Author |
Message |
Margo
Member
06-06-2004
| Monday, June 07, 2004 - 3:28 am
I've just finished,"DaVinci Code" and "Angels and Demons" loved them both and am waiting for "Deception Point" I'm blown away with Brown's research capabilities...He's definately taken it to a new level.
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Reader234
Member
08-13-2000
| Monday, June 07, 2004 - 6:40 am
I'm still saving his book for summer reading, when people pay attention to the books you read... cant be seen reading chic lit all summer!! *g
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Eeyoreslament
Member
07-20-2003
| Wednesday, December 29, 2004 - 12:35 pm
The Da Vinci crock A fascinating conspiracy about Jesus transformed the cheesy thriller, "The Da Vinci Code," into a phenomenal bestseller. Too bad it comes from "Holy Blood, Holy Grail," a masterpiece of bogus history. - - - - - - - - - - - - By Laura Miller Interesting article. Figured I'd share. I would post it all here, but it's 3 pgs long. 
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Tashakinz
Member
11-13-2002
| Saturday, January 01, 2005 - 6:08 pm
There have been conservative publication efforts to debunk TDC almost since it was published. Why all the fuss over a piece of fiction?
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Marysafan
Member
08-07-2000
| Monday, January 03, 2005 - 4:38 am
I was in a bookstore shopping at Christmas time and someone asked the clerk if they had The Davinci Code. I smiled and said to the clerk...It sounds like it's still going strong...and she told me that indeed it was. On another note...I am hearing that Tom Hanks has been slated to play the lead role in the movie that will be directed by Ron Howard. I always envisioned Harrison Ford in the role...but Tom Hanks could work too.
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Westtexan
Member
07-16-2004
| Monday, January 03, 2005 - 7:54 pm
I was in Barnes and Noble this weekend and saw a new DaVinci Code book, much bigger than the original hardback which has been the bestseller for so long. I initially thought it must be a large print version but leafed through it and found that it has pictures of all the art work and illustrations of mathematical references and other symbols. That's the copy I wish I had. I was constantly going to the Internet to google various pictures, places, etc. when I was reading the book last year. This new copy would be the ideal gift.
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Newman
Member
09-25-2004
| Sunday, January 23, 2005 - 7:45 am
SPOILER I was hoping to see a riveting discussion on this book, here. Disappointing. I just finished listening to it on tape. Loved it. So much to discuss. To me, as a non-believer going in, I feel like a Pagan. God is Nature. Unfortunately my only experience with pagans is from the movie Dragnet where Dan Akyroyd (I think) goes to a pagan ritual, and it's your stupid brainless light comedy all around. What is the shocking part of Brown's theory? That Jesus was married to Mary Magdeline? That he had a child with her. That he wanted Mary to take over the church after he was gone? Peter didn't like Mary because of jealousy. He wanted to be the one who took over after Jesus. So it gets to be a discussion of power and women's rights, the sacred feminine. Constantine ommitted gospels that emphasized Jesus' human traits. The Bible was written by man not God. I'm wondering if it shook the faith of any true believers out there. I suppose if you have faith that Jesus rose from the dead then this is just a nice mystery story with Biblical references and symbolism and dramatic tension. If you are not a believer in Jesus as the Son of God, then it opens up a whole new way to look at the Bible, at women, at power, and so forth. It is very believeable that the conservative right wing church would want to squelch this book or bury this theory that Jesus was married to Mary, who I thought was a prostitute in the Bible.
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Max
Member
08-12-2000
| Sunday, January 23, 2005 - 10:05 am
Excellent points, Newman. The main thing for me about the book is that it points out very nicely how "The Church" is much more of a political, male-run organization pushing its own agenda than it is a place that glorifies God. Much of what we have been taught as Christians about the Bible (focused mainly on the New Testament) is really rooted in those early church-formation political struggles and decisions than in what Jesus taught. The book riled The Church because it points out just what you said: The Bible was written by men. Also, the goals of The Church have not always been in alignment with the teachings of Jesus. Instead of glorifying God, many of the actions The Church has taken over the years have been to further the glory of men. These are things that shake the foundation of The Church and make some people nervous. If you believe that the Bible is the literal word of God, then facing the truth about how it was assembled can shake the foundations of your faith. I identify primarily as a Christian because that's the roots where my faith began. However, when I really examine my full belief system, I am more neo-pagan than Christian. Questioning things like The Church's insistance on interpreting Bible teachings in only one way is one of the reasons for that. If you want to learn more about your own belief system and where it falls in the spectrum of defined religious beliefs, take a few minutes to fill out the Belief System Selector. It's an interesting exercise. 
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Newman
Member
09-25-2004
| Sunday, January 23, 2005 - 9:28 pm
Thanks for the link, Max. I'll click on over there when I have more time. I believe that what Bush is doing in Iraq is wrong. When I went to what I thought was a liberal church, before the war started, I was disappointed to not hear an anti-war sermon. I really don't understand why, if "Thou shalt not kill" is a major commandment, why more churches don't come out STRONGLY against this war. Instead the Christian Fundamentalist Far Right seems to be the only Christian point of view that gets heard. That angers me. Most of Jesus' teachings had to do with helping the poor and helping your neighbor. But that liberal side of Jesus gets squelched by the far right rabid anti abortionists. The DaVinci Code was dense with symbolism, art history, religious history, and it really made me think and want to know more about the Bible, Constantine, pagans, the sacred feminine, and so forth. A book that gets you to thinking and wondering and wanting to know more, to seek for more, is a very good book indeed. 
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Terolyn
Member
05-06-2004
| Thursday, January 27, 2005 - 11:28 am
If you go back to the original language of the commandment "Thou Shalt Not Kill" the word kill literally translates to Murder. To go to war (and I am not happy regarding this war)and kill another in the line of duty is not similar in its meaning. What a soldier does in times of war is to kill another, to murder another is entirely differnt. I am a conservative christian and I do not believe in abortion. I personally believe that a child is a sentient being at time of conception and therefore to abort that child would be an act of murder. I do believe that everyone has been given a choice to either live according to the Word or not. If you choose to abort your child it is your choice given the laws which are on the books today. However it is still -according to God's Word - a sin and wrong. On the same line stealing, lying, gossiping, envy, taking God's name in vain are all sins. As far as the DiVinci Code goes, it is a fiction book. It may have a few thougthful insights into other ways of thinking, but is still fiction and should be treated as such. The Bible is the only truth and has been verified as to it's accuracy by hundreds of scholars even those who sought to discredit it.
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Tashakinz
Member
11-13-2002
| Thursday, January 27, 2005 - 12:08 pm
Terolyn: I want you to take the following words and punctuate them as you see fit: woman without her man is nothing
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Terolyn
Member
05-06-2004
| Thursday, January 27, 2005 - 12:52 pm
woman, without her man is nothing. Or...to phrase it another way. A man is nothing without a woman.
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Tashakinz
Member
11-13-2002
| Thursday, January 27, 2005 - 1:20 pm
I didn't want you to rephrase it, just to punctuate it. However, you've still helped me make my point. The ancient scrolls had no punctuation. The same words have vastly different meanings when you add/change the punctuation, i.e., Woman without her man is nothing. Woman! Without her, man is nothing. Therefore, to say that the Bible is the only truth and is accurate is, in fact, inaccurate. Scholars have no way of knowing what the ancients meant. They can only guess.
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Terolyn
Member
05-06-2004
| Thursday, January 27, 2005 - 2:15 pm
Not necessarily. The Bible is read as a whole not sentence by sentence. You could read your statement as: "Woman without a man is nothing" this would be open to interpretation. However if it was based in a conversation or writing it would be clear. Example: In todays society the standards have changed quite extensively. Men no longer dominate society. In fact women form the basis of the entire structure of this planet and if they were no longer able to survive, men would have no means to take care of themselves and would die out as well. Therefore in closing I leave you with this thought "Woman without her man is nothing". You must read the entire writing to understand what the author is saying. It irritates me to hear people take bits and pieces of the Bible and use them for thier own purposes. Alot of times if you take that passage and read what was written before and after it you would get an entirely different meaning. The media today does a similar tactic with sound bytes. You can distort anything by picking and choosing what you want others to hear. Therefore I alway try to find out what was said in the entire interview or speech before making a judgement. My suggestion is that everyone read the Bible and come to terms with it yourself. If it means nothing to you then you have lost nothing but some time. If you find the peace and hope that lies within - you have gained it all. Either way - the choice is yours, alway has been and always will be.
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Tashakinz
Member
11-13-2002
| Thursday, January 27, 2005 - 2:23 pm
I've read the bible. It sits on a shelf right next to my copy of Edith Hamilton's Mythology. My point, however, is that words strung together without context cannot be interpreted as truth if you don't have the writer on hand to tell you what they meant. The ancient scrolls had no punctuation. Therefore, to claim that they have meaning A instead of meaning B is subjective rather than fact. I personally find it easier to believe in truth rather than myth.
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Terolyn
Member
05-06-2004
| Thursday, January 27, 2005 - 2:35 pm
Again - since it means nothing to you then you have lost nothing but some time. The choice is yours, alway has been and always will be.
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Tashakinz
Member
11-13-2002
| Thursday, January 27, 2005 - 3:48 pm
To state that the bible is "the only truth", that it is more than it is (a collection of stories), is just wrong. I choose reason. Thanks.
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Max
Member
08-12-2000
| Thursday, January 27, 2005 - 5:07 pm
Ah! But are the Bible and reason diametrically opposed? Can one not fine reason in the Bible? Can a series of stories and parables serve to make you think about the way you choose to live your life, even if you do not believe everything you find there is absolute fact and even if you open it one day and interpret a passage one way, while another day it holds a completely different meaning? These are the questions that I ponder sometimes. One does not have to be believe in any absolute interepretation of the Bible or any other piece of literature (historical or otherwise) to gain wisdom and insight from it, does one? Neither is a person required to believe everything from a single tome, such as the Bible, or believe nothing therein. What is right? What is wrong? Is yours the same as mine? Is it the same as it was last week -- last year -- when you were five?

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Tashakinz
Member
11-13-2002
| Thursday, January 27, 2005 - 5:58 pm
lol Max. Yes, I do find most parts of the bible to be diametrically opposed to logical thought and reason. It's all that rape, incest, fratricide, etc. I personally believe in evolution. I believe that x comes before y. It is my own personal theory that that Sodom and Gamorrah were wiped out in a meteor/asteroid hit and that the bible story is a distorted record of it. People didn't know any better so it must have been the wrath of the invisible god. If we weren't currently living in "the age of reason" would people be talking about the recent tsunami as the wrath of the invisible god? People thought the world was flat until just a few hundred years ago, there may still be people in remote areas who haven't gotten the memo. There are some good stories in the book in and of themselves, but to claim that they are the unqualified truth is somewhat shortsighted in my opinion. Yes, I've held these opinions since childhood. And it harm none, do as you will. These are the words I live by. Short, sweet and to the point. I'm currently reading "Holy Blood, Holy Grail" which was recommended because I enjoyed TDC. I'll post my thoughts when I've finished it.
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Tashakinz
Member
11-13-2002
| Thursday, January 27, 2005 - 6:01 pm
Actually Newman, it wasn't until the 6th century that the Magdalene was labeled a prostitute.
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Max
Member
08-12-2000
| Thursday, January 27, 2005 - 7:09 pm
Yep, The Church decided to make Mary Magdalene a prostitute; there's no evidence she really was, it simply served their purpose to denigrate women. And yes, the Bible is full of contradiction. If you believe every word is fact and from God and a handbook for how to live, then you better re-read Leviticus. I think you'll find you're a big sinner by those standards! "And it harm none, do as you will." Ah, this sounds good. Yet sometimes we do harm to others without knowing it. Other times, we think things through as far as we are able and think our actions will be harmless, but then it turns out that something we didn't anticipate occurs and we harm others anyway. So, how can we be sure we are doing no harm? This is where common cultural beliefs come into play. All the world is merely a series of events to which we assign values. Different cultures assign different values to things. Is there really anything inherently 'bad' or 'good'? We might think so, but it's really our arbitrary assignments of value to those words that we are conjuring up, not soemthing the universe decides. A different culture might have a different opinion than our own. Ah, I'm rambling a bit, but you've got me pondering things now! Further ponderings: Throughout the history of human-kind, stories have been told to explain and remember things that have happened. This tradition began well before the written word, and is reflected in cave drawings, Egyption symbology, and the traditions of native shamen in many tribal cultures. Is it possible, then, that the Bible is another in a long line of story-telling vehicles to explain history from a particular point of view? THis is not to say that it is a history textbook, but more a collection of stories handed down, generation to generation, that the culture of the region preserved to explain their history, their values, and their lives. In point of fact, long before any words of the Bible were written down, the stories WERE passed from generation to generation in verbal form -- at least for the old testament. So, given this perspective, is it possible that the creation story represented in the Bible by Adam, Eve, and the garden is the folklore that was used to explain the evolutionary theory of the time? Is it possible that the symbolism spread throughout the Bible is also present in the book of Genesis and that seven days could really mean seven years, seven centuries, or seven minutes? Is it possible that the entire story is less about creation of human-kind and more about the creation of a set of moral values that the culture began to share, which then grew as time went on and experiences were lived, and became the stuff that other stories were made of? Of course, parts of the Bible stories may, indeed, be pure historical fact. Hard to tell for sure which bits and pieces are true and which are embellished to prove the point the writer wanted to make. Still and all, as a whole, the Bible -- to me -- would seem to be a collection of stories handed from one generation to the next as a way to pass along tradition, culture, and morals. While I have not read the Quoran, I would assume the same is true for it. Certainly the teachings of Buddha that I have read would seem to fall into this category. The thing that is most interesting to me is this: No matter which cultural tradition you are looking at, the core of the belief system remains centered in love and a respect for something that is greater than yourself. Just something further to ponder. 
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Terolyn
Member
05-06-2004
| Friday, January 28, 2005 - 6:09 am
Tash, I did not come here to argue with you, I simply posted my thoughts and beliefs. If you find your life and your beliefs are truth then you made your choice and so be it. I choose to believe the bible as truth, again it is my choice. You have every right to choose to believe that my truth is wrong just as I have the choice to believe God's Word is truth. I do not condemn you for your belief system and have not come here to my faith. I wish you well and I guess in the end of it all we will see everything for what it is. Until then we walk by faith, whatever it may be.
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Tashakinz
Member
11-13-2002
| Friday, January 28, 2005 - 7:29 am
Terolyn: You were the one who walked/clicked in here and proclaimed that the bible was the "only truth." Did you really expect that everyone would just agree with you? Max: You're cool. lol 
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Terolyn
Member
05-06-2004
| Friday, January 28, 2005 - 7:55 am
Tash: I came in and expressed my opinion which is what I thought was allowed. But I must be mistaken and will no longer post in your area.
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Tashakinz
Member
11-13-2002
| Friday, January 28, 2005 - 8:04 am
Your words: The Bible is the only truth and has been verified as to it's accuracy by hundreds of scholars even those who sought to discredit it. Nowhere in that statement are the words: In my opinion.
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