Is the theory behind 'The Da Vinci Code' fact or fiction?

Who were these nuns? We have a similar order in Australia called the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence. Love those guys.

Evolution is not guided by the hand of creator, it's not guided at all, it is influenced by the conditions in which an organism finds itself. Admittedly a 'god' could fiddle with the conditions but it seems a very roundabout way to achieve the end for an omnipotent being.

Agree with your sentiment with single celled creatures Chai.

Would you call yourself a christian?

Welcome to A2K!

well i dnt believe there are any of those nuns over here in wales! i dnt believe in any kind of god as there is too much evil in the world. i know christians have their reasons for this, e.g god wanted us to make mistakes so we could learn from them, but that doesn't explain why 1000s and 1000s of people are killed in natural disasters!

good

Do I call myself a christian? Only if it will get others off my back, and to avoid conversations about being "saved" I grew up in NJ in the NE USA, where Catholics predominate, and mind their own bee's wax.
I've lived in Texas for 15 years and love it. EXCEPT for the Baptists that are so incredibly black and white and naive. But, that's another story.

The concept of God is just too huge to be limited to terms like Christian, Jew, Hindu or Snake Handler.
I suppose the closed I could call myself on this planet would be Pagen. Not the Wiccan, Magik, on the fringe of society kind. I feel God in every aspect of nature, as a child, my mind boggled and flew when I got that first inkling of how emmense it all was, the universe, et. al.
Of course evolution is unguided. But I do believe there was and is a force that ignited the spark, and observes. Do I call that God? Again, yes, to avoid debate with someone who has never had an original thought. Inside though, I think of My (Our) Creator.
Do I believe in original sin, the backbone of christianity (is there was no original sin - what did we need Jesus for)
I believe that Jesus was there, preached, and was a pretty cool dude and all, but was he God?
I have never read or heard anything JC said that I haven't heard somewhere else. Nice stuff, but not original.
Anyway - back to the point - They were sisters of st. joseph. I remember one, Sister Willie, would tell us of her upbringing - her family spent some time in China, and weekly the local would host rallies outside the American area protesting the presence of white devils, christians, whatever.
Then, when the organizers went home at the end of the night - the town folk would come over, eat, drink and generally have a good time with the Yanks-

Does it really matter whether it's true?
The great thing about the Da Vinci code is that it raises important questions about the Church's - and society's - treatment of women. Although i was brought up as a Catholic, reading literature such at the Da Vinci code has prompted me to question everything that I have been 'force-fed' (I hate to use that term, but it's pretty true) in my younger years. So, what really matters is that the Da Vinci code makes us challenge the Church's teachings, not whether it is true or not

you make a decent point jmfan (welcome to A2K)

My only fear/worry is that some people are not comfortable replacing certainty with doubt - they prefer replacing one certainty with another.

I'd hate to think there are people out there thinking the Da Vinci code history of christianity is completely right and standard christianity is completely wrong, swapping one dogma for another....

what we must also remember is that god may be a women, there is no proof to suggest otherwise, and what if there were more than 12 disciples, maybe left out for gender and/or colour? we know nothing, absolutely nothing more than what is ''force fed'' to us by older generations, back when the bible was written people were very racist and sexist! important women and people of other race would have been left out of such an important book! And people were very homophobic! who is to say that jesus didn't have children simply because he didn't like women?

Having read The Da Vinci Code twice I found it a rattling good yarn and quite thought-provoking. But is it 'truth' any more than a Harry Potter book? Let's give the man credit for thinking up a phenomenal best-seller.

yeah well i go to a methodist school and all of them are forbidden to read this book.A big shame.I myself having read the book and also being more inclined towards buddhism,found it a fantastic read.Has anyone read the book "the REAL history behind the da vinci code"?
i feel that if people are christians,then naturally they will say the story is bullshit.However if the person is not, he may find the book fantastic and may even believe the points and evidence.
Actually,whatever points dan brown was trying to drive home,he certainly proved it really well with all that evidence.
so now the big question for me is...Is the history behind all this true????
ohh yeah just to add.he did say that when he started writing the book,he was very unsure and skeptical about it.After he finished writing it,he called himself a believer.So yeah.Must be some very heavy and well-proven facts that changed his mind.

Well . . . that was quite an experience . . . i believe there is more horseshit in this thread than a cavalry regiment would produce in a month.

Highly entertaining, nevertheless.

brown's latest book, written to an identical formula, just change a few proper nouns, is MUCH MUCH worse than the da Vinci code.

Lest we forget...horseshit helps the lovely wildflower spread to new fields.

I think some of them are facts, and some of them are fake. Is Leonardo da Vinci really in that secret community?

There's been a british show on the ABC on Sunday nights exploring this very question. Oddly enough it's hosted by the guy who played Baldrick in Blackadder, Tony Robinson.

Conclusion, Brown's stuff is based on a book (a million seller over a decade ago) called 'Holy Grail, Holy Blood' - which is based largely on a hoax (the Priory of Sion) engineered by a Frenchman who was trying to convine the world he was a blood descendant of the French throne. He had two guys in cahoots with him, one of whom later outed the hoax.

Even the girly-looking disciple in the last supper is explained by Da Vinci's sexually leanings and the way the relationship between Jesus and the disciple (Thomas?) was culturally perceived. Da Vinci's John the Baptist was shown as proof of Leonardo's predilection for portraying men androgenously.

http://www.channel4.com/culture/microsites/W/weirdworlds/da_vinci_code/

http://www.channel4.com/community/showcards/R/Real_Da_Vinci_Code.html

Well I was on Crete shooting a documentary called Mimetoliths and some of the teachers I interviewed knew all about nthe golden formula.It was discovered by Pythagoris who lived in Zeus cave for 10 years on Crete. If you read Holy Blood Holy Grail alot of Dan Browns material might have originated here.All in all it has done wonders for exposing ancient mysteries and knowledge.

...depend on the lack of taste and intelligence to make Mr. Brown rich. What's truly miraculous are the staggering amounts of stupidity in the human race. Too bad it can't be converted to nuclear power. There would be enough to keep the sun polite a few million years longer before it turns into a white dwarf.

Of course its a fact that the Illuminati and the Masons run the world with help from a few Jewish bankers. God has the face of Zeus the Sun of God and Light and of Lucifer Rex Mundi.

Firstly may i suggest you buy and read the book instantly...even if you dont beleive in any of it, it still remains a fantastic read!

i just cant see how anyone can comment on a book they havent read! documentary or not! (you must realise that a documentary is always going to have a point of view, why not make your own judgements on the book itself rather than re-hashing another persons opinions)

Im not being hostile or anything i just think you would really enjoy reading the book and finding out for yourself what it has to offer!

I have read The Davinci Code, and I did find it quite entertaining... but that is all. Yes, it did bring to my attention some questions that could use some answers, but over all it simply made me more resolute in my original belief.

I don't consider myself a 'christian'... more of an 'agnostic'. My family members have a very hard time understanding this because my father is Baptist and mother is Catholic, but they do not intervene. They allow me to make my own choices / beliefs.

I am very practical / logical in my everyday activities and it's extremely hard for me to believe or have faith when science contradicts many questions. I fully comprehend that science may have its own flaws, but something has to be right... else we wouldn't have computers, nuclear weapons, carbon dating, airplanes, etc.

To deny the existance of God is fairly close-minded, but to believe the existance of God and nothing else is just as close-minded. And that is why The Davinci Code is worth the effort... at least, if nothing else, it might jump-start people to think for themselves, or to enhance their current belief.

This is extremly tough, people think its rumors and others thinnk its just stories with no facts to them. But how is this true when you build a faith on it?