Book Review: De-Coding Da Vinci by Amy Welborn

Date May 9, 2006 Posted by Roger Overton

De-Coding Da Vinci by Amy Welborn is the best selling
Catholic response to Dan Brown’s The Da Vinci Code. Welborn explains
that “much of the foundation for The Da Vinci Code’s plot might seem new
and intricately creative, but the harsh truth is that most of it isn’t new at
all.” (15) In her book she aims to show that not only are the novel’s claims
unoriginal, but also that many are blatantly false.

Each of the ten chapters deal with a specific set of claims ranging
from the historic “secrets” of the church, to Jesus’ relationship with Mary, to
Leonardo da Vinci himself. The chapters are short and to the point, being about
eight to ten pages each. Throughout the book are info boxes that point out
interesting facts or disprove Brown’s claims. At the end of each chapter are
recommended books for further reading as well as review and discussion
questions.

Amy Welborn leaves no stone unturned. I really can’t think
of anything she doesn’t address in this book. Everything is addressed at a very
popular level, and her writing style may at times be considered spunky. Due to
the popular level style, some of the arguments come across as lacking
sophistication, which may be good or bad depending on the reader. The book would
be of further use if it had indexes to accompany the study questions and
recommended reading.

Even though De-Coding Da Vinci is written from
a Catholic perspective, it’s catholic to the degree that Protestants will find
nothing worth disagreeing about in the book. Amy Welborn does an admirable job
of addressing a very diverse range of issues in a manner that’s accessible to
everyone.

Related posts:

  1. Book Review: Breaking the Da Vinci Code by Darrell Bock
  2. Book Review: Da Vinci Myth Versus the Gospel Truth
  3. Book Review: Comparison of Da Vinci Code Response Books
  4. Book Review: The Da Vinci Deception by Erwin Lutzer
  5. Book Review: The Gospel According to the Da Vinci Code
  6. Book Review: Cracking Da Vinci's Code

Category Posted in Book Reviews, Main Page, Roger's Posts, The Da Vinci Code

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