The Da
Vinci Code Deception
Dan Brown’s
The Da Vinci
Code has sold over 25 million copies in 44 languages since it was published
in 2003. Amazon lists it (as this is written) as #36 on their sales list.
It is, (according to Brown), a fictional story set against a background that
leads the reader to assume is real. In fact, the background is a story is
poorly researched and highly inaccurate. There is a tiny, tiny bit of truth
there and this is awash in a mountain of lies and untruths. Dan Brown himself
should be aware of the errors in his book, leaving you to guess as to his
own motives and purpose.
The basic
premises of Brown’s story are that:
At the
time the book opens, the last four men carrying this secret are murdered. One of
the four leaves a clue at his death that is followed, much like a scavenger
hunt, through the book.
This same
book is now being made into a movie to be released next year. Directed by Ron
Howard and starring Tom Hanks with an international cast, those producing the
movie are already aware of the errors and are trying to downplay the religious
themes in the book. The scriptwriter for the movie is Akiva
Goldsman (“A Beautiful Mind”, “Cinderella Man”).
The
Apostle John writes of the Bible in Revelation:
For I testify to everyone who
hears the words of the prophecy of this book: If anyone adds to these things,
God will add to him the plagues that are written in this book; and if anyone
takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his
part from the Book of Life, from the holy city, and from the things which are
written in this book.
Rev
22:18-19 NKJV
Let’s
take a look at some of the specific errors.
The So-Called
“Facts”
At the
beginning of the book Brown states a few so-called facts. These “facts” are
expanded later in the book. The “facts” are shown here in italics. Are they
really facts?
Brown: The Priory of Sion – a European secret society
founded in 1099 – is a real organization. The Knights Templar, in turn, was
a militant order that had as a primary purpose to look for documents in the
ruins of
Fact: The Priory of Sion
is a hoax and did not exist until 1956. Only in that sense is it real. The
Knights Templar was a Crusade order that, among other things, was looking for
the Holy Grail. The Knights Templar has no connection to any Priory of Sion, as the priory was not founded until 1956. The Priory
of Sion, as founded, was a social club established by
a Pierre Plantard and three others. The club was
dissolved in 1957.
Brown: In 1975
Fact: This document (and was indeed “found”
in 1975) supposedly “proved” a bloodline descending from Mary Magdalene, through
the kings of France, down to the present day including a name “Pierre Plantard”. It was later proven a forgery. Pierre Plantard, who with two others instigated the forgery, confessed
the fraud on British television in February of 2005 (4). Brown should have
known that Leonardo da Vinci was never in any Priory
– neither were the others members mentioned in the documents. The Priory of
Sion didn’t even exist then. As for the documents
– the Judge dismissed Plantard as a harmless crank
and gave him a stern warning (3).
Brown: The Vatican prelature known as Opus Dei is a deeply devout Catholic sect
that has been the topic of recent controversy due to reports of brain-washing,
coercion, and a dangerous practice known as “corporal mortification.” Opus Dei
has just completed construction of a $47 million National Headquarters at243
Fact: Opus Dei is a real organization
headquartered at the address given by Brown, but is not secret and is a highly
respected organization endorsed by Pope John Paul II. The “Opus Dei” means
“worship God.” It has over 80,000 members in 60 countries.
Brown: All
descriptions of artwork, architecture, documents, and secret rituals in this
novel are accurate.
Fact: There is almost nothing accurate
about the descriptions of artwork, architecture, documents, and secret rituals
in this novel. The artwork, architecture, documents, and rituals are all
falsified as necessary to force Brown’s plot and conclusion. There is no
six-point Star of David (as Brown indicates) in the Rosslyn
Chapel where story ends. Brown states the Chapel was built by the Knights
Templar in 1446. The Knights Templar had nothing to do with this Chapel. The
opening location in the Louvre where the murder took
place does not exist in the museum. The sexual ritual in the book is real and
accurate, but has nothing to do with Christianity or true spirituality.
The Painting of the
Lord’s Supper
Brown
uses Leonardo da Vinci’s painting of the Lord’s
Supper to show how Leonardo sent a secret message about the so-called deity
of Mary Magdalene. Brown believes the painting to show the Eucharist, and
that the painting is actually Mary sitting at the right (or your left as you
view the painting) of Jesus. According to Brown, Mary is the Holy Grail of
history. The Holy Grail is not a chalice as generally assumed, but Mary Magdalene
herself.
In
reality, this is a painting of the moment of betrayal. John is to the right of
Jesus, and it is Peter and John in the painting declaring they cannot betray
Jesus. Leonardo and other painters of the time painted their figures from
styles, of which several hundred existed. Leonardo used a “student” style for
John, the youngest apostle and as a result John does not even have a beard
here. Leonardo developed the figures in his paintings from sketches. We have
his sketches of the figures in this painting, and Leonardo’s sketch of the
“John” figure to the right of Christ is labeled with his name in the sketches.
Probably
little, if any, or the original fresco is there today. It has been repainted
and restored at least seven times.
Brown’s Gender
Problem
There are
so many problem Brown’s view of women and sex that I can only touch on them
here. The problems involve both errors on how God views women and the role of
sex as well as historical errors. For a more detail overview, see the book by Garlow & Jones (3).
At creation
we see God created both man and woman. God imparted His sense of wildness
and adventure in both the man and the woman. God Himself is genderless. Both
man and woman were created in God’s image. In the man God put his strength,
in the woman God put his beauty and mystery. These are counterparts, and together
they form a unity and intimacy that points to the relationship that God wants
to have with
Brown
says that Eve ate the fruit and brought sin into the world. In truth, in Genesis
2 we see the command not to eat the fruit was given to the male, Adam, before
Eve was created. Adam was there when Eve ate the fruit – read the account. Adam
said nothing and did not give Eve any protection. The initial disobedience was
the failure of the man to give protection to Eve. This was first the sin of
Adam. In Romans
Unlike
Brown’s thesis that the New Testament was birthed by male chauvinists, we see
in Matthew a genealogy of Jesus that lists three women – a very unusual listing
for the culture of the time. In the Gospels we see Jesus treating women with
great tenderness, leading a cultural change that continued into the early
church. Remember it was a woman – Mary Magdalene – who was the first
evangelist. She was the first to witness the risen Christ and went to share the
news with the apostles.
There
were many distortions of the gospel by the early church from the third through
the fifth centuries in role of women in the church and culture. Church leaders
such as Tertullian, Jerome, and Augustine all made
anti-women statements. Other writers, however, affirmed the role of women in
the church. The Church today has a long list of women who made spectacular
contributions to the growth of the Kingdom. Again Brown twists the historical
facts to fit his fantasy.
The Sources for
Brown’s Heresy and Plot
Where did
Brown get such outlandish ideas? Let’s begin by looking at what is known as the
canon of the Bible.
The word
“canon” is a biblical idea. Paul, in Galatians 6:16, uses the Greek word kanon, or rule, to refer
to the basic apostolic teaching which they were asked to follow. It was a rule
of faith, Truth, and what the Christian should live by. For inclusion in the
New Testament:
The Old
Testament books for the canon were well defined by 400 B.C. and used in the
synagogue teachings. The definitive Old Testament canon was defined at the
Council of Jamnia in A.D.90. In Acts
For the
New Testament canon, the issue is more complex. At first the church had no real
need of a written word, as they had the Apostles. The Gospel was transmitted
orally. In addition, they expected the return of Christ to be imminent. As time
passed and the churches spread, there was an increasing need to have this message
in a written form as well as the letters by the apostles to the early churches.
Some 20 of the 27 books we have in the New Testament were easily accepted as
inspired and became an undisputed “canon” in the early church. The other seven
books: Hebrews, 2 and 3 John, Jude, James, 2 Peter, and Revelation – were
eventually accepted as inspired and added. All of the gospels were written
before 100 A.D, and probably by 70 A.D..- with the Gospel of John being the last written (2). The
early church did not define a canon. The canon defined the early church. Unlike
the fantasies of Brown, there was little if any political games defining this
in the early church with respect to this canon. People were being persecuted
and dying for their faith.
As time
passed and the original witnesses died, other books were written. The question
came up whether they should be included in the canon or not. For one reason
or another, none of these met the
conditions stated earlier for canon inclusion. These new writings can be put
into three groups:
As the
persecution intensified and the attempt was made to burn all sacred books,
there was a need to define what a sacred book was. For the purpose of this
definition, the New Testament “canon” was defined by Athanasium
in A.D. 367. He was the first to list the 27 books of the New Testament in the
order they are today (2). This canon was more formerly declared in A.D. 397 at
the Synod of Carthage.
There was
no Gutenberg Press in the early days of the church. The early Bibles were
laboriously copied by hand by scribes who did there work very carefully. None
of those original manuscripts exist today. Those early copies had a few errors,
but enough copies exist so that we have been able to produce a very accurate
Gospel that is a translation of the early manuscripts. Scholars believe that
earlier is better. The translations we have today are based on the earliest
manuscripts available.
Most of
Brown’s assumptions are based on what is known as the Gnostic gospels discovered
in
The Gnostic
heresy elevated Mary to a goddess and taught that Jesus was not divine. The
Judeo-Christian tradition, in contrast, argues that God lacks gender and
created both man and woman in His image. There were several Gnostic sects with
varying beliefs, but in all of these we can see the seeds of humanism.
According
to Brown,
Brown
says the establishment of Jesus as the Son of God (divine) was officially
proposed and voted on at the Council of Nicaea by a
close vote. As mentioned, Christ declared himself that He was divine, and the
“close” vote Brown’s character refers to centuries later was hardly close – it
was 316 to 2 (3). The apostles, early church, and Nicene bishops did not revise
history as Brown contends, they affirmed it.
Brown’s
description of the history of early Jewish history, the Gnostic gospels, and
the history of the church is loaded with multiple factual errors. Brown says
Much of
Brown’s invention of Mary as the wife of Jesus is based on a 1983 book Holy Blood, Holy Grail by Michael Baigent and others. They are suing Brown now for copyright
infringement. The fact that the lawsuit exists at all would tell anyone that Baigent and others are suing Brown for copying their
invention.
The plot
line of Brown’s book, to a large extent, is a variation of the plot of two
books by Lewis Purdue. One was The Da Vinci Legacy in 1983 and Daughters of God in 2000. The theory that Mary Magdalene was married
to Jesus lacks any evidence in any of the gospel texts, canon or Gnostic.
In fact, there is no evidence anywhere that explicitly indicates that Jesus
was married (2). What we do know is that Mary Magdalene was a follower of
Christ, Jesus ministered to her, she was at the crucifixion with the other
women, and she was the first person to report that Jesus rose from the dead.
There is nothing in the Bible to indicate this Mary was a prostitute. Most
historians agree that this was an invention of Pope Gregory I (3). There is
also nothing to indicate she was an adulteress.
Conclusion
The
elevation of Mary Magdalene to a wife or even divine by Brown and other
so-called scholars has no basis in early church history (2). You have to
rewrite history to give her that position.
Brown’s
book was not crafted from serious research (contrary to what he says), but from
a fantasy copied from the minds of others. A researcher carefully documents the
sources for his or her facts. Brown doesn’t do that, because he “invented” his “facts”
or copied them from others that invented them.
What was Dan
Brown’s purpose in writing a story that has so many errors and distortions?
What was his purpose in leading the reader with tiny bits of truth to a
conclusion so false? Was Brown after fame? Money? Was
he angry at the Church? Christianity? Why does he refuse
to dialog with those who know the truth? Perhaps Brown’s reason from writing
such a fantasy is the only mystery of his story.
And the Holy Grail? There is a bit of truth in Holy Blood, Holy Grail when the authors write that “the Grail is
the receptacle or vessel that received and contained Jesus’ blood.”:
Then He took the cup, and gave
thanks, and gave it to them, saying, "Drink from it, all of you. For this is My blood of the new covenant,
which is shed for many for the remission of sins…”.
Matt 26:27-28 NKJV
The Holy
Grail is the receptacle of the blood of Jesus, shed for our sins. Those who
have received forgiveness through the blood of Christ are the Holy Grail.
The Church is the Holy Grail, not Mary.
Brown’s book, as well as other Gnostic books, are very popular today
beyond the simple fact that Brown can write a good story. There is a growing
interest in our culture to throw out the religious absolutes such as the Ten
Commandments, Creationism, strong family values, sex only within the marriage
vows, and integrity in business and politics. These are then replaced with
do-it-yourself religions and liberalism that includes free sex, feminism, lack
of legal absolutes, and unethical politicians and corporate leaders (who often
claim they are Christians). Humanism, witchcraft, and other aberrations of the
faith can be taught in public schools, but not Christianity or the Ten
Commandments. There is a broad-based effort to restructure our whole society,
and the Christian Gospel is twisted as necessary to accommodate this change. It
is for this reason that Brown’s book is dangerous.
Brown’s
book espouses a brand of neo-paganism and a concept of “the sacred feminine”
that is rapidly permeating our culture, much as these same forces permeated
This
doesn’t mean we should ignore Brown’s book, however. We should study it and be
prepared to defend the faith, answering to those who are trapped in this
Gnostic and humanistic deception. This is a wonderful opportunity to expose
Brown’s heresy for what it is and lead people to the true faith in Christ.
Resources
Each of
these, in turn, leads to many other references.
Also on
the web:
www.breakingthedavincicode.com
DVD:
The Da
Vinci Code Deception: Fact vs. Fiction: Your Guide to the Truth, A
Grizzly
©
2005, Strategic Resources Ministry,