@ Idekson

I certainly agree with you that Muslims need to deal with a lot of their insecurities, but people who seek out to provoke them are not helping matters. First, before it gets to a stage where they can tolerate vile jokes as what they are-jokes, we need to tell them we can accomodate dissenting views without applying unsavoury names to them in order to hang them. It's a different thing if someone said Muhammed (SAW) was inspired by the devil, and he writes a book about it. Most Muslims will just ignore that person. And example is when a group of chrisitian Arabs wrote a book called the True Furqan, which they claim to be the priginal Quran. This book had such principles as trinity etc. The Muslim world just raised awareness about it, but never issued fatwas or death threats or the likes. I am sure a major part of the world never even heard of this incident. And as I speak, it is being distributed to young Kuwaitis in schools.
But when you call Muhammed (SAW) a terrorist, especially deriving support from recent occurences where oppressed Muslims have had to resort to desperate measures to preserve their stock, then you would have opened an already sore wound. Thus my analysis of the cartoon riots is that it was a way of Muslims fighting their perceived and real malignment in modern world affairs. And most times you can't feel this siege if you are not a Muslim, or you've got prejudices against Islam. So my dear brother, convince your own people, be they atheist, pagan, christian, agnostic, hindu, budhist, and so on, that they need to restrain what they say about other people. I personally think it's very unneccessary to even make jokes about what other people believe or do not believe in, except ofcourse if you do it within your own enclave. However, the moment you let the othe person know how you feel about what he believes/ or doesn't believe in, you have sown the seed of resentment and hate. Please be advised.

Fact:

The Priory of Sion—a European secret society founded in 1099—is a real organization. In 1975 Paris’s Bibliothèque Nationale discovered parchments known as Les Dossiers Secrets, identifying numerous members of the Priory of Sion, including Sir Isaac Newton, Botticelli, Victor Hugo, and Leonardo da Vinci.
The Vatican prelature known as Opus Dei is a deeply devout Catholic sect that has been the topic of recent controversy due to reports of brainwashing, coercion, and a dangerous practice known as “corporal mortification.” Opus Dei has just completed construction of a $47 million World Headquarters at 243 Lexington Avenue in New York City.
All descriptions of artwork, architecture, documents, and secret rituals in this novel are accurate.

even Dan Brown claims this to be the only fact in the book. otherwise, it is FICTION!

The 'Da Vinci Code' is am attempt by forces of evil to smear the forces of light. It is a grand plan to sow seed of doubt in uncertain minds. The tactics is to grab those who are lukewarm christian and arm them with seed of doubt thereby prventing them from reaching the light. The longer objective is to create more candidates for hell.

I have watch documentaries on Discovery Channel, National Geograghy, and History Channel and all revealed the conspiracy theories behing the books that led to the movies. They were all based on lies and fabrications.

Now why on earth would I want to waste my time reading fabrications  (especially fabrication) that mocks what I hold dear. Dan Vinci Code is for agnotics, atheists,  and those who dont believe in the christian faith. That book is not good for weak christians.

cheers.

@ ajia23
Tolerance and respect for other people's religion is encouraged, but never forget that it is not a right. Freedom of thought and expression is key to human existence. Although society promotes respect for other people's views, because it makes for a better co-existence, you have no right to maim and kill anybody that disrespect your views, no matter how bad it makes you feel.

An interesting article by a female professor of religion.

By Elaine Pagels

Archbishop Angelo Amato, a top Vatican official, recently railed against "The Da Vinci Code'' as a work "full of calumnies, offenses and historical and theological errors.'' As a historian, I would agree that no reputable scholar has ever found evidence of author Dan Brown's assertion that Jesus and Mary Magdalene married and had a child, and no scholar would take seriously Brown's conspiracy theories about the Catholic group Opus Dei.
But what is compelling about Brown's work of fiction, and part of what may be worrying Catholic and evangelical leaders, is not the book's many falsehoods. What has kept Brown on the bestseller list for years and inspired a movie is, instead, what is true -- that some views of Christian history were buried for centuries because leaders of the early Catholic Church wanted to present one version of Jesus' life: theirs.

Some of the alternative views of who Jesus was and what he taught were discovered in 1945 when a farmer in Egypt accidentally dug up an ancient jar containing more than 50 ancient writings. These documents include gospels that were banned by early church leaders, who declared them blasphemous.

It is not surprising that "The Da Vinci Code'' builds on the idea that many early gospels were hidden and previously unknown. Brown has said that part of his inspiration was one of these so-called Gnostic Gospels as presented in a book I wrote on the subject. It took only three lines from the Gospel of Philip to send Brown off to write his novel:

The companion of the savior is Mary Magdalene. And Jesus loved her more than all the disciples, and used to kiss her often. . . . The rest of the disciples were jealous, and said to him, "Why do you love her more than all of us?''

Those who have studied the Gospel of Philip see it as a mystical text and don't take the suggestion that Jesus had a sexual relationship with Mary Magdalene literally.

Still, by homing in on that passage and building a book around it, Brown brought up subjects that the Catholic Church would like to avoid. He raised the big what-ifs: What if the version of Jesus' life that Christians are taught isn't the right one? And perhaps as troubling in a still-patriarchal church: What if Mary Magdalene played a more important role in Jesus' life than we've been led to believe, not as his wife perhaps, but as a beloved and valued disciple?

In other words, what Brown did with his runaway hit was popularize awareness of the discovery of many other secret gospels, including the Gospel of Judas that was published in April.

There have long been hints that the New Testament wasn't the only version of Jesus' life that existed, and that even the gospels presented there were subject to misinterpretation. In 1969, for instance, the Catholic Church ruled that Mary Magdalene was not a prostitute, as many people had been taught. The church blamed the error on Pope Gregory the Great, who in 591 AD gave a sermon in which he apparently conflated several women in the Bible, including Mary Magdalene and an unnamed sinner who washes Jesus' feet with her tears.

But even that news didn't reach all Christians, and it is the rare religious leader who now works hard to spread the word that the New Testament is just one version of events crafted in the intellectual free-for-all after Christ's death. At that time, church leaders were competing with each other to figure out what Christ said, what he meant -- and perhaps most important, what writings would best support the emerging church.

What we know now is that the scholars who championed the "Gnostic'' gospels are among the ones who lost the battle.

In the decades after Jesus' death, these texts and many others were circulating widely among Christian groups from Egypt to Rome, Africa to Spain, and from today's Turkey and Syria to France. So many Christians throughout the world knew and revered these books that it took more than 200 years for hardworking church leaders who denounced the texts to successfully suppress them.

The copies discovered in 1945, for example, were taken from the sacred library of one of the earliest monasteries in Egypt, founded about 10 years after the 313 AD conversion of Constantine, the first Roman emperor to join the fledgling church. For the first time, Christians were no longer treated as members of a dangerous and seditious group and could form open communities in which many lived together. Like monks today, they kept in their monastery libraries a very wide range of books they read aloud for inspiration.

But these particular texts appeared to upset Athanasius, then archbishop of Alexandria; in the year 367 he sent out an Easter Letter to monks all over Egypt ordering them to reject what he called "illegitimate and secret books.'' Apparently, some monks at the Egyptian monastery defied the archbishop's order and took more than 50 of the books out of the library, sealed them in a heavy jar and buried them under the cliff where they were found 1,600 years later.

In ordering the books destroyed, Athanasius was continuing the battle against the "Gnostic'' gospels begun 200 years earlier by his revered predecessor, Bishop Irenaeus, who was so distressed that certain Christians in his congregations in rural Gaul (present day France) treasured such "illegitimate and secret writing'' that he labeled them heretics. Irenaeus insisted that of the dozens of writings revered by various Christians, only four were genuine -- and these, as you guessed already, are those now in the New Testament, called by the names of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John.

Irenaeus said there could be only four gospels because, according to the science of the time, there were four principal winds and four pillars that hold up the sky. Why these four gospels? He explained that only they were actually written by eyewitnesses of the events they describe -- Jesus' disciples Matthew and John, or by Luke and Mark, who were disciples of the disciples.

Few scholars today would agree with Irenaeus. We cannot verify who actually wrote any of these accounts, and many scholars agree that the disciples themselves are not likely to be their authors. Beyond that, nearly all the gospels that Irenaeus detested are also attributed to disciples -- some, including the Gospel of Thomas, to the original 12 apostles. Nonetheless, Athanasius and other church leaders succeeded in suppressing the gospels they (and Irenaeus) called illegitimate, won the emperor's favor and succeeded in dominating the church.

What, then, do these texts say, and why did certain leaders find them so threatening?

First, they suggest that the way to God can be found by anyone who seeks. According to the Gospel of Thomas, Jesus suggests that when we come to know ourselves at the deepest level, we come to know God: "If you bring forth what is within you, what you bring forth will save you.'' This message -- to seek for oneself -- was not one that bishops like Irenaeus appreciated: Instead, he insisted, one must come to God through the church, "outside of which,'' he said, "there is no salvation.''

Second, in texts that the bishops called "heresy,'' Jesus appears as human, yet one through whom the light of God now shines. So, according to the Gospel of Thomas, Jesus said, "I am the light that is before all things; I am all things; all things come forth from me; all things return to me. Split a piece of wood, and I am there; lift up a rock, and you will find me there.'' To Irenaeus, the thought of the divine energy manifested through all creation, even rocks and logs, sounded dangerously like pantheism. People might end up thinking that they could be like Jesus themselves and, in fact, the Gospel of Philip says, "Do not seek to become a Christian, but a Christ.'' As Irenaeus read this, it was not mystical language, but "an abyss of madness, and blasphemy against Christ.''

Worst of all, perhaps, was that many of these secret texts speak of God not only in masculine images, but also in feminine images. The Secret Book of John tells how the disciple John, grieving after Jesus was crucified, suddenly saw a vision of a brilliant light, from which he heard Jesus' voice speaking to him: "John, John, why do you weep? Don't you recognize who I am? I am the Father; I am the Mother; and I am the Son.'' After a moment of shock, John realizes that the divine Trinity includes not only Father and Son but also the divine Mother, which John sees as the Holy Spirit, the feminine manifestation of the divine.

But the Gospel of Mary Magdalene -- along with the Gospel of Thomas, the Dialogue of the Savior, and the Gospel of Philip -- all show Peter, the leader of the disciples, challenging the presence of women among the disciples. We hear Peter saying to Jesus, "Tell Mary to leave us, because women are not worthy of (spiritual) life.'' Peter complains that Mary talks too much, displacing the role of the male disciples. But Jesus tells Peter to stop, not Mary! No wonder these texts were not admitted into the canon of a church that would be ruled by an all-male clergy for 2,000 years.

Those possibilities opened by the "Gnostic'' gospels -- that God could have a feminine side and that Jesus could be human -- are key ideas that Dan Brown explored in "The Da Vinci Code,'' and are no doubt part of what made the book so alluring. But the truth is that the texts he based his novel upon contain much deeper and more important mysteries than the ones Tom Hanks tries to solve in the movie version that opened this weekend.

The real mystery is what Christianity and Western civilization would look like had the "Gnostic'' gospels never been banned. Because of the discovery by that Egyptian farmer in 1945, we now at least have the chance to hear what the "heretics'' were saying, and imagine what might have been.
******

ELAINE PAGELS, author of "The Gnostic Gospels'' and "Beyond Belief: The Secret Gospel of Thomas,'' is a professor of religion at Princeton. She wrote this article for Perspective.

@ Idekson
While I agree with you that freedom of expression is a right, but you must also agree that your rights stop where other people's own starts. And I must say tolerance and respect for other people's beliefs is a right. In the charter of the United Nations, freedom from discrimination against race, religion, tribe, sex etc are all described as rights. Except if you have another source of the definition of rights, I suppose this holds true everywhere.

The Da Vinci Code like I earlier mention is based fabrications and fictions. Some of these include:

Fictions:
1. Leonard Da Vinci drawing of the last supper (allegedly drawing a woman in place of John)
2. Mary Magdalene married to Jesus and raised children
3. The Priory of Sion
4. Discovery of a "Secret Dossier" containing list of name of Grand masters of Priory Of Sion

Facts:

1. If Leonard Da Vinci had drawn a woman in place of John, he would have been excommunicated by the Catholic church (he never was). This said drawing is over 600 years and is fading. John was painted in a very youthful manner to show he was the youngest. However, the drawing has detoriated over 600 making young John appear to look feminine.

2. Mary was never to Jesus, there is simply no evidence to show that. Let see evidence if there was.

3. The Priory of Sion started sometime in the early 1960s. It was registered by a fraudster and pranksters know as PIERRE PLANTARD http://priory-of-sion.com/psp/id84.html. The same fraudster include his name as one of the Grand Masters.

4. The Secret Dossier" was also a joke (a hoax). Check http://priory-of-sion.com/posd/wikipedia.html

I have not read the Davinci Code and I probably will not read it.Which also means that I will not watch the film either.But that I will lose sleep over it-no way!!!! I totally agree with Ajia's submissions;it is very mature even though we do not share the same faith since i am Christian.I enjoy debates and discourse with people of different faiths from mine because it helps me to be at grasp with the realities of the world around me in such a way that it makes the root of my Christian faith stronger.

As somneone said earlier,it is written in the same BIble that things like this will happen.So, why get worked up about it? For instance, Christ knew his crucifixion was certain and he did not say a word to trhe Roman ruler until he said he had the politiacl  power to deliver him.

What was written in the Davinci code is not new! Martin SCorcese  (hope I got that right) produced the temptation of Christ and as young as I was then, I knew that it had to do with just about the same theme that Christ had a sexual  fantasy over Mary.Did it limit the Church? No!! Has the film been forgtten? Yes!

In my own opinion about the Davinci Code and quoting the words of old preachers, this too shall pass!The unnecessry attention is given the film more money!

Hello KAG, see you are in the centre circle again.Have a great day!

why do the wicked imagine a vain thing,
lets tell Dan brown, he cant change anything with his lies, What does he Really know,
Tom hanks all i can say is that is a shame u took up such a role as robert langdon, its all started as fiction, now they debate on it every where as real, CNN,History channel, agents to spread the lies and derail many,
PLS, added your name to to those that say, if loving jesus and believeing in him is wrong, then we dont want to be right, Christ is too much to be de -coded by a man, Add yur name and pass it on, Wilson, i stand with and for Jesus

Dan Brown didn't tell any lies; he wrote a fictional book which was used as the basis for a movie. Before attacking Dan Brown for his "lies" we should attack J K Rowlings for her "lies" about witchcraft being real and not evil!

te novel is a wonderful read. i posted a link on some thread pointing to a website hoting e-copies of some dan brown (and other authors) books. the novel is wonderful. lies/fiction/whatever you may call them, it makes an interesting read.

i have played the game on my mobile phone and truly it is wonderful, am waiting for the game on PC, then. . . . .

ps: read "digital fortress" and "angels and demons" _{<-- i wonder this book wasnt attacked too}

Because the other books haven't been adapted to movies yet.

davinci code in nigeria?

hehe, are you kidding me? wind the window down at any traffic jam 'go slow' in Lagos they'll shove it through the window for you to buy! knock down rates too!

i havent seen the movie yet i wana read the book first

i read the book and its wonderful, dont want to watch the movie though, might spoil my appetitie

I would love to perform on and with Audrey Tatou

haha, Reverend. you truly live up to your name, NOT! Audrey Tatou was very good in the movie"dirty pretty things" with Chiwetel whats his name. she cute

hey hey da vinci is a sacred institution *in the west its the way you see *its complex or pure simplicity*.

[/quote][quote author=klipmode link=topic=13362.msg549331#msg549331 date=1154864045]
davinci code in nigeria?

comparison between 1970s to 1980s and 2001 to 2010 human decomposition and human
reconstruction.
They've made me starve plus i had to be caution by special  yesterday by fulham plus i had to
think about mr bin ladden plus the special  throw some light on my trail of thought and a commanding order.

in my own opinion this book,fiction or not is a distraction to every christians belief.i love harry potter so much but i dont take it as a comparism to d davinci code.fiction can be made about demons being good but not about Christ been,

but they are only a canon development *a reconnaissance* or a deployment* to protect a sacred
belief system* that in the past majority of people lost faith in *and saint and leaders had to hegemoniusly*
fight for to maintain and uphold.

I cry for ppl who know not God, how would someone proof non-existence of an Almighty that creat heaven and earth well, this is the last days said by John (read 1st,2nd&3rd John you get it there).They will never suceed. lielie

jayon:

I cry for people who know not God, how would someone proof non-existence of an Almighty that creat heaven and earth well, this is the last days said by John (read 1st,2nd&3rd John you get it there).They will never suceed. lielie

I cry that I can not get the chance to sleep with Audrey Tatou and that I will never suceed!

Pray that my dream will come true

THE RESUME OF JESUS CHRIST

Address: Ephesians 1:20.
Phone: Romans 10:13
Website: The Bible
(keywords: Christ,Lord,Savior, and Jesus)


Hello, My Name is Jesus The Christ. Many call me Lord! I’ve sent you my resume because I’m seeking the top management position in your heart. Please consider my accomplishments as set forth in my resume.

Qualifications

I founded the earth and established the heavens (see Proverbs 3:19)
I formed man from the dust of the ground (see Genesis 2:7)
I breathed into man the breath of life (see Genesis 2:7)
I redeemed man from the curse of the law (see Galatians 3:13)
The blessing of the Abrahamic Convenant come upon your life through me (see Galatians 3:14)

Occupational Background

I’ve only had one employer (see Luke 2:49)
I’ve never been tardy,absent,disobedient,slothful, or disrespectful.
My employer has nothing but rare reviews for me (see Matthew 3:15-17)

Skills/Work Experiences

Some of my skills and work experiences include:
Empowering the poor to be poor no more, healing the brokenhearted, setting the captives free, healing the sick, restoring sight to the blind and setting at liberty them that that are bruised (see Luke 4:18)
I am a Wonderful Counselor (see Isaiah 9:6)
People who listen to me shall dwell safely and shall not fear evil (see Proverbs 1:33)
Most importantly, I have authority, ability and power to cleanse you of your sins (see 1 John 1:7-9)

Educational Background

I encompass the entire length and breadth of knowledge, wisdom and understanding (see Proverbs 2:6)
In me are hid all of the treasures of wisdom and knowledge (see Colossians 2:3)
My Word is so powerful it has been described as being a lamp unto your feet and light unto your path (see Psalms 119:105)
I can even tell you all of the secrets of your heart (see Psalms 44:21)

Major Accomplishments

I was an active participant in the greatest summit meeting of all time (see Genesis 1:26)
I laid down my life so that you may live (see 2 Corinthians 5:15)
I defeated the arch enemy of God and mankind and made a show of him openly (see Colossians 2:15)
I’ve miracoulously fed the poor, healed the sick, and raised the dead!

There are many more major accomplishments, too many to mention here. You can read them on my website, which is located at www.wordofGod.bible. You don’t need an internet connection or computer to access ny website.

References

Believers worldwide will testify to my divine healing, salvation, deliverance, miracles, restoration, fulfilled prophecies, and spiritual guidance.


Summary

Now you’ve read my resume, I’m confident that I’m the only candidate uniquely qualified to fill this vital position in your heart. In summation, I will properly direct your path (see Proverbs 3:5-6) and lead you into everlasting life (see John 6:47) and I love you unconditionally.
When can I start? Time is of the essence (see Hebrews 3:15).

you kind of sound like the 'jesuit brotherhood'

lol

Hi guys, Why not check these websites
http://www.danbrown.com/novels/davinci_code/faqs.html
http://www.catholiceducation.org/articles/facts/fm0035.html

The church is hiding a lot. In fact that church is hiding a lot of lots. There's little the Da Vinci Code can tell us because it is built on little shreds of information and lots of guesses and fabrications. But isn't this the kind of thing that happened during the promulgation of the Nicene Creed.

There were some Grand Lies concocted by the council of Nicene and we have to strive to find out what really happened. Forget about the guesses in the Da Vinci Code, but why were the majority of Bishops invited from Africa to the Nicene Council killed or banished and their books and Bibles burnt? Why were other Bishops forced to sign the Nicene Creed with threats to their lives.

Something very serious is being kept secret and if we do not find out, then we want to continue riding this train of deception. This is not ignorance, it is deception!

It took a long while before I watched Constantine, and a long time before I finished watching it too: December 2006-June 2007 it hardly taught me anything I didn't know before. Except for the fictitious parts.

Some people are bravely denying that it was not Mary Magdalene but John. I was relieved when I discovered that the disciple the Jesus loved so much and whom used to lay on Jesus bosom was Mary not John. That clears my suspicion that Jesus might have been gay.

For God sake, even with the little information left in today's Bible, it is clear that Jesus had love for Mary Magdalene, and that Mary Magdalene is being confused with some prostitute on purpose.

However, what this Da Vinci Code movie does not say was the true CON intended by the Nicene Council. To wipe away not just the descendants and wife of Jesus, but also his extended family.

1) To deny the fact that Christ and those close to him had great regard for a feminine side of God, in order to keep women suppressed for another 2,000 years.

2) To leave no trace to the true race of Yeshua Ha'Meshiach bin Yosef , in order to Europeanise him into what he is today.

@denex,

denex:

Some people are bravely denying that it was not Mary Magdalene but John. I was relieved when I discovered that the disciple the Jesus loved so much and whom used to lay on Jesus bosom was Mary not John. That clears my suspicion that Jesus might have been gay.

Did Mary then write the Gospel of John?

denex:

1) To deny the fact that Christ and those close to him had great regard for a feminine side of God, in order to keep women suppressed for another 2,000 years.

Women are not suppressed in the NT.

denex:

2) To leave no trace to the true race of Yeshua Ha'Meshiach bin Yosef , in order to Europeanise him into what he is today.

What is the true "race" of Yeshua?