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| Da Vinci-Code-Speak |
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 Have you noticed how much Da Vinci-Code-speak has entered our everyday Christian conversational language? I notice it quite regularly, but then I'm one of those impolite people who discusses religion in polite company. People are often saying some outlandish thing that obviously came from the Da Vinci Code. So, let's review how this fictitious book has become defacto truth in many people's eyes.
Da Vinci Code Fantasy
Dan Brown wrote the book the Da Vinci Code claiming that he thoroughly researched history discovering that Jesus had a child by Mary Magdalene, that the cup taken at the last supper was not the real holy grail, but this was code for her. He further claimed that Peter was jealous of her status and cooked up a conspiracy to conceal the family descendants of Christ and made sure that only male-dominated gospels made it into the Bible. Dan Brown further claimed that this conspiracy has continued to our day and that people have sometimes been murdered to cover it up.
Even naive Christians who only watched the movie purely for fun and entertainment as I did, have adopted some of its fiction as fact. How are we to approach such an attack on the historic Christian faith which has crept into our conversations? Perhaps we ought to start with the real facts.
Historical Fact
Biblical and historical scholars are unanimous that the Da Vinci Code does not even deserve the classification of historic novel, because its historical facts are most often not true. The Da Vinci Code is so full of errors, that we could waste a lot of time listing them all. An internet search will easily satisfy those who need more details. Here are just a few for starters:
1. Brown claims that there is a field of study at Harvard called religious symbolology. False! There is no such department and symbolology is not even a word.
2. The Louvre pyramid has 666 glass panes. False! There are 673.
3. Tarot was designed to pass on secrets banned by the Church. False! It was originally just a card game and tarot meant trump. Tarot cards were not associated with the occult until the 18th century.
4. Mona Lisa is an anagram of two pagan goddesses. False! It means Lady Lisa the wife of a silk merchant.
5. The Priory of Sion was founded in 1099 by a French King. False! It was a 20th century hoax created in a novel by Pierre Plantard.
6. The Knights Templar was the military wing of the Priory of Sion. False! The Knights Templar descended from a religious order created in 1118 during the Crusades to protect pilgrims traveling to the Holy Land.
7. More than 80 Gospels were considered for inclusion in the New Testament. False! There were only about a dozen books which could have been considered. The Gospels we have today were widely recognized for several centuries and finalized after careful consideration in the 300's AD. Matthew was accepted because he was one of Jesus' first followers and an eye-witness. Mark was accepted because he was Peter's translators, reflecting Peter's eye-witness testimony. Luke was accepted because he was an associate of Paul's who was specially commissioned by Christ. Finally, John was accepted because like Matthew, he was one of Jesus' first disciples and an eye-witness.
8. The notion that Jesus was divine was invented by Emperor Constantine. False! This was believed by the Church from the beginning. This particular error seems to be more popular than most, in conversations I have had.
9. The Dead Sea Scrolls are among the earliest Christian records. False! The Dead Sea Scrolls are totally Jewish. This too seems a popular misconception.
10. Early Jewish worship involved ritual sex in the temple. False! It was a forbidden Canaanite custom.
11. YHWH comes from Jehovah. False! It is the other way around. Jehovah is a 16th century German translator's attempt to assign vowels from a modern form of the Hebrew Adonai to the originally vowelless YHWH.
Conclusion
The Da Vinci Code is junk fiction. It is a novel which falsifies many facts of Christian history. As such, it seems to have an agenda. It does two things, one negative and one positive: it probably hurts the faith of those who do not know how, or cannot be bothered to check the facts for themselves, but at the same time it gives those who do know the truth, or are willing to research it, an opportunity for some discussion of the real issues of Christian history.
How can you discover more of the facts? A simple web search for words like Da Vinci Code facts or lies will produce many helpful articles and critiques. |
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| To add a comment to "Da Vinci-Code-Speak" |
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| May 21, 2008 |
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| The Da Vinci Code is a great example of our collective gullibility. Take a big pot of fiction and add a dash of fact, and we will believe it all. I read the novel and found it a brilliantly woven work of literature, making it also a very dangerous one. It is notable, however, that Dan Brown did not claim to believe these assertions, but wove them to make an interesting fictional read. He had no idea what a phenomenon he would set off. I was thrilled to see the movie fall far short of the novel, leading to a fizzle in interest, although I agree with you that much of the fiction has become a part of the religious thinking of many. Good post, Grant! |
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| May 22, 2008 |
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| I have neither read the book nor seen the film, just critics remarks were enough to deter me! It offended my spirit by its mere existence! Good post Grant! Stu |
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| May 22, 2008 |
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Kathy, I respect your point. Well made!
Stu, yes, that could be true!
Paul, it's not a must see, especially if you can't take the time to research and correct in your mind all the errors. For me, it made me dig and the digging was very beneficial and it was the movie that spurred me to research. Blessings! |
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| May 22, 2008 |
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| I've never read the book/seen the movie. When it came out I thought, "why allow false ideas and possible doubts into my head?" Like Stu, I felt offended by the attack on truth. BUT, that certainly doesn't mean I don't see some merit in at least reading the book, where dubious "facts" can be highlighted for further research. Good points have indeed been made in your blog Grant, and by Kathy in her comment. I especially like the idea of being able to refute the false claims of the book, thus turning the discussion into a witnessing opportunity. However, not many are talking about DaVinci Code anymore, so I may have largely missed my opportunity. |
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| May 22, 2008 |
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| I agree Mike. Not many are talking about the book anymore. However, the misinformation presented by the book seems to have passed into urban legend status -- the self-perpetuating falsehood. |
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