Book Review: Comparison of Da Vinci Code Response Books

Date May 25, 2006 Posted by Roger Overton

I read and reviewed 13 of the books responding to The Da
Vinci Code in an effort to weed out the good from the poor. I acknowledge
that I missed a few, but I’m out of time and motivation :) I graded each book
according to 5 categories, as explained below:

Readability- There are some technical textual, historical,
and historical discussions revolving around the claims of the novel. How well
are these adapted so that the reader can grasp them yet learn something? Is the
author’s writing style clear and engaging?

Arguments- Does the author provide sound evidence to back up
his or her claims? How well are the arguments put together? Are they
persuasive?

Diversity- Does the author sufficiently cover all of the
significant issues brought up by the novel?

Resourceability- Is the book easily used as an informative
resource? This would include indexes, references to websites and other books,
study guides, glossaries, etc.

Gnosticism/Sacred Feminine- Though The Da Vinci
Code makes a number of serious claims, most serious is its promotion of the
Gnostic worldview. How well does the author explain and critique Gnosticism and
“the sacred feminine”?
Book Review Readability Arguments Diversity Resourceability Gnosticism Total %
Breaking the Da Vinci Code by Darrell Bock Review 8 8 8 7 6 77
The Truth Behind the Da Vinci Code by Richard Abanes Review 9 9 10 3 3 68
The Da Vinci Code: Fact or Ficiton? by Hank Hanegraaff and Paul Maier Review 10 9 10 9 6 88
Cracking Da Vinci's Code by James Garlow & Peter Jones Review 10 10 10 8 10 96
Reinventing Jesus by J. Ed Komoszewski, M. James Sawyer, & Daniel Wallace Review 10 10 8 10 6 88
Exploring the Da Vinci Code by Lee Strobel & Garry Poole Review 10 8 7 10 6 82
De-Coding Da Vinci by Amy Welborn Review 10 7 10 7 7 82
Truth and Fiction in the Da Vinci Code by Bart Ehrman Review 9 7 7 3 6 64
The Gospel According to the Da Vinci Code by Kenneth Boa & John Alan Turner Review 9 7 7 2 4 58
The Gospel Code by Ben Witherington III Review 10 9 9 8 9 90
The Da Vinci Deception by Erwin Lutzer Review 10 4 7 7 7 70
The Da Vinci CodeBreaker by James Garlow Review 10 8 10 8 9 90
The Da Vinci Myth versus the Gospel Truth by D. James Kennedy & Jerry Newcombe Review 9 6 7 3 4 58
Discussing the Da Vinci Cdoe DVD Kit Review 10 9 7 10 6 84
The Da Vinci Deception Experience DVD Kit Review 10 5 7 10 5 74



Recommendations:


Of the books I reviewed, Cracking Da Vinci’s
Code was by far the best. The authors understood the importance of dealing
with the Gnostic worldview as well as the other issues. It provides a
compelling defense of Christianity without going over peoples’ heads.
For those who are looking for a brief analysis
of the novel, The Da Vinci Code: Fact or Fiction? is a short but quality
critique and defense of Christianity. Being only $5.99, it works for the
financially challenged as well.
Reinventing Jesus is perhaps the most academic response I reviewed,
covering many technical details of textual criticism, history and theology.
However, it’s also very accessible and is a good introduction to those areas
for those who might be looking to dig deeper.
There are primarily two DVD curriculum’s
available. One by Erwin Lutzer and one by Lee Strobel. While Lutzer’s has an
excellent leader’s guide, Strobel’s Discussing the Da Vinci Code is far
better in terms of content. Students will find it engaging and insightful as
they learn from real scholars who skillfully defend the Christian faith.

Related posts:

  1. Book Review: Breaking the Da Vinci Code by Darrell Bock
  2. Book Review: The Truth Behind the Da Vinci Code
  3. Book Review: The Gospel According to the Da Vinci Code
  4. Book Review: The Da Vinci Code, Fact or Fiction?
  5. Book Review: The Da Vinci Code Breaker by James Garlow
  6. Book Review: Cracking Da Vinci's Code

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

One Response to “Book Review: Comparison of Da Vinci Code Response Books”

  1. Anonymous said:

    May 25th, 2006 at 8:01 pm

    I laud your efforts that's a lot of good information.

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