Breaking the Da Vinci Code: Answers to the Questions Everyones Asking

It is interesting to note the approaches to rebutting the historical claims of Dan Brown that he used as the basis for his popular novel The Da Vinci Code. While the initial challenges to Brown came from the Evangelical camp, too many of these efforts, perhaps following the proof text methodology common in much of their apologetical work, have concentrated on the minutiae of Browns asides into art and history while ignoring the more profound questions of the theological implications of his rewriting of the Christian story. While a laundry list of Browns many historical faux pas make for amusing reading, it leaves the syncretistic presuppositions prevalent in his thesis untouched. Daniel Bocks Breaking the Da Vinci Code is a marvelous exception to this pattern. By not being lured into secondary matters, he manages in a somewhat short treatment to get at the heart of Browns claims about the New Testament canon and the relationship between Jesus and Mary Magdalene. Focusing on key themes within Browns presuppositions, Bock performs a thorough deconstruction of Browns ideas and shows the underlying premises to be completely without merit. Browns distorted view of Jewish ideas of marraige and celibacy, his use of later discredited Gnostic texts while discounting the canonical Gospels written centuries earlier, and his complete misreading even of his own evidence (e.g., the Gnostic texts give no evidence of Jesus ever being married) all are placed under scrutiny and Browns entire intellectual edifice crumbles into dust. Those looking for a point by point refutatation of Browns claims will have to look elsewhere. However, such efforts serve to attack the facade of Browns views while leaving the underlying structure intact. Bock has largely ignored the externals and went straight to the heart of the controversy. For this reason, Breaking the Da Vinci Code stands as the greatest response from the Protestant side and is an essential read on the topic.

Bock is an evangelical, and it shows, even through his scholarship. His discussion of women and Christianity omits, oh,..2000 years of Catholic and Eastern Christian tradition. Hardly a word about art, Priory of Sion, Grail, etc. NOT the questions everyone is asking. Only a couple of them. I want my money back!

Obvious agenda Any time a book gets written to debunk another book, one must be on guard. When the subject is religion and the author holds a doctorate in theological studies, one already knows what his agenda is. He will defend the party line, of course, and use all the cliches, like using Christ (annointed one) as a synonym or even as a sirname for Jesus. The authors interchancing of Christ, Lord and Savior shows his bias. He spends a lot of words trying to disprove the DaVinci code, but in the main, his arguments are, for the most part, ipse dixit, with little reference material outside of cannonical text. Having thoroughly read Bloodline of the Holy Grail, Holy Blood, Holy Grail the Mary Magdaline Gospel, The Mystery and Meaning of the Dead Sea Scrolls, The Way of the Essenes, The teachings of the Essenes From Enoch to the Dead Sea Scrolls, The Hiram Key, The Second Messiah and more, I can say with some conviction that Professor Maloneys book does little to debunk the DaVinci Code and is largely a sermon reflecting his conservative religious opinion and little more. Read it if you want another opinion, but remember that he is strongly biased. For a better researched discussion with more facts and references I suggest The Templar Revelation by Picket and Prince (ISBN 0-684-84891-0) as a better way to spend your money.

I dont see why people didnt like this book. I thought it was well written and to the point. People seem to think that since it did not go into exhaustive detail, that the book is worthless. I think the book does exactly what it is supposed to do. It shows the fallacies of The Da Vinci Code. This is a gateway book. If you are really looking for more answers, you will have to do more research. But had this book been much longer, it would have lost its effectiveness.

All that Dr. Bock seems capable of is mouthing religious ideals. I bought this little book hoping to get a more detailed look into some of the views that were expressed in The DaVinci Code. Instead a got a lecture on how right and pure the early church fathers were and pages of Dr. Bocks defense of his Christian faith. Dr. Bock should confine his writings to church publications and not try to make money off popular best sellers. Rather tacky!

Exactly how in the world this book is sitting at 144th in sales when it is rated at 2 1/2 stars is beyond me. Wake up people. What is this book about??? Thats easy. This book is about the only thing Bock (who it must be admitted is a scholar) has ever written about-Jesus and the Bible Bocks other bookss include: - Jesus According to Scripture - Studying the Historical Jesus - Purpose Directed Theology - The Bible Knowledge Keuy Word - Three views of the Millenium and Beyond Get the picture?? Bock is an aging, biblical scholar, whos forte is Christian theology. It is not surprising then, that he doesnt even deal with issues Brown raises that would require him to look at things pre-325 a.d. (the era before Constantine). Bock handles The Da Vinci Code as if it were about nothing more that an attack on the historical Jesus, when in reality, Browns book pulls in far more subjects, THE LEAST of which are the paintings by Leonardo Da Vinci. Oh, did I mention that Bock ignores poor Leonardos work entirely and doesnt even touch the assertions Brown makes about the artists hidden codes and symbols. Silly me!!!! I thought Bocks book was about Breaking the Da Vinci Code! LOL. Ive already sold my copy-cheap-since I have more than enough books like this one on my shelves. And trust me, there are far better works on Christianity, church history, and the development of religions. There are most definitely better ways to spend your money. And allow me to say, I have nothing against the other books Bock has written. He knows those issues very well and is first-rate. But he should NOT have tried to just take that material and recover it with a title that is so deceptive.

This book is the third title I have read of Christian rebuttals to The DaVinci Code. While the first two books were good, this one is the best yet. Bocks points are clear, concise, and easy to follow. The author here doesnt simply advance his own agenda, but instead offers a defense to the various accusations leveled against Christianity in the best-selling fictional novel. Bock gives detailed attention to Mary Magdalene, a personality central to Browns hypothesis. Bock explains logically and historically why the idea of Jesus being unmarried as a Jewish rabbi is completely acceptable. Bock then addresses the lack of credibility of the secret, Gnostic gospels. He emphasizes that they were considered as non-authoritative long before the Council of Nicea in A.D. 325. The author here also makes a few points of his own about the mindset present in The DaVinci Code and why it has such a powerful appeal to todays society. If you want to read just one book to provide a scholarly, Christian rebuttal, this title is it. The insight contained in these pages is well worth the price.

The people who wrote the last couple negative reviews seem more to be taken in by Dan Brown. Bock is indeed a scholar but yet his book is simple and understandable. It gives a clear look at Browns claims and why they are false. I recommend this book over the others out there. The Wall Street Journal called this the best of the bunch when it comes to books about The DaVinci Code.

As a conservative evangelical Christian, I was eager to read a scholarly refutation of The Da Vinci Code. Regretfully, this book was a dreadful disappointment. It was so poorly written and painfully simplistic. The contents were terribly disorganized and lacked any coherent structure. It is obvious that the publisher sought to capitalize on the success of the The Da Vinci Code by publishing this waste of paper. Readers, beware! Dont be fooled by the enticing description on the books cover! This book is a waste of ones time and money. I wish I could get my money back!

I have read a couple of books on the Da Vinci code, as well as the novel (a definite page turner). While the facts are correct in this book, it seems a bit rushed to press and falls short on many issues. In trying to prove Dan Brown wrong, the author commits many of the same logical errors. The Da Vinci Code is held up by a couple of pillars: 1. The Priory of Sion: Bock completely ignores the Priory in his treatise. As this is a central thread throughout Dan Browns book, it is rather strange that a rebuttal author would ignore this material, especially when it can easily be shown that the Priory is the creation of one Pierre Plantard (1993 court testimony, 1956 incorporation documents). 2. The Nag Hammadi library: The Gnostic gospels, which have been elevated to a very high status by some theological scholars, like Crosson, Spong, Pagels and Funk. Bock does a better job here, but does not delve deep enough to present a full rebuttal argument. Although he declares a win over the code, he has really done very little to dispute the Gnostic gospels or their supporters. I agree with Bock that Dan Browns scholarship is lacking. I also agree with Bocks major points on the subject. But, Dan Brown is a novelist, while Bock is writing a critique or an apology (depending on how you view his work). While Bock presents some very good factual material, all of it seems to fall short on truly nailing the coffin shut on the subject and often raises more questions than it answers. Of course, this seems to be the rule with Da Vinci Code critiques. While not perfect itself, I prefer Cracking Da Vincis Code by Garlow and Jones over this work.