divided into only two religious groups - pagan monism and biblical theism. The latter places God outside the circle of creation instead of in it as in pagan monism. In biblical theism God has a special place as creator apart from his creatures. In their view THE DAVINCI CODE preaches a form of pagan monism with God seen as an impersonal force of nature. Garlow and Jones stand firmly opposed to this view since they are on the side of the biblical theists.

I don't think that Dan Brown is motivated by much more than a strong desire to tell a good story and sell a lot of books. Garlow and Jones act more like they are on a crusade but they also want to sell books. I feel certain that more books on the subject of the DaVinci Code are definitely on the way.

While reading this book if found it very poorly put together. The book is written by two authors with very few clues as to what was written by whom. Occasionally one of their first names will appear in parenthesis, but there is little clear delineation who wrote what. To simplify I'll just refer to them as he. Each chapter is prefaced by a progressive symbol of half a circle which he refers to as the Divine Arc next to a full circle which he doesn't refer to at all. Near the end of the book he gives a weak explanation of his symbolism, which is within a few pages of writing about paganism in which he devaluates the importance of symbols in religion. At the beginning of each chapter he has a "after school special" type drama for a couple of pages. He also repeats the points he wants to make twice at the beginning of each chapter. I found this annoying chapter after chapter. Though the "after school special" is supposed to be a college age drama, it is written so poorly I suspect that most college age people will gloss over it quickly.

The body of the book is written trying to defend traditional Christianity from the evil of feminine paganism. His references to Da Vinci are actually very few. He presents the theory that Dan Brown is not writing a novel based on "secret hints" that can be found in Da Vinci's work, but that Mr. Brown is actually hoping to seduce our youth into ancient paganism. Paganism is generally pictured by modern people as hedonistic tribal affairs with lots of drinking, sex, and dancing in a circle around a fire. He tries to give an objective description of paganism but fails to point out that it is a very ancient and noble religion that predated Christianity, and probably Judaism. He doesn't mention that Aristotle and Plato were pagans. He puts comments about Da Vinci in column sidebars in each chapter. That means you have to stop reading the body of the chapter to read about Da Vinci. It makes for very choppy reading.

Though he apparently intends the book to be used as a study guide, he leaves out an index. This makes it very difficult to look back for previous references. I see this as a very irresponsible deletion. As far as the body writing itself, it is apparent that it was written very quickly and with little overview. He misguides the reader into thinking he knows the true facts about history, however checking his footnotes reveals that "facts" should be substituted with "opinions". It leads me to believe that he is "proof-texting" history (the art of only choosing what reinforces your case) to build his case. The subtitle of this book is very misleading in that very little in ancient history can be proved now. Most "facts" from that period are still really theories. He really has it in for the Gnostics, and writes about them as though he went back in a time machine to observe them. It's apparent that his views are shaded by his religious background, and not really an objective historical observation. This is typical of denominational based authors.

He takes some very risky shots at Hillary Clinton connecting her with Jean Houston implying that Hillary will be trying to bring the "sacred feminine" into the White House in the future. His source is a Time article about the book. It's ironic that he didn't mention Nancy Reagan and her astrologer. He views the "sacred feminine" as a threat to Christianity in general, however the Roman Catholics have revered "the Virgin Mary" for centuries. The main "mystery" of the Brown book is that Mary Magdalene had a closer relationship with Jesus than Christians are comfortable with. Da Vinci's painting of the Last Supper shows the apostles and Jesus lined up behind the table. Dan Brown points out that the person to Jesus' right (a position of great honor in Jewish tradition) is actually Mary Magdalene. Garlow (or Jones) points out that Da Vinci had specific notes about the painting and that the person to Jesus' right is an apostle. I've looked at pictures, posters, JPEG's, and the foldout that's in their book. Sorry guys, "the dude looks like a lady."

It's of little importance to me what little pranks Da Vinci put into his art. Most brilliant creative minds play with their work. The Mona Lisa may be a disguised self-portrait of Da Vinci, a prank. It doesn't have to represent a diabolical subversive plot. It did make a very interesting novel. The Mason's have always been secretive, but the biggest secret is probably how much alcohol they consume each meeting.

Garlow (or Jones) does make one very offensive reference to Da Vinci's mirror writing.

"Da Vinci didn't do this in order to hide information or as part of some trickery or deceit; rather, he may have had some form of dyslexia or other difficulty with perception."

This statement alone causes me to really doubt this man (men's) intelligence. First, he's claiming he can read a genus's mind. Second, Da Vinci's writing was too neat to be a dyslexic's work. His comment reflects his own hidden agenda to ridicule his opposition with "made up" facts. He obviously can't out think them.

My recommendation: Read "The Da Vinci Code" if you haven't already. It's a well-written book, and though it has snippets of little known history, its purpose is fiction. My recommendation on "Cracking Da Vinci's Code" is pass, and wait for the sequel "Cracking-Cracking Da Vinci's Code."

And in ending the beginning of the book has a recommendation from our favorite facts man Tim LaHaye glorifying the book and accusing Dan Brown of "outright lies." This from a man who co-authored a series has made over 60 million dollars by fictionalizing Revelations. (Shouldn't the church be calling that series heresy?--a word Garlow/Jones like to use.)