the da vinci dud

From this and other reviews of The Da Vinci Code, it sounds as if the book got the movie it deserved.

true gnosticism is not much of a da vinci code ally

In researching the Gnostic gospels, I came across gnosis.org, a web site (I think) run by this a guy in Hollywood, Stephan Hoeller, "the sole American bishop consecrated by the Duc de Palatine, mysterious bearer of the English Gnostic Transmission." The site links to an interesting story about Hoeller in LA Weekly. Reading it, I can again see why early Christians rejected Gnostism. It's a completely different religion!

What is ironic is, I can't imagine most critics of Christianity out there who celebrate that the The Da Vinci Code is uncovering some suppressed truth that kills Christianity's credibility would have any comfort whatsoever with the far-fetched, unfounded religious claims of the Gnostics. It strikes me as a classic case of, "the enemy of my enemy is my friend."

But true Gnostics may not be as much of a friend as they'd like. From the article:

Since Bishop Hoeller is a bona fide scholar of the lore alluded to by the now stupendously rich Mr. Brown, the question must be posed: Was it some sort of tantric sex thing between J.C. and M.M. [Jesus Christ and Mary Magdalene]?

"Although I'm delighted by the interest in Gnosticism it's stirred up," Hoeller says, "and by its part in restoring Mary Magdalene to her place at the side of Jesus, I must confess that my regard for The Da Vinci Code is considerably less than for The Matrix. For one thing, [Da Vinci Code author] Mr. Brown seems to have an agenda. He appears to be deliberately courting certain "interest groups," among them conspiracy buffs, enthusiastic but badly informed Goddess worshippers and almost anyone who harbors a grudge against the Christian faith. And though the Gnostic Gospels do identify the Magdalene as having a unique spiritual kinship with Jesus, there's no suggestion that the relationship was sexual, much less that it produced offspring. This is a canard derived almost wholly from an earlier piece of sensationalistic pseudo-history called Holy Blood, Holy Grail."

"According to which," I interject, "the bloodline of Jesus produced the French monarchy . . ."

"Yes, well . . . the Merovingian dynasty."

"And your opinion of the Holy Blood theory?"

"Flapdoodle."

the gnostic gospels

It's insightful to read the actual text of the Gnostic gospels. What's striking is, they aren't very large, they don't read anything like the Biblical gospels, they don't say very much, and they sometimes don't made a whole lot of sense. It's obvious why they never gained legitimacy with the early Christians.

The books may be interesting from a historical perspective. But it escapes me why anyone would consider them a threat to the Biblical accounts. If readers of the The Da Vinci Code would actually take a few minutes and read the Gnostic books, the far fetched claims about them would certainly have a lot harder time gaining traction.

Here's a particularly goofy quote from the Gospel of Thomas:

Simon Peter said to him, "Let Mary leave us, for women are not worthy of life."

Jesus said, "I myself shall lead her in order to make her male, so that she too may become a living spirit resembling you males. For every woman who will make herself male will enter the kingdom of heaven."

Some of the more talked about Gnostic gospels:

The Gospel of Judas
The Gospel According to Mary Magdalene
The Gospel of Thomas
The Gospel of Philip

The books the early Christians considered scripture (and are actually in the Bible):

The Gospel of Matthew
The Gospel of Mark
The Gospel of Luke
The Gospel of John

the da vinci code cracks

Stand to Reason has a very good article explaining what junk history is contained in The Da Vinci Code. It doesn't take much knowledge to realize how outright false the work is. It's disturbing that something like The Da Vinci Code can gain any footing whatsoever. I'm really disappointed Tom Hanks is doing the film. It seems like any movie he stars in anymore is nothing less than outstanding. What a disservice to his audience. He should have done his homework.