It is in great hope that you are reading this because you have read the novel by Dan Brown, “The Da Vinci Code,” and that it caused you to think about Jesus Christ, faith and Christianity. If for one moment this novel made you think about what it is you believe in, then this book served a purpose. There is no doubt that it has caused many heated debates since being released in 2003… going to take a look at several of the most talked about statements in the novel, and from a Christian standpoint, we will supply facts as to why those statements are inaccurate.
Jesus and Mary Magdalene
…Jesus lived during the first century of this era. The New Testament that talks about the life and death of Jesus, historians that were born during the same century wrote accounts of Jesus’ life and death, and a collection of Rabbinical writings as well as letters that were written around 96 AD make no mention of a marriage between Jesus and Mary or that there was a child. These documents were written by people that were followers as well as by people that did not believe in the miracle of Jesus…
The Gnostic Gospel
It is important that you have some background information about he Gnostic Gospel. They were discovered in 1945 at Nag Hammadi in Egypt. It is believed by many scholars that it was written approximately 150 years after Jesus. The person responsible for writing the “Gospel of Philip” is unknown and it is considered a non-Christian document.
Now there are many writings in the Gnostic Gospel itself that were written about the same time that seem to borrow names, ideas and concepts from the Christian New Testament…
The Dead Sea Scrolls and the Gnostic Gospel
The Dead Sea Scrolls are approximately 900 documents that are written in Hebrew, Aramaic and Greek. They were found in caves near Jerusalem in and ancient village called Qumran between the years of 1947 and 1956. The Dead Sea Scrolls contain some of the oldest copies of parts of the Old Testament. They also contain writings of a religious group called Essenes. This group was based in Israel in 200 BC and they lasted until 100 AD.
It has been the attempt of many to try to show there is a connection between Christianity and the Dead Sea Scrolls. They have even gone as far as to say that they are not the word of God, but instead the basis for the New Testament. Yet several sources that have read the scrolls state there is no mention of Jesus anywhere in the Dead Sea Scrolls…
… As a Christian you know that they New Testament is a continuation of the Old Testament, and in reading it you will notes that there are several references to the Old Testament including details about what the life of the land was like in Israel during the first century…
Da Vinci was a Pagan
To disprove this statement we need look no further then to the first biography written about Leonardo Da Vinci by Giorgio Vasari. This book was published in 1550, and in it Da Vinci repented his sins and confessed that Christianity was were his faith lie near the end of his life. It is stated in the biography that Da Vinci desired “‘to be informed of Catholic practice and of the good and holy Christian religion, then, after many tears, he repented and confessed.” It goes on to say that in this document that was penned in front of witnesses and stated by Da Vinci himself that he “commends his soul to Almighty God” (not the goddess), “to the Blessed Virgin Mary” (not Magdalene), and “to Saint Michael and all the angels and saints in paradise.” – “The Truth Behind The Da Vinci Code,” by Richard Abanes, page 65.