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Post by Jaga on May 9, 2006 17:22:25 GMT -7
How many of you read the book and believe at least partly in this married Jesus theory?
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george
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Post by george on May 9, 2006 17:55:52 GMT -7
I could only get thru about 1/3 of the book. Couldn't get thru it and couldn't understand the popularity of it. Its basically a wild ficitious story.. The danger of it is a lot of people are going to take it as face value. As far as Jesus ever being married, i think that was very possible. There nothing written about his lfe from age 12 to 30. Big gap there. It would have been highly unusual for a Jewish man at that time to have never been married. Actually, most people had no choice. Their marriages were arranged for them by their elders. Mary and Joeseph probably never met at the local malt shop. ( little humor there ) His mother Mary was said to be about 13, 14 or 15 when she was betrothed. If he was married, what happened to his wife? People had a very shortlife span back then,.She could have also died at childbirth. Death rate for woman giving birth back then was horrendous. People also had a 50-50 chance of living till the age of 18,
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nancy
European
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Post by nancy on May 9, 2006 18:34:10 GMT -7
I voted "other" -- I read the book, enjoyed it very much because of the "what is happening here?" factor, but I usually don't like movies made from books.
I took everything in the book with a grain of salt (it is fiction, after all), but there probably is at least a grain of truth in the major premises.
I agree with George's remarks on the probable marriage of Jesus.
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Post by justjohn on May 10, 2006 4:35:14 GMT -7
I'll have to agree with Nancy. I found the book a bit repetitious as I also read its precursor. They recently had a court battle about it.
I read the book and am waiting to see the movie.
Just finished reading 'The Last Templar' and found it interesting from a different point of view.
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Post by hollister on May 10, 2006 6:04:33 GMT -7
I read the book - I picked the book up in the airport on one of my trips back and forth to see Wayne (before I made the move down to Florida). It has been a while but I remember being intrigued with some of the ideas but I always thought of the book as fiction. I guess I like it when authors take a little bit of truth stir in a huge dollop of invention and stir. I can see how some people have gotten their undies in a bunch over the book - but after all it is a story - and an adventure story at that.
I think I do want to see the movie - I like Tom Hanks as an actor and Ron Howard as a director should make things interesting. For me it would/will make a good popcorn - leave reality at the door - bit of escapism for an afternoon when I need to get out of the Florida heat and humidity!
I guess the idea of Jesus being married is so foreign to me that it really doesn't matter - it really makes no difference in who he is - has nothing to do with his message. I am sure that some theologian would think I am naive.
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Post by sciwriter on May 10, 2006 10:11:24 GMT -7
I read the book and will see the movie because as a sci-fi writer, I enjoy fiction. Simply stated IMO Jesus could not have been married because as a revolutionary in a dangerous situation he would not want to endanger a wife and children. Moreover since Mideasteners tend to be ethnocentric, after Jesus’ death, the wife and children would be comfortable living in the Mideast, not Europe as the book suggests. Carl
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Post by Jaga on May 10, 2006 13:54:07 GMT -7
I do not believe also that Jesus was married. If he was married he would act differently, he would not leave his wife and children without any support. We do not have any mention of him being married at all. I understand what you are saying that almost everybody was married in his times but he was a prophet, he was a God/human. Thinking about Jesus as a married man is just too trivial.
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Post by rdywenur on May 10, 2006 15:04:31 GMT -7
I read the book and plan to see the movie. Trailers look good so far and I like Tom Hanks. As far as believing some of the theories...anything is a possibility. I read the book as a non fiction adventure and did not believe that it was truth nor written as truth. Just entertainment and look forward to movie as same.
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george
Cosmopolitan
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Post by george on May 10, 2006 15:15:04 GMT -7
If Jesus was both man and god, what would be so trivial about being married? Isn't that part of the human experiance? In so far as it never mentioned him as being married, he started his divinity when he was a least 30. The gospels did not mince words. they only stated the facts in which they were told at the time. His previous life so to speak would not have ever been mentioned in the gospels. Why would it? It had nothing to do with his spritual life that began when he was roughly 30 years old. Many people i think confuse lfe of today with life of 2000 years ago. Many people never had any surviving children ( what would you do when your child had the measles back then ). And as i mentioned in my previous posting, many woman never made it out of childbirth, or died from simple diseases that we take for granted with cures today. Don't forget!! This was 2000 thousnad years ago!
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jeanne
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Post by jeanne on May 10, 2006 18:08:37 GMT -7
I read the book but only because I wanted to see for myself what all the controversy was about. I did think it was a very cleverly written plot, but that it was only fiction, meant for entertainment.
My greatest complaint with the book was the negative way in which Opus Dei was portrayed. I do know some people who are members of Opus Dei and they are some of the nicest people I know. From what I know of the organization, this portrayal was both unfair and inaccurate. For that reason, I don't care to see the movie and contribute to Dan Brown's profits (I also did not buy the book for that reason, but borrowed it from the library).
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nancy
European
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Post by nancy on May 11, 2006 6:46:52 GMT -7
Jeanne, I read somewhere that when the novel first came out, Opus Dei was very upset about it, but recently said that it had brought a lot of inquiries and in the end (so far), it had been good for them as an organization.
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Post by bescheid on May 11, 2006 8:06:38 GMT -7
I simply voted other. For having not read the book, nor plan on to view the movie, my primary contribution I would only suppose is this: The book is fiction, the primary reason of so being, is for the purpose of entertainment, and of course, to make money.
As for as the reality of Jesus and his life. It is still written begged to be read, in the Bible.
But, if viewed as entertainment purposes, sure why not...For every question of "Why" there is the answer of "Why not".
Charles
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Post by jimpres on May 11, 2006 8:22:01 GMT -7
Charles,
If nothing else this book has caused many to read the bible to see what is true and what is not. It is bringing many back to the church. So there is a positive side to it . The fact that the auther calls it FACT in his book, helps the christians prove how FALSE it is.
Jim
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jeanne
Cosmopolitan
Posts: 544
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Post by jeanne on May 11, 2006 12:48:17 GMT -7
Nancy,
I believe you are right about the book ending up as being good for Opus Dei. People are flocking to their center in New York, primarily out of curiousity, but once they learn the true facts about the organization, they find it appealing. It's like anything else, what we don't know or understand we fear.
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Post by bescheid on May 11, 2006 12:53:48 GMT -7
Jim
You know, you do have an excellent point. Perhaps this is the manner of the tool of reasoning. To return people as you said, back to the church to disprove the book.
For what ever reason, it gives me confidence that this will be true.
Charles
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