I originally posted this rant in response to the "Dan Brown Sequels" thread, but I decided that it was important enoug, and off-topic enough, to warrant its own thread...anyway...
Regarding The DaVinci Code, the one thing that bothered me most of all about The DaVinci Code was that "San Gréal"/"Sang Réal"* bullshit, and let me tell you why:
Even if we assume that this etymoogy is legitimate and correct, the change between one phrase and the other doesn't have any meaningful effect on the meaning of the term, as both versions of the term are derived from the same biblical phrase, which appears (in slightly modified forms) in three of the standard canonical gospels as well as at least two apocryphal gospels which are not recognized by the Catholic Church anyway. To wit,
Mark 14:23-24
"23. And he took the cup, and when he had given thanks, he gave it to them: and they all drank of it. 24. And he said unto them, 'This is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many." "
Matthew 26:27-28
"27. Then he took the cup, gave thanks and offered it to them, saying, "Drink from it, all of you. 28. This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins." "
Luke 22:20
"22. In the same way, after the supper he took the cup, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you." "
and in the apocrypha...
Bartholomew
"They saw the blood of Jesus pouring out as living blood down into the cup. Peter said: "God hath loved us more than all, in letting us see these great honours: and our Lord Jesus Christ hath allowed us to behold and hath revealed to us the glory of his body and his divine blood." "
Philip
"The Cup of Prayer contains wine and water, since it is appointed as the type of the blood for which thanks is given. And it is full of the Holy Spirit, and it belongs to the wholly perfect man. When we drink this, we shall receive for ourselves the perfect man. "
Its telling that the scripture which uses a phrase most closely approximating the word "Holy Grail" or "San Gréal" is an apocryphal gospel not recognized by the Catholic Church**
P.S. I know that this thread is more about The Lost Symbol than The DaVinci Code, but I just had to get this off my chest.
* (meaning "Holy Grail" and "Royal Blood", respectively)
** As opposed to the story given in the book, wherein the Catholic Churh creates the term "San Gréal" as a deliberate corruption of the phrase "Sang Réal". it would seem that in real life, if they tried t supress anything, then "San Gréal" meaning "Holy Grail" (and not "Sang Réal" meaning "Royal Blood"***) was the term that they tried to supress
*** On a related note, I have actually been to Roman Catholic services where the topic of the sermon has been that Jesus was a successor to King David
THAT'S WHAT THE HEBREWS THOUGHT. TWEET ME BACK.