Breaking the Da Vinci Code: Answers to the Questions Everyone's Asking

This book is the most complete and erudite analisys on The Da Vinci Code. The author unveils Dan Brown's fiction in a very centered, professional way without extremist positions. It also explains to readers many subjects regarding gnostic teology an philosophy, which are ignored by the majority of Christians. I enjoyed it very much and I fully recommend it to people who feels confused by Dan Brown mix of history and fantasy. Julio Alvarez

Bock does a very good job in both explanation and simplification of the arguments, so the lay reader could understand this historical revisionism for what it is. He did good research in a field he is accomplished in, the early church. He also exposes how terms such as secret and conspiracy are misapplied into known , rejected works of the early church and debunks the Nicea conspiracy. This is a subject that churches should cover prior to the release of the film, so less than biblically literate members will not be caught up in distortions and revisionism. I strongly recommend this readable book for churches to make available to their members.

Professor Bock has written a fascinating historical analysis of the early Christian era, focusing on the seven codes found in the best-selling thriller by Dan Brown, The DaVinci Codes. His explanation of the theological view of the Gnostics is perhaps the most enlightening. The Gnostics were a now-forgotten early Christian group, that postulated the road to Heaven was through intense study, knowledge, and enlightment, which were only achieved by a select group of intellectuals. They also generally viewed Jesus and Christ as two entities, seeing a separation between the Savior and the man. Clearly these Gnostic views are almost unrecognizable to "orthodox" Christians of our era, where salvation is based on belief and forgiveness of sin, and God had one Son who suffered on the cross. However, Brown's characters lean heavily on them. Professor Bock also delves deeply into the code that says Jesus was married to Mary Magdalene and had a blood line that extends to modern France. These are not new theories. The French descendants have been talking about this for centuries. Many other books in the last 20 years have expressed this. Even the 1970's musical Jesus Christ Superstar, now endorsed by the Vatican, hints at a relationship beyond that of teacher and apostle. However, Bock analyzes carefully all Biblical and non-Biblical sources and finds no evidence whatsoever that Jesus was married or had descendants. This seems to be the one fact that all Biblical scholars agree upon. The other DaVinci codes are similarly dissected in great historical perspective, involving every known source, and all are found to be lacking. Dan Brown has written an interesting thriller, but it has no basis in history, as the Vatican is now proclaiming as well. For example, Brown's characters claim the church is anti-women, when in fact, Jesus included women in his ministry, delivered much revelation to them, and had them observe the crucifixion and the resurrection. Mary Magdalene and the other women were the apostles to the apostles with respect to the resurrection. The DaVinci codes also claim that the early church fathers rewrote history as late as 400 years after Christ, to suit their purposes. This area seems to be Bock's real specialty, as he quotes many sources to confirm that the four gospels were established and Jesus was the saviour long before any secretive 4th century gathering. He also gives a fascinating account of how the four gospels came to be written and the relationships between their writers and the early Christians and apostles. There seems to be zero historical basis for one of Brown's characters claiming that the 4 known gospels were selected from 80 potential gospels. In sum, I recommend that all who want to understand how Christianity evolved, and also enjoy a good popular thriller, take the opportunity to pick up a lesson in history and theology from Professor Bock. I read many parts of this text several times, and thoroughly enjoye

Darrell Bock is that rarity--a conservative evangelical historian/New Testament scholar who is as irenic as he is thorough. Moreover, he's completely familiar with postmodern approaches to historiography and philosophy--something also rare among evangelical scholars (although, it must be noted, with writers like Kevin Vanhooser coming to the fore, that is increasingly becoming a thing of the past). All in all, of the many books out there seeking to get at the real truth behind Dan Brown's international blockbuster, The Da Vinci Code, Bock's book is the second best, just edged out by Olson and Miesel's The Da Vinci Hoax. Bock's book is so good because he possesses an extensive knowledge of what is called the New School of New Testament studies, thus properly contextualizing and laying the groundwork for a thorough discussion of The Da Vinci Code. Plus, he seems to take the challenge Brown's book presents to both historical and modern-day Christian understanding very seriously. And because he's so careful in his analysis, his conclusions rest on firm footing. Bottom line, both books come to basically the same conclusion: There is little or no evidence for the claims to historical accuracy that Dan Brown presents both in The Da Vinci Code and in his subsequent interviews. The plain fact of the matter is that on every front the evidence points in the direction of historic orthodox Christianity and away from Brown's revisionist history. All the sensational claims Brown makes--from the marriage of Mary Magdalene to Jesus, to the superiority of the so-called Gnostic Gospels to the Canonical Gospels, to the idea that the deity of Jesus was a fourth-century construct of the Council of Nicea--are masterfully exposed for the frauds and fabrications they are. When the supposed historical underpinnings of The Da Vinci Code are thus revealed as fanciful, the entire superstructure of the novel comes crashing down, leaving nothing except a diaphanous construct that is almost purely the figment of Dan Brown's fervid, luxuriant imagination. If you are at all interested in the question of the validity of the historical background to The Da Vinci Code, you owe it to yourself to read this masterful book. After that, you'll probably want to get Olson and Miesel's definitive treatment.

Bock has written a very fair and balanced treatment of Dan Brown's The DaVinci Code. He does not exhibit any anger at all toward Brown's book or Brown himself. Bock simply seeks to explain the questionable (at best) history behind The Da Vinci code and make readers of the book understand that it is wonderful fiction and "should be appreciated as such" (a direct quote from Bock's book), but that's all it is, FICTION. Bock quotes from several first and second century primary sources, most outside of the books that make up the current Bible, to support his contention that there is very little good history to support Brown's claims in his book. In contrast to many reviewers who have dismissed this book as a "hatchet job" on Brown with a preconcieved idea to dismiss his claims, Bock has no problem with affirming in part a couple of Brown's claims, such as the role of women in the early Church. This is the mark of a fair and balanced historical treatment. Bock fully explains that many of the "facts" presented as contained in actual historical documents in The DaVinci Code, including some of the gnostic gospels, simply do not support the ideas contained in Brown's book. Basically, even his own "sources" don't even support his arguments. Therefore, many of those arguments, such as the contention that Mary Magdeline's reputation was denegrated as prostitute in order to suppress her real importance to Jesus. The real historical fact is that the ONLY reference to Mary Magdeline as a prostitute was made by a Pope in the fourth century, and this is most likely due to a misreading of the first Bible passages where Mary appears. Bock explains that that passage actually speaks of another Mary as a possible prostitute but that passage introduces Mary Magdeline as a distinct seperate person from the Mary who annointed Jesus feet and was most likely a former prostitute. Mary Magdeline, most likely followed Jesus after he exercised demons from her in one of his many miracles. Mary was a disciple just as the other 12 were disciples. She also served as a "disciple to the disciples" in telling the story of the resurrected Jesus. No more, no less. Bock also puts the contention that Jesus as a holy Jew "couldn't" have been single in historical context. In fact, many strict holy Jews in the first century were single, based upon their reading of God's instructions to them in the Bible. Bock wonderfully addresses the issue of Jesus divinity and conclusively proves, again using first century sources, some of them outside the Bible, that Jesus was definitely thought of as devine several hundred years before Nicia took place. There was no "vote" on Jesus divinity as Brown's characters contend because that was already a well accepted fact among Christians from the first century forward. Bock does not specifically address DaVinci's painting because there is no need to. Once Brown's other "codes" are broken, which Bock does with historical precision and impeccable sources,