CADRE Comments

I saw the movie this morning with a couple of pastor friends of mine. As most of you know, the movie has gotten many poor reviews and only a few positive ones. Overall, the movie is below average and well below expectations, given the many strong actors and the fact that Ron Howard was directing. For what is supposed to be a suspense thriller, there was little suspense and few thrills. There is a car chase, but it manages to be boring. There is some gunplay, but you never really feel like the main characters are in any danger. There are mysteries and puzzles to be solved, but they fail to draw you in or to challenge you intellectually. In fact, they are solved so fast by Langdon that if you blink you will miss them. One reason people like mysteries and thrillers, is because they let you play at detective in your own mind. What could the code be? How will this be solved? The book does a better job of walking you through each puzzle, whereas the movie just zips through one after...

The clear answer is "Yes," and the rationale is provided in a new article hosted at Tektonics.org. From the conclusion: The passion predictions of Jesus' death and/or subsequent vindication are very well attested throughout the Gospel Tradition. They are found in several well-attested Scriptural allusions made by Jesus. They are found in cryptic sayings such as in the saying of the Temple being destroyed and raised within 3 days as well as in the saying about the Sign of Jonah. They are found in one of Jesus' parables (i.e. that of the Wicked Tenants) and other riddles. They are found within the context of memorable historical events like the Last Supper. And finally, they are found in sayings which detail the events to come in quite explicit terms (i.e. Mark 8:31; 9:31; 10:34 and par.). We have found that there is a very substantial body of evidence pointing to the authenticity of most (if not all) of these predictions. Moreover, we have shown in the opening sectio...

Film critic Roger Ebert's review of the Da Vinci Code gives the film three out of four stars (pretty good), but what I like best about his review is the disdain with which he holds the ideas behind the novel. The fact that, to the best of my knowledge, he is not a Christian shows that thinking non-Christians can also recognize the absurdity of what is going on with the whole "The Catholic Church covered up the truth"-conspiracy. Both [the movie and the book of The Da Vinci Code] contain accusations against the Catholic Church and its order of Opus Dei that would be scandalous if anyone of sound mind could possibly entertain them. I know there are people who believe Brown's fantasies about the Holy Grail, the descendants of Jesus, the Knights Templar, Opus Dei and the true story of Mary Magdalene. This has the advantage of distracting them from the theory that the Pentagon was not hit by an airplane." That last sentence has got to be the most expressive line that...

I just watched most of the SciFi Channel's special, Cracking Da Vinci's Code . I have seen some other specials on other stations, but this was by far the best. At just under two hours, it demolishes claim after claim after claim made by Dan Brown in The Da Vinci Code . Even the SciFi' Channel's online review of the movie is devastating: As for the heretical thesis of the movie, that the Catholic Church has conspired murderously over the centuries to conceal one of the greatest secrets of all time? It's a great idea for a book and a tantalizing mystery to be unfolded, though it's built on a mountain of fallacious assumptions and amateurish misreadings of history, art and religion . It is really quite merciless. Think about it. This is a channel that brags about airing series like Ghost Hunters . Its creduility factor is quite high and its critical treatment of controversial issues very low. It sandwiched its response to The Da Vinci Code between a specia...

Christianity Today for the week of May 15, 2006, has published an article by Darrell Bock, author of Breaking the Da Vinci Code: Answers to the Questions Everyone's Asking , in which he reviews James Tabor's latest book The Jesus Dynasty . The article, titled "The Jesus Dynasty: How to Explain Away the New Testament" , makes the case that the assumptions that Dr. Tabor makes in his look at the life of Jesus rules out at the outset the possibility of God's miraculous intervention into the affairs of humanity. According to Bock: Professor Tabor's Jesus Dynasty is a fascinating combination of historical and archaeological detail mixed with bits of naturalistic, "historical" explanation. He introduces the Virgin Birth as Christianity's "fundamental theological dogma": But history, by its very nature, is an open process of inquiry that cannot be bound by dogmas of faith. Historians are obliged to examine whatever evidence we have, even if su...

A short while ago, I wrote a short post about the Dangers of the Da Vinci Code in which I noted that in both France and Canada, the number of people who believed the book is based on history exceeds 25% of the population in each country. Now, the Telegraph in Britain has published the results of a poll conducted by Opinion Research Business, and the results are chilling: Two thirds of Britons who have read Dan Brown's thriller believe that Jesus fathered a child with Mary Magdalene, a claim rejected as baseless by historians and Bible scholars. Those who have read it are also four times as likely to think that the conservative Roman Catholic organisation Opus Dei, whose members include the Cabinet minister Ruth Kelly, is a murderous sect. Seventeen per cent of readers are convinced that the lay group, whose founder was canonised by the late Pope John Paul II, has ordered or carried out a murder, compared with four per cent of those who have not read the book. The poll has shocked...

In an earlier post I provided an update as to the happenings of the fraud trial concerning the James Ossuary and other purported ancient relics. The information coming out of Israel is limited, but there is finally a new story from the Boston Globe about the trial. Jim West also has some information on the trial. Here is what I have been able to discern. As I wrote in the last post, one of the defendants had pleaded guilty. It appears that another defendant, Shlomo Cohen, has also pleaded guilty. One of the defendants who pleaded guilty was scheduled to testify on behalf of the prosecution last week but the appearance was delayed due to "new evidence" being raised. It is unclear how this testimony may reflect on the James Ossuary, however, because it appears that only one defendant, Oded Golan, is accused of committing fraud with the James Ossuary. The first four days of testimony centered around renowned and wealthy collector Shlomo Moussaieff, who testified about...

(After waiting more than a month, my library has finally provided me with a copy of Michael Baigent's The Jesus Papers . This is part two of some posts that I intend to write reviewing parts of the book as the mood strikes me. Part I is located here .) ========= Chapter 2 of Michael Baigent's The Jesus Papers finally begins the actual discussion of the Jesus Papers by repeating a tale that is apparently part of both Holy Blood, Holy Grail and The Da Vinci Code -- the tale of the sudden wealth of Abbe Beranger Sauniere. According to the story, Abbe Sauniere, while doing some renovation work at his church in the village of Rennes de Chateau around 1890, came across some documents that contained "incontrovertible evidence" that Jesus was still alive in 45 A.D. Taking a step back, the rumors about Abbe Sauniere were not that he had found such a document, but rather he had found a "treasure." This "treasure" he took to Paris from where he returned to...

From The Stax Report: Script Review of Nativity : Stax here with my reaction to the screenplay for Nativity! This March 2006 draft was penned by Mike Rich (The Rookie). Catherine Hardwicke (thirteen) is directing for New Line Cinema. Oscar nominees Keisha Castle-Hughes and Shohreh Aghdashloo star. IGN FilmForce has confirmed via his reps that Shaun Toub (Crash) has been cast as Mary's father, Joaquim. Nativity is now shooting in Morocco and Italy for a December release. Drawing largely upon the Gospels, Mike Rich's script documents the life of Mary (Castle-Hughes), a simple but virtuous adolescent who is chosen by God to be the mother of Jesus Christ. The script establishes Mary's life in the small Judean town of Nazareth as one of poverty and oppression under the rule of King Herod, a vicious tyrant and pawn of the Roman Empire who is increasingly paranoid about his hold on power (and with good reason, as it turns out). Mary lives a meager life with her mother Anna and fat...

(After waiting more than a month, my library has finally provided me with a copy of Michael Baigent's The Jesus Papers . This is part one of some posts that I intend to write reviewing parts of the book as the mood strikes me.) Michael Baigent's The Jesus Papers seeks to pick up where the book he co-authored Holy Blood, Holy Grail left off in 1982. The introduction reads, in pertinent part: Since the publication of Holy Blood, Holy Grail , I have had twenty-two more years to reflect on these very questions, to do more research and to reassess the history and implications of those events. In other words, two decades of research over and above what is explored in The Da Vinci Code . In other words, Mr. Baigent realizes that The Da Vinci Code made a lot of money capitalizing on his leaps from speculations to conclusions that he "researched" 22 years prior (can anyone say "Priory of Sion"?) and he wants to be able to throw out more logical leaps to capitalize...