Helpful Score: 12
Yes, some of this book has since been debunked. Mainly the part about the Priory of Sion. After all it was written more than 20 years ago, but for me it was a real page turner. If you come away with nothing else, you'll learn that there were many opportunities for The Church (the Roman Catholic Church) and others to play fast and loose with what we thought were the literal words of God (the Bible, particularly the New Testament). First of all church fathers got together and decided which books belonged in the new testament and which didn't sometimes by narrow margins. They also played politics. books written by certain types of groups of Christians weren't allowed into the Bible. Then of course, sometimes the books were translated back and forth several times among Aramaic, Hebrew, Latin, Greek, Coptic, and finally down to English. And finally the authors tell you to believe what you want, but the material they offer is possible, maybe not true, but possible. It opened my mind. Al
Helpful Score: 6
Wow. This book is amazing. Packed with facts and other material necessary to reach the tantalyzing conclusion, this book was a quick read (esp. given how tiny the print is). At times its hard to get through all the detail, but it so interesting I couldn't help but forge on through. I was surprised by the conclusions but also pleased. I'm so glad I finally read this book!
Helpful Score: 4
This is the "academic" basis for much of The DaVinci Code. The authors of the book actually sued Dan Brown for stealing their material. The writing itself is a bit dry, but it's definitely worth reading, especially in the context of The DaVinci code and subsequent articles and TV programs about Grail Theory.
Helpful Score: 4
Interesting for the details on the research behind the Da Vinci Code, but slow going for me. I found it more speculative than I expected.
Helpful Score: 3
Although there are some paralells in this and Dan Brown's book, their take is TOTALLY different. There are some things that make you think, "hummm, interesting thought". Then, some of it seems just pulled out of thin air- the "man when they do math 2+2 must equal 5, because this doesn't make sense".
Sadly, it was very dryly written and way too verbose.
Sadly, it was very dryly written and way too verbose.
