“The Da Vinci Code”: Fact or Fiction?

Dan Brown’s “The Da Vinci Code,” both the movie and the book, are purely fictional. However, I did discover three facts that were true in the book: Paris is in France, London is in England and Rome is in Italy. This book questions both the Bible’s veracity and the divinity of Christ. The only fact about this book was that it was written by Dan Brown and that it is fiction. Brown falsely disputes the divinity of Jesus Christ. Even though Brown admits it is fictional, in the very front of the book, Brown unfairly begins it with a page that reads, “Fact“. Then on this same page, Brown summarily begins a list of accusations that are all absolutely false. Brown’s insistence was that Jesus was married and He and Mary Magdalene had a child even though there are exactly zero historical documents to support this. The so called Holy Grail, the Last Supper painting and Jesus’ alleged marriage to Mary Magdalene and subsequent children are the main subjects of the book and the movie.

I have a question for Mr. Brown: If Da Vinci’s “Last Supper” has Mary Magdalene leaning on Jesus bosom, then where is the “beloved disciple” John? Why would Da Vinci leave out the disciple “that Jesus loved” out of the 12 disciples (John. 13:23, 19:26, 20:2)? The Bible clearly indicates that John was the one that was leaning on Jesus’ bosom at the Passover meal (John. 13:23) and so why would Da Vinci, who was a student of the Bible, leave one of the main two disciples out?

The novel's argument is as follows. Constantine wanted Christianity to act as a unifying religion for the Roman Empire. He thought Christianity would appeal to pagans only if it featured a demigod similar to pagan heroes.1 According to the Gnostic Gospels, Jesus was merely a human prophet, not a demigod. Therefore, to change Jesus' image, Constantine destroyed the Gnostic Gospels and promoted the gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, which portray Jesus as divine or semi-divine.

The “Da Vinci Code” also portrays the Council of Nicaea's decision to recognize the fully human and divine aspects of Christ as being a close vote, while the vote was absolutely overwhelmingly in favor of Christ‘s divinity. [2, 3] The actual fact about the Council of Nicaea in 325 was not whether Jesus was merely human or something more, but how exactly his divinity was to be understood. [2] Brown is an actual scholar yet he repeatedly leaves the actual historical documents out, including the Bible. He relies on unverified Gnostic gospels, and leaves out the most well documented (manuscripts), supported (archeologically) preserved (over 5,000 manuscripts) compilation of historical records and events ever assembled in human history: The Bible. So as a scholar, his writings are anything but scholarly.

That is why the Da Vinci Code book and the subsequent movie, is most troubling: it begins page one with the word, in all caps, “FACT” and follow that with a long list of factual errors. First of all, it must be remembered that the Da Vinci Code is fiction. Under Brown’s beginning pages, he should have followed his first page that says “Fact” with, Fact, this is purely fictional. That’s where you’ll find it in the library. Brown is a poor scholar, but a great fictional writer.

1. Tim O'Neill. “Early Christianity and Political Power”. History versus the Da Vinci
Code. 2006. 16 Feb 2009 http://www.historyversusthedavincicode.com/chapterfiftyfive.htm#christpower

2. http://www.envoymagazine.com/PlanetEnvoy/Review-DaVinci-part2-Full.htm#Full

3. Hughes, Philip. The Church in Crisis: A History of the General Councils, 325–1870.
1964

 

Originally published on: http://www.associatedcontent.com/jackwellman

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