Notes, Links and Sources for The Da Vinci Code

Below are the notes from the adult education classes that I have taught the past couple of summers.
(downloadable for the moment only as Word (.doc) files)

Class 1: Faith vs. Fiction
The main theological issues of The Da Vinci Code :
* Was Jesus just a man?
* Was the Church a human invention?
* Was the New Testament put together by Constantine?
file : DVC_Notes_1.doc


Class 2: Jesus, the Gnostics, and Mary Magdalene
* Was Jesus married?
* Was Mary Magdalene supposed to be the head of the Church?
* Who were the Gnostics and what did they believe?
* What Gnostic writings does Brown draw from, and what do they say?
file : DVC_Notes_2.doc


Class 3: The Knights Templar and Opus Dei
* Who were "The Monks of War"?
* What is Opus Dei?
* Is what Brown claims about them true?
file : DVC_Notes_3.doc



Other Online Resources :

* The Da Vinci Hoax -- http://www.ignatius.com/books/davincihoax/news/

* “Dismantling the Da Vinci Code” – Sandra Miesel, Crisis Magazine, Sept 2003

            www.crisismagazine.com/september2003/feature1.htm

* “Cracking the Anti-Catholic Code” – Carl E. Olsen, Envoy Magazine

            Part 1 : www.envoymagazine.com/planetenvoy/Review-DaVinci-Part1.htm
            Part 2 : www.envoymagazine.com/PlanetEnvoy/Review-DaVinci-part2-Full.htm

* “J. P. Holding on The Da Vinci Code”—a very interesting review by a Protestant apologist

            http://www.tektonics.org/davincicrude.htm

* “Eight Surprising Fictions in Dan Brown’s ‘Da Vinci Code'” – Alyson Ward, Ft. Worth Star-Telegram

Good Books : (besides THE Good Book!)

* The Truth Behind the Da Vinci Code. Richard Abanes. Harvest House Publishers.

            - Written by an evangelical Christian, this book restricts itself to a nice and concise examination of the "facts" presented by the Da Vinci Code. It is as faith-neutral of an examination as                 possible. I recommend this for people to give to relatives and friends who want to learn more about the facts behind the book, but are wary of anything that has a "Christian" slant to it.

* De-Coding Da Vinci. Amy Welborn. Our Sunday Visitor Publishers.

- Like Abanes’ book, a nice concise look at the claims of the novel, able to be read in a few hours. This one, however, is written from a faith perspective. It focuses upon what we believe as Catholics and why we should care about the novel’s claims.

 * The Da Vinci Hoax. Carl E. Olsen and Sandra Miesel. Ignatius Press.

            - A longer book refuting The Da Vinci Code, also from a Catholic perspective.

* Truth and Fiction Behind the Da Vinci Code. Dr. Bart Erhman. Oxford University Press.

           - By a well-known scholar, written from a scholar's viewpoint and from no particular religious background. Great for sceptics!

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