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"...be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect..." 1 Peter 3:15. What’s the Buzz?. The Da Vinci Code is a novel that has attracted an enormous amount of attention:
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"...be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect..." 1 Peter 3:15
What’s the Buzz? • The Da Vinci Code is a novel that has attracted an enormous amount of attention: • A murder mystery and thriller -- historical fiction • Containing 454 pages in 105 short chapters • Well over 50 million copies sold • Yet it claims to be some sort of historical novel: • Consider this claim it makes:
The complete text of page one of The Da Vinci Code. The Priory of Sion – a European secret society founded in 1099 – is a real organization. “All descriptions of artwork, architecture, documents, and secret rituals in this novel are accurate.”
The Book is Controversial • Indeed, the book’s popularity is not just its attraction as a mystery thriller. • Much of the interest surely involves its claim that traditional Christianity is a hoax.
Why Should We Care?Example: "Honestly, [reading the book] shook my whole faith. I realize that the book is fiction, but much of what he wrote about seemed like it was based on historical facts aside from the characters. Since I am not a Christian scholar I don't even know where to begin to refute these claims. If Christianity is nothing more than a big accommodation, it becomes relegated to a lifestyle choice and not a religion, which I do not want to believe."
Why Should We Care?Example (letter to Envoy magazine): "I own a Catholic bookstore. We are getting bombarded daily by people who are buying into the garbage in this book. You cannot believe how many people have been exposed to this book. . . . We even had an elderly aunt talking about Opus Dei tonight and yelling at us that the book is true or it couldn't be printed.”
The Murder • Victim: Jacques Saunière • Curator of the Louvre • (Secretly) Grand Master of the Priory of Sion • Murderer: Silas • Large albino Monk connected with Opus Dei • Master Plotter: The Teacher • Mysterious, unseen, provides info to Silas
The Hero & Heroine • Robert Langdon • Prof of Religious Symbology at Harvard • In Paris to give a lecture when murder occurs • Sophie Neveu • Cryptographer for French Judicial Police • Grand-daughter of murder victim
The Plot • Story begins with the murder around 11 pm, inside the Louvre. • Langdon is awakened at his hotel an hour & a half later by a phone call from the police. • He is summoned to meet with Bezu Fache, crack investigator of the Judicial Police, at the scene of the crime. • Fache secretly suspects Langdon, as Langdon’s name was in Saunière’s calendar for a meeting earlier that evening.
The Murder Scene • Saunière has been found dead, naked, and lying in a pose that matches that of Da Vinci’s “Vitruvian Man.” • In the few minutes between being shot & dying, he managed to leave several cryptic clues about what is going on.
The Plot Thickens • As the police prepare to arrest Langdon, Sophie manages to spirit him away. • They decipher clues her grandfather has left behind. • These involve a secret group guarding a devastating secret about the Church.
The Plot Moves On • The rest of the book is a combination of their flight from the French police (and from Silas the murderer), while simultaneously seeking to locate and decipher the clues Saunière has left behind to direct them to the Grail. • In the course of their flight, Sophie and Langdon travel to several places in France, then to London, and finally to Scotland.
Sir Leigh Teabing • They seek out Leigh Teabing, ex-British Royal Historian, who lives in a chateau outside Paris. • Teabing is one of the world’s experts on the Grail and the Priory. • Teabing fills them in on the Grail secret.
Page 230 What is the Holy Grail?
Page 230 Leonardo da Vinci one of the keepers of the secret of the Holy Grail. He hid clues in his art.
p 231 More than 80 Gospels were considered for the New Testament…
Constantine a lifelong pagan… baptized on his deathbed, too weak to protest
Jesus’ establishment as the Son of God was proposed & voted on by the Council of Nicaea
p 234 Some of the gospels managed to survive … The Dead Sea Scrolls … the Coptic Scrolls at Nag Hammadi
Da Vinci’s Last Supper • Teabing goes on to explain how Leonardo da Vinci has hidden clues in his famous painting. • He says the figure thought to be St John is really Mary Magdalene, Jesus’ wife & mother of his child Sarah.
The Rest of the Plot • After Jesus’ death, we are told, Mary M & Sarah were hidden away in France. • The Church covered this up; male leadership took over & reconfigured Mary Magdalene as a prostitute, rejecting the sacred feminine. • What happens in terms of the rest of the plot is not important -- instead, it is the claims about Christianity and the Church along the way that we are going to focus on.
Brown’s SourcesWhere is he getting all this? • The Gnostic Gospels by Elaine Pagels. The others are popular esoteric histories: The Templar Revelation: Secret Guardians of the True Identity of Christ by Lynn Picknett and Clive Prince; Holy Blood, Holy Grail by Michael Baigent, Richard Leigh, and Henry Lincoln; The Goddess in the Gospels: Reclaiming the Sacred Feminine and The Woman with the Alabaster Jar: Mary Magdalen and the Holy Grail, both by Margaret Starbird. • With Elaine Pagels as the only exception (and she with a big asterisk), none of the writers above are professors/true academics or historians.
Some of the claims of The Da Vinci Code • It attacks the Catholic Church, her beliefs about Jesus Christ, the Bible and Church authority. • The Catholic Church is murderous, treacherous and misogynistic and built upon a lie • TDVC claims to be completely accurate and based on fact (which it is not). • It promotes a radical feminist, neo-gnostic agenda (“There is nothing new under the sun.” Eccl.) • It promotes a relativistic, indifferentism towards truth and religion. Indeed, similar to other conspiracy theorists who claim that Jews are attempting to control the world (through finance, etc.) – see next 2 slides.
Evidence from the New Testament:Did Jesus claimto be divine?
John 10.30-33[Jesus said] “I and the Father are one.” Again the Jews picked up stones to stone Him… “[We are stoning you] for blasphemy, because you, a mere man, are claiming to be God”
Jesus claimed He and the Father were one! (John 17) • Jews knew what He was implying • Most importantly He never denies it
Mark 2.7 who can forgive sins but God alone? • He had the nerve to forgive sins against others • but only God is offended in all sins and only He has that right • they rightly accuse Him of blasphemy if He were a mere man
The Forgiving Lord“I came not to condemn the world, but to save the world…” John 3: 17 • His forgiveness “Child, your sins are forgiven..” Mark 2:7 “Courage, child, your sins are forgiven.” Matthew 9: 1-4 “And he said to her, ‘Thy sins are forgiven.’ And they who were at the table began to say, ‘Who is this man, who even forgives sins?’ But Jesus said to the woman, ‘Your faith has saved you; go in peace.’” Luke 7: 48-50
“I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise.” Luke 23: 43“…today salvation has come to this house.” (story of Zaccheus -- Gospel of Luke)
John 8.58 “I tell you the truth,” Jesus answered, “before Abraham was born, I am.” • what happened to good grammar? • to the Jews, I am = God • just afterwards the Jews try and stone Him again • again, no denial -- no, “Oops! Oh, you thought I was saying I was God. Don’t be so silly!”
The Woman at the Well • John 4: 25-26: “The woman said to him, ‘I know that the Messiah is coming, the one called the Anointed; when he comes, he will tell us everything.’ Jesus said to her, ‘I am he, the one who is speaking to you.’”
Bold claims…“The Christ” • Mark 14:61-64 - “Are You the Christ, the Son of the Blessed One?” And Jesus said, “I am ; and you shall see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of Power , and coming with the clouds of heaven .” And tearing his clothes, the high priest said, “What further need do we have of witnesses? “You have heard the blasphemy; how does it seem to you?” And they all condemned Him to be deserving of death."
Mark 13.31 “Heaven and earth shall pass away but my words shall never pass away.” • “my” words = words of God • Jesus = God
Speaking as God • ‘You’ve heard it said, but I tell you…” • Matthew 5:20, 22, 26, 28, 32, 34, 44 (Sermon on the Mount).
Bold claims…The Way, The Truth and the Life • John 8:24 - “I said therefore to you, that you shall die in your sins; for unless you believe that I am He, you shall die in your sins.” • John 8:28 - "Jesus therefore said, “When you lift up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am He, and I do nothing on My own initiative, but I speak these things as the Father taught Me." • John 11:25 - “I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in me, shall never die.” • John 14: 6 - “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”
Bold claims…Pulling no punches • “The Son of Man is even Lord of the Sabbath.” Mark 2:28 • Calls himself the “Son of Man” and makes reference to the Son of Man who will come to judge the living and the dead (Matthew 25).
Bold claims…“Bread of Life” • Calls himself the ‘Bread of Life’ (John 6) and doesn’t back down from this claim when people start to walk away because of this (John 6: 66). • “Take, eat, this is my body which will be given for you…”
Bold claims…Master and Lord • “You call me master and Lord, and you say well, for so I am. If I, the Master, have washed your feet, you also ought to do the same.” John 13: 12-14
John 20.28 Thomas said to him, “my lord and my god.” • Jesus never corrects him. Doesn’t say: “Tommy Boy, please don’t call me Lord.” • [Literal Greek = “the Lord of me and the God of me”]
Accepting Worship • Matthew 28:16-17 - " But the eleven disciples proceeded to Galilee, to the mountain which Jesus had designated. And when they saw Him, they worshiped Him" • John 9:37-38 - "Jesus said to him, “You have both seen Him, and He is the one who is talking with you.” And he said, “Lord, I believe.” And he worshiped Him." • The Prostitute pouring oil on his head -- ‘Do not stop her, for her act will be remembered for generations.’ “The poor you will always have with you, but I will not always be with you.” (John 12: 1-8; Mt. 26: 6-13)
Name Changer • Besides referring to Himself as I AM, forgiving sins, claiming oneness with the Father, claiming sinlessness, accepting worship... • He also changed the names of people (in OT only God did that)
Paul’s Testimony (circa 45 A.D.) Col 1:15-20 (NIV) He 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, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him. 17 He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. 18 And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy. 19 For 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.
