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(More customer reviews)In "Breaking the Da Vinci Code," New Testament scholar Darrell Bock describes and refutes the "codes" behind "The Da Vinci Code," which could better be understood to be the presuppositions of author Dan Brown, and those who subscribe to his Gnostic view of Christianity.
Sadly, in our day and age, very few Christians, much less the general population, have any knowledge of the literature of the Early Church, except perhaps for the New Testament itself. It is because of this general ignorance that so many seem to readily buy into Dan Brown's "code behind the code."
As I read "The Da Vinci Code" nearly a year ago, I was totally engrossed in the mystery, but as the story progressed, I was increasingly appalled at the "history." As an amateur student of Church history, I couldn't help but wish for a single volume I could recommend to help counteract the erroneous views of Christian development that Brown promotes. "Breaking the Da Vinci Code" is one such volume.
While each "code" could have a scholarly work written about it (and indeed many have been), Bock does a good job of addressing popular misconceptions about Mary Magdalene, whether or not Jesus was married, the Gnostic gospels, the development of the New Testament, and other related issues.
It is significant that this book is endorsed by well respected Protestant, Catholic and Orthodox Christian scholars. Personally, as an Orthodox Christian, I found Bock's statements to be, for the most part, thoroughly orthodox (small "o"), in the sense of C.S. Lewis' "Mere Christianity" (another book I would also heartily recommend).
For further reading, I would strongly urge readers to take a look at "Ecclesiastical History" (also published as "Church History"), written by Eusebius in the 4th century. As I stated in my Amazon review of this work, it should be "required reading" for all thinking Christians.
Other Early Church writings should be considered, such as "The Apostolic Fathers," edited by Jack Sparks; or any of the volumes in "Ante-Nicene Fathers" and "Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers" set of 38 volumes, edited by Philip Schaff; or many of the volumes in the "Ancient Christian Writers" series from Paulist Press.
I listened to the audio recording of "Breaking the Da Vinci Code," read by Chris Fabry, as I followed along in the book. While Fabry has a clear, pleasant and convincing voice for this work, I noticed that his mispronunciation of the occasional word slightly shifted the meaning of the author's intent. Not a big deal, but worthy of note. An advantage of the book over the recording is the inclusion of a selected bibliography and a helpful, simple glossary.
Click Here to see more reviews about: Breaking the Da Vinci Code: Answers to the Questions Everyone's Asking
Many who have read the New York Times bestseller The Da Vinci Code have questions that arise from seven codes-expressed or implied-in Dan Brown's book. In Breaking the Da Vinci Code: Answers to the Questions Everyone's Asking, Darrell Bock, Ph.D., responds to the novelist's claims using central ancient texts and answers the following questions:
Who was Mary Magdalene?
Was Jesus Married?
Would Jesus Being Single be Un-Jewish?
Do the So-Called Secret Gnostic Gospels Help Us Understand Jesus?
What Is the Remaining Relevance of The Da Vinci Code?
Darrell Bock's research uncovers the origins of these codes by focusing on the 325 years immediately following the birth of Christ, for the claims of The Da Vinci Code rise or fall on the basis of things emerging from this period. Breaking the Da Vinci Code, now available in trade paper, distinguishes fictitious entertainment from historical elements of the Christian faith. For by seeing these differences, one can break the Da Vinci code.
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