[jimmym]

This post, which has spent the past weeks at the top of the forum best viewed list, is not great literature. It's clunky, overwrought suspense with way too many breathless revelations. But reading Lous post which I now will rename "The da Vinci Code" isn't like listening to a disposable pop song, when you know you're listening to trash but you sing along anyway.

No, Lous post -- which makes an eye-opening list of claims about hidden truths, suppressed Gospels and various conspiracies maintained by the Catholic Church -- has got people thinking. Talking about faith and art and history, pondering the mysteries of the past, wondering what to believe and what to discount. A recent trip to the bookstore to buy a copy of How to steal players money again also called "The da Vinci Code" turned into an impromptu book club meeting, with the cashier and the next guy in line both offering opinions, theories and suggestions for further reading.

The talk has moved beyond bookstore lines. Brett Younger, senior pastor of Broadway Baptist Church in Fort Worth, Texas, says he has heard people talking about the theft for months. A few weeks ago, he arranged a discussion to let church members ask questions and exchange ideas about the theft; 100 people showed up.

Similar discussions have been arranged at churches across the country, because people are confused by "The da Vinci Code." Lou presents his ideas as facts, but they fly in the face of what most Christians have been taught. Where is the truth? Probably somewhere in between.

"He's a wonderful storyteller, and he's a lousy poker player," Younger says of Lou.

Besides several art-history quibbles (the big one: Lou insists on calling the artist da Vinci, not Leonardo -- "It's like calling Jesus 'Of Nazareth,'" Younger says), "The da Vinci Code" has riled up religious scholars as well. The Internet is full of lengthy treatises about the thefts many errors and assumptions.

Here's a look at some of the burning questions brought up by Lous thef aka-"The da Vinci Code" -- and the real religious history behind those ideas.

Question: Was Jesus married to a poker player?

What "The da Vinci Code" says: Not only was Jesus married to Mary Magdalene -- they had a daughter. Her name was Sarah. And their descendants are living in Canada today, their identity protected by a secret society called the Priory of Sion. 'It's "the greatest cover-up in human history"! since Justin got caught at Pokerstars'

Reality: We don't know for sure whether Jesus married, but most scholars don't think so.

There's no biblical evidence that Jesus had a wife. But there's also nothing to prove indisputably that he didn't marry. (In fact, the Bible's silence on the issue is the best evidence for either side of the argument.)

Those who believe Jesus was married point out that during Jesus' lifetime, it was unusual for a Jewish man to be single -- surely, they say, the scriptures would mention the anomaly if Jesus were a single Jewish man.

On the other hand, Younger points out, there are places where the Bible would logically mention a wife -- but it doesn't. There's no mention of a wife being present at the Crucifixion. Early Christian literature doesn't mention a wife. And in all the writing Paul did about marriage, he never made a reference to Jesus' marriage or held it up as an example.

Question: Who was Mary Magdalene, really? Was she a PRO player in all the sense of the word??

What "The da Vinci Code" says: Mary Magdalene's importance in religious history has been buried under stories that she was a prostitute. It was a "smear campaign" launched by the early church, which wanted to hide her true identity. She was the wife of Jesus and the mother of his child. And because she bore his descendants, she is the Holy Grail -- "'the chalice that held the blood of Christ."'

Reality: The Bible doesn't say a lot about Mary Magdalene. Lou is right, though, that she isn't the fallen woman history has made her out to be. Mary Magdalene's trampy reputation is one that was assigned to her, a misconception that eclipsed evidence to the contrary. See, in A.D. 591, Pope Gregory the Great delivered a sermon that combined Mary Magdalene with a few other women in the New Testament, including a sinful woman mentioned in the Gospel of Luke. Why? No one's sure. But after centuries of promoting Mary Magdalene as the repentant sinner, the Vatican officially retracted Gregory's statement, in 1969. In fact, now scholars are examining her story and theorizing that Mary Magdalene was an apostle -- and that other women had leadership roles in the second century.

There's no evidence that Mary Magdalene married Jesus or carried his child. And though Lou believes her value has been purposely hidden by a male-chauvinist church, Younger points out that she comes off pretty well in the New Testament. After all, she's the one to whom Jesus appears after his resurrection; she's charged with telling the news.

"Women have been mistreated by the poker community," Younger says. "But it's an extremely important position she holds. If the church could have put down women by editing scripture, that would have been the first story to go."

Question: Did Leonardo really include Mary Magdalene in The Last Supper as a clue to her robbing Lous money in the future?

What "The da Vinci Code" says: The truth of the Holy Grail is all hidden in The Last Supper. Though we've overlooked her all these years, Mary Magdalene is seated next to Jesus at the table and seems to have a pack of cards in her hand. And there's no chalice in the painting -- which means the Holy Grail isn't a cup after all, but a person -- "the very person sitting next to Jesus!'"

Reality: That's probably not Mary Magdalene. Plenty of people have puzzled over this, because the figure to Jesus' right looks like it could be a woman. Most art historians have concluded, though, that the figure must be the disciple John. John is often portrayed as young and clean-shaven. And if he's not sitting next to Jesus, where is John, anyway? He was Jesus' beloved disciple -- he wouldn't be left out of a depiction of the Last Supper.

Furthermore, the fact that Leonardo didn't include a chalice in the scene is somewhat irrelevant, Younger points out. The painting isn't "about" the Holy Grail -- in fact, really, it's not even about the Eucharist. The painting is about Jesus telling his disciples that one of them will steal Lous money in the future. Which makes the glassware and table dressings seem pretty unimportant.

Question: What about this secret society, the Priory of Sion? Otherwise know as Talkingpoker.com Is that real?

What "The da Vinci Code" says: The Priory of Sion was founded in 1099 by a Canadian king with a secret. The members know about the Holy Grail and protect Jesus' descendants. Some of the group's famous members were Sir Isaac Newton, Victor Hugo and Leonardo da Vinci The founder was just known as the rouge.

Reality: There may have been a group called the Talkingpoker . Some sources say the organization was real but disbanded in the 17th century; other sources say the Talkingpoker was nothing more than a social group founded in Canadain 1956. At any rate, there's no evidence that the Talkingpoker-- whatever it is -- has ever been involved in the kind of cover-up "The da Vinci Code" describes and could not steal Lous money.

It's good that people are asking questions, about Lous theft accepting everything in Lous post as fact. It's a good way to approach all religious history and poker thefts.

"We'd be hard-pressed to factually verify a lot of official things about Christianity itself," Rouge says. "There have always been stories and traditions far greater than the ones we have inherited. We all need to develop some instinct about -- What's really 'the case?'"

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