Investigating The Da Vinci Code

The best-selling novel, The Da Vinci Code (which is now being made into a movie) has left many wondering about the accuracy of its claims about Christian history. I was asked for suggestions of some critiques that have been done of the book, and have found the following articles useful. They come from a variety of sources, Catholic and Protestant, but all are agreed that this is a work of fantasy that bears no relation to historical fact. The problem is that Dan Brown, the author of this novel, claims that "all descriptions of ... documents, and secret rituals in this novel are accurate." This is a false claim, as these resources show.

Books

Carl Olson & Sandra Miesel, The Da Vinci Hoax: Exposing the Errors in The Da Vinci Code (Ignatius Press). Tackles not just the problems in the book, but the ideas upon which it is based, looking at their origins and reasons for their popularity.

Amy Welborn, De-Coding Da Vinci: The Facts Behind the Fiction of The Da Vinci Code (Our Sunday Visitor). Intended for the general reader who enjoyed The Da Vinci Code; it has been translated into Spanish, Portuguese, Polish, Croatian and Thai.

Articles on-line

Sandra Miesel, Dismantling The Da Vinci Code.

____________ and Carl E. Olson, Cracking the Anti-Catholic Code.

Amy Welborn, Who says Catholicism doesn't influence American culture?

Fr. Michael Barrett, The Da Vinci Code (streaming video of presentation at University of St. Thomas).

The Da Vinci Code, the Catholic Church and Opus Dei: A response to The Da Vinci Code from the Prelature of Opus Dei in the United States.

Joseph R. Thomas, Argument masquerades as historical truth in 'The Da Vinci Code', Catholic News Service, 6 June 2003

Catholic Answers, Cracking The Da Vinci Code.

Collin Hansen, Breaking The Da Vinci Code.

Margaret M. Mitchell, Cracking the Da Vinci Code.

Andrew Greeley, Da Vinci Code is More Fantasy than Fact.

Leadership U, The Da Vinci Code: Of Magdalene, Gnostics, the Goddess and the Grail.

Dr. Darrell Bock, Deciphering the Da Vinci Code.

Related info:

The Gnostic Gospels, from Catholic Exchange.