The secret in "Da Vinci Code"
WHILE abroad, I finally read Dan Brown's novel, "The Da Vince Code," one of the recent bestsellers. Reportedly 6.5 million of seven million copies in print were sold.What makes the book so appealing is the clever and fast-paced storytelling of a murder interwoven with theological and historical facts. Unless the reader is familiar with Church history and doctrine, he will likely consider everything to be fictional. But it is not.
Brown says, "all descriptions of artwork, architecture, documents and secret rituals in this novel are accurate." The Priory of Sion, a European secret society founded in 1099, is real, and so is the Opus Dei, a controversial and militant Catholic organization that, according to the author, is reportedly engaged "in brain washing, coercion, and a dangerous practice known as corporeal mortification."
Its founder Jose Ma. Escriva was recently pronounced "Blessed" by the Vatican, the initial step toward sainthood.Complementary themesThose who read my latest book, "On Christianity, New Age and Reincarnation," told me it was about the same religious topics discussed in "The Da Vinci Code." When I finally read Brown's book, I was shocked to discover they were right! The two books uncannily complement each other! So I became curious about Brown.
In an interview with Evolve Magazine, the publication of the Bodhi Tree metaphysical bookshop in Los Angeles, Brown said he learned of the mysteries hidden in Da Vinci's paintings while an art history student at the University of Seville in Spain.He came across the enigma again while working on another book, "Angels and Demons."After seeing the original paintings in the Louvre in France, Brown said he was captivated and started researching "The Da Vinci Code."The author said the secret, as discussed in the book, had been chronicled for centuries and he drew his materials from thousands of sources.Ancient mystery.
He was also surprised that historians were eager to share their expertise with him. One academic, Brown said, even expressed the hope that, through The Da Vinci Code, "this ancient mystery would be unveiled to a wider audience."As for the novel's being empowering to women, Brown said some 2,000 years ago, the world believed in gods and goddesses. But now women had been stripped of their spiritual power in most cultures just as people then lived in a world solely of gods.
His novel, he said, touched on how and why this shift occurred and what lessons can be learned from it.Brown also said he is a Christian but "not in the most traditional sense of the word," pointing out that people had different ideas about being a Christian.Saying faith is a continuum, the author said that by attempting to rigidly classify ethereal concepts like faith, people debated semantics and missed the obvious - that they were trying to decipher life's big mysteries, and following their own paths of enlightenment.Support from the religious.
Brown said the religious supported his novel, just as there many have opposed it. Opposition comes mainly from the "strictest" Christian thinkers who felt a "married Jesus" undermined his divinity."Much of the positive response I get from within organized religion comes from nuns (who write to thank me for pointing out that they have sacrificed their entire lives to the Church and are still considered 'unfit' to serve behind the altar)," the author added.
He said many priests disagreed with some of the book's ideas but were glad they encouraged parishioners to discuss religion.One Episcopalian priest was quoted as saying "this novel is not a threat (but) an opportunity. We are called to creatively engage the culture and this is what I want to do... Dan Brown... is letting me talk about things that matter.
"This is precisely what I'm hoping for with my own book - stimulate discussion and debate on religious and theological issues, virtually absent in this country. Everybody seems content to unquestioningly follow ecclesiastical authorities. This state of intellectual impotence has to change. We desperately need mental Viagra!
http://www.inq7.net/lif/2004/jul/06/lif_22-1.htm
Brown says, "all descriptions of artwork, architecture, documents and secret rituals in this novel are accurate." The Priory of Sion, a European secret society founded in 1099, is real, and so is the Opus Dei, a controversial and militant Catholic organization that, according to the author, is reportedly engaged "in brain washing, coercion, and a dangerous practice known as corporeal mortification."
Its founder Jose Ma. Escriva was recently pronounced "Blessed" by the Vatican, the initial step toward sainthood.Complementary themesThose who read my latest book, "On Christianity, New Age and Reincarnation," told me it was about the same religious topics discussed in "The Da Vinci Code." When I finally read Brown's book, I was shocked to discover they were right! The two books uncannily complement each other! So I became curious about Brown.
In an interview with Evolve Magazine, the publication of the Bodhi Tree metaphysical bookshop in Los Angeles, Brown said he learned of the mysteries hidden in Da Vinci's paintings while an art history student at the University of Seville in Spain.He came across the enigma again while working on another book, "Angels and Demons."After seeing the original paintings in the Louvre in France, Brown said he was captivated and started researching "The Da Vinci Code."The author said the secret, as discussed in the book, had been chronicled for centuries and he drew his materials from thousands of sources.Ancient mystery.
He was also surprised that historians were eager to share their expertise with him. One academic, Brown said, even expressed the hope that, through The Da Vinci Code, "this ancient mystery would be unveiled to a wider audience."As for the novel's being empowering to women, Brown said some 2,000 years ago, the world believed in gods and goddesses. But now women had been stripped of their spiritual power in most cultures just as people then lived in a world solely of gods.
His novel, he said, touched on how and why this shift occurred and what lessons can be learned from it.Brown also said he is a Christian but "not in the most traditional sense of the word," pointing out that people had different ideas about being a Christian.Saying faith is a continuum, the author said that by attempting to rigidly classify ethereal concepts like faith, people debated semantics and missed the obvious - that they were trying to decipher life's big mysteries, and following their own paths of enlightenment.Support from the religious.
Brown said the religious supported his novel, just as there many have opposed it. Opposition comes mainly from the "strictest" Christian thinkers who felt a "married Jesus" undermined his divinity."Much of the positive response I get from within organized religion comes from nuns (who write to thank me for pointing out that they have sacrificed their entire lives to the Church and are still considered 'unfit' to serve behind the altar)," the author added.
He said many priests disagreed with some of the book's ideas but were glad they encouraged parishioners to discuss religion.One Episcopalian priest was quoted as saying "this novel is not a threat (but) an opportunity. We are called to creatively engage the culture and this is what I want to do... Dan Brown... is letting me talk about things that matter.
"This is precisely what I'm hoping for with my own book - stimulate discussion and debate on religious and theological issues, virtually absent in this country. Everybody seems content to unquestioningly follow ecclesiastical authorities. This state of intellectual impotence has to change. We desperately need mental Viagra!
http://www.inq7.net/lif/2004/jul/06/lif_22-1.htm
posted by Misteryo Philippines Network (MPN) at 7:02 PM
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