well mainly i am directing this topic on his two books "Angels and Demons" and "Da Vinci Code". i read both of them and loved it so much. a topic on books may have it's own section in this forum, but i think this is a good place to discuss these two books. since it has many controversial ideals on the whole religion conspiracies and religion vs science thing.
the reason why i liked this book so much is not because it seems to be constantly mocking the catholic religion but rather all the information i am getting about religion and science. i don't know if it's all real though, that's why i wanted to add this topic. to talk about what he's written about and if what he says about religion is real. what do you all think about what he's written on religion?
I dont have the wisdom to write anything on this subject but i might as well point out that 99,9% of the religion ideas and plots in Dan Browns books come from these books:
The History of the Knights Templars
--Charles G. Addison
Rosslyn: Guardians of the Secret of the Holy Grail
--Tim Wallace-Murphy & Marilyn Hopkins
The Woman With The Alabaster Jar: Mary Magdalene and the Holy Grail
--Margaret Starbird
The Templar Revelation: Secret Guardians of the True Identity of Christ
--Lynn Picknett & Clive Prince
The Goddess in the Gospels: Reclaiming the Sacred Feminine
--Margaret Starbird
Holy Blood, Holy Grail.
--Michael Baigent, Richard Leigh, Henry Lincoln
The Search for the Holy Grail and the Precious Blood
--Deike Begg
The Messianic Legacy
--Michael Baigent
The Knights Templar and their Myth
--Peter Partner
The Dead Sea Bible. The Oldest Known Bible
--Martin G. Abegg
The Dead Sea Deception
--Michael Baigent, Richard Leigh
The Nag Hammadi Library in English
--James M. Robinson
Jesus and the Lost Goddess: The Secret Teachings of the Original Christians
--Timothy Freke, Peter Gandy
When God was a Woman
--Merlin Stone
The Chalice and the Blade. Our History, our Future
--Riane Eisler
Born in Blood
--John J. Robinson
The Malleus Maleficarum
--Heinrich Kramer & James Sprenger
The Notebooks of Leonardo da Vinci
--Leonardo da Vinci
Prophecies
--Leonardo da Vinci
Leonardo da Vinci: Scientist, Inventor, Artist
--Otto Letze
Leonardo: The Artist and the Man
--Serge Bramly, Sian Reynolds
Their Kingdom Come: Inside the secret world of Opus Dei
--Robert A. Hutchison
Beyond the Threshold: A Life in Opus Dei
--Maria Del Carmen Tapia
The Pope's Armada: Unlocking the Secrets of Mysterious and Powerful New Sects in the Church
--Gordon Urguhart
Opus Dei: An Investigation into the Secret Society Struggling for Power Within the Roman Catholic Church
--Michael Walsh
I. M. Pei: A Profile in American Architecture
--Carter Wiseman
Conversations With I. M. Pei: Light Is the Key
--Gero Von Boehm
I read Angels and Demons and am a quarter done with Da Vinci Code. I thought that Angels and Demons was a great book.
I loved how accurate he was with the layout of the entire city. And his explinations of the architecture. But mostly the mixture of relgion and science was what blew me away it was aweseome.
I love how he skipped between CERN labratory and the vatican all through out the book. And the weird thing was that alot of it made sence. Probably because he used acctual facts that he dug up.
I was just blown away by Angels and Demons... Wow
~Art
I liked both of these books. Mainly for their entertainment value, but also for the fact that they mad me think about the text and religous ideas.
It has been explored on many forums that the Di Vinci Code is generally fiction, right down to the priori of scion and it's purpos. But the ideas proposed are ideas not necessarily false, but unknown.
I think that, to me, it makes more sense, but I also realize that a good portion of Christian celebrations (Christmas for example) are taken from "pagan" religions to ease converting.
This is not to offend any Catholics out there (who are probably already plenty offended by Brown's books). I finally read the Da Vinci Code about two weeks ago and really enjoyed it for its plot, story, characters, intrigue, etc. Given, the book is A NOVEL (aka a work of fiction), but it brings up a few valid points.
In Brown's book, Teabing and Langdon promote the not-so-new-as-you-might-think view that Christ was married. Then they take it a step further to suggest that the Catholic Church has been involved in a cover-up for centuries to hide this fact in order to promote the (supposedly) false belief that Christ was God incarnate.
I personally believe that the Catholic Church went wrong SOMEWHERE. Any other Christian church would teach the same: if the Catholics were right, we'd all be Catholics.
That said, does the idea that Jesus may have been married and had children necessarily mean that He wasn't the Son of God or divine? After all, "neither is the man without the woman, neither the woman without the man, in the Lord." (1 Cor. 11:11)
I agree with a few Dan Brown's suggestions, like:
1) Men and women are equal in the eyes of God (though I believe in God and not in the Goddess).
2) The Fall of Adam and Eve didn't surprise God; it was part of His plan. Men (and women especially) aren't eternally condemned for what happened in Eden. I don't subscribe to Original Sin.
3) Christ may have been married. It makes sense, why else would he appear to Mary Magdalene first after His resurrection? Though I don't believe that affects the fact that He was divine. After all, wasn't Christ the Only Begotten Son of God?
The Da Vinci Code hasn't shaken my faith in Christ as Savior, but it has given me a lot to think about.
my god IceCameron
you've just made my day, i've been looking for books of where dan brown got his information.
i love his details about paintings, artifacts, and history. also the descriptions of the CERN buildings as well as the Vatican and all the crypts. makes me wonder if he's actually had a tour of all those places. personally i want to go to rome and have a look around at all the things he's mentioned haha, to see if it's true.
i know this book reveals a bunch of bones in the catholic religion's closet but i don't think it should be anything to be mad about. it would make people understand the catholic religion a bit more. i know it has for me. also made me a lot more interested in the catholic religion too.
TheGreatDalmuti
I comletely agree with you, on most points. Though i feel I must say, I abandoned christianity while I was still in high school. But other than that, I think we're on the same page. 
494701557
I had the same idea while reading the book. I think it would be fun to visit the places in the book.
