Commentary; Posted: 6/21/06
The Da Vinci Code revisited
Rev. John C. Blackford,
Religion Columnist
Last August, after the publishing of Dan Brownís best-seller, The Da Vinci Code, this column addressed the bookís impact, especially on the church.
The author centered his dramatic 2003 thriller on the murder of a curator in the Louvre Gallery in Paris, and on painter Leonardo da Vinciís famous canvases, ìMona Lisaî and ìThe Last Supper.î
In his book, Brown wrote of a ìcodeî he believes was placed on them by da Vinci, and of the clue left before the victimís death that send his granddaughter (a police cryptologist) and his colleague (a Harvard professor) on a search for the killer.
The Da Vinci Code is more than a fictionalized mystery. It is heavily into religious themes, and challenges the authenticity of generally accepted western and Christian history.
Now, with the release of a film version, and because of the interest in, and controversy over it, this further critique seems appropriate.
Collin Hansen, who wrote about the book in Christianity Today, has asked ì5 Big Questions from The Da Vinci Codeî in a brief guide to the film.
He says, ìAlready an international publishing sensation, it is now a feature film direct by Ron Howard and starring Tom Hanks. The compelling story written by Dan Brown blurs the line between fact and fiction, so moviegoers have joined readers wondering about the origins and legitimacy of orthodox Christianity.î
The first question Hansen asks is, ìWas Jesus married to Mary Magdalene?î
She was close to the Savior, and He revealed Himself to her on the day of resurrection, ìBut we have no reason to believe they were married.î
Brown says ìThe Last Supperî reveals the secret and that the figure to Jesusí right, traditionally known as the apostle John, is actually Mary.
ìNot true,î Hansen comments, and says, ìArtists often gave characters feminine features to portray youth. John was the youngest of the disciples.î
ìWhat about these alternative gospels that are not in the New Testament?î is Hansenís second question. Against Brownís claims that the earliest Christian text is the Gnostic gospels which portray a merely human Jesus, is the fact that scholars, some of them not Christians, have pointed out that the earliest text we have is the four gospels of the New Testament.
Later Gnostic writings go to the other extreme, presenting a Jesus who is ethereal and only marginally human.
Church leaders who led in the compilation of the New Testament in its current form, were careful in those early days to consider basic historic criteria, and to reject material which contradicted what those closest to Jesus had written.
The third question: Were there competing versions of Christianity in the early church?
Yes, in the sense there were many disputes about the nature of Jesus. The church has done its best to answer challenges to basic beliefs.
In the important Council of Nicea in 325 AD, Constantine, the first Roman emperor to legalize Christianity, called this meeting of leaders around the Christian world to debate Arianism, which held that God created Jesus.
Dan Brown holds that Constantine wished to introduce a new divine Jesus on par with the Father.
On the contrary, earlier documents showed most of His followers already called Him Lord, the Jehovah or Yahweh, of the Old Testament.
The Council members rejected Arianism, and affirmed that God and Jesus existed together in the Trinity. They produced the first drafts of what became the Nicene Creed, a landmark explanation of Christian faith.
Opus Dei, a conservative religious group within the Roman Catholic Church, is the fourth concern.
It urgers priests and lay people to pursue sanctification through everyday discipline.
The group has taken criticism for its conservative views, zeal and secretive practices.
There is no evidence that Opus Dei has resorted to murder, nor that the Vatican has entrusted it to guard violently, if necessary, the Churchís darkest secrets, as Dan Brown claims in The Da Vinci Code.
The fifth question, ìDoes the Priory of Sion really exist?î, is yes, but not as described by Brown.
Researchers suspect that members of the real-life Priory of Sion, founded in 1956, forged documents that placed major historical figures, such as Isaac Newton and Leonardo da Vinci, in an ancient secret society.
There is no evidence for this group beyond dubious documents and any story relating them to a dynasty begun by Jesus and Mary Magdalene ìis a fanciful work of fiction,î according to Hansen.
Reactions to the film are interesting.
In the Minneapolis Star Tribune on May 19, a reviewer describes it as ìlong and winding,î and ìa limp adaptationî which ìwould try the patience of a saint.î
In India it was delayed in its release by a censorship board, and shown only after statements were inserted at the beginning and end of the movie saying the film is fiction.
This action was in deference to Christians, who are a minority in that country.
Chinese authorities took the film out of theaters there, after concerns expressed by the Christian minority, that the film was a political risk which could threaten social stability.
To see, or not to see, The Da Vinci Code is the readerís choice. Perhaps the real issues raised by this article will furnish guidelines, whatever decision you make.
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