The DaVinci Code: Separating Fact from Fiction

33 Pages·2004·0.18 MB·English

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THE
DA VINCI CODE:
Separating Fact
From Fiction
RReleased in March 2003, the
bookThe Da Vinci Code
by Dan Brown quickly
made TheNew York Times
bestseller list. A year later, it
CONTENTS
was declared a bestseller in 100
countries, while Doubleday, its
“Please,Help Me!” . . . . . 2 publisher, called it “the all-time
bestselling adult novel.”
What Is The Truth?. . . . . 3
Why such interest? The
Separating Fact
author claims to have given
From Fiction. . . . . . . . . 28
the world a fictional, fact-based
Test The Spirits. . . . . . . 31
conspiracy theory alleging
“scientific evidence that the
New Testament is false
testimony” (p.341).
Because a “good read”
combined with bad history is not
something to stake your life on,
we have asked RBC research
editor Dennis Fisher to help us
sort out the facts from the fiction.
Martin R. De Haan II
Managing Editor:David Sper Cover Design:Terry Bidgood
Scripture quotations are from the New King James Version.Copyright © 1982 by Thomas
Nelson,Inc.Used by permission.All rights reserved.
© 2005 RBC Ministries,Grand Rapids,Michigan Printed in USA
© RBC Ministries. All rights reserved.
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“PLEASE,
25+ years I’ve been a
HELP ME!” Christian all a lie? Was
Jesus just a man? Did
TThe e-mail reached it all really happen?
our office with a Was He married to Mary
sense of urgency. Magdalene? Is everything
This is what it said: I was raised to believe
Dear RBC, just made up for the
I don’t know where else sake of money? I have
to turn. I pray to God to know.
that you can help me. I don’t know where
I began to read the else to turn. Now I am
book by Dan Brown doubting if there is a
called The Da Vinci Code. heaven, a God, and
It was an interesting book Jesus. Please, help
until I got to the part me! Please, in God’s
where he’s talking about name, help me. I’m
how Christianity began, brokenhearted, confused,
how it’s all false, and that and still crying.
Christianity is basically a This person’s response is
lie and stolen from pagan not surprising. The Da Vinci
religions. The secret Codehas a storyline that
societies, the Holy Grail, makes it difficult to know
the church changing where the truth begins and
facts, removing parts of ends. Although it’s written as
the Bible. Is it all true? a novel, this conspiratorial
So much of it makes murder mystery claims to
sense. There were things be based on well-researched
that I had heard before historical facts—facts that
and ignored. But now I contradict historical
have to know. Is the last Christianity.
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WHAT IS THE
chain of knowledge.
TRUTH? Suddenly, now, despite
all the precautions . . .
DDan Brown’s novel despite all the failsafes
The Da Vinci Code . . . Jacques Saunière was
begins with the the only remaining link,
murder of Jacques Saunière, the sole guardian of one
curator of the Louvre of the most powerful
Museum in Paris. As he is secrets ever kept.
dying, Jacques hears his Shivering, he pulled
murderer say, “When you himself to his feet. I must
are gone, Iwill be the only find some way. . . (p.5).
one who knows the truth.”
The truth. In an instant, What is the plotline
the curator grasped of The Da Vinci Code?
the true horror of the The complex story of The
situation. If I die, the Da Vinci Codeis one of
truth will be lost forever intrigue and conspiracy.
(p.4). While in Paris on
With a bullet lodged in business, a Harvard
his stomach, the curator is professor by the name of
gripped by . . . Robert Langdon receives an
a fear far greater than urgent call. The curator of
that of his own death. the Louvre art museum has
I must pass on the secret. been found murdered. The
. . . He thought of the police are baffled by an
generations who had encoded message left by the
come before them . . . dead man and written with
of the mission with his own blood. Langdon
which they had all been follows the trail of this
entrusted. An unbroken mystery, which leads to
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clues left in the works of compelling blend of history
Leonardo Da Vinci. He joins and page-turning suspense.”
efforts with cryptologist
Sophie Neveu, Saunière’s Why are some
granddaughter, and together readers shaken
they discover that the dead by this novel?
curator was part of a secret Central to the controversy
society, the Priory of Sion, is the book’s alleged exposé
whose members included of the historic church and
Isaac Newton, Victor Hugo, its Bible. Since followers of
and Leonardo Da Vinci. Christ stake their lives on
Behind the scenes, the biblical record, The
Opus Dei, a Catholic lay Da Vinci Codetouches a
organization, is plotting to nerve when its alleged
prevent the discovery of expert declares, “The church
an ancient secret, the Holy has two thousand years of
Grail, kept hidden by the experience pressuring those
Priory of Sion for centuries. who threaten to unveil its
If discovered, it would lies. Since the days of
shake the foundations of the Constantine, the church
church and the faith it has has successfully hidden
proclaimed for millennia. the truth about Mary
Dan Brown’s plotline Magdalene and Jesus. We
draws strength from public should not be surprised that
knowledge of past and now, once again, they have
present church scandals and found a way to keep the
has been recommended as a world in the dark” (p.407).
good and provocative read Brown claims ancient
by prestigious critics. The evidence that Jesus was
Library Journalrecommends not a God-man as described
The Da Vinci Codeas “a by the church. Instead, the
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novel’s “experts” describe alien. Its mythological
Jesus as a mere man who setting of redemption
had a child with Mary leads to a depreciation
Magdalene and gave her the of the historical events
responsibility of leading His of the life, death, and
disciples after He was gone. resurrection of Jesus.
The source of these Its view of man’s
allegations is a collection relationship to God
of ancient Gnostic gospels leads to a denial of the
found at Nag Hammadi, importance of the person
Egypt, in 1945. The Secret and work of Christ, while,
Books Of Jamesand The in a Gnostic context,
Gospel Of Thomasare just “salvation” is not
two of these documents understood in terms of
that reflect the ancient deliverance from sin, but
philosophy of Gnosticism. as a form of existential
From the early days self-realization (The
of the Christian church, New Bible Dictionary).
Gnostics promoted a Although the Gnostic
different view of Christ. gospels are second- and
They claimed to have a third-century writings,
“secret knowledge” that The Da Vinci Coderegards
was necessary to know them as the “lost books
the truth about God. of the Bible” that represent
Regarding the the true picture of Jesus
second-century teaching and His teachings.
of Gnosticism, one modern Secret knowledge, goddess
source says, worship, and self-deification
From the standpoint of emerge as an alternative
traditional Christianity, theory to the historic record
Gnostic thinking is quite of the Bible.
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Why were the accounts, and instead of
Gnostic gospels resting on the foundations
excluded from of the Jewish Scriptures, the
the Bible? Gnostic gospels reflect a
There are many reasons worldview that is foreign
the Gnostic gospels were to both Old and New
not included in the Bible. Testaments.
Early church leaders found
consensus in determining Why are so many
whether ancient Christian taking The Da Vinci
documents were sacred Code seriously?
by asking some basic On the title page of The
questions: Was it written Da Vinci Code, the author
by an apostle of Christ claims: “All descriptions
or by someone who had of artwork, architecture,
direct contact with the documents, and secret
apostles? Did the writings rituals in this novel are
in question receive wide accurate.”In addition,
acceptance as being Brown offers a lengthy list
consistent with the teaching of acknowledgments that
of Christ and the apostles? leave the impression that all
Did they bear the mark and of these prestigious sources
effect of spiritual power and and institutions collaborated
truth? with him in his research.
None of the Gnostic Since so much of the
gospels measure up to the complex plot and theme
New Testament standard development are dependent
of reliable documents. upon Dan Brown’s claim of
Instead of being consistent legitimate research into real
with the earliest and people, times, and places,
most reliable eyewitness it’s easy for the reader to
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assume that the backbone the book’s alleged factual
of The Da Vinci Codeis basis does not stand up.
credible. Because the heroes Richard Abanes, in his
of the novel are “seekers book The Truth Behind
of truth,” they seem to be The Da Vinci Code, writes:
leading us to higher ground, Most critics would
as when a Harvard professor acknowledge that
says, “I’m a historian. I’m Brown has the right to
opposed to the destruction say whatever he wants to
of documents, and I would say. What is problematic,
love to see religious scholars however, is the way that
have more information to he, his publisher, and
ponder the exceptional life the media have been
of Jesus Christ” (p.342). presenting The Da Vinci
This is the apparent Code:as a fact-based
passion for truth expressed exposé wherein the
by another of the book’s characters reveal truths
heroes, a researcher by the long hidden from, or at
name of Teabing, who makes the very least ignored by,
statements like, “It’s a the general public (p.9).
matter of historical record, This observation is
. . . and Da Vinci was important because Brown
certainly aware of that fact. has repeatedly insisted that
The Last Supperpractically his novel is based on fact.
shouts at the viewer that During an interview he said:
Jesus and Magdalene were One of the many
a pair. . . . The marriage of qualities that makes
Jesus and Mary Magdalene The Da Vinci Code
is part of the historical unique is the factual
record” (pp.244-245). nature of the story. All
On closer look, however, the history, artwork,
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ancient documents, and imagination and creative
secret rituals in the novel style to master his art.
are accurate—as are the He must be a master
hidden codes revealed of the past so as to
in some of Da Vinci’s portray accurately ideas,
most famous paintings attitudes, tendencies,
(ibid, p.9). and themes and weave
This is what makes his story—accurate in
The Da Vinci Codeso all its details—into the
misleading. It claims to be thematic materials. . . .
an accurate portrayal of Historians and novelists
history. Yet the book is a often differ in their points
seductively clever mix of fact of view about the
and fiction. historical novel and its
purpose. However, both
Does The Da Vinci agree that the writer of
Code deserve to historical fiction must
be thought of as not distort past reality;
historical fiction? the writer must not
Historical fiction is a genre manipulate historical
of literature in which facts to make the novel
imaginary characters more interesting or
live within the realistic exciting (Yale-New
boundaries of known facts. Haven Teachers
In her class syllabus Institute).
Using Historical Fiction By this definition, The
In The History Classroom, Da Vinci Code would need
Sarah K. Herz writes: to develop its plot with
The author of historical historical integrity. When
fiction must blend challenged on his facts, the
historical facts with author cannot rightfully say,
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“It’s only a novel.” Such Jesus Christ by having His
positioning places the reader child. The book also treats
in a schizophrenic world of as fact the existence of a
fact and fiction. secret society called the
Dan Brown writes an Priory of Sion, which for
“alternative history” without centuries has kept the
giving the reader the ability secret of Jesus’ relationship
to see where his facts begin to Mary. Mary Magdalene,
and end. Literary scholars according to this bestselling
see the difference; the novel, represents the
average reader may not. feminine aspect of God
Let’s look at how the (the “divine feminine”)—
“what if” history of The loved by Jesus but denied
Da Vinci Codeplays out by the church for hundreds
with elements that are of years.
alleged to be factual. The Knights Templar are
also included as protectors
Are the book’s claims of the secret but were all but
about the Holy Grail, wiped out by the church.
the Priory of Sion,and The Holy Grail and
the Knights Templar the Priory of Sion are only
historical? two of the many “facts” that
According to The Da Vinci need to be subjected to a
Code,the legendary Holy historical “reality check.”
Grail is not the chalice used The Holy Grail is a
at the Last Supper of Christ. medieval legend about the
Instead, Brown uses his cup of the Last Supper. The
“experts” to suggest that the first appearance of the term
real Holy Grail is a person, “Holy Grail” was in 1170 in
Mary Magdalene, who Perceval, a romantic writing
carried the bloodline of about the legend of King
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Arthur and his kingdom order founded in Jerusalem
of Camelot. When Brown in 1100 that was absorbed
suggests that the Holy Grail into the Jesuits in 1617.
is not a cup but actually The second and third
Mary Magdalene who Priory of Sion were each
carried on Jesus’ bloodline under the leadership of Pierre
by having His child, he alters Plantard (1920–2000), an
an existing legend about the anti-Semitic Frenchman who
historical “cup of Christ” and went to jail in 1953 for fraud.
uses it to advance fictional In 1954, Plantard formed a
claims about Jesus and Mary. group called the Priory of
Sion to help those in need of
low-cost housing. The group
Brown alters an
dissolved in 1957. Then in
existing legend the 1960s and 70s he created
about the historical a series of forged documents
to “prove” the existence of a
“cup of Christ”and
bloodline descending from
uses it to advance Jesus and Mary through the
fictional claims kings of France to himself
(claiming to be the rightful
about Jesus and
heir to the throne). He
Mary. and his associates called
themselves the Priory of
Sion and deposited these
The Priory of Sion also documents in libraries all
has a basis in fact, but not over France, including the
in the sense that Brown National Library.
portrays it. The title has In 1993, however,
been used three different Plantard admitted under
times. It was first a monastic oath to a French judge that
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