The DaVinci Code

1. The DaVinci Code “Nothing New Under the Sun”

2. How Big is The DaVinci Code? • As of May 20th There were over 600 current news stories active. • There are over 9.65 million web sites with some material on the DaVinci Code • The book has sold over 60 million copies worldwide. • The Movie was viewed by nearly 10 million people in the first two days of release. • Several dozen books about the DaVinci Code have been produced.

3. What Are The Issues? • The DaVinci Code is simply the continuation of the attack on Christianity that began in Matthew 28:11-15. • Although novel in its presentation, there is nothing in this novel that has not been presented in the past.

4. But Isn’t This Book Just a Novel? • Yes, it is a novel, a work of fiction, more specifically historical fiction. • However, very few novels are written with the sole purpose of telling a good story.

5. Why Write a Novel? • TO MAKE A POINT! • From Miguel de Cervantes and his classic Don Quixote de la Mancha to Victor Hugo’s Les Miserables, Toilers of the Sea, and The Hunchback of Notre Dame. And Modern works by Steinbeck, Hemingway, Vonnegut, and a host of others. All have used the vehicle of the novel to advance their personal views, beliefs, perspectives, and solutions. And, There is Nothing Wrong With That!

6. Who is Dan Brown? • Born June 22, 1964, oldest of three children. • His father was a noted mathematician and his mother a teacher of sacred music. • Educated at Phillips Exeter Academy and Amherst University. Double major in Spanish and English. • Moved to California and Dabbled in Music and Taught at Beverly Hills Preparatory School. • Married in 1997 to Blythe (Newlon), 12 years his senior, they have no children. • Was a moderately successful writer before the DaVinci Code, now has an annual income of about $76 million. • Working on a new novel, The Solomon Key, due out in 2007. • Interested in Ciphers, Keys, and Secret Codes, a recurring theme in his works. • His upbringing was Christian and he was somewhat active in church as a youth.

7. Why is This Book So Popular? • It is an Interesting, Exciting, and Generally Well-Written Book. • “Conspiracy Novels” tap into modern culture’s general mistrust of authority. • The Catholic Church has brought some of this upon itself and indirectly on us. • “Occam’s Razor” is not fun! entia non sunt multiplicanda praeter necessitatem.

8. What Does the Book Claim? • The Book Presents Five Major Claims (and several minor ones) • The Overarching Claim in the Book is that Historic Christianity and the Essential Doctrines, that Make Christianity What it is, are a Fraud. • Brown answers, “Yes” to the Question as to Whether or Not He is a Christian. • But, His Description as to What that Means is Entirely Egocentric, not Doctrinally or Biblically Based.

9. The Five Issues of the “Code” • Jesus was not God in the Flesh. • The Deity of Christ was not believed by the Early Church. • The Deity of Christ was an Invention of Constantine at the Council of Nicea in 323. • The Bible, in its Entirety, has been Created and Edited, again at Constantine’s Direction, to Promote His Version of Christianity. • There were several “Christianity’s” in existence and the one we have today were the “Winners.” • There were more than 80 written Gospels of which the Four we Have in the Bible Today were edited to reflect the belief system Constantine desired to create. • The Church is Not the “Pillar and Ground of the Truth.” • The Church (Catholic), while sincere in its desire to help people, is nonetheless aware of the above points. • The Church (Catholic), has been ruthless in its efforts to maintain its power and authority and has suppressed the knowledge of these important “facts.”

10. Five Issues: Continued • Jesus Was Married to Mary Magdalene and She was Pregnant with His Child When He was Killed. • In the Book a Secret Society Protects the “Living Descendants” of Jesus and Mary. • They also are in possession of the “secret information” that has been suppressed. • The Society, the Priory of Sion, includes many famous people in history, including most notably Leonardo DaVinci and also, importantly for the story, Sir Isaac Newton.

11. Five Issues: Continued • Jesus Intended Mary Magdalene to Continue His Work and Be the Leader of “The Way,” not Peter and the Others. • The Male Apostles, particularly Peter, rejected this and took over in the absence of Mary (who was taken to France after the Crucifixion) • Since then the “Sacred Feminine” has been erased from Christian teaching, Mary was recast as a prostitute, sexual relations were placed in a “bad light” with Celibacy replacing Sexual Union as the optimal “spiritual path.” • But the Bible teaches that neither celibacy nor sexual union (between a husband and wife) are a form of godliness; both have their place in God’s economy.

12. Where We Are Going in this Study • We will examine the Five Claims • We will examine some of the factual information in the book. • Brown claims a list of “facts” in the book. • We will examine the Catholic Church • We certainly won’t defend Catholic Doctrine, but Brown has made several serious errors about the nature and history of the Catholic Church. • One Note: If you want to understand the DaVinci Code, READ the BOOK! Don’t get caught up in the Anti-Code Hype! Before you see the MOVIE, you should read the book. The movie alters several significant aspects of the book. • There is no “conspiracy” here, it’s just what the screen writer did to make the book flow better for a movie audience.

13. The DaVinci Code “How Do We Know Anything For Certain?”

14. The Five DaVinci Code Lies • Jesus was Not God • The Bible is a Work of Religious Propaganda • The Church is Founded on a Lie • Jesus was Married to Mary Magdalene and Had Children • Mary Magdalene was Supposed to Lead the Church

15. Plausibility and Certainty • The Mandate for the Christian is to Find Truth in The Scriptures (2 Tim 3:16-17; 2 Peter 1:3) • It is Only in the Bible that Absolute Truth About God and His Plan and Purpose for Each Individual Can be Found, not in the mythology of man (2 Peter 1:16-21) • God’s Word Cannot Fail (Isaiah 55:11)

16. The Bible According to The DaVinci Code • “The Bible is a product of man, my dear. Not of God. The Bible did not fall magically from the clouds. Man created it as a historical record of tumultuous times and it has evolved through countless translations, additions, and revisions. History has never had a definitive version of the book.” -Sir Leah Teabing, p. 237

17. The Bible According to the Bible • It is God’s Word to Man (Heb 1:1-3) • It is Inspired (2 Tim 3:16; 2 Pet 1:21) • It is Inerrant (Ps 19:7) • It is Authoritative (Isaiah 1:2) • It is Perspicuous (1 Pet 2:1-2; Ps 119:105)

18. Perspicuity = Clarity of Scripture • Scripture is clear and understandable. • Scripture does not contain secret codes, puzzles, anagrams, or hidden meanings; and, in fact, condemns the concept that it does and those who purport such notions (Titus 3:9; 1 Tim 6:3-5; 20). • However, since Origen (ca 185-284), many have searched for a “deeper” meaning to Scripture.

19. How We Got Our Bible • In the DaVinci Code it is asserted that “the Bible as we know it today was collated by the pagan Roman emperor Constantine the Great” (p. 238). • While it is True that Constantine did commission the creation of 50 copies of the Bible, the actual books of the Bible were, by and large, a settled matter as early as 440 BC for the Old Testament and by AD 135 for the New Testament. • Basilides, the Alexandrian Gnostic, directly called I Corinthians and Romans “Scripture” and also referred to at least eight other New Testament Books. • The more orthodox: Clement, Ignatius and Polycarp, all left writings that quote extensively from the New Testament. They wrote from about AD 85-150. • The Muratorian Canon (ca AD 170) presents a listing of the New Testament books (although not complete due to the fragmentary nature of the manuscript). • Church Councils DID NOT Determine the canon of the Bible!

20. Facts as a Basis for Fiction • The DaVinci Code includes just enough “facts” to make the story seem plausible, but for Brown 2+2 often equals 22! • Some of the assertions are in fact true: • There was “transmogrification” as some pagan religious symbolism did find its way into Christianity. • Celebrations of Christmas and Easter were intermixed with Pagan festivals. • There were “virgin birth” stories in Egyptian, Greek and Roman mythology. • There have always been Satanic counterfeits to every major aspect of Christianity. Both to Cast Doubt or to Substitute.

21. “Facts” that Are Fiction • Here are a few “facts” in The DaVinci Code that are Fiction • The Dead Sea Scrolls do not contain some of the lost “gospels” that Constantine tried to destroy (242). • Sunday as the day of worship in Christianity is in the New Testament, it was not originated by Constantine (1 Cor 16:2; Acts 20:7). • A “heretic” was not one who “chose” gospel accounts outlawed by Constantine, but one who causes division in the local church (Titus 3:10, airetko,j,not the Latin haereticus as on p. 242.

22. Two Pieces of Trivia for Your Enjoyment • The “Keystone Arch” long thought to have originated with the Romans has now been discovered to go back to at least the time of Abraham at Tel Dan. It was not the “secret knowledge” of the Masons. • Sir Isaac Newton, who Brown makes part of the secret society, actually was a premillennialist, and called his commentary on the Book of Daniel one of the greatest achievements of his life.

23. The DaVinci Code “Who Was Jesus and Who Was Mary Magdalene””

24. The Five DaVinci Code Lies • Jesus was Not God • The Bible is a Work of Religious Propaganda • The Church is Founded on a Lie • Jesus was Married to Mary Magdalene and Had Children • Mary Magdalene was Supposed to Lead the Church

25. Jesus According to the DaVinci Code • “Until that moment in history, Jesus was viewed by His followers as a mortal prophet. . . A great and powerful man, but a man nonetheless. A Mortal” (p. 240)

26. Jesus According to the Bible • The Chester Beatty Papryus (P45) of John 7. Dated in the Early 3rd Century. About 100 Years before the Council of Nicea. • The New Testament repeatedly and clearly affirms the Deity of Christ.

27. The Deity of Christ • Proven by What He is Called (Heb 1:8; Matt 16:16; 22:43-45; Rev. 19:16) • Proven by What He is Like (Matt 28:18; John 1:48; Heb 13:8) • Proven by What He Does (John 1:3; Col 1:17; John 15:26) • Proven by What He Receives (Heb 1:6; Matt 14:33; Phil 2:10) • Proven by What He Accomplished (Rom 5:1-11)

28. Who Was Mary Magdalene? • She was an early follower of Christ after He had cast out “Seven Demons” from here (Luke 8:1-3) • One of Five different “Mary’s” in the N.T. • A Woman of Means who provided financial support (Luke 8:3) • Was Present at the Crucifixion, Burial and Resurrection. • Two Gnostic Texts (Gospel of Philip and Gospel of Mary Magdala) add room for speculation but little substance. • The traditional Catholic view that she was a prostitute originated with Pope Gregory the Great (ca. 591) and was clearly erroneous and was repudiated by the church in the 20th Century (an inconvenient fact that the DaVinci Code ignores).

29. Were Jesus and Mary Married? • There is nothing in any text of any kind that states clearly that they were. All of the “proof” in the DaVinci Code amounts to nothing more than random pieces of data (2+2 does not equal 22). • But if they were, do the dire consequences that the DaVinci Code portrays really come into play? • Not Really! There is no Biblical or Theological reason that Jesus could not have been married or even had children.

30. The DaVinci Code “What is the Catholic Church, Really?”

31. The DaVinci Code and “The Church” • When Dan Brown refers to “the Church” in the DaVinci Code, he means The Roman Catholic Church. • However, He does not mean the Catholic Church of history, but rather, the church as modern Catholicism has defined itself.

32. What the Catholic Church Teaches About Itself • That the Catholic Church has existed from the beginning. Catholicism is Christianity. • That Peter was the first “Pope” • The Pope is the “Vicar of Christ” on earth. • The Councils and the Popes are essentially inerrant in matters of faith and practice. • Only the Church can properly interpret the Bible. • Those who do not recognize the Pope as the leader of Christianity are “errant” or “misguided.” • There is no salvation outside the church.

33. When Did the Catholic Church Really Begin? • The Modern Catholic Church really was developed by three important Popes: • Gregory the Great (540-604) • Gregory VII (1073-85) • Innocent III (1198-1216) • Even Catholic historians admit that Catholicism did not really exist until Gregory the Great. • Papal Supremacy, Priestly Celibacy, and most other distinctive feature of Catholic practice and theology is traced to these three.

34. Some DaVinci Code Errors • The key problem with the DaVinci Code is that it takes the Catholic Church’s view of itself as truth and begins from there. • A main DaVinci Code premise is that the male dominated Church always had a celibate priesthood. • Celibacy for the priesthood has a long and complicated history, but it was not put into full force until Gregory VII. • The famous Council of Nicea, so central to the DaVinci Code story, actually voted against mandatory celibacy for clergy as unbiblical.

35. Other DaVinci Code Errors • “The Vatican” or Vatican City did not exist as such until after Constantine. • The church buildings denominated the area, which the church taught was where Peter had been buried. • It was not official until 1929 under a treaty crafted by Benito Mussolini. • It is the smallest nation (geographically and population) in the world. It also has the largest crime rate of any nation in the world. • by Benito Mussolini.

36. The Key to the DaVinci Code • It is a story, a novel; however a story with a theological agenda. • The agenda is: • Traditional Christianity (Catholic) is simply untrue. • By assumption, Biblical Christianity is also untrue (but Brown never actually deals with the Bible other than to say it is not what it claims to be). • All religions have something to offer. • Worshipping the Feminine Goddesses (nature, fertility, sex, etc.) is the only way to have harmony brought back into society. • It claims to be based on “fact” but the “facts” are often either simply wrong or used in a selective and incomplete manner.

37. Our Reaction to the DaVinci Code • Unfortunately people are believing that the book is true. • When discussing the DaVinci Code we must center on: • The Reliability of Scripture • The “Biblical” Person of Christ • The Need for Salvation, not in the church, but by “grace through faith”