The Da Vinci Code and the Bible

I. Introduction: For the past couple of years, one book has been prominent on the fiction best seller list and the subject of much discussion. The Da Vinci Code is a murder mystery surrounded by conspiracy that began shortly after Jesus’ death and reaches into the highest offices of the Catholic Church and various religious orders. During the story, the main character explains the mysteries and Catholic Church conspiracies to the other character and how they relate to the murders that had taken place.

[!NOTE] Primary Scripture Reading: John 8:48-59

II. Why does it matter?

A. Though a fiction book should not affect anyone’s faith or belief in any way, the book makes some historical assertions that strike a nerve.

B. Some who are always suspicious of authority and expect conspiracy will latch onto allegations that have some semblance of truth. Some do not realize that writers often take artistic license with fact to carry forth the plot of a story. In our sound bite society, people often do not research or challenge statements that derive from perceived authority.

C. Brown’s fact page:

D. ) Priory of Sion2.) The Vatican prelature known as Opus Dei3.) “…all descriptions of artwork, architecture, documents and secret rituals in this novel are accurate.” By saying this, the author would lead us to believe the information about Mary Magdalene and Jesus are historical fact, which they are not.

E. It is important to know what is true and what has been twisted for the story

III. Background material

A. The main elements of the story for our interest are the following:

B. Mary Magdalene was married to Jesus and early Christians revered her as His divine feminine counterpart.

C. Jesus and Mary had a baby girl who was hidden away after His crucifixion for her protection

D. One theme of the book is that the Holy Grail was not the cup Jesus used at the last supper and subsequently by Joseph of Arimathea to collect the Savior’s blood as he was on the cross but was the blood of Jesus that flowed through His child—royal blood of the highest order. The whole story of the Holy Grail is myth not Bible fact. The Catholic Church hid the secret of Jesus and Mary by suppressing documents that spoke of their marriage and deemphasized her importance. The Catholic Church composed the Bible canon—collection of books in the Bible—to support their position and become the “official” view of Jesus. There are many other minor conspiracies that contribute to the theme of the story but are more of historical concern than Biblical

E. It appears that much of the material for the book was taken from a 1980’s bestselling conspiracy book Holy Blood, Holy Grail.

F. Independent researchers wrote the book, not religious or historical scholars. Scholars of antiquity and the Middle Ages discredited the arguments it made about Mary Magdalene’s supposed marriage to Jesus, the child born to them, and activities attributed to the Priory of Sion.

IV. Was Jesus married to Mary Magdalene and did he father a child?

A. The DVC alleged that it was practically scandalous for a Jewish man not to marry; that it was expected of them—this is not true at all; in fact, there were religious groups (Essenes) that embraced celibacy and were not shunned.

B. References to Jesus and marriage

C. No early documents, Christian or not, refer to Jesus as being married.

D. DVC alleges that the Gospel of Phillip refers to MM as the companion of Jesus but that the word for “companion” should be translated “wife.”

E. The character Teabing says “companion” in Aramaic means wife. Whether it is true or not, the Gospel of Philip is written in the Coptic language and the word used for companion is borrowed from the Greek. The Greek word (koinonos) is a word used of friends and companions, not of a spouse or lover.

F. The DVC says that the Gospel of Philip records Jesus’ romance with MM.

G. Quote: The companion of the ____ Mary Magdalene______ more than _____the disciples _____ kiss her _____ on her _____.It is impossible to say where Christ is kissing Mary and assuming to much to demand that it was a romantic kiss in a society in which kissing was a common form of greeting (ie., the holy kiss) A later reference records a dispute among the disciples as to why Jesus loved Mary more than them to which Jesus replied “Why do I not love you like her?” This by no means assumes a romantic relationship and, in fact, seems to be a dispute as to the depth of love not the type of love.

H. Mary Magdalene

I. The DVC also cites the Gospel of Mary saying that it gives high status to MM; Jesus reveals things to her alone and she comforts the apostles after his resurrection with a vision she was given regarding the fate of the soul.

J. Historian Bart Ehrman observed that the book was not so much a celebration of Mary’s vision but the challenge Peter and Andrew made of its validity and Matthew’s approval of it. Ehrman notes that the issue is not the prominence of Mary in this gospel but a discussion of whether or not a woman’s vision can be trusted. In the New Testament only 13 verses mention Mary Magdalene and these are often in parallel passages; less than 13 unique events recorded. In the New Testament, MM accompanied Jesus and his followers to Galilee, Jesus cast seven demons out of her, she apparently provided funds (along with other women) for Jesus’ ministry, she and other women were in Jerusalem for the last week of Jesus’ life, saw Him crucified and buried, and was one of the first witnesses to His resurrection. If MM was His wife, it is strange that Biblical and non-biblical documents refer to her in relation to her birthplace (Magdala) instead of “wife of Jesus.”

K. There is no ancient source that says Jesus had children: legitimate or not

L. Mary Magdalene is largely a product of liberal feminism; she is their savior

V. Issues about the Canon and other texts

A. The DVC, arguing about only four gospels in the Bible, alleges that thousands of Jesus’ followers wrote accounts of his life.

B. The first problem with this is that there were probably not thousands of people traveling with Jesus, certainly not for large periods of His life. The scripture says “the common people heard him gladly.” In the first century, most people, especially common people, were illiterate. The book also alleges that 80 gospels were considered for inclusion into the canon; this is simply not the case.

C. Other religious documents

D. Dead Sea Scrolls

E. The DSS was one of the most significant discoveries—especially of ancient documents—of modern time. The DVC refers to DSS scroll documents as an authority source for the conspiracy theory. In fact, the DSS contain no Christian documents at all; it is a large collection of Jewish writings kept by a Jewish sect that withdrew from Jewish society in anticipation of the end of all things.

F. Nag Hammadi documents

G. About 46 documents found in Egypt that contains Gnostic gospels, metaphysical reflections, and arguments about other Christians. Gnosticism is not a particular doctrine but general body of teaching. The Gnostics were heretical; it appears that John wrote his gospel and his epistles to address Gnostic heresies. The DVC says that the Gnostics celebrated the divine feminine and women did play prominent roles. However, they also believed in many gods, both male and female, in the divine realm. Though they had some prominent roles, the Gnostics did not praise the feminine but the destruction of it; they believed the feminine had to transcend itself to rise to the masculine then into god. GT 114:22 The DVC says that the documents portray Jesus as more human than divine; defending the opinion that Jesus did not consider himself as God but that later believers—particularly church councils—attributed divinity to Jesus after His death. In fact the opposite is true; the Gnostic gospels portray Jesus as more divine than do the Bible gospels (which balance humanity and divinity)

H. Forming the canon

I. The DVC alleges that the Roman Emperor Constantine commissioned the formation of the Bible and chose what books would be in the Bible and ordered the destruction on non-canonical works.

J. The canon—recognized inspired books—was forming centuries before Constantine and was completed after his death.

K. Early church copied and shared divine documents such as letters from Paul and the gospels. The canon was the collection of works that were clearly inspired.150 years before the time of Constantine, the four gospels were considered canonical and others were considered heretical. The modern NT canon was settled 50 years after Constantine’s death by Athanasius, bishop of Alexandria, in his letter to the Egyptian churches; however, his letter reflected what Christians had accepted for centuries with only a few books in question. There is no historical evidence that he ordered the destruction of non-canonical works.

VI. Did Jesus consider Himself divine?

A. The DVC claims that Jesus did not consider Himself God but that he was declared divine by a very close vote in the Nicean Council.

B. First, in the Scriptures Jesus clearly considered Himself divine

C. Called Himself the “I AM,” the name God gave himself to Moses. The New Testament writers acknowledged His divinity. The Jews understood His claim to divinity and tried to kill Him several times for what they considered blasphemy. The early Christians long understood that Jesus was divine

D. Council of Nicea

E. The council did not meet to determine whether Jesus was divine but rather how to understand His divinity.

F. There were two competing views:

G. Arius: Jesus was a created being and shares divinity, but was not God. Athanasius: Jesus was fully divine yet part of the one God—equal in substance. There was not close vote; the majority recognized Athanasius’ view as compatible with scripture.

VII. Conclusion: The book is filled with historical and Biblical errors that we did not have time to address here. There are many good books at the libraries and bookstores written by historians and religious history scholars that you might wish to consult. Some errors are historical fact errors (It was the Edict of Milan in 313 A.D., not the Nicean Council of 325 A.D. that brought an end to persecution). There are scholarly errors: assuming the Gnostic writings of Nag Hammadi have equal weight with the Bible canon: as the historian Bart Ehrman noted: “Just because a document is ancient does not mean it is accurate.” There are overstatements (1,000 of Jesus’ followers wrote his life story). There are blatant inaccuracies inserted to make the argument (that “companion” was the word for spouse or lover discussed earlier).

VIII. As a murder mystery, many found it fascinating. To me it was like hearing a TV show on speculative church history while reading a murder mystery. I have no problem with a mystery book using such information to carry forth the plot; I do not agree with the assertion that what is written is fact when it is not. Of course, our faith should not rest or fall on the work of a fiction writer; if it does, we have more studying to do.