Rating: 
Summary: Too Much Info
Review: A fairly well-written book, but spends too much time evangelizing and sermonizing. I wanted something more factual and simply a straightforward historical reference guide for the non-religious. Something that would simply make a comparison bewteen facts in history and claims fo Brown. Also, too long. And, in my opinion, too expensive. This book, I must say though, is better than the one by Garlow and Barnes. But I'd try Abanes' short volume "The Truth Behind the Da Vinci Code," especially for non-scholars out there. Abanes is a bestselling, cutting-edge author who writes more for the popular market, gets to the point, and has great documentation. And it retail's for only $6.99 (JUST released).
Rating: 
Summary: Everyone's asking..
Review: After reading "The Da Vinci Code" - a lot of people are asking about Leonardo da Vinci's art, the Knights Templar, and so on. This book doesn't even try to answer those questions. Along with the other books cited, try Welborn's "De Coding Da Vinci" which is thorough, very well written and doesn't beat you over the head with Christian evangelizing.
Rating:
Summary: Damage Control
Review: All one need do is read the blurbs at the beginning of the book to realize that this book isn't so much about refuting anything presented in The Da Vinci Code so much as is it's about doing damage control for what they perceive to be an attack upon the validity of their faith. One cannot refute the accuracy, or lack thereof, of any historical reference by summing it all up with faith, as I feel this book does by way of the last chapter. The mere mentioning of the word faith in a book claiming to deal with historical accuracies, quite frankly, removes all threads of credibility.
Rating:
Summary: What a work of Dribble!
Review: All that Dr. Bock seems capable of is mouthing religious ideals.
I bought this little book hoping to get a more detailed look into some of the views that were expressed in "The DaVinci Code". Instead a got a lecture on how right and pure the early church fathers were and pages of Dr. Bock's defense of his Christian faith.
Dr. Bock should confine his writings to church publications and not try to make money off popular best sellers. Rather tacky!
Rating:
Summary: What factual evidence?
Review: Although this book is easy to read, I was unimpressed by the lack of REAL, factual evidence. The Da Vinci Code is a work of fiction, and this book tries to poke the many holes in THAT dreadful work of art. But how do you refute a work of fiction by using the same source? What I mean is, the Da Vinci code is basically saying the Bible does not tell the whole story. Ok, fine, but how is Bock's book going to refute Brown's work by using the Bible and scriptures as it's main source? The Bible is what they are arguing, so you cannot use the source of the problem as the answer. They are like two children saying "Did not!", "Did to!", and so on. It's just poor research. I want different proof.
Rating:
Summary: Darrell Bock's Straw Man
Review: Although understandably this book is geared for the lay reader, Bock's methodology is seriously insufficient and therefore subverts his argument. Not only does he fail to engage "real" Jesus research scholars (like Charlesworth, Levine, Sanders & Johnson), he sets up John Dominic Crossan as a straw man. In other words he sets up arguably the most 'liberal' of scholars engaged in Jesus Research so that he can easily dismiss his argument. This is called a "straw man" and is a logical fallacy. Many people want to read this book to discover whether or not there is any shred of plausibility to the claim that Jesus was married to Mary Magdalene. If so, this is not the place to look! Bock does not engage the issue using appropriate methodolgies and hence his work ought not be trusted.
Rating:
Summary: Poorly Written
Review: As a conservative evangelical Christian, I was eager to read a scholarly refutation of "The Da Vinci Code." Regretfully, this book was a dreadful disappointment. It was so poorly written and painfully simplistic. The contents were terribly disorganized and lacked any coherent structure. It is obvious that the publisher sought to capitalize on the success of the "The Da Vinci Code" by publishing this waste of paper. Readers, beware! Don't be fooled by the enticing description on the book's cover! This book is a waste of one's time and money. I wish I could get my money back!
Rating: 
Summary: Pretty good!
Review: Bock certainly has written a lot about the period around the first century AD, and he draws on that experience to compose a lot of the text of this book. In that sense, Bock is doing a great service by providing a decent historical context to the assertions made in Dan Brown's book. Unfortunately, Bock is not really able to address the whole set of contentions surrounding modern Wicca and goddess ritual, which is the whole point of Brown's novel. Brown has already pretty much said he intended to promote goddess worship, and his claims in that area need to be addressed as well. This book doesn't do much of that. I don't know about you, but I'm kind of busy, and I found it a lot easier to get through "Fact and Fiction in the Da Vinci Code". It addresses most of the same issues Bock does, but it also goes on to address the problem of Wicca that Brown poses and Bock doesn't deal with. Kellmeyer's argument from the Pauline epistles against the idea that Jesus was married to Mary Magdelene is unique and powerful, and the information he provides about German influences on Wicca is also remarkable. If Dan Brown had known what Kellmeyer knew, he probably would have re-phrased a lot of his book. Whether or not you get Bock's book, you can't miss out on Kellmeyer's. He wrote it in the same style Brown uses - short chapters, where each chapter addresses a single issue raised on a particular page of the novel. The issues are addressed in the same order they appear in the novel, so it's easy to find the discussion you want, and a lot of the discussions are cross-linked to one another to show you how Brown wove things together. Besides, his writing is snappy and fun, so it's easy to read. Bock and others could take lessons from that.
Rating:
Summary: Only part of the story
Review: Bock is an evangelical, and it shows, even through his scholarship. His discussion of women and Christianity omits, oh,..2000 years of Catholic and Eastern Christian tradition. Hardly a word about art, Priory of Sion, Grail, etc. NOT the "questions everyone is asking." Only a couple of them. I want my money back!
Rating: 
Summary: Cash in?
Review: Bock's book does not "cash in" on the Da Vinci Code book anymore than Brown "cashes in" on the fact that 80% of bookstore patrons are women. Brown specifically built his novel to appeal to what he perceives to be the "modern woman reader". Both Bock and Kellmeyer are left to clean up the mess that Brown's book makes of history and theology. Both Bock and Kellmeyer do good jobs of this - indeed, the two corrections complement one another very well. Bock deals extensively with the early Church history, Kellmeyer provides an overview of the Church history but also deals with the artwork and the Wiccan history. In short, Kellmeyer gives you the all the theological and historical facts necessary to answer nearly every immediate question Brown's book could raise in your mind, while Bock concentrates on providing an exhaustive context to help you straighten out the hash Brown makes of early Church history. Saying Bock and Kellmeyer "cash in" on Brown is like saying the janitorial service "cashes in" on an epidemic of diarrhea and vomiting at the city airport. Brown writes fiction in every sense of the word. Bock and Kellmeyer give you the truth. If that's cashing in, let's have more of it!
| 
