Decoding the Da Vinci Code
John M. Quay
Slides #1-2
Many have made a trade of delusions
and false miracles, deceiving the stupid
multitude.
Blinding ignorance does mislead us.
O! Wretched mortals, open your eyes!
These two quotes
from
Leonardo da Vinci refer to the great deception that the church has
perpetrated
upon the world over the last two thousand years, according to The
Da Vinci
Code.
Sophie, the female
character
in Dan Brown's bestselling novel, The Da Vinci Code, is being "educated" on the "truths" of
Christianity
by the book's expert historian, Leigh Teabing. After
reading these quotes by Leonardo Da Vinci, Sophie remarks, "Da Vinci is
talking about the Bible?"
Slide #3
Teabing nods and
says:
The
Bible did not arrive by fax from heaven. . . . The Bible is a product
of man, my dear.
Not of God. The Bible did
not magically fall from the clouds.
Man created it as a historical record of tumultuous times, and
it has
evolved through countless translations, additions, and revisions. History has never had a definitive
version of the book. (pg. 231)
Slide #4
Teabing continues:
Jesus
Christ was a historical figure of staggering influence, perhaps the
most
enigmatic and inspirational leader the world has ever seen. As the prophesied Messiah, Jesus
toppled kings, inspired millions, and founded new philosophies. As a descendent of the lines of King
Solomon and King David, Jesus possessed a rightful claim to the throne
of the
King of the Jews. Understandably,
His life was recorded by thousands of followers across the land. . . .
More
than eighty gospels were
considered for the New Testament, and yet only a relative few were
chosen for
inclusion--Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John among them. (pg. 231)
Sophie then asks,
"Who chose
which gospels to include?"
Slide #5
Teabing
enthusiastically
replies:
Aha!
. . . The fundamental irony of Christianity! The
Bible, as we know it today, was collated by the pagan
Roman emperor Constantine the Great."(pg. 231)
Constantine
. . . held a famous ecumenical gathering known as the Council of
Nicaea. . .
. At this gathering . . . many
aspects of Christianity were debated and voted upon [including] . . .
the divinity of Jesus . .
. until that moment in
history, Jesus was viewed by His followers
as a mortal prophet . . . a great and powerful man, but a man nonetheless. . . . Jesus' establishment as
'the Son
of God' was officially proposed and voted on by the Council of Nicaea.
. . . A
relatively close vote at that. (pg.
233)
Why would the
church want to "change history" and portray Jesus as divine? Brown's character, Teabing goes on to tell us.
Slide #6
It
was all about power . . . Many scholars claim that the early church
literally stole Jesus
from his original followers, hijacking His
human message, shrouding it in an impenetrable cloak of divinity, and
using it
to expand their own power. (pg. 233)
According to
Teabing, the
vast majority of educated Christians know this! Teabing
says in fact, "almost everything our fathers taught
us about Christ is false."
(pp. 234-35) By
"fathers," he means church leaders throughout the
centuries since Christ's time on earth.
Then to rewrite
history, he
says, the church gathered and burned all the true records of Christ. But fortunately, he adds, some of the
gospels Constantine attempted to eradicate managed to survive and were
discovered in the 1940's and 50's.
He says:
Slide #7
The
scrolls highlight glaring historical discrepancies and fabrications,
clearly
confirming that the modern Bible was compiled and edited by men who
possessed a
political agenda--to promote the divinity of the man Jesus Christ and
use His
influence to solidify their own power base. (pg. 234)
Slide #8
The quotes by Da
Vinci, "Many
have made a trade of delusions. . . Blinding ignorance does mislead
us", are very
applicable--but not to those who have taught
or embraced traditional Christianity.
They do apply, sadly, to The Da Vinci Code and to those who are misled by Brown's
allegations. Through the
characters in his book, Brown alleges that the gospel as it is recorded
in our
Bibles and proclaimed by the church is a false gospel.
He accuses the church of maliciously
suppressing the truth and "re-writing" the history books.
What we find is that these are the very
things that Brown has done!
Slide #9
The plot of this
book
revolves around a secret society called the Priory of Sion that is
safeguarding
documents that would prove that Jesus was married, fathered a child to
Mary of
Magdala (Mary Magdalene), and is strictly human. The
book alleges that Mary Magdalene (or particularly her
womb) is the true Holy Grail.
Another group, Opus Dei (an ultra-conservative Catholic
organization) is
trying to find and destroy these documents. The
book is a historical novel, murder mystery, romance
novel combination that is fast-paced, well-written, and intriguing. Yet it is also more than this, because
the storyline serves as a vehicle for Brown to refute traditional
Christianity
and promote his own "gospel" (the gospel of the "sacred feminine") and
his own version
of history.
We're going to look
at five
main areas and examine Brown's claims to see if they can be
substantiated.
Slide #10
Traditional
Christianity
teaches that:
†
Jesus was
both human and divine,
and that this was held to be true from his original
followers until the present.
†
The four
gospels are the genuine and
accurate records of Christ's life and teachings.
†
The church
is the guardian of the truth concerning Jesus.
† Mary Magdalene was a follower of Jesus (one of several women). She was not an apostle, nor was she the
wife and mother of his child.
†
Women have been lifted up by the church, and oppressed under
polytheism.
Slide #11
The Da Vinci Code's
version
of history and its gospel teaches that:
†
Jesus was a great man, but was only human.
He was in no way divine.
†
Dead Sea scrolls, Nag Hammadi codices, &
the "secret" writings guarded by the Priory of Sion are the genuine and
accurate
records of Christ's life and teachings.
†
The Priory of Sion is the real guardian of the truth concerning
Jesus.
†
Mary Magdalene was Jesus' wife and the mother of his child.
†
Women have
been oppressed by the
church, but
previously thrived under polytheism
Slide #12
As we begin
examining the
claims of The Da Vinci Code
against the claims of Christianity, let's begin with the person of
Jesus
Christ. Who is Jesus?
Who did he claim to be? Who did the
apostles and the early
church believe he was?
According to the Da
Vinci
Code, "Jesus' establishment as 'the Son of God' was officially proposed
and
voted on by the Council of Nicaea. . . . A relatively close vote at
that" (pg.
233). Brown's character says that
Jesus was held to be human until Constantine, and due to a political
agenda (to
gain power) he and the Vatican created a story of Jesus' divinity (pp.
233-34). Is this true? What evidence is
there for this and against this?
First, Brown is
correct in
that there was a council held at Nicaea in 325 A.D. that discussed the
deity of
Jesus Christ, and Emperor Constantine did initiate and facilitate
bringing many
Christian bishops throughout the Roman Empire together for this. But, the question is: was the notion of
Jesus' deity introduced and established there as the result of a
vote--a close
vote at that?
To answer this
question we
must examine what Jesus' followers wrote from the earliest records,
shortly
after the time of Jesus' earthly life, until 325 A.D. and see what they
believed. The earliest writings of
the church are the writings in the New Testament--in spite of Brown's
allegations. As we'll examine a bit
later, the four gospels and the letters of Paul were widely read and
embraced
and quoted by the early church.
Both conservative and liberal scholars acknowledge this. All of Paul's letters were written
before his death in 64-68 A.D. The
gospels of Mathew, Mark, and Luke, Acts, and the NT letters were also
written by
this general time (within about 30-35 years of Jesus' crucifixion).
What do these writings say?
Let's start with a quick survey of Paul's letters:
Slides #13-14
Romans 9:5
5 Theirs
are the patriarchs, and from them is traced the human ancestry of
Christ, who
is God over all, forever praised! Amen.
Colossians 1:15-20
15 He
[Christ] is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all
creation. 16
For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on
earth,
visible and invisible . . . all things were created by him and for him.
17
He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. . .
. God
was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, 20 and
through
him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or
things in
heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.
The author of Hebrews also depicts
Jesus as
much more than just mortal:
Slides #15-16
Hebrews 1:1-3; 8-9
In the past God spoke to our
forefathers
through the prophets at many times and in various ways, 2 but
in
these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir
of all
things, and through whom he made the universe. 3 The Son
is the
radiance of God's glory and the exact representation of his being,
sustaining
all things by his powerful word. After he had provided purification for
sins,
he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven.
8 But about the Son he
says,
"Your
throne, O God, will last for ever and ever,
and
righteousness will be the scepter of your kingdom.
9
You have loved righteousness and hated wickedness;
therefore
God, your God, has set you above your companions
by
anointing you with the oil of joy."
What
about the gospels? We read in the
gospel written by the apostle John:
Slide #17-19
John 1:1-18
1 In the
beginning was the
Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He
was with
God in the beginning.
3 Through
him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been
made. . .
.
14 The
Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his
glory, the
glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and
truth.
John 8:57-58
57 "You
are not yet fifty years old," the Jews said to him, "and you have seen
Abraham!"
58 "I
tell you the truth," Jesus answered, Òbefore Abraham was born, I
am!"
John 20:26-28
26 A
week later his disciples were in the house again, and Thomas was with
them.
Though the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said,
ÒPeace
be with you!" 27 Then he said to Thomas, ÒPut your
finger here; see
my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting
and
believe."
28 Thomas
said to him, ÒMy Lord and my God!"
Finally, let's look at the gospel of
Mark:
Slide #20
Mark 2:5-12
5 When
Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, ÒSon, your sins
are forgiven."
6 Now
some teachers of the law were sitting there, thinking to themselves, 7
ÒWhy
does this fellow talk like that? He's blaspheming! Who can forgive sins
but God
alone?"
8 Immediately
Jesus knew in his spirit that this was what they were thinking in their
hearts,
and he said to them, ÒWhy are you thinking these things? 9
Which is
easier: to say to the paralytic, 'Your sins are forgiven,' or to say,
'Get up,
take your mat and walk'? 10 But that you may know that the
Son of
Man has authority on earth to forgive sins...." He said to the
paralytic, 11
ÒI tell you, get up, take your mat and go home." 12 He
got up,
took his mat and walked out in full view of them all. This amazed
everyone and
they praised God, saying, ÒWe have never seen anything like
this!"
What we find is
that Paul and
others taught the deity of Christ almost immediately, as did the
Gospels. Writings that date to at least 50
AD or
before show that this was a firmly established belief and creed of the
early
church. After the time of the NT
writings, the early Church Fathers (Clement, Ignatius, Justin Martyr)
also
testify to this, as does the testimony of the many Christians who were
martyred
for their faith because they refused to renounce Jesus' Lordship and
divinity.
Let's look at what
some of the
early church leaders wrote concerning Jesus (well before the council of
Nicea):
Slides #21-22
•
Ignatius: ÒGod Himself being
manifested in human form
. . ." (A.D. 105). Epistle of Ignatius to the Ephesians, chapter
XIX.
•
Clement: ÒIt is fitting that you
should think of Jesus
Christ as God" (A.D. 150). The Second Epistle of Clement, chapter 1.
•
Justin Martyr: Òthe Father of the
universe has a Son;
who also, being the first-begotten Word of God, is even God" (A.D.
160). The First Apology of Justin
Martyr, chapter LXIII.
•
Irenaeus: ÒHe is God, for the name
Emmanuel indicates
this" (A.D. 180). Against Heresies, book III, chapter XXI
•
Tertullian: Ò. . . Christ our God"
(A.D. 200). The
Apology, Of Patience, chapter XIII
•
Origen: Òno one ought to be offended,
seeing God is
the Father, that the Saviour is also God . . ." (A.D. 225). Origen
de Principiis, book I, chapter II
•
Novatian: ÒChrist is not man only, but
God also" (A.D.
235). A
Treatise of Novatain Concerning the Trinity, chapter
XVI.
•
Cyprian: ÒThat Christ our God should
come, the
En-lightener and Saviour of the human race" (253 A.D.).
Treatise
XII, second book, testimonies.
•
Lactantius: ÒWe believe Him to be God"
(A.D. 304). The
Divine Institutes, book V, Of Justice, chapter III.
This is just a
sampling of
the many references to the deity of Christ throughout the years
preceding the
Council of Nicea. Now, what about
the Council at Nicea? What
happened there?
Slide #23
It was not uncommon
for the
early church to have councils (cf. Acts 15) to discuss and seek unity
on
important doctrinal matters. Prior
to Nicea, a man named Arius was spreading a false teaching that Jesus
was a
created being like other humans.
Arius was labeled a heretic and was put out of the church by
Alexander,
the Bishop of Alexandria. Arius
moved to Palestine and continued his teaching there.
This stirred up debate and controversy. Constantine,
who wanted a peace and
unity in the Roman Empire, called together over 300 bishops from all
over the
empire. Many bishops traveled
thousands of miles to attend--bearing wounds and scars resulting from
persecution for their faith. At
the council, Arius' teachings were soundly rejected and Christ's deity
was
overwhelmingly affirmed. They
adopted a creed that affirmed this to which only two bishops voted
against (not
exactly a close vote). Also, it
can be mentioned that not even Arius and his followers denied Jesus'
deity (in
the Greek polytheistic mind, gods created or gave birth to others gods). Arius and his followers simply taught
that Jesus was created and not eternal.
The portion the
Nicene Creed
that affirms what these church leaders overwhelmingly believed about
Jesus in
relation to his deity is as follows:
Slide #24
We believe in one
Lord, Jesus
Christ,
the only Son of God,
eternally begotten of the Father,
God from God, light from light,
true God from true God,
begotten, not made,
of one Being with the Father;
through him all things were made.
Slide #25
So, do the
historical records
support the allegations of the Da Vinci Code?
Not in the least! But this brings
us to the second area we need to examine:
The DVC's claim that the church re-wrote the history books and nearly
destroyed
all of the documents that would reveal the truth? What
about the Dead Sea Scrolls, Nag Hammadi Codices, and
the Òsecret" documents safeguarded by the Priory of Sion?
Slide #26
First, manuscripts
can be
dated by the type of material they were written on (papyrus or
parchment) and
the type of handwriting script used.
These indicators, as well as references and quotes from other
early
writings help scholars date materials.
For instance, if Ignatius writes about or quotes from portions
of the
four gospels or NT letters in 105 A.D., it's good support that these
documents
existed before then! Irenaeus
(before A.D. 181), Tertullian (around A.D. 206), and Origen (before
A.D. 254)
said there were four gospels, and Origen named them!
So, these gospels clearly existed and were accepted as
Scripture well before the Council of Nicaea. Through
these means, we are confident that the books of the
NT were all written in the first century.
They could not have been written in 325 A.D. or later because
all the
evidence says differently.
But what about the
charge
that the gospels and other NT writings were Òdoctored up" by
Constantine? When we examine all of the
biblical
manuscripts and fragments of manuscripts, we find that there are no
significant
variants (differences among them) in relation to the deity of Christ. The manuscripts that can be reliably
dated to well before the time of the Council of Nicaea and those copied
after
it are all in one accord concerning the deity of Christ.
Slide #27
Second, the Dead
Sea Scrolls,
discovered by the Dead Sea in 1947 are Jewish texts (not Christian) and
don't
make reference to Christ. They are
scrolls of the Old Testament copied before the birth of Christ and
other Jewish
writings of the Essenes.
Slide #28
The so-called
gospels and
other writings discovered in the desert of Upper Egypt, in the region
of Nag
Hammadi, in 1945 (a collection of thirteen ancient codices or books
containing over
fifty texts) are the writings of a group referred to as Gnostics. The evidence indicates that the
earliest of these documents were originally written around 80 years
after the NT
documents.
Slide #29
Essentially, the
Gnostics
believed that:
•
This world is unredeemably bad.
•
Salvation is escape from the world, by means
of
self-knowledge.
•
God is completely transcendent.
•
Between God & the world are numerous
intermediate
spirit beings, called aeons, one (or more) of whom made this world.
•
Somehow, some of the divine spark was trapped
in the
world in (some) humans.
•
The Redeemer came down to give knowledge by
which
humans may be saved.
From a PowerPoint
presentation
on ÒGnosticism" by Robert C. Newman as derived from Robert M.
Grant, Gnosticism
and Irenaeus, Against
Heresies
Gnosticism portrayed the God of the OT as an
evil
spirit. They taught that salvation
depended on the individual possessing a quasi-intuitive knowledge
(gnosis) of
the mysteries of the universe. The
Gnostic Ògospels" mentioned in the DVC are vastly different than
the four
gospels and NT writings, and were labeled as heretical by the early
church
fathers. Yet, even these writings didn't
deny the deity of Christ--just his humanity!
Slide #30
Last, what about
the Òsecret"
documents held by the Priory of Sion? The
so-called Les Dossiers Secrets deposited at the Bibliotheque nationale de
France, in
Paris are a series of forged documents, created by a man named Plantard
in the
1960s. Since no other Òsecret"
documents
have been brought forth or discovered, and since there is no evidence
they ever
existed, there is not much to say about them! It
should also be mentioned that there is no reasonable
evidence of a secret organization that dates back to the Middle Ages
with the
purpose of guarding such documents.
In the end, there
is no
evidence of an attempt by the church to re-write history and deify
Christ, nor
is there evidence of older, more accurate Christian documents that
refute the
teachings of our Bibles.
So, what about the
DVC's
claim that our Bible's are strictly manmade and are inaccurate and
unreliable? Could it be that none of the writings we have get the record
straight? We read in the DVC that:
Slide #31
The
Bible did not arrive by fax from heaven. . . . The Bible is a product
of man.
Not of
God. The Bible did not magically
fall from the clouds. Man created
it . . . (pg. 231).
Yes, the Bible did
not arrive
by fax or fall from the clouds.
Humans are part of the equation of how the Bible was produced. To say, however, that the Bible is the product
of man, not God is to say (or imply) that it is solely a human product--expressing the beliefs,
notions, and
opinions of human authors about God, the person of Jesus, morality, and
the
world around us. If this is the
case, then the Bible certainly has no claim to inerrancy.
If this is so, then the Bible is not a
suitable standard or guide for our belief and practice.
Yet, this
presupposition that
many bring to the Bible (that it is merely a human work) faces much
evidence to
the contrary. First, let's be
clear on what the Bible says concerning its origin.
Paul writes in a letter to Timothy:
Slide #32 --
2 Timothy 3:16-17
(NIV)
16
All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching,
rebuking,
correcting and training in righteousness, 17 so that the
man of God
may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.
In the context it
was
written, Paul is telling Timothy to endure persecution and continue
teaching
the gospel because what he learned--what he believes, lives by, and
teaches is
from Scripture. And this scripture,
which clearly refers to all of the OT (and apparently the gospels), is
God-breathed. That is, God "spoke"
these words via the Holy Spirit through human authors.
So, why is all scripture useful (or
profitable) for teaching . . .? Because
it is sourced in God, not man, and is thus true!
From Peter, we get
a fuller glimpse
at how this process works. Peter
wrote:
Slide #33 -- 2 Peter 1:20-21 (NIV)
20
Above all, you must understand that no prophecy of Scripture came
about
by the prophet's own interpretation. 21 For prophecy never
had its
origin in the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried
along by
the Holy Spirit.
Peter says no
prophecy of
Scripture (prophecy is not just foretelling, but is usually
"forthtelling") had
its origins in human will or interpretation, but rather was from God,
speaking
through men by the Holy Spirit.
These men were not robots.
Their personalities and writing styles influence what is
written, but
ultimately it is from God who worked through them to reveal himself and
his
will to us.
Slide #34
Some may say OK,
but other
writings like the Koran and the Book of Mormon claim to be from God,
why should
we accept the Bible's claims and not theirs? Why
should we accept the Bible's claim, period? Here
are a few reasons. The Bible is:
1.
Historically
accurate
2.
Internally
consistent
3.
Corresponds
to reality
4.
Prophecies
were fulfilled
5.
Influenced
the course of human history more than any
other book
6.
It
transforms lives
7.
These can
not be rightly be said of any other "religious" writings
Ultimately,
however, one's
acceptance or non-acceptance of the Bible as God's Word is a matter of
faith. For those who do trust and
follow the Bible as God's word, the inspiration, truthfulness, love,
and wisdom
of God are evident in it.
Returning to the
charges
against the inspiration, accuracy, and authority of the Bible, we need
to further
address the allegation that the Bible we have is a group of books
selected by
Constantine from a huge pool of books--many of which were much more
accurate
than the ones we now have and use.
Slide #35
We were told that:
. .
. man created [the Bible] and it has evolved through countless
translations,
additions, and revisions. History
has never had a definitive version of the book. More
than eighty gospels were considered for the New
Testament, and yet only a relative few were chosen for inclusion. (pg. 231)
Scripture has NOT evolved through countless translations, additions,
and
revisions. We have many
translations of the Bible today in English and other languages, but
they are
not a string of re-translations and revisions occurring over two
thousand
years. Rather, most of our Bibles
are translated directly from the same very old and reliable collection
of manuscripts--some
dating to within a few decades of when the Scripture was originally
written.
Second, we do have a definitive version of the book
(although the
Catholic Church considers some additional texts to be God's Word). To say that more than eighty gospels
were considered for the New Testament, and yet only a relative few were
chosen
for inclusion--Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John among them--is ridiculous!
In reality, there were
only a
handful of other writings that called themselves gospels (the most
generous count
is 20-30). It is very important to
understand that the four canonical Gospels were written from around
50-90 AD,
the others from the mid-second to fourth centuries.
Slide #36
How did we come to
have the
Bible as we know it today? Recognition
of the books of the Bible, as being God's Word, was a process. The Gospels and Paul's letters were
recognized by the end of the first century and were never disputed, so
they
became the basis of judging the other works. The General Epistles and
Revelation were recognized gradually over the next 150 years. Nicaea
did not
create the canon but recognized what was already accepted.
What criteria did the
early
church use in whether or not to embrace a writing as being God's Word? The main factors they considered were:
Slide #37
•
Was it written by an apostle of Jesus (or
someone
close to an apostle)?
•
Did it have widespread acceptance and use in
the
churches?
•
Was it consistent with known scripture (OT
and later
the gospels & Paul's letters)?
"Canons" or "lists"
of books
that were considered God's Word were made way before the Council of
Nicaea. They were made in part because of
heresies and in part because of persecutions to identify which writings
are to
be read and which to be avoided, which can be burned and which are
worth dying
for.
Slide #38
Some of these
"canons" are:
The Muratorian Canon
( about A.D.
170)
•
The manuscript is broken at the beginning,
but it
starts with Luke as the 3rd Gospel, followed by John as the 4th.
•
With the exception of Hebrews, James, and 1
and 2
Peter, it includes references to all of the NT books.
Origen (about A.D.
230)
•
He says that the following 21 books were
acknowledged
by all Christians
o
Four
Gospels, Acts, Paul's
letters (13), 1 Peter, 1 John, Revelation
•
He says that the following 10 books were
disputed by
some Christians
o
Hebrews,
James, 2 Peter,
2-3 John, Jude, Ps-Barnabas, Hermas, Didache, Gospel of Hebrews
(From a PowerPoint presentation on "The Canon"
by Robert C. Newman as
derived from the writings of Origen)
As we see, Emperor
Constantine
declared tolerance for Christianity in 313 A.D. He
did not invent the deity of Christ or force the 27 books
of the NT "canon" on the church.
The books of the NT, not
the Dead Sea Scrolls, Nag Hammadi texts, and other "secret" documents,
are the
genuine and accurate records of Jesus Christ's life, death,
resurrection, and
teachings.
Slide #39
In the DVC, Robert
Langdon,
Professor of Religious Symbology at Harvard University, tells of the
Priory of
Sion's history as one of "secrets, blackmail, betrayal, and even brutal
torture
at the hands of an angry Pope." He
says it was founded "in Jerusalem in 1099 by a French king named
Godefroi de
Bouillon, who possessed a powerful secret"--a stash of documents hidden
beneath
the ruins of Herod's temple. This
society, he said, created a military arm known as the Knight's Templar,
which
was destroyed to gain these documents by Pope Clement V on Friday,
October 13
of 1307. (pp. 157-159)
Slide #40
What is the truth
about the
Priory of Sion? In reality, we
find that:
(Taken from class notes on "The Priory of
Sion" by Joe Thomas)
Slide #41
The Knight's
Templar, on the
other hand, was a real organization.
But they were not much like the way they are described by the
DVC. In truth, they protected pilgrims
visiting the Holy Lands and were destroyed mainly by France's King
Philippe IV
(not the Pope). Moreover, they
were not destroyed because they held documents that would reveal Jesus'
total
humanity and physical descendents, but rather primarily for their
wealth.
Based on the true
history, it
should be evident that the church,
not the Priory of Sion (or any other organization), is the real
guardian of the
truth concerning Jesus Christ.
What about the DVC claim that Mary Magdalene
was
Jesus' wife, the mother of his child, and the one Jesus intended to
lead the
church? We read in the DVC:
Slide #42-44
". .
. Jesus suspects He will soon be captured and crucified. So he gives
Mary
Magdalene instructions on how to carry on His Church after He is
gone...Jesus was
the original feminist. He intended for the future of His Church to be
in the
hands of Mary Magdalene." (pp. 247-248)
"Behold, the greatest cover-up in human history. Not only was Jesus
Christ
married, but He was a father. My dear, Mary Magdalene was the Holy
Vessel. She
was the chalice that bore the royal bloodline of Jesus Christ. She was
the womb
that bore the lineage, and the vine from which the sacred fruit sprang
forth."
(pg. 249)
"Mary Magdalene was pregnant at the time of the crucifixion . . . With
the help
of Jesus' trusted uncle, Joseph of Arimathea [she] secretly traveled to
France,
then known as Gaul. There she found safe refuge in the Jewish
community. It was
here in France that she gave birth to a daughter. Her name was Sarah."
(pg. 255)
Slide #45
Throughout history,
Jesus was
believed to be single and without child.
There is absolutely no mention or evidence of Jesus having a
wife,
mistress, or child in Scripture or other writings of the church. Even the Gnostic writings, which Brown
appeals to only suggest that Mary was Jesus' companion, that he kissed
her,
entrusted her with some "hidden" truth, and loved her more than the
apostles. These writings do not
teach anything about marriage or sexual relations between Jesus and
Mary
Magdalene. Further more, they were
written 100-200 years after Jesus' earthly life by a group of people
who were
not Christians, and they were probably written to be taken
metaphorically (for
instance some hold that "Mary" is meant to be symbolic for "wisdom").
So what does the
preponderance
of evidence tell us? Mary
Magdalene was one of the several women that followed Jesus during his
earthly ministry
and whom he appeared to after his resurrection.
Last, what about the
DVC claim
that women have been oppressed by the church and affirmed by paganism? We read in the DVC:
Slide #46
". . .
the Priory's tradition of perpetuating goddess worship is based on a
belief
that powerful men in the early Christian church 'conned' the world by
propagating lies that devalued the female and tipped the scales in
favor of the
masculine . . . Constantine and his male successors successfully
converted the
world from matriarchal paganism to a patriarchal Christianity by waging
a
campaign of propaganda that demonized the sacred feminine, obliterating
the
goddess from modern religion forever." (pg. 124)
Slide#47
Contrary to what we read in the DVC, women in
the ancient
world where paganism was dominant were held in very low esteem. In many counties including Greece,
India, and China, women had no rights and were considered the property
of their
husbands. Usually, their social
status was like that of a slave.
In many cultures, they could be easily divorced or even sold
into
slavery. Brown's book says that
Constantine changed the world from "matriarchal paganism" to
patriarchal
Christianity". The truth be told,
there is no evidence at all that there has ever been a matriarchal
society even
briefly!
It was Christianity that actually elevated
women. Even ancient Roman pagan scholars
agree
that the rise of Christianity was the turning point for women. Husbands who had treated their wives
like personal property were commanded to love them as Christ loved the
church! We don't even have to read
historical books to know that this is indeed true.
Look at any non-Christian culture today such as, Islamic,
Buddhist, Hindu, or other pagan or polytheistic nations.
This is not to say that the church and
professing Christian males always treat women rightly, but when they
don't it
is in spite of the teachings of Christianity--not because of them.
Also, Brown and others who hold the Gnostic
gospels to
be superior to the four gospels and claim that they herald women
conveniently
overlook much of what these "gospels" actually teach and select what
suits
them. For instance, in the final
verse of the Gospel of Thomas, the most famous of the Gnostic texts, we
read:
Slide #48
"Simon
Peter said to them: 'Let Mary [Magdalene] leave us, for women are not
worthy of
life.' Jesus said, 'I myself shall lead her in order to make her male,
so that
she too may become a living spirit resembling you males. For every
woman who will
make herself male will enter the kingdom.'" (114)
Again, Brown has stood history on its head
and
presented us with the exact opposite of what is actually the case. It is paganism that oppresses women and
Christianity that affirms them!
Slide #49
There are many, many
more
fallacies in the DVC that could be addressed. These
are ably covered
in books such as Breaking the Da Vinci Code by Darrell Bock and Cracking the Da
Vinci Code by James Garlow
and Peter Jones. We
examined just five major allegations that are core to both
the church and gospel of Jesus Christ, and to the "gospel" that Dan
Brown
espouses, and we found that in every case Brown's allegations are
baseless and
wrongheaded. We saw that:
Slide #50
•
Jesus was not "upgraded" to divine status at
the
Council of Nicaea. His followers
held that belief from the time of his resurrection onward.
•
The Dead Sea Scrolls, Nag Hammadi texts, and
other "secret documents" are not the genuine and accurate records of
Jesus' life and
teachings. The four NT gospels and
other NT writings are.
•
The Priory of Sion is not the guardian of the
truth
about Jesus. The church is.
•
Mary Magdalene was not Jesus' wife and mother
of his
child. She was one of several
women disciples who followed him.
•
Women were not exalted under paganism--they
were
oppressed. Women were affirmed and
treated better under Christianity.
Let's close with the
words of
NT scholar, Grant Osborne:
Slide #51
Brown's
anti-Christian novel was not based on "impeccable research" but was
contrived
from the beginning as a polemic against Christianity and as a
propaganda piece
espousing a neopagan lifestyle. People everywhere are talking about it,
and
many are engaging in Christian-bashing. It is important to realize the
lack of
any viable foundation for the claims that Brown makes.
(Grant Osborne, article Decoding The Da
Vinci Code)