The Truth and Fiction in The Da Vinci Code by Bart D Ehrman

The Truth and Fiction in The Da Vinci Code by Bart D Ehrman

This book is the most authoritative, arguably the definitive appraisal of some of the claims that are directly made or are embedded in the incredibly successful work of popular fiction by Dan Brown, "The Da Vinci Code"; it is not an essentially partisan Christian rebuttal of "The Da Vinci Code" (as are virtually all the books currently available) but a truly historical assessment by a noted early Christian scholar. Brown's novel is unusual in that the author makes the statement up front that the historical information in the book is all factually accurate, and many readers presumably have taken the author at his word. Some of these "facts" are surprising and provocative, such as that Jesus was married to Mary Magdalene, that this union produced an offspring whose holy lineage has been preserved down to today, that Emperor Constantine suppressed secret Gospels that attest to these stories, etc. Ehrman discusses the historical truth behind these claims from a scholar's perspective. His focus is on the historical Jesus, the historical Mary, the development of the early Christian church, the writings of the early Christian Gospels, and the role played by Constantine in the formation of what has come down to us as the beliefs and scriptures of the Christian religion. Ehrman writes: "I should stress that I am not objecting to Dan Brown's inventing claims about early Christian documents as part of his fictional narrative; the problem is that he indicates that his accounting of early Christian documents is historically accurate, and readers who don't know the history of early Christianity will naturally take him at his word. But there is more fiction than fact, not just in the plot of "The Da Vinci Code", but also in its discussion of the early documentary record about Jesus."

Ehrman, Bart D.: - Bart D. Ehrman is a leading authority on the New Testament and the history of early Christianity, and the author or editor of more than thirty books, including the New York Times bestsellers Misquoting Jesus, How Jesus Became God, and The Triumph of Christianity. A Distinguished Professor of Religious Studies at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, he has created eight popular audio and video courses for The Great Courses. He has been featured in Time, The New Yorker, and The Washington Post, and has appeared on NBC, CNN, The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, the History Channel, the National Geographic Channel, BBC, and NPR. His most recent book is Heaven and Hell.

SKU	Unavailable
ISBN 13	9780195181401
ISBN 10	0195181409
Title	The Truth and Fiction in The Da Vinci Code
Author	Bart D Ehrman
Condition	Unavailable
Binding Type	Hardback
Publisher	Oxford University Press Inc
Year published	2004-11-01
Number of pages	232
Cover note	Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary.
Note	Unavailable