The DaVinci Code: Not Just Unbiblical but Anti-biblical
A commentary by Don Hooser
United Church of God pastor, Sedro-Woolley, WA
The DaVinci
Code by Dan Brown, published in March 2003, is claimed to be
the best-selling novel of all time—certainly the best-selling
novel in any one-year period. Over 40 million copies have been sold
and it has been translated into over 40 languages!
While it may be politically incorrect to criticize other's religion,
it seems to be open season on Christianity, especially all forms of Christianity
that would seriously attempt to be biblically accurate, as evidenced
in many of today's books, movies, and TV shows.
Now a movie adaptation of The DaVinci Code is being filmed.
It is due to be released in theaters May 19, 2006, starring Tom Hanks.
The DaVinci Code has become a pop-culture phenomenon. Why
is it so popular? Well, weird sells. And it has appeal for almost everyone.
Murder-mystery fans! Romance novel lovers! History buffs! Suspicious
conspiracy-theory zealots! Radical feminists! Present-day pseudo-intellectual
Gnostics! And some art enthusiasts who may be wondering if there really
are secret clues in the paintings by the Italian artist Leonardo DaVinci!
The DaVinci Code is riding a strange wave of interests: scandals
in the Catholic Church and other churches; growing interest in apocryphal
and Gnostic writings claiming to be gospel accounts of Christ; the "spirituality
is good but religion is bad" mindset; burgeoning biblical illiteracy;
and a general anti-Christian bias.
Our views and emotions are easily shaped by storytelling, whether in
books or movies. Authors who have agendas often manipulate us as to who
are the good guys or the bad guys.
In The DaVinci Code, with its sympathy toward "the sacred
feminine" the good 'guys' are its goddesses, especially
Mary Magdalene! This reinvented Christianity allows for a much looser
standard of morality.
Defenders will say, "Why criticize The DaVinci Code?
It's just a novel!" Yes, but it claims to be a historical novel.
To make that claim its historical parts should be true—which
is usually not the case in this book. As a result, countless people are
being deceived into believing a history which is nothing more than fantasy,
not an authentic rendering of truth!
At the very beginning of the book is this statement: "All descriptions
of artwork, architecture, documents, and secret rituals in this novel
are accurate." In reality, it incorporates many inaccuracies.
But more serious are its outright fabrications and distortions of history and theology. The
harm might be minimal for people who are well-grounded in the Bible and
read The DaVinci Code as a purely fictional story. But countless
readers who have very little biblical knowledge will form their primary
opinions about the Bible and about Jesus Christ from
this book! And because the book claims to have an accurate historical
basis, many Christians have become confused and disturbed.
In this short commentary I can mention just few of the fallacies in
this book. Thankfully, there are several books on the market and numerous
websites on the Internet devoted to exposing the myths and heresies in
it. The book Breaking the DaVinci Code by Darrell Bock
gives a very thorough critique. By searching the internet you will be
able to find much helpful information exposing the misleading ideas within
the book.
If you haven't heard the main premises, get ready for a shock.
This fictitious story presents Jesus Christ as a mere mortal prophet
and the New Testament Gospels as "fabrications." Jesus supposedly
married Mary Magdalene and she was carrying His child when He was crucified.
This Mary fled to France, where she gave birth to a daughter named Sarah.
Their descendants are living today, carrying on the royal blood line.
The womb of Mary Magdalene was the legendary "Holy Grail," which
held the sacred blood.
The story continues with more fictional premises: The truth about Jesus
and Mary Magdalene was kept alive by a secret society called the Priory
of Sion. An ongoing Catholic conspiracy, especially by Opus Dei, has
prevented this truth from coming to light because of prejudice against
women. The clue to Mary's prominent relationship with Christ is
that she supposedly is the figure to Jesus' right in Leonardo daVinci's
painting of "The Last Supper."
The theories in The DaVinci Code are not new. This book just
revives and popularizes long-debunked heresies. The main theories are
copied from a 1982 book: Holy Blood, Holy Grail.
  A
biblically based account of Jesus Christ, His message and His legacy
is now available to you free of any charge or obligation. Just request,
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