i have read the book but i would'nt advise al of you to read it if you are a strict christian,its the same as watching the now banned last temptation of christ.where by jesus was making love to mary magdalene its so blasphemous.

It's a fictional story but it is based on a lot of provable FACTS.

The author succeded in weaving these facts together through a plausible storyline.

While controversial, I liked the book because it was researched so well. I actually want to go and visit some of those places in Italy and the United Kingdom.

And it touches on another pet issue of mine, how the Roman Catholic church (and Christianity in general) has subverted so many traditional cultures into extinction.
Thus you find our history labelled as 'Pagan' or 'Heathen' implying that nothing good came of it.

It's a book that makes you think and like the main character, in the end you stop trying to explain God and start to believe in Him instead.

It's that simple...

Somewhere in the Bible it says:
Now faith is... the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.

The dan brown is a fake.

this is one of the so called facts he based his book upon.

The Priory of Sion—a European secret society founded in 1099—is a real organization. In 1975, Paris's Bibliothèque Nationale discovered parchments known as Les Dossiers Secrets, identifying numerous members of the Priory of Sion, including Sir Isaac Newton, Botticelli, Victor Hugo, and Leonardo da Vinci.

Truth

The priory of sion( prieure de sion) was a SMALL association wich was set up in the southern haute savoie region of france,  in 1956, by a convicted fraudster named Pierre Athanase Marie Plantard.

Here is a brief history of the man(just copied and pasted, cudnt be bothered summarising it)

Having moved from Paris to the town of Annemasse in the southern Haute Savoie region of France – Plantard formed, with André Bonhomme – a small association called the Prieuré de Sion on 7 May 1956 (its Registration Papers existing at the Sub-Prefecture of Saint Julien-en-Genevois, and it was named after a small hill outside Annemasse named Mont Sion) – devoted to the Defence and Liberty of Low-Cost Housing and acting as a support group for the opposition candidate at the local Council elections – the Prieuré de Sion actively criticised and attacked the Annemasse property developers in its journal, Circuit; its headquarters were based at Plantard’s home in the street of Sous-Cassan. A Report dated 4 May 1954 on Pierre Plantard reveals that he had moved to Annemasse by 1951 and was "married and had a daughter aged about three". The Prieuré de Sion terminated sometime after October 1956, following Plantard’s conviction for ‘détournement de mineurs’ (reportedly serving a 12 month prison sentence between 1956-1957).

Interests 1958-1960:

The Fifth French Republic was formed in 1958 with General de Gaulle being its President – Plantard formed a "Committee of Public Safety" during this time which was reported about in three articles dated 6 June, 8-9 July and 29 July in the Le Monde Newspaper. Plantard followed this by editing a second series of the journal Circuit, subtitled The Cultural Periodical of the French Forces’ Federation – it could be described as a reborn Vichyite journal containing articles of a metaphysical nature resembling those that were written by right-wing esoterics during the late 1800s. Plantard advertised his psychic abilities in Circuit Number 9 (1960).

Interests: 1960-1985:

Revived the Prieuré de Sion and gave it a fictitious pedigree (created by Godfrey de Bouillon during the Crusades); Plantard first developed an interest in the story of Gisors as given by Roger Lhomoy, before progressing into the story of Rennes-le-Château as initially given by Noel Corbu, with whom he met and was greatly impressed by. By 1964 Plantard created the novel claim about himself that he was directly descended from the Merovingian king Dagobert II – and the central purpose of being of this version of the Prieuré de Sion was this very claim (Plantard was really descended from a 16th century peasant who picked walnuts). Plantard also became acquainted with Philippe de Chérisey and Gérard de Sède during this period of time – the latter being an author who successfully managed to transform Plantard’s creations/allegations into published books – Plantard had previously failed to get any of his own manuscripts published, which included one on Rennes-le-Château – this latter manuscript became the book L’Or de Rennes that was re-written by Gérard de Sède and published in 1967. With the help of Philippe de Chérisey, Plantard began creating false stories about the priest Bérenger Saunière at Rennes-le-Château and in particular creating false pieces of evidence like "parchments", "gravestones", and "genealogies" (See Priory of Sion Fakes) – the "parchments" in particular were created by Philippe de Chérisey and the book contract to L’Or de Rennes reveals he was entitled to a share of the book’s profits for producing the "parchments". A split between the three occurred in 1967 when Gérard de Sède refused to split the book royalties and Plantard and de Chérisey declared the "parchments" to be forgeries (the book’s main attraction and major selling point). The period between 1967-1985 represented one of producing more and more false allegations and more and more forgeries – including a List of Grand Masters that was plainly inspired by the AMORC list of famous people that included the names of Leonardo da Vinci, Robert Fludd, Botticelli, Valentin Andreae, etc. Plantard’s activities from this point on were plainly laughable but he managed to get away with it simply because people chose to believe his stories – until a conflict with the author and researcher Jean-Luc Chaumeil (who discovered details about Plantard’s past and began publishing them) – forced Plantard into quitting by "resigning" from the Prieuré de Sion on 10 July 1984 – although the last Priory Document representing this version of the Prieuré de Sion was deposited in the Bibliothèque Nationale on 1 October 1985. A split also developed between Pierre Plantard and Philippe de Chérisey when the latter started collaborating with Paul Rouelle (involving a character named the Marquis de B. who actually never existed).

Interests 1989-1993:

The ‘Saunière Museum’ was opened in Rennes-le-Château in 1989 and this, it seems, inspired Plantard into making an unsuccessful comeback (the French did not take any notice of this) – a third version of the Prieuré de Sion was launched with a revived series of the journal Vaincre – giving a different false pedigree and different Grand Masters List and alleging that the previous version was all a fake produced by Philippe Toscan du Plantier under the influence of LSD – there was no connection with the Templars or with Godfrey de Bouillon – the Prieuré de Sion was founded in 1681 at Rennes-le-Château by the Grandfather of Marie de Negri d’Ables – and there were secret archives discovered in Barcelona in Spain as well. Plantard was still descended from Dagobert II, but indirectly: the ‘real’ direct descendant was Otto Von Habsburg! The revised list of Grand Masters contained the name of Roger Patrice Pelat whose name was linked to a financial scandal that was being investigated by Judge Thierry Jean-Pierre – the Judge interrogated Plantard who under Oath admitted that everything was made-up. Plantard was let-off with a severe warning and never again revived his Prieuré de Sion activities, living out the rest of his life in seclusion in various addresses at Perpignan, Paris and Barcelona. He died on 3 February 2000 in Paris and his remains were cremated.

Criminal Convictions:

Four months in Fresnes Prison during the 1940s. Six months between 1953-1954 for abuse of trust in relation to offences against property. 12 months between 1956-1957 for ‘détournement de mineurs’.   THIS IS WHAT DAN BROWN CALLS FACTS 

-- Edited by money low at 13:02, 2005-03-24

-- Edited by money low at 13:39, 2005-03-24

Yes the Da Vinci Code is fiction. But imagine if it were to become part of a religionization project along the lines of The Bible (for Christianity) or the Quran (for Islam) or indeed any other Book forming the basis of a religion.

While the bottom line is FAITH, it's time some of this dogma was questioned. Why should belief in Chiuta through the Shrine of Mbona (among the Chewa/Mang'anja etc) or belief in Kyala through the snake ritual (among the Ngonde etc) be any inferior to belief in Yahweh through a strict adherence to the Torah or belief in God through his Son and Saviour, Jesus ? In all instances there is a clear reverence for a Supreme Being.

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