The Da Vinci Code: Fact or Fiction?

Richard Abanes writes concerning The Da Vinci Code:

How widespread is this phenomenon? Very. Several Internet sites, for example, have been devoted to discussing spiritual matters using The Da Vinci Code as a starting point. Churches across America are holding group discussions for those who wish to dialogue about the "facts" revealed in the book. ABC went so far as to air a TV special about Jesus Christ based on it. And Hollywood will be making The Da Vinci Code into a movie (to be released by Sony Pictures). "Even if you lived under a rock--a rock in a remote area of the Arizona desert--you could not avoid hearing about The Da Vinci Code," noted a January 2004 article. This remark coincided with Brown's novel reaching its forty-fifth week as a New York Times bestseller, having sold nearly six million copies. Less than a year earlier, a solon.com story had predicted, "Sometime in the next few weeks, someone you know is going to tell you they've read this fantastic new thriller called The Da Vinci Code, and before you can stop them they will have launched into a breathless description of the plot" (Abanes, The Truth Behind the Da Vinci Code, pg. 6).

The Da Vinci Code (DVC) has now sold nine million copies!

I have witnessed firsthand the expolosion of popularity the DVC has generated. At school, the mall, the airport, Starbucks... everywhere I turn I see people reading this bestseller. It is for this reason that I, and my buddy Adam, decided to read it.

My first impressions ... Dan Brown (the author) is a gifted writer. With chapters that are 2-3 pages long, and two parallel storylines, it is difficult to get bored.

Having said that, the DVC is anti-Christian through and through. Brown's agenda is as plain as day: that Christianity today is completely different than first-century Christianity. In the midst of this action-packed thriller, many historical claims are made. In fact, Brown prefaces his novel with this statement: "All descriptions of artwork, architecture, documents, and secret rituals in this novel are accurate." Quite a claim! Unfortunately for Brown, nearly all of his dealings with history are complete fabrication. Allow me to summarize some of the more outlandish claims Brown includes in his work:

(1) Christ was married to Mary Magdelene
(2) They had a child, resulting in a holy bloodline passed down through the ages
(3) This secret lineage has been protected by a secret society known as the Priory of Sion
(4) Christ's royal bloodline is known as the Holy Grail
(5) Orthodox Christianity has tried for centuries to cover up the truth about Christ (that he was married to Mary Magdelene) by destroying the Gnostic writings.
(6) Jesus' earliest followers considered him to be a prophet, not divine
(7) In the 4th century, the Roman Emporer Constantine and the Council at Nicea decided that Christ was God
(8) Also at this time, Constantine chose four out of eighty gospels to be included in the canon of Scripture ... four that showed men as the dominant figure, and women as the lesser gender.
(9) The Gnostics were the earliest Christians, and show a more balanced view of Christ, and the worship of the divine feminine.

Brown's claims go on and on...

If one takes the DVC and Dan Brown at his word, you are left with serious doubts about the person of Jesus Christ, the canon of Scripture, the inspiration of Scripture, the inerrancy of Scripture, Church History, and the Gospel itself. It is disappointing that most people that read the DVC tend to overwhelmingly embrace the truth-claims in the book. This book appears to be a novel full of accurate history. Brown certainly thinks as much. The realm of academia has not been overly critical with Brown's book. Could it be that "modern [liberal] scholarship" is enjoying this opportunity to slam the Christian faith?

I am grateful that facts are still facts, no matter how much Dan Brown wants to promote his anti-Christian worldview. In the above nine claims Brown puts forth, none of them have any basis for historical fact. None whatsoever. To put it bluntly, his recounting of history is laughable. Let me now respond to each of these claims:

(1) There is no historical evidence whatsoever that suggest Christ was married. Not even Gnostic sources imply him to have any form of romantic relationship.
(2) No historical basis for this claim.
(3) Refer to rebuttal points 1 and 2.
(4) No one has ever considered the Holy Grail to be a person.
(5) Anyone even remotely familiar with Church History is aware that this claim is unfounded. Very simply, there is no way a people who were heavily persecuted, could have gathered up all the Gnostic writings and destroyed them. Christians were struggling for their own survival.
(6) The New Testament documents, written in the first century, claim Christ's divinity. For example: John 20:28. Early Church Fathers from the second and third centuries likewise refer to Christ as a divine Person.
(7) The Council of Nicea had nothing to do with deciding upon Christ's divinity. Christians had believed Christ was God since the time of Christ (example: John 10:33). More than this, the Council of Nicea was more concerned about responding to Arianism, which claimed that Jesus was a second, lesser God.
(8) The Council of Nicea did not compile the Bible, or decide which Gospels to include in the canon of Scripture. I have no clue where Brown came up with the "eighty" gospels? Could he be referring to the works of the heretic Arius? (Though Arius did not claim to possess any gospels).
(9) The Gnostics were a split from Orthodox Christianity from the second to fourth centuries. They were dualists, and believed that matter was evil. Thus they denied the Incarnation of Christ, and believed salvation was the result of secret divine revelation. This greatly differs from Biblical Christianity by which God took on flesh to bear the sins of His people as a substitute.

*Takes a deep breath*

For more information about The Da Vinci Code, check out The Truth Behind the Da Vinci Code by Richard Abanes. Mr. Abanes has written a couple other books that have been immensely useful to me, and is a valuable resource in response to Dan Brown's work.

Dba Dba Dba and that's all folks.