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Errors of "The Da Vinci Code"
 

A Brief Summary of a Few of the Many False Claims in the “Da Vinci Code”

 

There are many books and articles in which Christians can read plenty of details regarding the false claims found in the book (recently made into a movie) by Dan Brown, The Da Vinci Code.  The purpose of this page is to simply provide a brief overview of some of the issues for those who want a quick summary.

 

If this material whets your appetite for a better understanding of early church history, you may want to check out our Early Church History Timeline

 

 

False Claim:

The Church did not view Jesus as being God until 325 AD, when the Council of Nicaea decided (by a “close vote”), for political reasons, to claim that He was God.

 

Truth:

The council merely affirmed what the church had already taught (and many Christians had died for) for 300 years. The vote was not “close.” (One source said it 218 to 2!) The council was called because a heretic, named Arius, had been teaching that Jesus was somehow “divine” but not co-eternal with God the Father. Arius (“Arianism”)  taught that the Father had created the Son, making Jesus a created being, not really God.

 

The council also decided that the church should celebrate the “Christian Passover” as the first Sunday following the Spring equinox, instead of Nisan 14 or the first Sunday following Nisan 14 (as many of the churches were doing).

 

 

False Claim:

Jesus was married to Mary Magdalene

 

Truth:

There is NO evidence anywhere that Jesus was married! It is certainly not Biblical. The early church fathers did a LOT of writing, but nowhere mention such a thing. Even the Gnostic writings to not mention it!  The so-called “Gospel of Philip” (which was written by Gnostics 150 to 250 years after Christ’s resurrection and supposedly teaches that Jesus and Mary Magdalene were married) says this:

There were three who always walked with the Lord: Mary, his mother, and her sister, and Magdalene, the one who was called his companion. His sister and his mother and his companion were each a Mary.

Note: The Greek word for “companion” in this passage is koinonos [from koinonia, “fellowship”]. It does NOT imply marriage! The book was originally written in Greek, not Aramaic.

 

False Claim:

Jesus kissed Mary often on the lips (This claim was "fixed" in the movie.)

 

Truth:

The manuscript of the Gnostic “gospel” of Philip is torn. It does not say where Jesus kissed Mary. It was common (and still is common in the Middle East and some other countries) to greet people with a kiss.

 

The manuscript is incomplete, with many gaps. It reads something like this:

And the companion of the [...] Mary Magdalene. [...] more than [...] the disciples, [...] kiss her [...] on her [...].

False Claim:

The emperor Constantine financed a new Bible. He used the council of Nicaea to take out the “original” gospels and substituted the ones we have today (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John).

 

Truth:

The council of Nicaea did not discuss what books would be in the Bible. Matthew, Mark, Luke and John had been recognized as Scripture by the early church from the first century. In the second century, Gnostics tried to bring in spurious writings to support their heresy. They called many of them “gospels” and gave them names of apostles. The church never recognized them as anything but heretical books.

 

 

False Claim:

The early church were “women haters,” ruining the reputation of Mary Magdalene for political purposes.

 

Truth:

Read the Bible. Mary Magdalene is held in high esteem. Jesus appeared to her first! The church actually elevated women, recognizing their equality with men in God’s sight.

 

In truth, Gnostic writings actually were degrading to women. For example in the so-called “Gospel of Thomas” (a Gnostic writing), the apostle Peter supposedly says, "Let Mary leave us, for women are not worthy of life." Jesus supposedly adds, "I myself shall lead her in order to make her male, so that she too may become a living spirit resembling you males. For every woman who will make herself male will enter the kingdom of heaven.”

 

False Claim:

The church put to death 5 million women (as witches) during the Middle Ages. (This claim was partially corrected in the movie.)

 

Truth:

It was not so much the church as it was the government.  The number was more like 50,000. About 10,000 of those were men. The church condemned the killings. (Note: We should recognize that it may be true that evil men, calling themselves Christians, have done many wicked things in the name of the Church and of the Lord. Of course, Christianity must not be judged on the basis of false practitioners, but on the basis of the Founder, our Lord Jesus Christ!)

 

False Claim:

The church “demonized” sex.

 

Truth:

The Bible denounces immorality. But clearly teaches that sex is a beautiful creation of God when limited to the marriage relationship. (e.g., “The two shall become one flesh”, The Song of Solomon, the “marriage bed is undefiled” [Hebrews 13:4], etc.)

 

 

False Claim:

The “Priory of Sion” was established in 1099 by the Knights Templar.

 

Truth:

An anti-Semitic Frenchman fabricated the “Priory of Sion” in 1956. Documents that supposedly proved that the organization was formed in 1099 were found to be fakes.

 

False Claim:

Christianity borrowed its key doctrines (including the resurrection of Jesus) from the pagan  “mystery religions” such as Mithraism.

 

Truth:

While Mithraism existed as early as 500 BC, the early writings are totally pagan and bear no similarity to Christian truth. Later writings that seem similar to Christian writings come from the 3rd and 4th centuries AD. Most likely, Mithraism “borrowed” its ideas from Christianity, instead of the other way around!

 

False Claim:

Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519) was “in on” the secret. (i.e., He was part of the “Priory of Sion.”) In his famous painting, “The Last Supper,” he painted Mary Magdalene sitting next to Jesus.

 

Truth:

Medieval artists often pictured John (because of his youth) as feminine looking. Da Vinci’s painting of John the Baptist also appears feminine, as do many of the paintings of Jesus. (By the way, if the person in the painting is Mary Madalene, then where is John, the Beloved Disciple?)

 

Steve Hall—May, 2006

 

Addendum on the Movie

 

Having seen the movie version of The Da Vinci Code, here are a few additional thoughts:

 

Even though the people who are responsible for the movie insist that it is meant to be only entertainment, with no claim to complete historical accuracy, it is clear that their intention was to do their best to give an impression of historical accuracy, while keeping intact the main false claims of the book--that Jesus is not God; that He married Mary Magdalene; that they had a child; that the "Holy Grail" represents the bloodline descendents of Jesus and Mary Magdalene.

 

For example, some of the more flagrant errors were "corrected." The book clearly claims the church killed 50,000,000 women. The movie partially corrected this error. The movie also tries to correct the false claim found in the book that the emperor Constantine (in the 4th century) invented the idea that Jesus was God. The claim that the so-called "Gospel of Philip" says that Jesus kissed Mary on the lips is "fixed" with a precisely timed interruption. Also, Langdon brings up the fact that  the "Priory of Sion" story is a  hoax. To which Teabing replies, "That's what they want you to believe."

 

There would have been no reason to make these kinds of changes if the movie was not trying to convey an atmosphere of historical accuracy.

 

Christians, of course, are portrayed as stupid, diabolical, weird, and dangerous.

 

A revealing line in the movie when Langdon, referring to the question of whether Jesus was human or divine (to which the Bible clearly says, "Both!"), says, "Maybe human is divine."

 

 

*****

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