Response to the Da Vinci Code - FACTS

by Vijay Thomas, NY

The Da Vinci Code has definitely stirred some feathers. I have been very upset with the whole situation. I've tried to figure out what bothers me the most about the book and the movie. And I believe I am most annoyed at the response that the Da Vinci Code has caused. If you read the online blogs of the Da Vinci Code, you will see numerous people talking about how Dan Brown has finally come out with the truth of some grand conspiracy. And the fact that so many people believe the book to be true is the source of the problem.

The question that Christians need to ask is "how should we respond?"

Most of my friends that have read the book come to me and have asked me in-depth Biblical questions. And it has been a wonderful time for me to witness to them.

When Athanasius helped bring down the heresy of Arius, he needed to have the right response. Below I will try to highlight some of the points tackled in the book and then the errors in it.

STATEMENTS AND ERRORS MADE IN THE DA VINCI CODE:

1. JESUS WAS SEEN AS A PROPHET UNTIL THE COUNCIL OF NICEA HAD MADE HIM DIVINE.

This is untrue because the council was held around 325 AD and by that time all the accepted gospels of the Bible had been written. The first council of Nicea was held to counter the heresy of Arius and begin the statement of our faith which is called the Nicean Creed.

2. JESUS WAS MARRIED TO MARY MAGDALENA AND HAD A CHILD. MARY WAS TOO BE IN CHARGE OF THE CHURCH BUT PETER BECAME FURIOUS AND MARY HAD TO FLEE TO EXCAPE PETER.

In the book, this claim is made because in the Gnostic gospel of Mary Magdalena (a text not supported by the church and most probably forged) there is a verse that states that Jesus loved Mary Magdalena more than anyone else. The book then uses other verses from the Gnostic Gospel of Philip to support this claim. It is so ironic that Dan Brown uses these text to support this claim because Gnostic’s find marriage and any sexual/earthly relationships to be a major ‘sin’. Gnostic faith is the based on the fact that anything of this world is impure. Gnostics believe that Jesus is 100% divine and 0% human. Gnostic gospels would never claim Jesus to be married or even to have children. This clearly shows that Dan Brown’s translation of those verses are incorrect.

3. THE CATHOLIC CHURCH TRIED TO HIDE MARY MAGDALENA'S ROLE IN JESUS'S LIFE BY PAINTING HER AS A HARLOT.

If the Catholic Church or any church tried to do that they failed because Mary Magdalena is given the key spot in the Bible. She is the first to discover the risen Christ. If the Catholic church had the ability to change anything in the Bible and if they wanted to hide Mary's role they would have taken that out.

4. THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH IS A PATRISTIC RELIGION SET UP TO OPPRESS THE MOTHER GODDESS AND WOMEN.

This claim is easily refuted by just stating that Catholic and Orthodox faith say a prayer to "Mary, the mother of God" right after saying 'the Lord's Prayer'. Though the church is patristic, it was not set up to oppress but to lead a better societal community with order and justice for both men and women.

5. CONSTANTINE WAS FORCED TO BECOME CHRISTIAN ON HIS DEATH BED.

Constantine 'became Christian' after he had seen a dream or vision before a battle of the 'Cross' in the sky. He was not baptized until his death because baptism was meant to wash away sins and he wanted to only do that near the end so he could ensure his arrival into heaven.

6. THE EDICT OF MILAN FORCED ROME TO BECOME A CHRISTIAN EMPIRE.

The Edict of Milan was made by Constantine after he converted to legalize Christianity and give people the right to choose their religion freely. Before that point, Christianity was illegal and punishable by death. Pagans and all other religions were still allowed to worship in the Roman Empire.

7. THE KNIGHTS TEMPLAR BECAME RICH BECAUSE THEY HAD FOUND THE SECRET OF THE CHURCH THUS BLACKMAILED THE CHURCH FOR MONEY AND LAND. AFTER A NUMBER OF YEARS THE POPE BECAME ANGRY AND ORDERED THE DEATH OF ALL THE KNIGHTS.

Though there is much mystery over the knights, the common understanding is that after the Crusades the Knights Templar gained much power and money through donations but more importantly through trade of technology. The Knights had learned much in their time in the Middle East and they had brought back much knowledge of engineering and such that lead to their success. The dissolution of the Knights Templar occurred when the King of France became bankrupt and decided to take the land and money of the Knights Templar. The King ordered the capture and killing of the Knights by stating that the Knights had been doing sinful things. The Pope of Rome tried to stop these killings by giving the Knights a fair trial. In the end, the Knights that had lived in France were put to death while those outside France were given a pardon. The Order of the Knights Templar was dissolved but most of the knights lived on and joined other Knightly orders.

8. PAPERS THAT REVEAL THE BLOODLINE OF MARY MAGDALENA WERE FOUND IN A SMALL TOWN IN FRANCE.

This is the root of the Da Vinci Code. It was a lie created by a wealthy business/political leader in France after World War I. He had wanted two things:
1. the return of the French monarchy and
2. business for his new hotel.
So he forged papers that stated that a royal bloodline (the Merovingian line) was still alive. Thus, there would be a rightful heir to the throne in France and a new king for France. These papers were examined and after review were seen as a lie. However, all the news media these papers had caused made great business for the hotel. Rumors of these papers spread to increase the popularity of the resort/hotel. The lies and rumors reached an all time high when people began to claim that these papers showed a royal bloodline connection from the Merovingian Line to Mary Magdalena.

There are a lot more lies and deceptions of the truth in this book but I would need to write a book to go through them all. seek answers and learn the truth.

See Also:

The Truth about the Da Vinci Code
Through the Da Vinci Code novel, Satan is deploying his favorite cunning device that is instilling confusion and doubt in the minds of the believers. This paper presents a concise "synopsis" of the novel, followed by an outline of the false claims being asserted by the author with a response and refutation to these assertions.

Isn't It Strange
We seem to have low priority when it concerns spiritual matters, but high priority for everyday matters.

You Cannot Reason with God
The Lord will take away all human reasoning. From the human standpoint it may seem impossible, but the Lord wants to show us the distinction between human reasoning and true faith, true saving faith, which is the gift of God.