- Curious that a mere "novel" begins with a declaration
of FACT... and so-called "Facts" are then meted out and the story
begins. Someone smell something funny here? I should hope so. The DaVinci
Code (by Dan Brown) is, basically, nonsense wrapped up in ridiculous conjecture
and stuffed into a novel form so the author could escape any serious injury
from true scholarly scrutiny, while simultaneously spewing these so-called
"facts" in order to create enormous controversy to sell a boring
book. And, very likely, to attempt to sway many people from traditional
Christian faith and values. Just as one example...
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- "At [the Council of Nicea].many aspects of Christianity
were debated and voted upon the date of Easter, the role of the bishops,
the administration of sacraments, and, of course, the divinity of Jesus.until
that moment in history, Jesus was viewed by His followers as a mortal prophet,
a great and powerful man, but a man nonetheless. A mortal." (The DaVinci
Code)
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- If you believe the above statement to be accurate, you're
woefully uneducated or misinformed about Christian history. Yes, there
were certainly councils which attempted to bring things into order, typical
of the development of any administration, but to suggest that the divinity
of Jesus was not an accepted notion until 300 years after his death and
the deaths of the Apostles and the first century church with its widespread
evangelism of Asia Minor...? This statement is, simply put, idiotic. Unfortunately,
million will believe it as a backbone of "fact" unpinnng this
worthless novel.
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- But this is not a review of The DaVinci Code, but rather
an opportunity to lay to rest yet another absurdity which has arisen from
the controversy generated by the book; that of the "dagger" in
DaVinci's famous painting of the last supper. The following material from
Edward Lopez is an excellent autopsy of this latest controversy (do not
miss the link below which takes you to the visual proofs offered by Mr.
Lopez) regarding the dagger in DaVinci's painting...
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- From Edward Lopez
5-3-4
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- I love a controversy as much as the next person. When
it deals with historical facts, so much the better. Everyone is talking
about Dan Brown's best seller "THE DA VINCI CODE." Certain historical
facts are mis-represented in the book and the web is buzzing with these
historical errors creating a mini-flood of books dedicated to pointing
out Mr. Brown's erroneous ways.
In his book one finds dialogue between the main character, Langdon, and
his co-character, Sophie, where Langdon points to a certain detail in a
copy of Leonardo da Vinci's painting "THE LAST SUPPER" and claims
that one can see a disembodied, anonymous hand holding a dagger in a threatening
manner. This is the latest mention of this so-called anomaly with another
famous author making the same claim.
In the 1994 book "TURIN SHROUD", by Lynn Picknett and Clive Prince
one finds on page 104 the claim of the disembodied hand holding a dagger
in a threatening manner. Additionally, the authors add that a person would
have to be "... a contortionist - in order to make the gesture anatomically
possible. As it stands, the hand belongs to nobody at the table."
The authors of these books have come to their conclusions because Leonardo's
painting has deteriorated through the years, plus the over-painting that
has also occurred in trying to save the painting. The last cleaning, in
the '90s, revealed the true beauty of Leonardo's work but it also shows
that the deterioration removed valuable details which the authors seem
to have ignored in coming up with their ridiculous claims.
There are a few websites where the above claims are rebutted by lay persons
and religious scholars but they do not include photos or graphics to support
their rebuttals. Leonardo knew what he was doing when he painted Peter
holding a knife (used to cut the bread at the table). Peter's pose and
position of arm and hand holding the knife is quite natural.
I published a page with photos showing the hand with knife from Leonardo's
painting and also showing myself in a similar pose holding a knife to show
that there is nothing mysterious about the hand holding a knife (NOT a
dagger) as seen in the painting.
http://community-2.webtv.net/nyceddie/LeonardodaVincisThe/
The page is maximized for WebTV which is seen on a TV screen but computer
users will have no problem accessing the page and enjoying my contribution
to help end any further attempts at discrediting the genius of Leonardo
da Vinci.
I will leave to others to dispute the additional claims that the disciple
John is really Mary Magdalene, but I'll just say "Phooey" to
those claims. Your comments will be welcomed at: nyceddie@webtv.net
Edward Lopez
NYC
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- "Many are those who trade in tricks and simulated
miracles, duping the foolish multitude, and if nobody unmasked their subterfuges,
they would impose them on everyone." Leonardo da Vinci
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- Additional Material on The DaVinci Code:
Not InDavincible
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