truthXchange Blog
Greetings from the Idiot Saint and welcome to the new truthXchange blog. I am one of a few regular writers who will be posting to this site.
Before I go any further under this name, please let me explain: Taking verbal abuse from Dr. Jones is not part of my job description. When truthXchange first posted the position I was later hired for, Dr. Jones exclaimed, “Whoever takes this job is either an idiot or a saint!” I laughed when I heard what he’d said, and then very quickly turned it into my unofficial job title, a silly joke for my new, delightful, incredibly educated colleagues.
And so, as the Idiot Saint, let me explain a little about who I hope to be to you:
When I first learned of Dr. Jones’ work it was because, on a business trip to
Perhaps, like me, you are a Christian who has begun to feel the disconnect between what you believe and read in the Bible and what you see broadcast at you from all sides about what “spirituality” really should be. Or perhaps, as a pastor or a scholar, you need an insight into the confusion and struggles of those in your churches who are living in a culture inundated by the New Age, “alternative” spiritualities, and the insistence that all faiths are equal and all lead to the same God.
Well, here I am – or perhaps given my chosen moniker I should amend that to say, “Here I IS.” As I work here at truthXchange I have had the opportunity and blessing to be thrust into an environment where I can’t help but learn from the men and women around me as they seek to turn spirituality inside out. As I learn I will be posting here to all of you. It is my hope and prayer as I write that each of you will find it helpful to have insights into the mind of the resident Idiot Saint.
-- IS
Posted by Mary Eady on Tuesday, Sep 9, 2008
[6 Comments]
Charles Church on Saturday, Oct 11, 2008 1:38am
Hi Cynthia,
Say.... I'm certain that Mrs. Eady was not saying that she came to any "awakened" state from reading the "Davinci Code", but by reading Dr. Jone's book against it, after having her faith assaulted by the Davinci Code, and hence her awakening, and thus her introduction to Mr. Jones.
Charles Church on Saturday, Oct 11, 2008 8:05am
Hi Cynthia,
Say.... I'm certain that Mrs. Eady was not saying that she came to any "awakened" state from reading the "Davinci Code", but by reading Dr. Jone's book against it, after having her faith assaulted by the Davinci Code, and hence her awakening, and thus her introduction to Mr. Jones.
Mary Eady on Saturday, Oct 11, 2008 11:26am
Hi Cynthia -- Charles nailed it and I'm sorry I wasn't clearer. But thank you so much for asking your question because it allows me to clarify.
I believe that the negative things you have heard about the DaVinci code (and likely "Angels and Demons" as well, another of Brown's books that follows similar lines) are likely true. Dan Brown attacks the truth of the gospel and attempts to re-write history in the minds of his readers. This is the heart of where my "awakening" lay: I realized that there is a very un-Christian counter-gospel being pushed on us from all sides and that it has its roots in Gnosticism. I would not have been able to identify it so distinctly then. But I was definitely aware that what I was reading – blatantly labeled as the "real" truth by Brown – was distinctly not biblical, nor was the Jesus who was being portrayed the Jesus I love and worship as God incarnate.
What rang so fearfully for me as I read the book was that I had heard similar things in bits in pieces floating around for some time: in talking with friends, in flipping around on the television, in paying any attention to popular culture much at all. I just had never encountered the Gnostic story in such a coherent, whole form before. It was the first time I truly began to realize that "the context in which we, as Christians, practice our faith" was this: our culture is no longer very Christian at all. We worship, live and believe in a society that has very much begun to believe in a lie. To encounter it so blatantly juxtaposed against the Truth as it was in Dan Brown's book, therefore, was a very rude awakening!
In entirely understand your decision not to read The Da Vinci Code. But I will say that I am glad I did. It helped me understand that Gnosticism is a system of belief about which I need very much to be concerned as it is affecting the culture around me and how they view Christianity. That insight helped me understand better some of the questions I needed to ask and have answers for both for myself and anyone who might ask me for an answer. In the end, God used that experience to help me begin to better educate myself. How faithful He is.
I might suggest, even if you do not read the Brown book, that you get 'hold of a copy of "Cracking the DaVinci" code. I felt when I read it that it would still be helpful. Dr. Jones and Mr. Garlow are very fair in portraying what Brown has to say before addressing it and it's very informative and relevant to the questions and issues we, as Christians, encounter on a fairly daily basis now.
Tony Sottile on Tuesday, Oct 14, 2008 2:40pm
I find that paganism, humanism, human sentimentality, and self-righteousness etc. will always be in conflict with God and true Christianity for they do that which is pre-ordained for them to do; hate God and what He stands for. However, when Christian Churches or so called Christian Churches teach a doctrine and theology contrary to the word of God such as dispensationlism, grace without law, kingdom without God and his Word and/or no kingdom of God on earth as it is in heaven then it is not the heathens or pagans that are bringing forth a spirituality devoid of the God of the Bible but the church itself. Such is the condition of the day a weak church and a strong paganism. The Church or so called Church needs to repent and go back to the God of the Bible for truth without compromise or embarsement of the truth that lies therein. Thus the Bible is the manual for all life even for governments and human institutions for it contains all sufficiency and powers to subdue all things whether on earth or in heaven. When churches and peoples realize that and live not as if they had two masters then only then can we see changes in this culture. Luke:23-24
Tony Sottile on Tuesday, Oct 14, 2008 2:41pm
CORRECTION ON PREVIOUS COMMENT SCRIPTURE IS LUKE 9:23-24
Cynthia Loftis on Friday, Oct 10, 2008 11:02am
you said...
" Indeed, it was “amazing” to read and, slightly shaken but certain that there had to be some answers for me somewhere, I went looking for insight. It was then that my father recommended that I read “Cracking DaVinci’s Code” by Dr. Jones and James Garlow. With relief, joy and new insight I plowed through the book cover-to-cover and at the end came away with the beginnings of an important awakening about the context in which we, as Christians, practice our faith."
I've heard only negative things about the DaVinci books, in the Christian circles. I have not read these books and don't plan to.
What is the 'awakening' you came away with after reading the books?