		duncan	Thank you I enjoyed this story.
		Misshomespun	Have either of you read The DaVinci Code or Angels & Demons by Dan Brown? Just wondering what you thought of them.
		rdale1	I enjoy your history lessons too Ed.
			DaVinco Code, yes, barely enough of it to throw up in disgust. I am a newspaperman's daughter and I was a deep researcher as a high tech consultant. Ed is also (as you can tell) qquite a researcher from his law school daze. We also read a similar book by two "revered" researchers (non-Christian) who followed the DaVinci code wight into the old (mainly false) stories about the Knights Templar and the Cult of the "Black Madonna". Bunkum, that stuff. DaVinci hated Christianity and avoided pain
			DaVinci hated Christianity and avoided painting itm when he did he stuck in his little "paybacks" all on COMMISSIONED works. Read the Catholic reply (I have to get the name of the book). If you know your history, you know the author and is slavish followers are muckrakers of the worst sort.
			Article on it at http://www.americancatholic.org/Messenger/Jul2004/Feature2.asp excerpt 'Professor Johnson read Dan Brown’s blockbuster with interest. "Frankly, I enjoyed it. It’s a very good book for times when you’re stuck in the airport or on vacation. He writes in a very engaging style," she says. But she also had some academic interest because both students and journalists approached her with questions. What was true? What was not? What should believing readers make of the surprising
			What was true? What was not? What should believing readers make of the surprising appearance of a saint in a contemporary thriller replete with chases, intrigue, innuendo, death, extrabiblical allusions and ancient history? "It’s a novel," says Johnson, "but the author declared that the history behind it was factual. It is not." ... Art critics doubt Brown’s interpretation of Leonardo Da Vinci’s "The Last Supper" as well, believing that the figure on Jesus’s right is John the Apostle. Arti
			Artists have traditionally portrayed him as the Beloved Disciple, young, clean-shaven and close to Jesus... Sister Elizabeth Johnson, Ph.D., is not a Scripture scholar but a systematic theologian who relies heavily on biblical scholarship. Asked about the extrabiblical texts cited in The Da Vinci Code, she offers some insights... It's a LONG article
			http://www.americancatholic.org/Messenger/Oct2004/books.asp#F4 CATHOLIC Review of the book "De-Coding Da Vinci" brief excerpt: "She helped most with my first and fourth concerns. I hereby declare the Priory of Sion debunked, Opus Dei better understood and Silas, the fictional Opus Dei villain, rendered impossible, a conclusion that most readers would already have drawn. (The Web site opusdei.org is a resource I wish I’d Googled sooner.)"
			aslo read http://www.opusdei.org/art.php?w=32&p=7017 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. BRIEF EXCERPT " Readers who do further research and exercise critical judgment will discover that assertions made in The Da Vinci Code about Jesus Christ, Mary Magdalen, and Church history lack support among reputable scholars. By way of example, the book popularizes the idea that the fourth century Rom
			By way of example, the book popularizes the idea that the fourth century Roman emperor Constantine invented the doctrine of the divinity of Christ for political reasons. The historical evidence, however, clearly shows that the New Testament and the very earliest Christian writings manifest Christian belief in the divinity of Christ.
		tanddjohnson	this is great
			My personal thought on the "The DaVinci Code"? Crap. Just a way for a guy to make money the realize when people are taking it seriously, to then start running around as a false prophet. There is history and there is fiction. If some one wants to read fiction, then read The Code.
			You do a very nice breakdown of the facts here on the book. On a personal level in terms of women is something that I find most offensive; that is that Mary Magdalen had to be a "lover" to be of importance, instead of her being a disciple with the ablity to have her own critical thought. History shows her as a disciple, why lesson her real importance by making people believe she was basicly a lost love-stuck woman?
		Misshomespun	Thank both you and daviddonovan for your responses. Being raise int he middle of bible thumping country filled with hell and brimestone, you never questioned the religion that was shoved down your throat at most churches.
		Misshomespun	or politics... baptist and democrat was the only way to go... I don't believe that I ever knew a catholic person in my life when I was younger. I throughly enjoy learning about other religions and as a young person the most that I remember from church was the bible verses that you got a gold star for remembering... not understanding or interputing but rememoring... I did enjoy the book as fiction but it still made me wonder what if...
		Misshomespun	and as for Mary just being a lover, I didn't see it as a BAD thing, I was elated to think that Jesus was able to share the experience of love that only a man and wife can share... as well as Mary being a disciple
		Misshomespun	more later... phone
			The Catholic soul reels at the thought od Jesus and Mary Magdelene committing such a thing as what was then called fornication. Mary Magdalene is hailed as a woman who recovered herself to the point of being the first one to se the Risen Christ, as David said, and to change her into jesu's lover is to belittle her personal growth. As for realizing the divinity of love between a committed man and woman, read the Song of Songs, this version: http://www.usccb.org/nab/bible/index.htm#songs whe
			http://www.usccb.org/nab/bible/index.htm#songs where God and his Beloved use the metaphor of human love to describe the divine. Who could have known this but God, jesus, and the Holy Spirit? Having been One with God since the beginning, I would think Jesus would find "the pleasures" of the flesh to be mundane in comparison. To us Catholics, He Was and He Is ans is God, now and forever, Amen.
		Misshomespun	WOW!!! I didn't think of it as "Having been One with God since the beginning, I would think Jesus would find "the pleasures" of the flesh to be mundane in comparison". This I understand. as well as "belittle her personal growth" FIGHTING my own battle there with my husband.
		Misshomespun	I find many days, that communications, such as this, much more pleasurable than many things in my personal life. Days where the holy spirit take over and nothing in this earthly life could compare.
		Misshomespun	ok I have to draw back a while and think some more, I'm losing my train of thought and I am beging not to make sense , even to myself LOL... AGAIN THANK YOU!!!
		Misshomespun	I wasn't thinking of pleasures of the flesh as much as pleasures of the heart.... be back later
		duncan	After reading you comments about the pictures you posted, I was thirsty for more information about what happened after the Bible era. Found a site called "Christian History Institute". Exactly what I was looking for. God Bless You, and He will.
			see http://www.saintpatrickdc.org/ss/0722.htm#mary for more on the Catholic view of Mary Magdalene.