Dan Brown suggests Christ never died 5/20/2004 8:52:53 AM
In a report published today, the author of "The Da Vinci Code" said he did not include that information in his #1 bestseller [as he did that Mary Magdalene was probably Christ's wife] because - though he considered his sources to be reliable - he felt the evidence they produced was far from being ironclad. From my standpoint [as an author who explored what caused the physical transformation of Christ scientifically], I noted he has also failed to:
1 - Explain why Mary Magdalene mistook Jesus for a gardener following the resurrection of his body, why a number of apostles did not at first recognize him [one while he was walking beside him. another who was reportedly naked and so embarrassed when he did that he jumped off a boat] and how it was that hundreds of others saw him before The Ascension took place.
2 - Why he encouraged 'Doubting Thomas' to touch his wounds so that he could verify his body - though indeed changed - was still yet physical and not spiritual.
3 - That he made it a point to eat actual food to show the same to the apostles, in this instance broiled fish.
There are other avenues Mr. Brown also fails to explore, preferring instead to regard what happened 2,000 or so years ago via a series of mysterious codes, instead.
As for myself, let me put to rest once and for all that I was not inspired by The Holy Spirit nor by some surrealistic forces [as I have been asked since THE FINAL PHASE was composed] following my release from a nursing home in 1992 where I had been sent to die. [But, yes, I do have my DNR request still framed.] Fact is, I had already written the book but threw the whole thing out one day back in 1976 because I did not have an evidencial answer as to what genetic properties may have been at work when Christ underwent this extraordinary transformation of his. I did keep most of my notes, however. Subsequently, inspired by new information with respect to the DNA of our species, I returned to my research for yet another year before I ever wrote the first word of THE FINAL PHASE.
Finally, to again address another issue, I do not claim I have THE answer as to what caused the physical transformation of Christ only AN answer. Although I do know one thing for sure.
