Truth And Fiction In The Da Vinci Code

"How much truth is there in The Da Vinci Code? In some ways the question is raised by The Da Vinci Code itself, as it begins (on p. i, before the Prologue) with a list of items that it labels 'FACT,' including ... the claim: 'All descriptions of artwork, architecture, documents, and secret rituals in this novel are accurate.'

But are they? I will not be dealing with art, architecture, or rituals. But I will be dealing with 'documents.' And as we will see, even when Dan Brown strives to present facts (and indicates that he is providing facts accurately), he has played with the 'facts,' so that many of them are, in actual fact, part of his fiction, ft is the goal of my discussion to separate the fact from the fiction, the historical realities from the flights of fantasy, for anyone interested in knowing about the historical beginnings of Christianity, especially in the life of Jesus and the writings that make up the New Testament."'

-FROM THE INTRODUCTION