Peter Jones (3) (1940–)

Cracking Da Vinci's Code is by far the most illogical and least objective response to Dan Brown's The Da Vinci Code that I have read. There is no question that, despite Brown's claim of historical accuracy, there are serious inconsistencies between Brown's interpretation of biblical and art literature vs. that of more scholarly authors. Unfortunately, Garlow and Jones present what is at best a knee-jerk reaction to what they perceive as a personal attack on Christianity. Every chapter begins show more and ends with inflammatory rhetorical questions that are in most cases given only cursory answers, and in some cases not even addressed at all. The authors consistently spend entire chapters setting up straw-men, and then end the chapters without even having outright attacked them. The implication is that certain elements of The Da Vinci Code (as Garlow and Jones have explained them) are so absurd that they need no direct refutation. This tactic might work on the uninitiated, however anyone who has spent any time in an academic setting will see right through it. To make matters worse, when Garlow and Jones do attempt to provide evidence to support their arguments, they throw all rules of logic out the window. For example, the authors address the accusation that the Church retaliated against anyone who appeared to question the 'natural order' and brought about the execution of women branded as witches. The authors admit that many women were executed as witches, but deny that the Church was attempting to hold on to its authority. Somehow Garlow and Jones offer this quote from Jenny Gibbons in refutation: "When the Church was at the height of its power (11th to 14th centuries) very few witches died. Persecutions did not reach epidemic levels until after the Reformation, when the Catholic church had lost its position as Europe's indisputable moral authority." Anyone even half paying attention should question how this passage could possibly disprove the idea that an insecure church was retaliating against what it saw as the greatest threat to its authority. In fact, that passage goes a long way the proving exactly what Garlow and Jones want to disprove. Moreover, this faulty logic seems to permeate every page, to the point that by the time I was halfway through, I realized I was reading just to see if a valid argument would be made at all. Sadly, I was disappointed.

In fairness, I'll admit that I thoroughly enjoyed The Da Vinci Code, though I take very little of it as a serious piece of literature - after all, it is fiction. However, as my library will attest, I own many other criticisms of Dan Brown's work and I can say with all honesty that there are far better books available for anyone that would like to explore the history and art of The Da Vinci Code. As an example of how strongly I feel about this, one should note that I have at this point been a paid member of library thing for more than 2 years, and this is so far the only work I have felt the need to review.

As an aside, I would like to point out that a highly positive review was written on Nov 13 2006 by an individual who admitted that she had never actually read The Da Vinci Code itself - and that is exactly the kind of person that Garlow and Jones are hoping will read Cracking Da Vinci's Code. show less

P&R continues to release great booklets to equip the Church. In the latest release renowned cultural critic Peter Jones has been enlisted to help explain the evolving worldview of a postChristian, postsecular Western world. Jones sets out to display “the heart of our culture through a prism of isms”, specifically: postmodernism, Gnosticism, and polytheism. Jones shows how these three “isms” are “strangely connected” and “help to explain the nature of today’s pagan worldview show more and its opposition to the truth of the Gospel.”

Jones begins by giving brief and clear definitions of “modern” and “postmodern” and why he, and others, see our society as moving or even being beyond postmodernism and having moved into a “postsecular” age where metanarratives and absolute truths will once again begin to become prominent. Jones sees growing discontent with the skeptical empiricism that voices itself in atheistic terminology and argues that atheism will soon be replaced with pantheism. When the intolerant atheistic argument is replaced by the tolerance of pantheism, “this postsecular mystical search for meaning in the nonrational is to be observed in the return to the modern world of the ancient religious system known as Gnosticism.” Jones gives a detailed (for a booklet) look at Gnosticism and leads into a basic discussion of Oneism and Twoism, the topics for which he is well known. He gives a taste of his arguments in this booklet but the reader is definitely left wanting more. Jones cites frequently from a wide range of sources so the endnotes section turns into a pretty extensive “To Be Read” list for anyone who finds this work compelling, which should be anyone who reads it!

The new spirituality of our Western world is actually an old spirituality being repackaged and reintroduced. Gnostic polytheism that seeks to destroy the Creator-creature divide by arguing that all is one is not the least bit new. It does allow for the ignoring of a being that is Other (and thus anything he might say or require) and encourages a bowing of the knee to the Lord Tolerance—both of which any surface observation of our current culture would recognize as current and growing.

The postmodern destruction of secular rationalism has become the breeding ground of a renewed Gnosticism (seen in everything from academic philosophy to Jungian psychology to nominal Christianity) and the promulgation of Oneism, the worship of the creature. Jones makes a compelling case as to why he sees this becoming the prevailing view and why the Christian needs to be prepared to address “the pagan heart of today’s culture.” This is an alarm that needs to be sounded and Jones does it in a manner urgency and confidence befitting a worshiper of a sovereign God. This is 50 pages worth reading and following up with some more of Jones’ work. This is another great booklet from a great series.

*I received a review copy of this book from the publisher through Netgalley. show less

I had two very dear people to me ask if the information in The DaVinci Code was true. After reading this book, I never intend to read the original. I think it would gag me. This whole "sacred feminine" thing makes me ill. I hate that people are getting caught up in paganism just as many in the world are being delivered from it! Anyway, this book offers plain fact and solid logic to refute the generalization and misleading "facts" of the other. For anyone who wants to know truth, this should show more help. show less

The first half of this book explains Gnosticism and its resurgence; the second half focuses on Gnosticism's connection to New Age religion and to alternative sexualities. I found the book disappointing: its explanation of Gnosticism is helpful but not very extensive or insightful; and it does an inadequate job of explaining the connection between Gnosticism and non-Christian sexuality paradigms. Inadequate to provide me with understanding, anyway. It's also extremely short, at just over 100 show more pages (not counting footnotes), and not very scholarly (though well-documented).

And to boot, it has a silly title. Star Wars references are not the way to impress this particular reader.

Not recommended, unless you want to go ahead with author Jones' related book, Spirit Wars. I didn't know until I finished this book that the two are part of a trilogy and, with Spirit Wars being much longer, The Gnostic Empire Strikes Back should probably be seen as the introductory volume. (I do not know whether Jones has ever written the third book.) show less