Rating: 
Summary: Provocative, Heavy Sledding
Review: If you enjoy Braden's work, you'll enjoy this book. If you're looking for science that cannot be challenged, or something to convince you of the existence of a higher power, this might not be the right door. Essentially, Braden argues that human DNA has markers that correlate with an ancient alphabet, and can be interpreted (using his formula) to include a message about our divine heritage. It's a theory. It's intriguing. If you are in the mood for exploration, it will provide food for thought.
Rating: 
Summary: Interesting, but there's a small problem...
Review: In a time when information is King and everyone with internet access is a part of the royal family, it's no wonder that so many interesting correlations can be specualted on from a diverse range of philosophies and fields of research. This book is a perfect example.
The basis for The God Code's "interoperability," if you will, seems to lie in at least three foundational assumptions:
1. The ancient Hebrew name for God (YHVH) has three distinct letters, each of which can supposedly be ascribed a "hidden" numerical value.
2. Human DNA also has three distinct elements (a fourth is mentioned later); Hydrogen, Nitrogen and Oxygen, each of which can be given a numerical value based on it's atomic mass.
3. The atomic mass of the three elements (1, 5, and 6 respectively) corresponds directly to the numeric values of YVH as 1, 5, and 6.
The conclusion is that God's Sacred Name is written into the DNA of every human.
Now, while I have no problem believing Mr. Braden's conclusion theoretically or philosophically (though for different reasons), there is a problem: According to The God Code, the numerical value for Y is 10, not 1. The Hebrew letter "aleph" carries the value of "1" according to Mr Braden (seen both in paragraph and chart form throughout the book). Therefore, two of the three foundational assumptions for the God Code are wrong.
Maybe this is just an editorial error, but either way, it should give pause for thought. The rest of the conclusions and logical leaps in the book are even harder to justify and require some pretty flexible interpretations of divergent data.
One star for creativity, one star for a noble attempt to point us to the Creator.
Rating:
Summary: The God Code
Review: Taking literal the Biblical reference to seek within to find God,Braden tries to unlock a secret coded message he believes God has left behind in each of us. Using the Hebrew language, he breaks this down into individual letters which have hidden meanings and secret numerical values. This is then applied to the name of God,Man,Woman,Soul,Heaven,Fire,Air,Water,etc. and these values shown. The same is done with modern day elements and their atomic masses as well as the DNA structure. Using the addition of these number values and the science of Gematria (reversal of letters/numbers) in assorted equations, the hidden "code" is revealed. Oddly, this can only work when known words are broken down into alphabet letters and the letters into these secret numbers. The system cannot be used in reverse to prove itself as it only works in one order. Much of the book is spent on the authors perspective viewpoints, his personal journey, and the source of materials which led up to this "discovery". I surmise in an attempt to validate and give credit to the premise of this book. I believe this is a case where the experimenter became part of the experiment and found what he wanted to see. I don't see it.
Rating: 
Summary: this book is irrevelant
Review: The arrogance of assuming that God would choose to speak through only one human language must be seen here. To assume one knows the will or make-up of the Creator is blasphemy. We are all part of the One, that point is irrefutable. That the One would choose to speak to us in such archaic ways is silly. It is we who must grow up and realise that the Voice of God speaks clearly to each soul. We have but to be silent enough inside to hear.
Rating:
Summary: Take a step towards your own evolution
Review: This book is important. Yes, it has a couple of inaccuracies. Yes, it proposes a theory which will shake the comfortable belief systems of most fundamentalists. BUT, the theory conforms to the basic, original tenets of the Christian faith (the ones that existed before Constantine's great editing orgy!), as well as every other religion on the planet. God lives here, and inside every human. We were created in the image of the creator, whoever he/she/it may be, and created imperfectly so we could take charge of our own evolution. Reading this book is a good place to start!
Rating:
Summary: Take a step towards your own evolution
Review: This book is important. Yes, it has a couple of inaccuracies. Yes, it proposes a theory which will shake the comfortable belief systems of most fundamentalists. BUT, the theory conforms to the basic, original tenets of the Christian faith (the ones that existed before Constantine's great editing orgy!), as well as every other religion on the planet. God lives here, and inside every human. We were created in the image of the creator, whoever he/she/it may be, and created imperfectly so we could take charge of our own evolution. Reading this book is a good place to start!
Rating:
Summary: A rip-off in every way!
Review: This book takes well-know basic kabbalistic writings, combines them with avarage-man personal story, and gives it a provocative title to gain sales - and for a rip-off price.
Greg Braden is an average engineer, who in order to get out from the office and make a living decieves people with ripped off mediocrity. There are too many of him around and they devalue the titles of a few truly bright original authors.
Rating: 
Summary: a valuable addition to an exisiting body of knowledge....
Review: This is an excellent book with startling new information about the link between the atomic make-up of man and the name of God in the Bible. The reason I'm writing this review is because some of the other reviewers here just don't get it. They seem to be threatened by a universal biological atomic structure which would bring a sense of unity to mankind. They are so wrapped up in their own dogmatic religous beliefs and their own definite opinion of who God is, that they are unable to accept the author's credible proposition that there is a direct atomic connection between God and man. Braden has come up with a fascinating theory which may be the true secret code in the Hebrew letters that spell-out the name of God. If you think about it, what better way could the ancients pass on the knowledge that humankind is composed of four basic elements? The four letters in the name of God would be the perfect vehicle for transmitting this information. Otherwise, this information would have surely been destroyed by organized religion who denied all new scientific theories for hundreds of years. Lest we not forget the famous Alexandrian Library which was set on fire by religious zealots who destroyed 600,000 original ancient documents that are now lost forever. If this code had been written in any other way, you can rest assured it would have been destroyed by these same type of religious fanatics who insisted that the Sun revolved around the earth for 1200 years. Anytime, a true breakthrough in religious-science comes along, there will always be those detractors who are afraid that their religion may not be right about the true nature of God. It's time to let go of the Biblical fairytales and consider what the author is saying.
Rating:
Summary: A Transmission From *Inner* Space?
Review: What would happen if the Earth were to receive a transmission from outer space? What if someone--or something--had a message for humankind? How would it affect humanity to know we are not alone? What if there was indeed a message being communicated to humanity, but it was imbedded in a form much closer to home? In fact, what if there was a message within the DNA of every man, woman and child on the Earth? A result of 12 years of research, The God Code is a fascinating new book by Gregg Braden that boldly proclaims that not only is there a message encoded in our DNA, but also that this chemical message is the ancient name of God. Using a portion of the ancient Kabbalah known as the Sepher Yetzirah, Braden explains that each of the 22 letters of the Hebrew alphabet has a corresponding numerical value. The Sepher Yetzirah is considered a meditative text that contains mysterious alchemical language. Citing numbers as the universal language that aids in comparing "apples to apples", Braden correlates these numeric values with the ancient name for God, the elements of fire, water, air, and earth, and the atomic mass of hydrogen, nitrogen, oxygen and carbon--the very elements that make up our DNA. The result? "The key to translating the code of DNA into meaningful language is to apply the discovery that converts elements to letters. Based upon their matching values, hydrogen becomes the Hebrew letter Yod (Y), nitrogen becomes the letter Hey (H), oxygen becomes the letter Vav (V), and carbon becomes Gimel (G). These substitutions now reveal that the ancient form of God's name, YH, exists as the literal chemistry of our genetic code. Through this bridge between God's name and the elements of modern science, it now becomes possible to reveal the full mystery and find even greater meaning in the ancient code that lives as each cell of our bodies." Our DNA may then be read literally as a translatable alphabet within each of our cells. What are the odds of these four Hebrew letters randomly creating a meaningful message? Only 1 in 234,256. Einstein once said: "My comprehension of God comes from the deeply felt conviction of a superior intelligence that reveals itself in the knowable world." Other brilliant minds have also echoed the concept of "intelligent design". With the discovery of the "God code", we now know that God has left a calling card within our very DNA. When decoded, this message reads "God/Eternal, within the body". This certainly introduces a new spin on the ancient spiritual truths of "look within" and "know thyself"! So what does it all mean? We are here by design-by an intentional act of creation. And, we are all connected by this amazing message shared within our DNA. 95% of the Earth's population believes in God, and the "God code" proves our common ancestry and connection to one another. In fact, the name of God not only correlates numerically in Hebrew, but also in Arabic! Braden says "...the code carries the same message of possibility and hope to the three religions that account for over one-half of the world's population: Judaism, Islam, and Christianity." This brings me to the entire point of Braden's book: 80 million children, women, and men were lost to violence based in ethnic, religious and philosophical conflicts just in the last century. This is more than the lives lost through natural disasters and AIDS combined during the same time period. We are faced with the mid-century projected collapse of the Earth's ecosystem, the largest build up of weapons and military forces since WWII, and drug resistant diseases. Nearly 1/3 of the world's nations are engaged in armed conflict. Humanity is the greatest threat to our future. Einstein also said that a problem cannot be solved with the same thinking that created it. Braden hopes that his 12 years of research pays off with mankind realizing that we can transcend the differences that threaten to obliterate us by having a shared vision. Instead of waiting for a unifying disaster like September 11th, the God code could serve as a starting point for unity. Citing examples of humanity's courage, goodness, and kindness, Braden believes that this is truly our "natural state". He also explains that periods of chaos is what leads to the establishment of new patterns. Change is a form of chaos, and for humanity to heal the beliefs that has led us to think our differences are intolerable, three things must be present: (From the book) 1. We must be willing to change
2. We must believe that the change is worth making.
3. We must believe that change is possible. Braden is very hopeful, believing that history shows our willingness to change is our basic nature, and the escalating threats to our survival provide a worthwhile reason to change. That leaves the notion of believing that change is possible: "Although the literal text of the message 'God/Eternal within the body' will undoubtedly be subject to various interpretations, the fact that the message exists at all speaks volumes. Regardless of 'who' or 'what' we believe is the source of our genetic code, the tremendous degree of order implied by the message says that something else is 'out there'. This reminds us that we're part of a bigger picture, and perhaps a bigger plan. For these reasons, the message in our bodies is unprecedented in its role of providing a platform of common ground in the resolution of our differences." For humanity's sake, I truly hope Braden is right. Review © Originally posted at http://NewAge.BellaOnline.com
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