Rating: 
Summary: Unbelievable! Truth Finally!
Review: About time someone spoke about Dan Brown's Davinci's Code and all of it's lies. It's a fantastic book full of facts, unlike anything you will read in 'The Davinci Code'. Who cares that the author is biased, which he isn't. He presents all the facts which support christianity, not the gnostic gospels or Dan Browns lies. If you research all the religions in the world, only one holds true with facts and never contradicts itself, Christianity. If you are a liberal, why bother reading this book. Your mind's are so closed to the truth already, that Dan Brown has already tricked you and taken your money. Buy this book for a loooooong list of the lies in 'The Davinci Code'. A MUST READ!!!!!
Rating: 
Summary: Cracking Up Da Vinci
Review: EVERYONE MUST READ THIS BOOK!
I read this book because someone I care for asked me to have a look at it. Otherwise, it would have been a strange thing for me to read a book whose aim is to debunk a piece of fiction. Debunking fiction is like putting Santa Claus on trial for unlawful entry.
Like so many millions of others, I read and enjoyed Dan Brown's novel, "The Da Vinci Code." I had recognized much of its fictional content as borrowed from "Holy Blood, Holy Grail," a book which had excited me when I read it as a Freshman in high school. Even then, though, I had recognized it to be little more than a turbocharged article from the National Enquirer. Most of its claims were as flimsy as balsa wood. What I found particularly amusing, even at age 14, was the idea that some kind of bloodline of Christ might exist today and that it would be important for any reason whatsoever. For a non-believer, it would be as exciting as meeting anyone who could claim some Jewish heritage-hardly a rarity. For the believer, though, what was one supposed to make of such a thing? Would you expect that Jesus' great-grand kid (of the 75th generation) had some kind of God DNA (God DNA? I've always wondered how that worked when reading the NT) that bestowed him or her with miracle powers? Would Jerome H. Christ III be capable of converting his classmates' Coke into chianti? Would he win all swimming competitions by sprinting across the surface of the pool while his competitors languished in the waters below? Would he cast out demons from the school bullies? The underlying point is that even if such an outrageous claim were true (which I would put on the same level of probability as discovering a tribe of Jamaicans on Neptune), it could not be tested (we have no Jesus DNA against which to compare it) and it would have no significance anyway. The idea that "Holy Blood, Holy Grail" had was that the royal-blood of Jesus (oxymoron, the man was a Galilean carpenter) had coursed through the veins of a line of monarchs in the middle ages and it bestowed upon them psychic gifts. And, who knows, it may still run in the veins of a few decrepit Frenchmen living out in the boonies (God save Pierre Plantard). How could a high school Freshman not love this stuff! It was about as much fun as Highlander, even if it lacked the Queen soundtrack.
So, "Cracking Da Vinci's Code" by Garlow & Jones, is an earnest attempt to wrest us away from believing any of the notions set forth in "Holy Blood, Holy Grail," notions that were pivotal for Dan Brown's fun plotline. The logic of "Cracking Da Vinci's Code" is spurious: if one believes that Jesus-blood is to be found in a few folks hiding out in the caretaker's cottage behind Roslyn Chapel then I hardly think that some rational arguments to the contrary are going to convince otherwise. But perhaps, just perhaps, the real point of "Cracking Da Vinci's Code" is not to bring reason to the gullible but, having serendipitously discovered their target demographic, the authors might replace one set of absurd ideas with another (and make some money on the side). Ah-ha! This is the real agenda of Garlow & Jones. And you think Dan Brown had a hidden agenda! At least he wrote an entertaining novel.
What one finds in this book is a lumpy mixture of maudlin moralizing and Jesus luvin' exegesis (nota bene: not exegesis at all) that would be welcomed with fine regards anywhere south of the Mason-Dixon line. The whole Carrie story line that Garlow & Jones artlessly weave into "Cracking Da Vinci's Code" is amusing beyond words. In fact, it is so bad that it ends up being unintentionally good, like an Ed Wood film whose horror is comedy and whose drama is spoof. The basic plot is that a young woman in college has to make a crucial choice between becoming part of witches coven (very common on University campuses these days, as you well know) or joining a whitewashed Latter Day version of Christianity which seems to consider the Bible's beginning to be Matthew. The authors toss in a few well-insulated facts to give "Cracking Da Vinci's Code" an air of credibility but most of the work is precisely that kind of proselytizing rationality (which is both bad proselytizing and bad rationality) that one can hear on any of the nether channels of cable TV late at night or all day Sunday.
"The Da Vinci Code" achieved a level of popularity that astounds and for some it led to questions about their faith. I heard from some of these people and obviously Garlow & Jones heard from these people. But if some questioned their faith because a cliffhanger novel threw some out-of-context ideas their way, then a thorough analysis and reconsideration of their supposedly core beliefs is probably in order.
If one is to be a Christian and supposedly live his or her life by Christian principles then at least read enough of the Bible (including the OT), the Church fathers, and modern biblical scholarship to make sense of this strange faith. Perhaps, just perhaps, if these Christians went to such a minimal level of self-refection and critical consideration then the next airplane read won't lead to a personal and theological crisis.
While it will not go into my top-ten list, "Cracking Da Vinci's Code" is a must read because it allows fine insights into the psychology of those minds that currently run the United States and, by default, the world.
Rating: 
Summary: Do you like to form your own opinion? Then don't buy this.
Review: First of all, I haven't read The Da Vinci Code and probably never will. However, I am well aware of the basis for the storyline. After years of studying Christian history and the apocryphal texts of the Old and New Testaments, I can honestly say that Cracking the Da Vinci Code is simply two men's biased rant on what they believe to be an attack on their religion; totally disregarding the fact that Dan Brown's novel is fiction. I've also read many of the books that Brown used for reference and I find it laughable that this large print, under 200 page book is enough to discount thousands of pages of research into this subject. The authors may be scholars, but this is not scholarly research. YOU CANNOT PROVE ANYTHING BY QUOTING THE BIBLE. Man, this book is lame. What's worse, a third of these 200 pages is a story about a young girl named Carrie who falls in with a cult based around The Da Vinci Code. No, I swear....I'm not making this up. There's a line that says, "Come on Carrie, It's time we put into action what Dan Brown is talking about." The authors of this book actually go as far as to proclaim The Da Vinci Code as "religious propaganda". They write that Dan Brown has a hidden agenda that consists of destroying the Christian religion and replacing it with a pagan one. While reading this (it took all of three hours....is that worth your 11 bucks?) I found myself replying over and over, "That's true, but only to an extent." This book is riddled with countless half-truths that only serve the purpose of keeping the fundamentalists happy. What I find most amusing is this: the evidence of Jesus' and Mary's marriage together does not begin with French traditions, it begins in the New Testament itself. Not the coptic scrolls or any other gnostic source....but the New Testament canon. Anyone with an objective view and an understanding of Jewish traditions can easily discern the possibility that Jesus' and Mary's marriage by simply reading the New Testament. Peter Jones, who apparently can read Hebrew, doesn't seem to have a complete grasp on ancient jewish culture. This book is written by fundamentalists, for fundamentalists. Anyone who can appreciate research material that presents evidence rather than an opinion should stay away from this biased drivel.
Rating:
Summary: Don't Read
Review: Having read the Da Vinci Code, I was eager to see the religious interpretation of the novel. Instead of finding a well thought out rebuttal to Brown's book, I found an absurdity disguised as a book. Rather than specifically citing quotes from the Da Vinci Code and then proving them false with quotes from the Bible, the writers simply stated that Brown was wrong leaving the reader craving actual proof. Although these writers may be religious experts, they should become proficient in writing well developed papers that actually prove points with hard evidence rather than letting their words battle those of Brown's. In short, these novice writers didn't help the church in their battle of truth, they in fact hindered it with their lack of writing skills.
Rating: 
Summary: Interesting, a recommended read
Review: I didn't find the way this book was written particularly impressive, but it still contains some useful and interesting information. I have not read any of the other books out there that debate Dan Brown's ideas, so I have nothing to compare this book to, but the fact remains that Dan Brown does not have everything correct. I found it to be an interesting read regardless of one's opinion on "The Davinci Code" or one's religious persuasion. It is always a good idea to read as much as possible and do your own research from more than one point of view.
Rating:
Summary: I still have questions!
Review: I enjoyed reading the Da Vinci Code, but I knew it was full of fiction labled as facts. I wanted to read a book that would address some of the more egregious examples as well as answer questions about Da Vinci's art, the Priory of Sion, and the Council of Nicea. Instead I read a book which (a)did a fairly decent job of explaining Christian theology mixed in with (b) a cheesy narrative of one-diminsional stereotyped characters and (c) an obvious bias against anyone who did not follow the authors' prescribed beliefs. For example, every time the word "feminist" is used it is preceded by "radical". Hilary Clinton is even mentioned because she is friends with a pagan! I am a deeply committed Christian and I found this book to be offensive. If the intent of the book is to evangalise, it will fail because of its shrill voice. On top of that, other than the Council of Nicea, I still don't have any answers to my questions!
Rating:
Summary: To Go A Step Beyond
Review: If you loved DaVinci Code or if you hated it, you must admit it did get a reaction from you....which in itself is one definition of a successful novel. Many readers have found themselves more interested in the information detailed in Dan Brown's books, and if so, this book is a good choice to begin to learn about the amazing history of the Christian Church.
Especially Gnosticism and the early Christian Church, and especially the creation of the New Testament Bible. For a different review....here is my review of books that build on these interests, especially the "lost" books of the New Testament Bible and the concepts of Gnosticism.
Nearly all knowledgeable Biblical scholars realize there have been a wide range of writings attributed to Jesus and his Apostles..... and that some of these were selected for compilation into the book that became known as the Bible.....and that some books have been removed from some versions of the Bible and others have been re-discovered in modern times.
The attention focused on Gnosticism by Dan Brown's DaVinci Code may be debatable, but the fact is that increased attention on academics tends to be predominately positive, so I welcome those with first-time or renewed interest. At least first-timers to Gnosticism are not pursuing the oh-so-popular legends of the Holy Grail, Bloodline of Christ, and Mary Magdalene.
This is great......I seldom quote other reviewers, but there is one reviewer of Pagels' books who confided that he had been a Jesuit candidate and had been required to study a wide range of texts but was never was told about the Nag Hamadi texts. He said:
"Now I know why. The Gospel of Thomas lays waste to the notion that Jesus was `the only begotten Son of God' and obviates the need for a formalized church when he says, `When your leaders tell you that God is in heaven, say rather, God is within you, and without you.' No wonder they suppressed this stuff! The Roman Catholic Church hasn't maintained itself as the oldest institution in the world by allowing individuals to have a clear channel to see the divinity within all of us: they need to put God in a bottle, label the bottle, put that bottle on an altar, build a church around that altar, put a sign over the door, and create rubricks and rituals to keep out the dis-believing riff-raff. Real `Us' versus `them' stuff, the polar opposite from `God is within You.' `My God is bigger than your God' the church(s)seem to say. And you can only get there through "my" door/denomination. But Jesus according to Thomas had it right: just keep it simple, and discover the indwelling Divinity `within you and without you.'"
Here are quickie reviews of what is being bought these days on the Gnostic Gospels and the lost books of the Bible in general:
The Lost Books of the Bible (0517277956) includes 26 apocryphal books from the first 400 years that were not included in the New Testament.
Marvin Meyers' The Secret Teachings of Jesus : Four Gnostic Gospels (0394744330 ) is a new translation without commentary of The Secret Book of James, The Gospel of Thomas, The Book of Thomas, and The Secret Book of John.
James M. Robinson's The Nag Hammadi Library in English : Revised Edition (0060669357) has been around 25 years now and is in 2nd edition. It has introductions to each of the 13 Nag Hammadi Codices and the Papyrus Berioinensis 8502.
The Complete Dead Sea Scrolls in English (0140278079) by Geza Vermes has selected works....a complete work is more difficult to achieve than the publisher's marketing concept indicates. His commentary generates strong reactions.
Elaine Pagels has 2 books (The Gnostic Gospels 0679724532 and Beyond Belief : The Secret Gospel of Thomas 0375501568) that have received considerable attention lately. For many, her work is controversial in that it is written for popular consumption and there is a strong modern interpretation. She does attempt to reinterpret ancient gender relationships in the light of modern feminist thinking. While this is a useful (and entertaining) aspect of college women's studies programs, it is not as unethical as some critics claim. As hard as they may try, all historians interpret the past in the context of the present. Obviously there is value in our attempts to re-interpret the past in the light of our own time.
If you want the full scholarly work it is W. Schneemelcher's 2 volume New Testament Apocrypha.
Also, to understand the Cathars......try Barbara Tuckman's Distant Mirror for an incredible historical commentary on how the Christian Church has handled other points of view
Rating:
Summary: Nevermind the man behind the curtain
Review: oh bother, next they'll be saying the easter bunny, tooth fairy and santa clause are fictional characters too. Make-Believe-Land is so much more a) comfortable
b) intellectually non-challenging
c) ideologically compatible
d) feel good
e) all of the above
Rating:
Summary: Boring.
Review: Poorly written.
The authors try to "defend" the church by critizing the novel by Mr. Brown.
I found it unconvincing.
Rating:
Summary: Separating Fact From Fiction
Review: Separating fact from fiction is never easy, as evidenced by both The Da Vinci Code and the reviews here of Cracking Da Vinci's Code. For example: "Talk about Dan Brown confusing fact with fiction, this book on the very first page quotes Tim LaHaye's book 'Left Behind' as fact when it is nothing but fiction." Fact: Left Behind is indeed more fiction than fact and is just as guilty of confusing the two as is The Da Vinci Code. Fiction: The first page of Cracking Da Vinci's Code does not quote Left Behind but is an endorsement by Tim LaHaye. Again: "After reading the credentials of the two authors, I was sure they would provide a non-biased viewpoint of the novel. Boy was I wrong. From the first page of the book, the authors begin preaching rather than convincingly arguing. Whats (sic) worse, they introduce this girl named Carrie in their book who is having 'sexual' problems with her 'typical' male boyfriend. The book immeadiatly (sic) begins reading like a young Christian adult book. They state that Mr. Brown has an agenda...I think they too have an agenda." Fact: Parts of the book are indeed poorly written. Fiction: "From the first page of the book, the authors begin preaching rather than convincingly arguing." The authors' agenda is crystal clear but that is intellectual honesty, not preaching. There is no such thing as "a non-biased viewpoint" or argument. Honest intellectuals recognize and disclose their biases, presuppositions, and conclusions up front. Dishonest intellectuals do not. Peter Jones is an honest intellectual with a Harvard/Princeton pedigree. Aware of his expertise in Gnosticism and paganism, I picked up this book to help me separate fact from fiction in The Da Vinci Code. I was not disappointed. I'm now reading Dan Burstein's Secrets of the Code-talk about riding another's coattails!
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