101 Questions and Answers on The Da Vinci Code and the Catholic TraditionPaulist Press, 2006 - 144 pages Church historians de Flon and Vidmar use a reader-friendly question and answer format to separate fact from fiction and to go beyond the endless refutations of Dan Brown's assertions in his mega bestseller "The Da Vinci Code" to focus on positive and, in some cases surprising, aspects of Church history. |
Table des matières
1 Before beginning his narrative Dan Brown cites several facts and states that descriptions of art architecture documents and secret rituals in his novel ... | 3 |
2 These scores of historians that Teabing implies are reliable appear then to be bogus In that case how does someone go about writing a work of histo... | 5 |
3 How then does the historian approach and treat his or her material? | 7 |
4 So weve established that Browns sources are despite his claims not bona fide works of history But what about The Da Vinci Code itself? Brown was... | 8 |
5 Whats the difference between historical fiction and historical romance? | 9 |
6 In Browns novel the details of various crimes are being investigated Does The Da Vinci Code qualify then as detective fiction? | 10 |
The New Testament | 13 |
7 Dan Brown claims that the Emperor Constantine commissioned a new Bible p 231 see also Q 25 How actually did the Bible take its final form? | 15 |
53 Weve often thought of Mary Magdalene as the sinful woman who repented was forgiven by Jesus and became his faithful follower But Brown sa... | 75 |
54 Then how did Mary Magdalene come to be identified as a prostitute? | 76 |
55 What were the important characteristics that caused all these women to be combined into the popular conception of Mary Magdalene? | 77 |
56 Then where did Dan Brown get the notion of deliberate smear tactics on the part of the church? | 79 |
58 Can there be any other factors that may have contributed to the gradual identification of this loving loyal woman as a sinner? | 80 |
59 How can we honor Mary Magdalene today? What qualities make her an appropriate object of devotion for contemporary Catholics? | 82 |
The Holy Grail | 83 |
60 How did the story of the Holy Grail get started? | 85 |
8 How did the formation of the New Testament canon help protect the churchs authority? | 16 |
9 How did the four gospel accounts originate? | 17 |
11 In that case who were Matthew Mark Luke and John and how did each of them come to write the Gospel named after him? | 18 |
12 What are the Synoptic Gospels? And how does the Gospel of John fit in? | 19 |
13 In what order were the Gospels written? | 20 |
Gnosticism | 21 |
15 What are the Gnostic Gospels? Leigh Teabing possesses a huge leatherbound book that he describes as photocopies of the Nag Hammadi and Dea... | 23 |
17 Are the Gnostic Gospels authentic Christian writings? | 25 |
19 Are the Gnostic Gospels the earliest Christian records as Teabing says p 245? | 26 |
20 Is Brown correct in saying that the Gnostic Gospels dont match up with the canonical Gospels? | 27 |
Constantine And Christianity In The Roman Empire | 29 |
21 The Roman Emperor Constantine ca 274337 is blamed in the novel for many alleged misdeeds of the Catholic Church How much of what Brown ... | 31 |
22 Did Constantine forcibly convert the Roman Empire from pagan to Christian in the year 325 as the novel suggests? | 32 |
24 When did Christians begin to regard Jesus as divine? | 33 |
25 You say the New Testament shows that the early Christians regarded Jesus as the Son of God But doesnt Dan Brown say that Constantine ordered t... | 34 |
26 So what was the Council of Nicaea? And what did the bishops agree on at the council? | 36 |
27 Did Constantine deliberately stamp out the goddess religion and replace it with Christianity? | 38 |
28 How did pagan feasts and customs become Christian? Did this result from an imperial decree? | 39 |
29 Would Christians have regarded references to the sun as necessarily pagan and unchristian as Brown indicates p 339? | 41 |
The Sacred Feminine And Women In Christianity | 43 |
31 Dan Browns characters accuse the church of eliminating the sacred feminine and the goddess from religion How true is this? | 45 |
32 What positive feminine images are contained in the Old Testament? | 46 |
33 What memorable images of women does the New Testament offer us? | 48 |
34 Can you talk about some of these prominent women in church history? | 50 |
35 Did any laywomen enjoy influential positions in the church? | 51 |
36 With all the talk in the novel about the sacred feminine isnt it odd that Mary the mother of Jesus isnt mentioned? | 53 |
37 Sometimes devotion to Mary seems to lose sight of connection with Jesus What about the Rosary? Does this devotion affirm Marys connection wit... | 54 |
38 The novel contains a flashback in which Langdon is teaching a class and discussing religions that revere the earth He mentions May Day and the c... | 55 |
Brown seems to suggest that because Christianity doesnt worship goddesses it doesnt revere nature How does the mother of Jesus fit into our reverenc... | 56 |
40 Does Catholic devotion to Mary have only positive aspects? | 58 |
42 Surely the churchs attitude toward women cant always have been unfailingly positive? | 59 |
43 Many women today are angry with the church Why is this so? | 60 |
44 Brown accuses the church of perpetrating a great bloodbath against women in the form of the witch hunts p 125 What was the book Malleus Male... | 61 |
Mary Magdalene | 65 |
45 Could Jesus have been married to Mary Magdalene? Leigh Teabing asserts that their marriage is part of the historical record p 245 Jewish custom ... | 67 |
46 But would Jesus have been disobeying an important Jewish custom by remaining unmarried? | 68 |
47 Might there have been as Brown claims a royal dynasty descended from Jesus and Mary Magdalene? According to Brown the church suppressed t... | 69 |
49 And why is there such a strong connection between Mary Magdalene and France? Is it true that the Catholic Church tried to suppress this informat... | 71 |
51 Brown and his characters are forever using such phrases as the historical record in connection with his assertion Do we on our part have any proof... | 72 |
52 Might Mary of Magdala have occupied a position of leadership in the early church? | 73 |
61 How do these various authors describe the Grail? What actually is the Holy Grail? | 86 |
62 So does the Grail have anything to do with Mary Magdalene or the lost sacred feminine? | 87 |
63 There seems to be considerable variety among the details in the several Grail stories What important features do the different versions have in com... | 88 |
The Priory Of Sion Knights Templar And Freemasons | 91 |
64 According to Dan Brown the Priory of Sion was founded by Godefroi de Bouillon in 1099 to protect the secret of Christs lineage and to preserve ... | 93 |
65 Is the Priory of Sion totally fictitious then or does it have any basis in reality? | 94 |
67 Who are the Knights Templar? Were they really the military arm of the Priory of Sion as Dan Brown claims p 356? | 95 |
68 So the Templars were vowed religious as well as soldiers Why would a soldier want to become a member of a religious order? | 96 |
69 Why did the Crusades happen in the first place? | 97 |
71 Is it true as Brown suggests p 145 that the equalarmed cross adopted by the Knights Templar predated Christianity by 1500 years and was original... | 98 |
72 Were Christian churches constructed by the Templars deliberately round in defiance of the traditional cruciform architecture of the church as Bro... | 99 |
74 So it was the king of France and not the pope who dissolved the Templars unlike what Brown states p 338? | 100 |
75 Why did the pope allow the Templars to be disbanded? Is it not true then that the pope wanted to suppress the Templars secret about Jesus and Ma... | 101 |
76 Why do the Freemasons claim some connection to the Templars? | 102 |
Churches And Chapels | 105 |
77 Dan Brown asserts p 432 that Rosslyn Chapel in Scotland was built by the Knights Templar who designed it as an exact architectural blueprint of t... | 107 |
78 Where does the name Rosslyn come from? Is it true that its connected with a Rose Line that connects Rosslyn Chapel and Glastonbury Abbey in s... | 108 |
80 Why does Brown connect the Freemasons with Rosslyn Chapel? | 109 |
81 Dan Brown mentions the Church of SaintSulpice as a rallying point for Grail legends and unorthodoxy p 88 Is this true? | 110 |
Opus Dei | 113 |
83 On his celebrated fact page at the beginning of The Da Vinci Code Dan Brown states that Opus Dei is a Catholic sect Is Opus Dei a sect? | 115 |
84 One of Dan Browns villains is a monk of Opus Dei named Silas Does Opus Dei have monks? | 116 |
86 Can Opus Dei be justly accused of secrecy as Dan Brown implies repeatedly in the book? | 118 |
The Jewish Tradition | 119 |
87 After flagellating himself Silas prays Purge me with hyssop and I shall be clean while washing away the blood p 31 Supposedly he is quoting fro... | 121 |
89 No doubt there are many other psalm texts were familiar with and dont even realize that theyre from the Book of Psalms Can you mention any? | 122 |
11 The text of this verse which Silas looks up in a Bible on the altar reads Hitherto shalt thou come but no further It sounds as if this is meant to appl... | 123 |
91 Who is Shekinah? Brown refers to her as a powerful female equal of God p 309 | 124 |
92 Does this mean then that the Star of David has nothing to do with the dwellingplace of male Yahweh and female Shekinah deities as Brown sugge... | 125 |
93 Were sacred rituals involving sex with priestesses ever part of early Jewish worship as Brown says p 309? | 126 |
Leonardo Da Vinci | 129 |
95 The Da Vinci Code centers on the supposed activities of a real artist What are the basic outlines of the life of Leonardo da Vinci? | 131 |
96 The Da Vinci Code portrays its eponymous hero as involved in all sorts of arcane and esoteric activities How much of it is true? And was Leonard... | 132 |
97 Leonardo seems to have painted many works with religious themes Can it be true then that he was contemptuous of religion and especially of the ... | 133 |
99 What is the meaning of the dagger that St Peter is holding in the picture? Is he really threatening someone with it? | 134 |
100 Is Dan Brown correct in claiming that Leonardo deviously used the Mona Lisa to hide messages subversive to the church? | 135 |
101 Brown gives some technical information about the execution of Leonardos paintings Is his information correct? | 136 |
A Final Question | 139 |
Q How did The Da Vinci Code with its preposterous historical claims and its hypocritically condescending attitude toward women achieve such phen... | 141 |
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Expressions et termes fréquents
101 QUESTIONS accusation apostle authentic became believe Bible biblical Brown claims canonical Gospels Catholic Church celebrated century Christ Christian community conflation connection Constantine Crusades Da Vinci Code Dan Brown divine documents early Christians early church Eucharist example fact faith feast four Gospels France Freemasons Gnostic Gospels God's goddess Gospel of John Hebrew Scriptures heresy historian historical fiction Holy Grail human identified important Jerusalem Jewish Jews John's Gospel king Knights Templar Last Supper Leigh Teabing Leonardo Luke Malleus Maleficarum Mary Magdalene Mary of Magdala Mary's Masonic medieval Merovingian monk mother of Jesus Nicaea novel Opus Opus Dei pagan painting Paul Pope popular preached Priory of Sion prostitute psalms quest QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS Reformation religion religious order RESPONSES TO 101 Rome Rosslyn Chapel sacred feminine Saint-Sulpice scholars Shekinah Silas sinner suppressed Testament tradition true versions Vinci Code woman women worship writings written Yahweh