May 22
The Da Vinci Code Nonsense
On the occasion of the release of the movie version of The Da Vinci Code, I decided it was time for me to address this controversy. The book has already sold more than 60 million copies, and has received a huge amount of coverage in the press.
Dan Brown's book has been out for three years now. The reason I didn't feel the need to comment on the book until now has been because I see it as part of a continuous plan to erode the authority of the Bible.
A few weeks ago, the gnostic Book of Judas was being promoted by the press. In January, "The Book of Daniel" was all the rage. Once Brown's book fades from bestseller list, some other collection of blasphemy will take its place.
After reviewing the content of The Da Vinci Code, I'm shocked at how something so riddled with factual errors can be given any amount of credibility. Because the book has reached millions of people, I do realize the need to set the record straight.
Here are nine key errors that The Da Vinci Code promotes:
The Bible was put together by the pagan Roman Emperor Constantine.
The Gospels have been edited over the years.
Jesus was not the Son of God.
Jesus was not viewed as God until the fourth century.
Jesus was married to Mary Magdalene.
Mary Magdalene was to be given the rank of goddess.
Jesus and Mary Magdalene had a daughter named Sarah.
Mary Magdalene appears in Leonardo Da Vinci's painting, "The Last Supper."
The Catholic Church has been trying to keep this information a secret.
The funny thing about trying to do any fact checking on The Da Vinci Code is that it quickly disintegrates under any amount of scrutiny. I watched two documentaries on the book and in both cases, the programs were unable to follow Brown's claims of "historical facts."
The New Testament writings were never under the control of one group that had the opportunity to choose what would be included in Scripture. Because early believers were constantly on the run, transcripts of the Gospels were quickly disseminated to all areas of the known world. If the Emperor of Rome decided to monkey with the text, the translation from North Africa and Asia would reveal his duplicity.
Dan Brown should have chosen an earlier date for his rewrite of the Bible. The canon was already set in stone nearly 200 years before Constantine came along.
While there are thousands of documents that support the authority of the Bible, Brown only has a single source for many of his claims. Some of them are simply laughable.
He relied on the publication, "Holy Blood, Holy Grail," for information on the Mary Magdalene bloodline being traced to France. "Holy Blood, Holy Grail" used documents provided by Pierre Plantard, a man who spent time in jail for fraud. In 1993, Plantard, under oath, admitted that he made up the bloodline scheme.
People who have studied church history all their lives are probably pulling their hair out over the claims made by The Da Vinci Code. The book is pure garbage. The only reason it is able to be presented as factual is because the average Christian does not understand church history.
The Da Vinci Code is the product of a demonically inspired marketing machine. The book has received media coverage by hundreds of major media organizations. With all the free advertising the book has received, how could it not be a best-seller? The book has been so pervasive, I'm surprised The Food Channel hasn't jumped on the bandwagon by having a show that features Da Vinci-area Italian cuisine!
Dan Brown's book has no hope of altering Church history. Its major impact will be in causing people to feel more comfortable with their own lack of faith. They can reason that the Bible is so unreliable, there is no need to worry about the state of their eternal soul.
Ian McKellen, who had a supporting role in the movie, gave a good summation of this type of attitude. "Well, I've often thought the Bible should have a disclaimer in the front saying this is fiction."
Tom Hanks plays the lead character in The Da Vinci Code movie. He recently appeared on Saturday Night Live, opening the show by taking several questions from cast members dressed as clergy and Jesus himself. Comedian Chris Parnell, in the guise of a cardinal, asked the actor, "I was wondering when you were making the film and you were meeting with the producers and writers and the director, in all that creative process, did you ever wonder what it would feel like to burn for eternity in hell?"
The question was designed to poke fun at The Da Vinci Code controversy. I found the question ironic in that Mr. Hanks and everyone associate with the book some day will have to revisit that question. When that day comes, it no longer will be a joking matter.
"For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book: And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book" (Rev 22:18-19).
--- Todd
Other Gods Revisited
My friend David sent me an article this week that sparked the thought. The ancient times and these troubled times during which we live are seemingly connecting, much like a string, when in a circle, comes together at each end. This is just what Jesus prophesied:
“And as it was in the days of Noe, so shall it be also in the days of the Son of man. They did eat, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark, and the flood came, and destroyed them all.
Likewise also as it was in the days of Lot; they did eat, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they builded;
But the same day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven, and destroyed them all.
Even thus shall it be in the day when the Son of man is revealed” (Lk 17:26-30).
The ends of the metaphorical string of linear history are coming together in a religious sense, just as in all other areas of life on Planet Earth. Proof is found in the article sent me by David this past Thursday:
“It has taken almost 2,000 years, but those who worship the 12 gods of ancient Greece have finally triumphed. An Athens court has ordered that the adulation of Zeus, Hera, Hermes, Athena and co. is to be unbanned, paving the way for a comeback of pagans on Mount Olympus…” (Greek gods prepare for comeback, guardian.co.uk/international/story, Helena Smith in Athens, Friday May 5, 2006).
Neo-pagans are taking –indeed have for the most part already taken--over the so-called post-Christian culture in every “civilized” society on earth, it seems. Europe has for decades now been moving back toward ancient roots of anti-God practices. The Netherlands, in particular, has declared all anathema that might be considered Christian. The Scandinavian nations are frozen in the advancing glaciers of hedonism. Most of Europe is turning out the Gospel light, to the extent the God of Heaven will allow.
Continuing with the story above, we see the endtime attitude that pervades this generation of earth-dwellers:
“The followers, who say they ‘defend the genuine traditions, religion and ethos’ of the ancients by adhering to a pre-Christian polytheistic culture, are poised to take their battle to the temples of Greece.
‘What we want, now, is for the government to fully recognise our religion,’ Vasillis Tsantilas told the Guardian. ‘We will petition the Greek parliament, and the EU if that fails, for access to worship in places like the Acropolis, for permission to have our own cemeteries and, where necessary, to re-bury the [ancient] bones of the dead.’”
Those who are attuned to God’s prophetic Word can hear echoing in those demands the woman astride the beast, as depicted in Revelation, chapter 17. Antichrist’s regime will, no doubt, accede to these demands –at least for a time.
The United States of America is not far back in lining up for the return to paganism. As a matter of fact, in some ways, this nation leads the way. No other sector of earth can so afford, in wealth, thus in time, to immerse itself in the self-indulgence that leads in the opposite direction of God’s plan for mankind. The entertainment-mad masses eagerly grasp at pure fiction that blasphemes God, who sent His only begotten Son to die, so that they might be redeemed from the sin in which we, apart from Christ, are so hopelessly mired.
The DaVinci Code and the 45 million-plus copies that have been greedily clutched to the hearts of readers, and the movie of the same name released last Friday that has them lined up around the blocks surrounding the theaters, stand as irrefutable witnesses that the wholesale return to paganism is well underway. The phenomenon is far more than mere curiosity. It is manifestation of an insatiable hunger for gods other than the God of Heaven.
Let us who name the name of Jesus not fall prey to the seducing spirits and doctrines of devils that have invaded in this last time.
--Terry
