Maybe you are saying as many are, "enough on THE DA VINCI CODE already", but I thought it might be helpful to give you one more tool to help you refute Da Vinci quite simply. Here is an article from Associate Editor Collin Hansen of CHRISTIANITY TODAY, that deals with THE FIVE BIG QUESTIONS FROM THE DA VINCI CODE. I have simply copied and pasted it into my post as it appears on the site.5 Big Questions from The Da Vinci Code
A brief guide.
Already an international publishing sensation, The Da Vinci Code now is a feature film directed by Ron Howard and starring Tom Hanks. The compelling story written by Dan Brown blurs the line between fact and fiction, so moviegoers have joined readers wondering about the origins and legitimacy of orthodox Christianity. This guide offers brief answers to five important questions.
1. Was Jesus married to Mary Magdalene?
No. Mary Magdalene was certainly close to Jesus. She wept at Jesus' tomb (John 20). Jesus even entrusted her to return and tell the disciples about his resurrection. But we have no reason to believe they were married. Brown says that Leonardo da Vinci's Last Supper reveals the secret. He writes that the figure to Jesus' right, traditionally known as the apostle John, is actually Mary. Not true. Artists often gave characters feminine features to portray youth. John was the youngest of the disciples.
No. Mary Magdalene was certainly close to Jesus. She wept at Jesus' tomb (John 20). Jesus even entrusted her to return and tell the disciples about his resurrection. But we have no reason to believe they were married. Brown says that Leonardo da Vinci's Last Supper reveals the secret. He writes that the figure to Jesus' right, traditionally known as the apostle John, is actually Mary. Not true. Artists often gave characters feminine features to portray youth. John was the youngest of the disciples.
Brown correctly observes that few Jewish men of Jesus' day did not marry. But why, then, did the apostle Paul, himself celibate, not mention Jesus and Mary when he argued that apostles could marry (1 Cor. 9:5)?
2. What about these alternative gospels that aren't in the New Testament?
It's true that the Bible did not arrive as a "fax from heaven," as Brown writes. The New Testament canon in its current form was first formally attested in 367. Nevertheless, church leaders applied important standards when compiling the Bible. Authors of accepted writings needed to have walked and talked with Jesus, or at least with his leading disciples. Their teaching could not contradict what other apostles had written, and their documents must have been accepted by the entire church, from Jerusalem to Rome. Church leaders considered earlier letters and reports more credible than later documents. Finally, they prayed and trusted the Holy Spirit to guide their decisions.
It's true that the Bible did not arrive as a "fax from heaven," as Brown writes. The New Testament canon in its current form was first formally attested in 367. Nevertheless, church leaders applied important standards when compiling the Bible. Authors of accepted writings needed to have walked and talked with Jesus, or at least with his leading disciples. Their teaching could not contradict what other apostles had written, and their documents must have been accepted by the entire church, from Jerusalem to Rome. Church leaders considered earlier letters and reports more credible than later documents. Finally, they prayed and trusted the Holy Spirit to guide their decisions.
The so-called Gnostic gospels, many discovered just last century, did not meet these criteria. Many appeared much later than the Bible and were dubiously attributed to major Christian leaders. Their teachings contrasted with what apostles like Paul had written. For example, many Gnostic writings argued that Jesus did not appear in the flesh, because flesh is evil, or they rejected the Old Testament.
3. Were there really competing Christianities during the early church?
Yes—in the sense there were many disputes about the nature of Jesus. And the church has done its best to vanquish challengers to orthodoxy. Once the church decided against the Gnostic writings, they gathered and burned all the Gnostic manuscripts they could find.
Yes—in the sense there were many disputes about the nature of Jesus. And the church has done its best to vanquish challengers to orthodoxy. Once the church decided against the Gnostic writings, they gathered and burned all the Gnostic manuscripts they could find.
Later church councils convened to discuss other threats to Christian orthodoxy. Constantine, the first Roman emperor to make Christianity legal, called the most important of these meetings in 325. Leaders from around the Christian world gathered in Nicea, where they debated Arianism, which taught that God created Jesus. Brown writes that Constantine called this council so he could introduce a new divine Jesus on par with the Father. On the contrary, documents from before Nicea show that most followers of Jesus already called him LORD, the Yahweh of the Old Testament. The church leaders at Nicea rejected Arianism and affirmed that God and Jesus existed together from the beginning in the Trinity. This council produced the first drafts of what became the Nicene Creed, a landmark explanation of Christian belief.
4. What is Opus Dei?
A conservative religious group within the Roman Catholic Church. Opus Dei urges priests and laypeople to strenuously pursue sanctification through everyday discipline. The group has taken criticism for its conservative views, zeal, and secretive practices. There is no evidence that Opus Dei has resorted to murder; nor has the Vatican entrusted Opus Dei to violently guard the church's deepest secrets, as Dan Brown claims in The Da Vinci Code.
A conservative religious group within the Roman Catholic Church. Opus Dei urges priests and laypeople to strenuously pursue sanctification through everyday discipline. The group has taken criticism for its conservative views, zeal, and secretive practices. There is no evidence that Opus Dei has resorted to murder; nor has the Vatican entrusted Opus Dei to violently guard the church's deepest secrets, as Dan Brown claims in The Da Vinci Code.
5. Does the Priory of Sion really exist?
Yes, but not as described by Brown. Researchers suspect that members of the real-life Priory of Sion, founded in 1956, forged documents that placed major historical figures—such as Isaac Newton and Leonard da Vinci—in an ancient secret society. There is no evidence for this group beyond dubious documents. Any story relating this group to a dynasty begun by Jesus and Mary Magdalene is a fanciful work of fiction.
Yes, but not as described by Brown. Researchers suspect that members of the real-life Priory of Sion, founded in 1956, forged documents that placed major historical figures—such as Isaac Newton and Leonard da Vinci—in an ancient secret society. There is no evidence for this group beyond dubious documents. Any story relating this group to a dynasty begun by Jesus and Mary Magdalene is a fanciful work of fiction.
Collin Hansen is associate editor of Christianity Today (www.christianitytoday.com). For more Christianity Today coverage, visit www.ChristianityToday.com/go/DaVinci
Tags: Da Vinci Code, Movies, Books, Christianity, Jesus, Mary Magdalene
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Me for one appreciates the information you always give in your blog. I didn't get to read it all, but plan on it when I get more time. Thought I would just let you know I pop in your blog to see if there was anything new. Hope you are a little happier now that I commented, LOL-Blessings Shelly S.
ReplyDeleteAs an addendum to the question about Opus Dei, my wife was involved with them briefly before finding her calling with the Carmelite order. There isn't anything terribly secretive about them; they've been pretty above-board as far as I can see. But the Jack Chick crowd has apparently decided that today's liberal Jesuits aren't likely to be in a position to take over the world, and they need another conspiracy to keep their tinfoil hats in use. Brown is playing on this substitution as though it were established fact.
ReplyDeleteOne of the things that irritates me about Brown is that he treats both Eastern Orthodoxy and Protestantism as though they didn't exist. Especially in the case of the Reformation, when everything in Christianity was being debated and tested, it seems like SOMEBODY would have noticed that the Catholic Church was keeping this terrible secret. But Brown behaves as though Christianity were monolithic in its suppression of the "truth." Believe me, with all the rancor that surfaced at the East-West Schism and the Reformation, the several combatant sides wouldn't be conspiring together very effectively. Somebody would have spoken up.
Some really excellent stuff here Doug!
ReplyDeleteOkay, my 2-cents!
Isn't the book classified by the author as fiction? I mean, isn't it listed specifically as a work of FICTION? I don't understand why so many are even remotely takin this guy's work as anything more than what it is......Fiction.
Hey Marc,
ReplyDeleteGreat to hear from you! Yea, I know that this is supposed to be a work of fiction, but having seen the movie and being in the midst of reading the book, I have to tell you it is more than fiction.
Dan Brown starts the book out with a series of statements that start with the word FACT, and then goes on to blur the lines between fact and fiction throughout this so called work of "fiction".
This is an historical/fiction novel with a number of historical inaccuracies and fabrications. For me personally, it was hard to watch Jesus get slammed. Imagine going to a movie about the life of your wife and hearing that she was an immoral adulteress who slept with hundreds of men and then being told not to get upset because it's just a work of fiction. You get the point!
I hope all is well? We miss you all very much.
Doug
Joel,
ReplyDeleteExcellent addition to this debate. I appreciated your perspective on the Reformation and Eastern Orthodoxy as well. Dan Brown seems to have forgotten a huge segment of the earth's population and the fastest growing segment of global Christianity. As usual, our detractors know far less of us than they often purport to. In this case, ignorance is not bliss though.
Thanks again.
Doug