[bethelgrad]

I think you are missing the point. There are plenty of authors in the religion section saying the exact same thing Brown said, but without the storyline.

[MineralMan]

You're right. The book was written around a number of non-fiction writings that said much the same thing. Same thing if you write a novel set during the Revolutionary War. You put some historical stuff in there for verisimilitude.

Here's the thing: The Gnostic Gospels, one of the sources for these oddball theories about Jesus, are contemporaneous with the writings that became the Christian Canon. The Gospel of Mary is especially interesting, in my opinion.

So, one set of old writings becomes "true" while the other is "false"

Oh, well. So it goes.