Fiction or Fact? What is the truth about… Jesus: Was he married and the father of a daughter? Mary Magdalene: Was she Jesus’ choice to lead the church until some men took it away from her? Christianity: Did it really borrow everything from paganism? Women: Did the church really kill 5 million females? The Mona Lisa and The Last Supper: Do these paintings contain secret clues? This easy-to-use fact checker provides answers to the questions readers most often ask about The Da Vinci Code. Historically and theologically correct explanations are given for the more than 500 entries that include terms, concepts, people, locations, and events. Arranged alphabetically, dictionary style, this book is a must for thoughtful readers who seek more information about the claims of the novel and film.
The Endorsements
“The Da Vinci Code reminds us once again how much interest people have in the story of Jesus. Curiosity about who he was and what he did never seems to come to an end. In a work like The Da Vinci Code, fiction can be easily confused as an accurate portrayal of history. In this case, the facts about Jesus are far more amazing than anything we could make up or imagine. Jim Garlow provides for us a great glossary to help us unwrap the amazing mystery that goes far beyond The Da Vinci Code.”
-Erwin Raphael McManus, Lead Pastor, Mosaic
“Jim Garlow’s previously coauthored book on The Da Vinci Code “led the pack” both in timing and sales as well as in content. Now comes a badly needed tool, a dictionary that helps every Da Vinci Code reader understand the real meaning of terms that Dan Brown used, plus provides so many words or concepts that should have been in The Da Vinci Code, but were omitted. The Da Vinci Code Breaker is a badly needed historical corrective to The Da Vinci Code errors.”
-Jack Hayford, Founding Pastor, The Church on the Way Founder and Chancellor, King’s College and Seminary
“Satan always aims his big guns at the doctrine of the Trinity. If Jesus is not divine, then he could not have paid for our sins and our faith is in vain. Jim Garlow (along with Peter Jones) has provided such an excellent rebuttal in Cracking Da Vinci’s Code. Now [Garlow] has provided another helpful book, The Da Vinci Code Breaker, to help counter the lies propagated by this blockbuster book and movie.”
-D. James Kennedy, Ph.D., Senior Minister, Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church
Acknowledgments
I am deeply indebted to my two wonderful coauthors:
They did such outstanding and voluminous work that they morphed from research assistants to coauthors. Timothy and April were steady “we-can-do-this-so-let’s-stay-at-it” people. They were the exact type of colleague needed for such a project.
This is only one of many of Timothy’s writings. The caliber and quality of his contribution is demonstrated by his exceptional chart included in the “New Testament canon” entry.
This is April’s first book, and far from her last. I could not have done this without them. To both of you, I say an enormous heartfelt “thank you.” Others assisted at various stages in varying ways:
I am so grateful for Kyle Duncan of Bethany House, who has encouraged, cheered, and advised me about several writing projects with the grace and dignity of a true Christian gentleman. He is both a friend in “bookwriting” and a confidant in “life-living.”
When an author acknowledges his or her spouse and children, he or she does not do so out of a sense of duty. It is done because families pay a price when a book is written. Words cannot express the support I have from my wife, my four children, my son in-law, my daughter-in-law, my grandchildren, and my extended family. To Carol, Janie and Jeremy, Josh and Lacy, Jacob, Josie, Riley, Aidan, Lukas, Jackson, Winifred, Keat and Judy, Bill and Laurie, I say a heartfelt “thank you.”
To Shadow, the family dog, I say “stop barking.” I will now spend more time with you.
Jim Garlow San Diego, March 2006
Quotes About Dan Brown’s The Da Vinci Code
“I found The Da Vinci Code much more offensive as a scholar than as a believer.”
-Gary A. Byers, Executive Director of the Associates for Biblical Research and Administrative Director of the Ai Expedition at Khirbet el-Maqatir in Israel (“The Historical Basis of Dan Brown’s The Da Vinci Code” at http:// aftrain.com/arc/2004/davinci.htm.)
“The writer gives the impression that he’s also a historian-which he is not. I don’t think he’s so much interested in the truth as in drama and mystery.”
-Jack Wasserman, retired professor of art history, expert on Leonardo da Vinci, Temple University, Philadelphia (Patrick T. Reardon, “‘The Da Vinci Code’ . . . Unscrambled.” 2/5/04: Chicago Tribune, A1.)
“For storytelling I give it an A, [for] knowledge of the history of theology and history of the church, C-minus, [for] systematic theology . . . an F.”
-James Halstead, Chairman of the Religious Studies Department at DePaul University (Patrick T. Reardon, “‘The Da Vinci Code’ . . . Unscrambled.” 2/5/04: Chicago Tribune, A1.)
“Just about everything [Dan Brown] says about Leonardo da Vinci is wrong.”
-Jack Wasserman, retired professor of art history, expert on Leonardo da Vinci, Temple University, Philadelphia (Patrick T. Reardon, “‘The Da Vinci Code’ . . . Unscrambled.” 2/5/04: Chicago Tribune, A1.)