>If that's your idea of proof, I guess in trials the burden should be on the suspect? So instead of making the prosecutor prove his case, the accused should stand before a jury and try to convince them he's NOT guilty?
That logic is in line with that of the Inquisition. Lets just burn everyone if they can't prove that something didn't happen!
Your "evidence" of some atheists turning Christian is hardly compelling. For every one that converted, there's one that researched it and didn't change his mind. Do you want a list of well-known atheist researchers who mainted their positions?
And to criticize atheists because there are LESS is truly pathetic. Christianity makes it clear that parents are to teach their children the ways of God. Children usually develop their religious belief system from their parents. So you're going to tell me that the large number of Christians means there are less atheists because there was no proof of Christianity being false? You're really sad, then. It has more to do with families raising their ilk to believe as they do. I'd really like to see the religious percentages if all parents simply said "research the religions and choose with your heart." I bet it'd be a lot different than it is now.
Stop criticizing a book on YOUR own bias. You are not objective and are thus not any more fit to critique this book than those you claim are "biased." Hypocrisy runs ramapant in the minds of some Christians.
I think that the Bible contains flaws and injustices, maybe even more than most religious books, but the real injustice is the people who read it and spend their life terrorizing others because of it. I'm not fond of the Bible, but I feel sorry for it, because a book alone does not create injustice. What creates injustice is those who read it and live their life based on it, and only it. Christianity is not inherently malicious.. it's those who distort it that create the malice. I am an agnostic who has not yet decided on the existence of any God, and perhaps never will.
But one thing that IS clear to me is that neither a Christian, nor someone who had deep hatred for Christianity (sorry, your average atheist does not harbor such hatred) has any objectivity in this matter.
This book, like any other, expresses a viewpoint. It expresses a viewpoint as Mr. "I'm not biased but this book is evil" does. I recommend everyone check to see how he rated the OTHER Da Vinci Code analyses. Bet you anything he rated the pro-Christian ones higher.
Rating: 
Summary: Two thumbs and all fingers way up
Review: I loved Dan Brown's book and wanted to know more so I picked this up because it was the only one of the Davinci Code related books that was under $10 and had lots of photos. What a value! It hits everything I was curious about with lots of detail: the history of the Priory of Sion and the Knights Templar (loved the fact that Friday 13th comes from the execution of the Templars), Mary Magdalene and Jesus' relationship and their possible bloodline, where the Holy Grail might be (Valencia in SPain), lots of detail on all the buildings and paintings in the novel, what it's really like to be in Opus Dei, etc etc.
Buy it - you won't be disappointed - and it's amazingly cheap considering all the photos.
Rating:
Summary: The Dragon Society
Review: I read the book and came away knowing a lot more than friends of mine that had just read Dan Browns. I have read a lot of the anger that is on this page, and checked up on one thing in particular in Google. The Dragon Society I found seems to have nothing satanic or anything like that about it. it starts off it's description as: "The Dragon Society also operates under its original name of Societas Draconis. The Dragon Court and Order was re-formed in 1408 by Emperor Sigismund (Zsigmond) von Luxemburg, King of Hungary, later to become Holy Roman Emperor in 1433." What else are these people wrong about? I recommend this book because I learnt a lot and wonder why some people are so upset about it.
Rating: 
Summary: So-so, but not too bad
Review: I'll keep this short.
Pro - secular treatment, good price, covers most of the issues
Con - too expensive, too long, a bit too secular (no sense of respect for spirituality AT ALL), too wordy (rambles a bit), uses dry vocabulary.
Recommendation - Fine for those who want a long read. Those who want a scholarly Christian approach should go with Bock. But those who want more popular (but well-documented) approach should go for Abanes -- "The Truth Behind the Da Vinci Code."
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: Info-Packed, but boring
Review: Lunn definitely answers many of the questions that needed answering, and provides a lot of information. But my goodness, I could barely keep my eyes open. Contrary to what I knew I was reading, it felt like I was trying to get through an old college book, or a term paper, or some PhD dissertation. I mean, c'mon.
Information-wise, however, I must say he is better than Bock, the Barns/Garlow team (a joke), and Kellmeyer (the Catholic Crusader). I've read all of these and they have good points and bad points. The only book that has a similar dispassionate approach like Lunn is "The Truth Behind the Da Vinci Code" by Abanes (oddly, he is an evangelical Christian).
Abanes conceals his personal faith very well, which may be possible because he also tends to rub elbows with a lot of secular folks (he's apparently on the editorial advisory board for Michael Shermer's Skeptic Magazine). Unlike Lunn, however, Abanes is more upbeat and contemporary in style (more of a journalist than a scholar).
It's all what an individual likes. Lunn was fine if that's what you want. Abanes is good if that's what you want. Bock is next, but for some reason he does not deal at all with anything Brown says about Da Vinci's paintings (which to me is nothing short of deceptive on Bock's part).
Anyway, for me, it was actually fun comparing all of these guys.
Rating:
Summary: Lunn Is Lusterless
Review: Martin Lunn is not a book writer, and it shows. The pacing drags, the material is dry, and it reads like something just this side of a technical manual about how to put together a a piece of furniture from Ikea.
Although Lunn is touted as an expert in Davidic bloodline and an expert historian, for the life of me I could not find ANYTHING else he has written on the subject. Some expert. Where's all of his expert work?
Here's some interesting comparisons to consider. Go to Google, pull up "Martin Lunn" in a search and you come up with about 700 returns, Many that are not even this particular Martin Lunn, and teh one's that ARE about him are connected to this book.
Now go and enter the name "Darrell Bock" the author of "Breaking the Da Vinci Code" and you get 4,000 hits that clearly show he is a reputable scholar who is widely respected and fairly known. Pull up "Richard Abanes" author of "The Truth Behind the Da Vinci Code" and you get 7,000 hits that show he is a widely respected religion journalist specializing in this kind of subject matter--and he's written a dozen books from major publishers on religious issues.
Who's the expert??? Certainly not Lunn. Read over the reviews and take a look at the choices carefully before spending your money.
Rating:
Summary: Martin Lunn Succeeds in decoding the Da Vinci Code!
Review: Martin Lunn's "The Da Vinci Code Decoded" is proof that good things do come in small pachages. Well written and highly informative. I recommend it highly.
-HRH Prince Anthony of Ulster,Kt. S.D., Q.M., O.L.E.,
Founder of the North American Council of Princes
Rating:
Summary: A "just the facts, ma'am" guide to DaVinci
Review: Of all the fan guides out there, there is none better than this volume as far as I have seen, if you just want a straight ahead factual guide to the true history behind the fiction. Every aspect of the DaVinci Code is covered here, but not in the form of essays like some of the DVC books, nor is it a religious book set on debunking the notion of Christ not dying on the cross and having sired children with Mary Magdelene. It's amazing how such an innocuous book can stir up so much debate, but I think that it's a testament to the fact that this book takes a NEUTRAL tone when dealing with such controversial source material. Is this the reason why several readers here seem intent on shouting down the author because they don't agree with him? Well it's not THE AUTHOR they disagree with, it's like disagreeing with an encyclopedia! And that's what this book is, a perfect concordance to the fact behind the fiction of Dan Brown's best seller. And it's priced well, too.
