In 2003, American author Dan Brown had his second book published, called The Da Vinci Code. It quickly became a best seller around the world and a Hollywood blockbuster with an Oscar-winning director and actor was soon released.
Both the book and the movie were hugely successful financially, and even though some literary masters really criticized the way Brown actually wrote, there is no doubt that it was his subject matter which really caused the hugest stir. According to the premise of the book, Leonardo da Vinci was not only a member of a secret Catholic sect, but he also painted Mary Magadelene into his world-famous “Last Supper;” this is vital to the story because it sets up the premise that Jesus Christ was in fact married to Mary Magdalene, she was pregnant with his child when he was crucified and that she escaped persecution by the ruling Romans, by fleeing to present day Marseilles in France, where she gave birth to Sarah, daughter of Christ and also originator of the French Merovingian Royal Family.
If one looks at the actual story of The Da Vinci Code, it centers around the murder of Louvre Museum curator, Jacques Sauniere, whose body is found naked and posed like da Vinci’s epic ‘Vitruvian Man’ drawing, with a cryptic message written next to his body and a pentacle drawn on his stomach with his own blood.
The main characters, symbologist Robert Langdon and cryptographer Sophie Neveu (conveniently also Sauniere’s estranged granddaughter) then take readers on a journey of physical, artistic and religious discovery. It turns out that the curator is in fact a Grand Master of the Priory of Scion, an ancient secret society dedicated to keeping certain vital secrets of Christianity, which if uncovered, could bring doubt into the faith and cause global religious turmoil.
The controversy of the book, lies in the fact that Dan Brown tried to pass off his fiction novel as something containing truth; evidenced when he stated during an interview in 2003 that, “Absolutely all of the novel” actually happened. In the same year, he was interviewed by CNN’s Martin Savidge, who asked him directly how much of the historical background was actually based on fact. “Ninety nine percent of it; the background is all true.” He further claimed that the novel is factual when speaking to Elizabeth Vargas in an ABC News special; she asked him if the book would have been the same if it had been published as a work of non-fiction or if it would have been different. “No,” he affirmed, “I don’t think it would have been different.”
Brown may have held back later from such bold statements, but he had never actually said that the book wasn’t all fiction. So what is it exactly about The Da Vinci Code that has lead to all these questions and has called into doubt many tenets of Christian belief? First and foremost, the novel quite openly states that Mary Magdalene herself, pregnant with Christ’s child, is the actual Holy Grail, as she is the bearer of the descendent of God’s Son, while a secret sect called the Priory of Scion hid, and is still responsible for hiding, Mary Magdalene’s physical relics as well as ancient documents proving Mary’s existence as an actual Hebrew princess.
Apparently Mary was purposely discredited by authorities as a prostitute as they didn’t want to add further support for her either as Christ’ wife or as bearer of his Holy offspring. With regards to the novel, it claims that Leonardo da Vinci, as well as Sir Isaac Newton were in fact members of the Priory of Scion and knew about Mary Magdalene’s status as the Holy Grail.
The book therefore supports a theory that the Catholic Church and much of mainstream Christianity has hidden the true identity of Christ and Mary Magdalene. It also suggests that the gospels in the Bible are not historically accurate, with the Catholic Church instrumental in hiding about eighty other gospels which promote other versions of Christ’s life.
The Da Vinci Code even says that the early church did not actually hold true that Jesus Christ was indeed the real Son of God and it actually voted for him to be portrayed as such at the vital religious Council of Nicaea in the fourth century.
If one examines these claims though and delves into theological resources, experts and opinions, there is an overwhelming consensus and agreement by church authorities that Dan Brown’s novel is in fact a complete work of fiction. According to one source, the theory that the core beliefs of Christianity had not been formulated until the Council of Nicaea is impossible, as the New Testament clearly show a definite understanding of orthodoxy and the core beliefs of Christianity. In fact, by the time the Council of Nicaea took place, Christianity, with its faith and belief system had already been established. Brown’s claim in the book that Christ’s status as the Son of God was called into question is a complete twisting of the truth as only two of the bishops chose to contest it. The Bible itself also clearly states in Matthew, Mark, Luke, Peter, John, James and Paul that Jesus is the Son of God and our Salvation is through the Christian faith.
With regards to other secrets, that Christianity has conspired to keep covered up, these include the Gnostic Gospels, which are apparently a range of over eighty hidden gospels, not included in the Bible, which are said to reveal and explain amongst other things, the status of Mary Magdalene as Christ’s wife, mother of his child as well as a Hebrew princess. In his book, Brown claims that the Church knew of all these gospels but only chose the four which most suited them. Again, the truth is that there are two collections of religious scriptures; one is called the ‘Nag Hammadi Library,’ consisting of a total of forty five titles. This library has been said to be the best resource on biblical history and the titles in this library are definitely not all gospels. The second collection is called ‘The Gnostic Scriptures’ and of its forty works, only three are titled ‘Gospel’.
Proof yet again that Brown has taken Biblical and religious history and twisted it somewhat to suit his novel, which would be perfectly acceptable surely if he didn’t claim quite so boldly that everything in the novel is true. Even the secret sect of The Priory of Scion was proved to be a hoax, made up by someone in the 1940s.
While there is no denying that The Da Vinci Code makes for an exciting read and allows readers to explore the world of fantasy and art quite exquisitely, it should be remembered that perhaps the author was overzealous in promoting his novel as Gospel Truth. After all, one can hardly argue and dispute facts and proof which are over two thousand years old.
Weight for me tomorrow. Paul
Paul Lambis is the author of “Where is Home?” – A journey of hilarious contrasts.
For more information on Paul Lambis, and to order his book online,
visit www.paul-lambis.com
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