Cardinal Francis George, Archbishop of Chicago
"The definitive debunking."

Marvin Olasky, editor of World Magazine
"A clearly-written antidote."

Philip Jenkins, Distinguished Professor of History and Religious Studies, Pennsylvania State University
"Unlike the original Code, The Da Vinci Hoax is a delight to read."

Book Description
The Da Vinci Code, Dan Brown’s best selling novel, purports to be more than fiction: it claims to be based on fact and scholarly research. Brown wants his readers to believe that he is revealing the long-concealed truth about Jesus, Mary Magdalene, and early Christianity, a truth that he says has been suppressed by the malevolent and conspiratorial forces of the Catholic Church. The novel alleges that there has been throughout history a secret group of true followers of a Gnostic Jesus and his wife, Mary Magdalene, the true "Holy Grail". Almost everything most Christians and non-Christians think they know about Jesus, according to Dan Brown, is completely wrong, the result of Catholic propaganda designed to hide the truth from the world. But are The Da Vinci Code’s claims fact or just plain fiction? Is the novel well-researched as claimed? What is the truth about Jesus, Mary Magdalene, and the early Church? Has the Catholic Church distorted the real Jesus? Why is the novel so popular? What about the anti-Catholic, anti-Christian agenda behind the novel? Best selling author Carl Olson and journalist Sandra Miesel answer these and other important questions. Their painstaking research into The Da Vinci Code and its sources reveals some surprising truths. No one who has read or heard about The Da Vinci Code should miss this provocative and illuminating new book.

About the Author
Carl E. Olson is the editor of Envoy magazine. Raised in a Fundamentalist home, he attended an Evangelical Bible college. Carl entered the Catholic Church in 1997 and holds an MTS from the University of Dallas. A well-respected author, he has written for First Things, This Rock, Envoy, Crisis, National Review Online, Our Sunday Visitor, and National Catholic Register. His bestselling book, Will Catholic Be "Left Behind"? (Ignatius, 2003) was selected by the Associated Press as one of the best religious titles of 2003. Carl lives with his wife and daughter in Eugene, Oregon. Sandra Miesel holds masters’ degrees in biochemistry and medieval history from the University of Illinois. Since 1983, she has written hundreds of articles for the Catholic press, chiefly on history, art, and hagiography. She regularly appears in Crisis magazine and is a columnist for the diocesan paper of Norwich, Connecticut. Sandra has spoken at religious and academic conferences, appeared on EWTN, and given numerous radio interviews. Outside the Catholic sphere, she has also written, analyzed, and edited fiction. Sandra and her husband John have raised three children.

Excerpted from The Da Vinci Hoax: The Truth About Jesus, Christianity, Mary Magdalene, and the Da Vinci Code by Carl E. Olson, Sandra Miesel. Copyright © 2004. Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
FOREWORD The title of this book by Carl Olson and Sandra Miesel says it all. The novel, The Da Vinci Code, is engaging and intriguing. It is a thriller presented as an historical novel. It is fiction, yet it seeks to convince the reader that it is based on fact. It pushes an attack on the Catholic Church and claims to do so in the name of historical authenticity and sound scholarship. The claim is preposterous, but persuasive for many. The authors of The Da Vinci Hoax deserve our gratitude for exposing in considerable detail and with sure touch the fabrications of Dan Brown’s book. Theirs is the definitive debunking. In the end, the fallacy of Brown’s book is a common one. It approaches the Christian faith as though its contents were to be found in words and documents rather than in the witness and collective memory of the community Christ himself left behind, His Church. There have been such writings before and, no doubt, will be again. Why single out this novel? I read it because so many people who read it kept asking me questions about it. It has had a remarkably large and credulous readership, reminding me of the dictum that those who have lost or don’t know the faith are likely to believe anything. It matters what we read, what films and television we watch. If we feed our minds on error, we risk losing touch with the truth about who we are and how we ought to live. We find salvation through self-surrender in faith to Christ, not from personal ideas or inspirations. Once the anchor of the Church’s authentic witness and teaching is abandoned, gnostic or other false theories inevitably appear. Antagonism to the Church and her teaching ultimately entails some kind of rejection of Jesus Christ as he has revealed himself in history. His truth is always a challenge to every egocentric vision of reality and to an unbounded will for human autonomy. Besides, does anyone really think that all those martyrs went to their deaths to protect the secret that Jesus and Mary Magdalene were married? —Francis Cardinal George, O.M.I. Archbishop of Chicago

FROM THE PUBLISHER

The Da Vinci Code, Dan Brown's best selling novel, purports to be more than fiction: it claims to be based on fact and scholarly research. Brown wants his readers to believe that he is revealing the long-concealed truth about Jesus, Mary Magdalene, and early Christianity, a truth that he says has been suppressed by the malevolent and conspiratorial forces of the Catholic Church. The novel alleges that there has been throughout history a secret group of true followers of a Gnostic Jesus and his wife, Mary Magdalene, the true "Holy Grail". Almost everything most Christians and non-Christians think they know about Jesus, according to Dan Brown, is completely wrong, the result of Catholic propaganda designed to hide the truth from the world.

But are The Da Vinci Code's claims fact or just plain fiction? Is the novel well-researched as claimed? What is the truth about Jesus, Mary Magdalene, and the early Church? Has the Catholic Church distorted the real Jesus? Why is the novel so popular? What about the anti-Catholic, anti-Christian agenda behind the novel?

Best selling author Carl Olson and journalist Sandra Miesel answer these and other important questions. Their painstaking research into The Da Vinci Code and its sources reveals some surprising truths. No one who has read or heard about The Da Vinci Code should miss this provocative and illuminating new book.

WHAT PEOPLE ARE SAYING

Philip Jenkins

Finally! Someone has taken the trouble to counter the absurdities of The Da Vinci Code, and to confront all the anti-Christian and anti-Catholic rhetoric that book has inspired. In writing their own well-informed and well-argued text, Olson and Miesel have done a real service, not just to Christians, but to anyone weary of contemporary fads and foolishness. And unlike the original Code, The Da Vinci Hoax is a delight to read. — Distinguished Professor of History and Religious Studies, Pennsylvania State University

Darrell L. Bock

As one who has written mainly on the first 325 years of Christianity and the Da Vinci Code, it is a pleasure to recommend a book that covers additional questions so well. The Da Vinci Hoax is loaded with detail and corroborates many observations I also made. It is a responsible response to the misguided claims of the novel. — Author, Breaking the Da Vinci Code

Michael O’Brien

In The Da Vinci Hoax, Carl Olson and Sandra Miesel bring their considerable analytical powers to bear on the phenomenally successful novel by Dan Brown. The Da Vinci Code is a writhing nest of neo-Gnostic myths, blatant falsehoods, half-truths and absurd suppositions presented as facts--indeed, it is one of the most odious cases of revisionist history that have appeared during the past two centuries.

Olson and Miesel dissect it carefully--break the code of the Code, as it were--revealing not only Brown￯﾿ﾽs distortions of history but the underlying malice in his ￯﾿ﾽfictional￯﾿ﾽ attack on Christianity. The Da Vinci Hoax is more than a refutation of a single book; it is an antidote to a poisonous genre that is growing in contemporary writing. This is a fascinating read and very good medicine! — Author, Father Elijah: An Apocalypse

Cardinal Francis George