A Closer Look at the Da Vinci Code
Is There Any Truth to Dan Brown's Da Vinci Code?
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 [2] Brown is an actual scholar yet he repeatedly leaves the actual historical documents out, including the Bible.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. 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.
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
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Published by Jack Wellman
I'm a pastor at Mulvane Brethren Church (KS) & author who gives free training for Effective Evangelism at various churches in the states and have published 3 books on Amazon: "Teaching Children The Gospel",... View profile
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42 Comments
Post a CommentExcellent ♥ thanks so much for sharing It is amazing how involved things can get :)
Lets just say for one moment I decided to write a novel on Dan Brown's life, the beginning, in small print says 'its fiction' but once I get to the first page: I convey all my information to my reader as it is a fact saying in large letters this is FACT.....I can probably be legitimately sued for libel and slander......In all honesty, that is exactly what the DA Vinci Code does with Jesus- it so on misrepresents Him.....If someone out there has the desire to truly learn about who Jesus was I invite you to read the verified, infallible word of God-read about Jesus Christ from the eyewitnesses who were there present the people who accurately recorded who Jesus was.....btw, I second Sheryl's comment: why are we looking at the work of Da Vinci in the first place to tell us about Jesus: he lived 1,000 years after the events!......Well done, Jack! :)
Faith is a certainty as we have faith that the sun will rise tomorrow. The Bible has been verified as having all veracity, e.g, there are over 700 prophecies that have ALL come true concerning Jesus, but ancient cultures are like modern day horoscopes, so general in predictions and even the famous psychics have a rate of predition fruition of only 4% and these predictions are so general that they are like modern day horoscopes, that they could be true to any given number of people, in fact they usually are so generic that they could be true for any person on earth! No contest I am afraid.
I have to disagree. I feel the bible is one of the most fabricated books in history..and while it may foreshadow events to come, many ancient cultures made the same predictions about human history long before the bible came about. I agree that many misled in their faith will turn to this as the answer which shouldnt be...but i guess my point is that faith itself is blind. Im happy that dan brown atleast got the public thinking vs. watching TV.
Jack I THANK GOD for people like you.
What difference does it make about Jesus's personal life on this earth. He was the ultimate sacrifice for us and that was Gods' plan for us. God wants us to be happy just like mothers want their Children to be happy. Don't you think God wanted Jesus to be fulfilled and happy. Does it make a difference about who sat beside who at the Lord's supper? I think not.
Jack as always you describe something that's really complicated in a way that makes a lot of sense.
I have no interest in the Da Vinci Code. Scriptures tell me that in the last days we will be "deceived" by many. Just read the Bible, everything you need to know is there and it does not need to be de-coded, trust the Author.
very well-presented :)
Great insight as always, Jack!