Gordon's WebLog

Right from page one of the book (and it is 600 pages in length in paperback form), I found that I could hardly put it down. Dan Brown's method of stringing together unrelated ‘facts’ into a so-called solution to the centuries old mystery of the Holy Grail makes a jolly good read, fascinating, absorbing, intriguing. BUT it really needs to be taken with the proverbial "pinch of salt". To me it seems very much like adding two plus two and making five !

To some Christians it is deeply offensive, one Roman Catholic Cardinal even stating that the makers of the Hollywood film should face legal action because it offends Christ. Cardinal Arinze said: "Those who blaspheme Christ and get away with it are exploiting the Christian readiness to forgive and to love even those who insult us. There are some religions which if you insult their founder - they will make it painfully clear to you. Christians must not just sit back and say it is enough for us to forgive and forget."

In addition to this book there have, of course, been several others in recent years which attempted to persuade the reader that 1) Jesus did not die on the cross, he was merely drugged and then the (stupid?) Roman's were duped into releasing his body, Jesus later recovering. 2) Jesus was married to Mary Magdalene, and even had a family. 3) Jesus lived until he was over 70 and died in the Roman's massacre of the Jews at Masada. 4) Nicodemus took Mary the Mother of Jesus into his care, and eventually came to Britain. and so on.... and so on .... and so on.....

I personally cannot give credence to any of these theories, nor to those propounded in Dan Brown's novel The Da Vinci Code, but then I am a committed life-long Christian. However, as I stated above, the book does make a jolly good read, and I can thoroughly recommend it, provided it is taken as an adventure novel – no more, no less.