Whats the difference between..........

[bazwillrun]

The Da Vinci Code and The bible

none  they are both works of fiction

[Alan2]

Well said that man!

[mfewell]

Good intellectual well thought out thread. I shall follow it with interest.

[dothawkes]

But has Tom Hanks ever had a part from the Bible?

[twiglet4frog]

he is about a 5 min drive from me right now, i live in lincoln and i am hoping to see him if i can! doubt it tho, there are too many nuns praying for his soul when he enters the catherdral

[reportmonkey]

Very astute of you to work out that the Da Vinci Code is fiction, at most, half of that statement is true.

The bibles not a work of fiction, rather a history book written from the point of view of a particular peoples.  Now whether you believe some of the stories is irrelavant since many are simply metaphorical or the writers were simply trying to explain phenomena they simply didn't understand.

It doesn't sound like you've read either book to be honest.  You really need to ask yourself why so many people have devoted their lives, sacrificed themselves fought and died over the bible if its just fiction....and then sit down and wonder whether anyone will still give a **** about you in 2000 years time.

[WaldoMcFroog]

"Very astute of you to work out that the Da Vinci Code is fiction, at most, half of that statement is true."

So, it's possible that more than half of the statement  is untrue? Which would mean that at least some of the bible must be fictional, according to your own logic. Or that some of the Da Vinci Code is not fictional - which it is, since we can see that from the cataloguing details on the flysheet.

"The bibles not a work of fiction, rather a history book written from the point of view of a particular peoples.  Now whether you believe some of the stories is irrelevant since many are simply metaphorical or the writers were simply trying to explain phenomena they simply didn't understand."

If one were to replace the word Bible with 'Koran', would that mean the Koran was equally not a work of fiction?

Conts...

[WaldoMcFroog]

Cont.

"It doesn't sound like you've read either book to be honest." 

There simply isn't sufficient information within the question to make that assumption.

"You really need to ask yourself why so many people have devoted their lives, sacrificed themselves fought and died over the bible if its just fiction....and then sit down and wonder whether anyone will still give a **** about you in 2000 years time."

An interesting argument. Massively flawed but you know... I can't quite work out how working out whether anyone giving a **** about Bazwillrun in 2000 years time has any bearing on whether the bible is fiction or not. Moreover, there is a considerable weight of evidence - and one only has to read the newspapers to see contemporary evidence -  that proves that people fight and die over ancient religious beliefs all the time. Since many of these are necessarily contradictory to Christianity/each other, it surely therefore follows that fighting and dying over an ancient religious belief does not of itself provide any sort of proof of the truth of that belief.

Presumably Baz is being deliberately contentious but your counter argument is hardly convincing.

[Octavius]

I bet the film won't be as good as the book

[Haggisdj]

I find the Da Vinci Code plausible... I'm not saying that I believe it but who is to say to what extent the Catholic church would have gone to to protect its power, position, and wealth.

[reportmonkey]

er...I said at most half of that statement (referring to the original question is true) meaning that the Da Vinci Code is fiction whereas the bible does not fall into that category.  Are you suggesting that the Da Vinci Code is a true story? 

I'm not particularly religious however I do take the bible for what it is, a history of a people written from thier own point a view or that of another...which is essentially all history books are.

The Koran is probably more of a guide on how to live your life, I read over a few paragraphs and it actually reads very much like a book of Law.  This does not make it any less true but it does see things in a different perspective.

My point is Waldo if the bible is fiction why is it that 2000 years later there are buildings erected all over this country devoted to the memory of just one man.  Thats not something that happens to characters of fictional novels,  Are you suggesting that....

The disciples just made Jesus up?  Wrote a load of Balls and then said that will do, lets go on a big marketing campaign and try and sell it to the Pagans.  And then they all get tortured and killed over a made up character, does this happen all the time?

Why would Paul write all those letters to the corinthians if it wasn't true. 

Paul to Corinthians: Dont do this, Dont do this, Dont do this, Do this, Dont do this and Dont do this

Corinthians to Paul: Sod off.

However he probably didn't exist and got made up in 1922.  Hey Frank, look at this, this bloke called Paul has just popped up in the Bible, was that in the last publication, I dont remember it?

[WaldoMcFroog]

ReportMonkey, have you read 'The Jesus Puzzle'?

http://www.jesuspuzzle.com/

There's a section on there entitled "Pieces in a Puzzle of Christian Origins". It gives a very interesting perspective on the issue of whether Christ did exist.

Obviously it's not the only perspective around, but it is nevertheless very interesting.

As for the 50% thing, I was merely pointing out that you said *up to* 50% of the statement was true at most. Therefore, more than 50% could be false.

[reportmonkey]

Book of Langdon Chapter 1

In the begining there was Angels and Demons, and then Dan said, let there be the Da Vinci Code and there it was and people said it was good, Then Dan said let the people see other books i've written which are not as contentious but are really good thrillers and the people said not as good but still went on about this other book and formed little discussion groups and started taking everything in the book literally and then started killing people for saying naughty things about the book and worshiping the Albino.  Soon people started writing songs about the book to sing in their Da Vinci Code Churches and then splinter groups started forming.  Then terrorist groups started emerging like the DVC Army and the Brown Liberation Organisation (BLO).

Then someone wrote a book saying the Da Vinci Code was really a work of fiction by some 21st Century novellist and lo it was convincing. 

[WaldoMcFroog]

Er... no one is claiming the Da Vinci Code is real though are they? I certainly haven't.

[nedflanders]

Worshop the Albino Haha "The Church of Silas" !  Can't wait to see Paul Bettany play him he will steal the show! (Unless they change the story due to increasing pressure from the vatican)

[reportmonkey]

Alright but there is no credible evidence that the bible is complete fiction.

[Narolines]

Parts of the Bible actually have some literary merit.....

[Narolines]

Depending on the version, of course!

[El D]

'Alright but there is no credible evidence that the bible is complete fiction.'

This statement has no merit whatsoever.

[reportmonkey]

El D kindly explain, i'm sure you have a very intellectual and well thought out theory behind that comment.  I'm just itching to hear it. 

People who slate books without reading them, or people who slate religion out of ignorance are just as bad as the right wing religious types who don't believe in science.

[El D]

Haha sorry but if you can't see the reason yourself I doubt you will grasp the explanation . . . use your brain.

Fully agree with your statement however I would add that most people who claim to practise a religion are as ignorant as joe public where it matters.