I recently wrote a research paper for my Literature and Composition class concerning the Da Vinci code. It's a long read, but you may find it interesting.
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Controversy Surrounding the DaVinci Code The DaVinci Code is a fast paced thriller that brings to light a bold claim. This claim has been the cause of the book's fame and many critiques. The claim asserts that Jesus Christ was a mortal man who was as human as anyone else. He had human doubts and needs; human problems and flaws; and most importantly, he had human relationships - a family. Mary Magdalene, a prominent female follower, perhaps even Jesus" head apostle, is believed to have given birth to the child of Christ. Jesus is portrayed as being celibate in the Bible. The possibility of this being false has significant implications for Christianity. This claim is also often referred to as the "Holy Grail Theory", because the "holy grail" from biblical texts is speculated to be a metaphor for the child of Jesus and Marry Magdalene-the container that holds the blood of Christ. |
Offtopic but, Edit: Well, it seems I'm unable to post multiple times in a row. I would attatch the paper as a notepad file, but I don't see any options that enable file attatchment. . . sorry. |
Message Edited! Persephone: Learn how to use the offtopic tags so that threads do not encompass multiple topics and ideals. |
Well, I thought we already had a topic open on the Da Vinci Code, but I can't find it. Maybe one of the other moderators can find it.
I am very interested in reading your complete paper, but suggest that you post it on a website such as a Yahoo! Geocities site, then post a link and a few pertinent quotes from it for us to enjoy and to tickle our interest. We do not allow consecutive posts, nor the posting of very long essays and papers on the forum.
Please make these arrangements, then be prepared for some discussion about it.
Thanks.
Offtopic but, Well Nighthawk, I did as you suggested. By the way, thanks. This is the first time I've ever made a webpage. It's something I'd been meaning to get around to doing, but never really did, now I'm interested in learning HTML. |
Message Edited! Persephone: Learn how to use the offtopic tags so that threads do not encompass multiple topics and ideals. Do not link to external sites save for that which is relevant to your quote only. Your link has been changed to point to the actual text. |
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Jesus is portrayed as being celibate in the Bible. |
Before I start into the paper, let me state one thing. I believe that Jesus was married, and that He had children. However, I find some statements in this paper to be overgeneralizations and to be very weak arguments. I have no agenda at all with this argument. I really enjoyed the book, and have some knowledge of the Grail theories from outside the book. All of the Grail theories are very weak in their arguments, as they are conspiracy theories that try to explain obscure bits of history.
Having said that, I do believe that the Priory of Sion exists, that the Templars protected a very special secret, and that the Freemasons are the historical heirs of the Templars. However, I believe that all of them lost track of what the real secret was centuries ago.
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The extreme controversy is primarily a result of resistance from right-wing Christians that are too cowardly to give the idea a chance. |
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In the end, the holy grail theory presented in the Davinci Code is more likely to be true than the traditional biblical stories of Christ for the following reasons: |
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The Bible was written by man - there was sufficient motivation to fabricate and omit texts for social and political agendas. |
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In any case, all evidence considered; the stance presented by Daniel Brown in the DaVinci Code is certainly more believable than the inconsistent and disorganized story of Christ. |
Message Edited! JB@Trinidad: Link works direct to document |
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Again, I hope you don't take offense at my analysis. I am certainly not a scholar in any way. These were just points that jumped out at me. |
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This is not only a harsh statement, but patently untrue. How do you define the phrase "right-wing Christian"? Is this basically meant to be any Christian who believes that the theories behind The DaVinci Code are false? Or is the statement meant to mean that anyone who believes that the foundations of Catholicism (and thus of Protestantism) is absolutely true is a "right-wing Christian"? |
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There are several problems with this statement. After all, ALL books are written by men and women. That doesn't mean that they are all full of fabrications and deliberate errors. There are REASONS to SUSPECT fabrications and ommissions. But there is no proof, so your statement becomes very weak, and can only be considered a statement of opinion, not a logical argument. |
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Again, I find this to be extremely simplistic. There is no support for this statement, other than the assumed hostility of the reader to Christianity and its history. The statement is offensive to anyone who believes in Christianity. |
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I would be interested in the scriptures you believe portray the Savior as having been single. I believe it is mostly tradition that has him single. I am not aware of any actual statement in the Bible that says he was single. In fact, Jewish law would be a strong argument to suggest he was married. |
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He is portrayed as celibate by the fact that the bible never openly gives any mention of Jesus having had a wife or lover. If he hadn't been single, or certain people hadn't wanted others to believe he was single, surely there would have been some mention of his relationships? |
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Up until this point I had thought "right-wing" was simply an adjective to describe a particular person as overly conservative to the point of illogicality. |
Offtopic but, First, to the Moderator: Sorry about the problems with the off-topic tags. I either didn't notice your modification of my posts until just now, or you just now modified them. Regardless, I did read about the off-topic tags and linking in the rules but forgot. Sorry, it won't happen again. Also, here is a link to my "Works Cited" page which shows where all of my information came from -the primary source being a book that was a collection of over 30 different accounts from various knowledgable people on the topic. I had originally intended for this page to be presented as well, but due to my improper linking, it was lost. |
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Why? Is there any mention of any of the Apostles being married? How about various other prominent figures in the Bible? |
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Marriage was so common, and such a basic fact of life, that it would have been remarkable if He wasn't married, and His disciples would have had to defend Him against the charge of not being a valid teacher in Judaism. |