I have no desire to promote The Da Vinci Code, either in book or movie form, but I believe that those concerned with truth should be informed. Don’t waste your money buying this book or seeing the movie.

My first encounter with the dangers of The Da Vinci Code [hereafter abbreviated as TDVC], by Dan Brown, was while I was on a mission trip to the island of Curacao, part of the Netherlands Antilles, in July 2004. After the evening worship service, we went to Denny’s Restaurant for supper and got into a discussion with the manager. He told us that he had been brought up as a Catholic, but as a result of reading TDVC, he no longer believed that Jesus is the Son of God. I had heard of the book, but was unaware of the power it might hold over those who read it. Perhaps this manager had little faith to begin with, but I wondered how he could give up his faith in Christ on the basis of a novel.

In suggesting the dangers of TDVC, many wonder why we should be concerned about a novel. How can a novel have much impact? Several years ago, another novelist, L. Ron Hubbard, wrote a series of very successful science fiction books. Over time, some became so enamored with his stories that they developed a whole new religion around them. The church of Scientology, which seems to be primarily a Hollywood fad, was formed on the basis of these science fiction books.

A year or two ago, the Disney Studios produced a movie called National Treasure, starring Nicholas Cage. National Treasure was an adventure story with many twists and turns similar to TDVC. The plot centered on a treasure map hidden by the Masons on the back of the Declaration of Independence. The movie characters raced against the bad guys, finding clue after clue until they were able to find the treasure hidden deep under Boston. Surely no one doubted that the whole story was fiction. No one really thinks that there is a treasure map hidden on the back of the Declaration of Independence, or that the treasure of the ages is buried under Boston. It was just a good story.

But then we have The Da Vinci Code movie and book. People say, “It’s just a movie.” “It’s just a novel.” “Since it’s just a story, what difference does it make that it has sold 70 million copies?” It makes a difference, I believe, because of what Mr. Brown claimed for the book, and because of his message that: (1) the Bible is not inspired, (2) the church has withheld the truth from mankind, (3) Jesus is not deity, and (4) the intention of Jesus was to establish goddess worship.

On NBC’s Today Show, October 10, 2005, Matt Lauer asked Brown, “How much of this [book] is based on reality in terms of things that actually happened?” Brown emphatically replied, “Absolutely all of it … is historical fact.”

On ABC’s Good Morning America, November 3, 2003, Charlie Gibson said, “This is a novel. If you were writing it as a nonfiction book, how would it have been different?” Brown responded, “I don’t think it would have.”

On the very first page of TDVC, Brown states: “All descriptions of artwork, architecture, documents, and secret rituals in this novel are accurate.” While the characters of the novel are admittedly his own creation, he insists the facts he cites are accurate and truthful. I disagree!

Several good books have been written about the errors in TDVC, which you may read if you have further interest. I have gleaned what I consider to be some of the main dangers in TDVC from several different sources, and primarily from an article compiled by Alex McFarland titled, “The Top 10 Errors Found in ‘The Da Vinci Code.’”  I have grouped the dangers into two main topics: (1) issues related to the text of the Bible, and (2) issues related to Christ and His church.

I. ISSUES RELATED TO THE TEXT OF THE BIBLE.

1. TDVC INDICATES THAT THE BIBLE HAS BEEN EXTENSIVELY REWRITTEN AND REVISED.

The implication is that because of all of these revisions, the original meaning of the Bible has been lost. According to TDVC, the scriptures “evolved through countless translations, additions, and revisions” (p. 231.). The implication is that with all of these changes we know nothing about, we cannot trust the scriptures. The truth is, that while there are issues related to translation from one language to another, the large number of manuscripts of the Bible, as well as the care of translators, assures us that the scriptures are accurate. There are literally thousands of manuscripts of the books of the Bible, and differences among the manuscripts are minor and few. The large number of manuscripts helps us to understand and have confidence in the Bible. For more information, see How We Got the Bible, by Neil Lightfoot.

2. TDVC CLAIMS THAT “LOST” GOSPELS WERE FOUND AMONG THE DEAD SEA SCROLLS.

“Fortunately for historians … some of the gospels that Constantine attempted to eradicate managed to survive. The Dead Sea Scrolls were found in the 1950’s hidden in a cave near Qumran in the Judean desert.” (TDVC, p. 234). This claim shows how careless Mr. Brown is in his “facts.” The Dead Sea Scrolls were discovered in 1947, not the 1950’s, and were found in several caves, not “a cave.” They contained no gospel accounts or any reference to Jesus. They did contain portions of every Old Testament book except Esther, commentaries on the Old Testament, some extrabiblical works, some secular works, and some business records. The Qumran community, thought by many to be the Essenes, had nothing to do with Jesus or Christianity. Interestingly, among the scrolls was the book of Isaiah. The scroll, which was several hundred years older than any other previously discovered manuscript of Isaiah, was virtually identical to later manuscripts, affirming the accuracy of those who had copied the biblical texts.

3. TDVC CLAIMS CONSTANTINE ESTABLISHED THE CANON OF THE BIBLE.

“The Bible, as we know it today, was collated by the pagan Roman emperor Constantine the Great” (TDVC, p. 232). Brown makes many of his claims, as will be shown below, in relation to the Council of Nicaea, which met in A.D. 325. This council, which was convened by Constantine, a pagan who converted to Christianity, did not discuss the canon of scripture [which books should be in the Bible]. The canon of scripture was already established by the end of the first century. Early church fathers were quoting from the New Testament in the second century, at least 150 years before Constantine and the Council of Nicaea. Documents from the second century, such as the Muratorian Fragment (discovered by L. A. Muratori), give lists of the books accepted in the canon. Justin Martyr, in the middle of the second century, spoke of the practice of Christians meeting each Sunday to read the “memoirs of the apostles” and “writings of the prophets” (Justin Martyr, First Apology, chapter 67).

4. TDVC CLAIMS THE BIBLE IS THE PRODUCT OF MAN.

“The Bible is the product of man, my dear. Not of God. The Bible did not fall magically from the clouds. Man created it as a historical record of tumultuous times, and it has evolved through countless translations, additions, and revisions. History has never had a definitive version of the Book” (TDVC, p. 231). If this claim were true, what kind of religion and holy book would men create? What kind of religion did the Greeks and Romans create? They created gods in their own image. If men were creating the Bible and Christianity, would they choose to have a God who would be incarnate as a man, who would choose to die and be raised from the dead?

The death, burial and resurrection of Christ is the heart of Christianity. Paul said, “If Christ be not risen, then is our preaching vain, and your faith is also vain” (1 Corinthians 15:14). If man were writing the Bible on his own, he would certainly teach that a man could win heaven on the basis of his own merit, but Christ came as our perfect substitute, the one way to God. Isaiah spoke of man’s unrighteousness: “But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away” (Isaiah 64:6). Paul chose to “be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith” (Philippians 3:9). “For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him” (2 Corinthians 5:21).

The amazing accuracy of Old Testament prophecies fulfilled in the life of Christ as recorded in the New Testament demonstrates to the honest observer that the Bible is not from men alone.

5. TDVC CLAIMS THERE WERE MANY GOSPELS, SOME OF WHICH WERE SUPPRESSED.

“More than eighty gospels were considered for the New Testament, and yet only a relative few were chosen for inclusion—Matthew, Mark, Luke and John among them …” (TDVC, p. 231). The “gospels” he refers to are the Gnostic gospels, which were written in A.D. 250-350, long after Matthew, Mark, Luke and John were written.  There were several Gnostic gospels, but nowhere near 80, and they have never been considered part of the canon. Any reputable Bible scholar will affirm that the books of the New Testament canon were accepted by the church long before these Gnostic gospels were written. Eusebius, the first church historian, affirms the early church rejected these Gnostic gospels because they were teaching false doctrine.

II. DANGERS RELATED TO CHRIST AND HIS CHURCH.

1. TDVC CLAIMS JESUS WAS MARRIED TO MARY MAGDALENE. “One particularly troubling earthly theme kept recurring in the [Gnostic] gospels. Mary Magdalene. … More specifically, her marriage to Jesus Christ” (TDVC, p. 244). This claim, which did not originate with Dan Brown, provides much of the intrigue of the book. It is supposed that “The Last Supper,” painted by Leonardo Da Vinci pictures Mary Magdalene seated on the right hand of Jesus, in the figure that has always been considered to be the Apostle John. Discovery of this “fact” opens the door to action in the book.

 In reality, the facts show how ridiculous this claim is. Remember that Leonardo Da Vinci painted this fresco almost 1500 years after the event. Although he was a great painter, he was not an inspired man, and the painting is inaccurate in many ways. Jesus and His disciples would not have been seated at a long table, as the painting shows, but would have been reclining around a low table. That is why it was so obvious that no one had washed the disciples’ feet that evening (John 13).

What TDVC ignores is the fact that painters of that era almost always painted John, who was thought to be one of the younger disciples, this way. His lack of a beard was to show he was young. What Dan Brown surely knew is that Leonardo Da Vinci made sketches in preparation for painting “The Last Supper,” identifying the figure as the Apostle John.  Other paintings by Leonardo Da Vinci show that he often painted biblical characters in a fashion that we would consider to be feminine. A good example of this is his portrait of John the Baptist.

Could Jesus have married? Yes, of course, He could have married. But is there any evidence He married? Scripture is silent on Jesus being married, and so are the Gnostic gospels, as well as early church traditions. How could the gospel accounts tell us so much about Him and leave this out?

In speaking of his apostleship, Paul said, “Have we not power to lead about a sister, a wife, as well as other apostles, and as the brethren of the Lord, and Cephas?” (1 Corinthians 9:5). Paul’s argument—If Peter [Cephas] and others can be married, why couldn’t I? Wouldn’t his argument have been even stronger if he had said, “If Jesus can have a wife, why can’t I?” But Paul didn’t say this.

TDVC goes beyond even this, to give “secret” information that Jesus and Mary had children who became the crown heads of Europe. He claims as evidence the writings of the Gnostics. It is strange that he makes this particular claim from the Gnostics, since most of them denied that Jesus had come in the flesh. Most of them would have denied the possibility of Jesus marrying, since they considered anything related to the flesh to be unholy.

The Apostle John refuted the claims of the Gnostics, that Jesus was not actually flesh and blood, in his first epistle (1 John). “That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, of the Word of life; (For the life was manifested, and we have seen it, and bear witness, and shew unto you that eternal life, which was with the Father, and was manifested unto us;) That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you, that ye also may have fellowship with us: and truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ” (1 John 1:1-3).

The real purpose of TDVC making these claims, besides selling books, is to lobby for the “restoration” of goddess worship, and bringing back the balance that supposedly was taken away by the patriarchal monotheism of Christianity.

2. TDVC CLAIMS CHRISTIANITY AND CHRIST’S DEITY WERE INVENTED BY MEN.

            “My dear,” Teabing declared, “until that moment in history, Jesus was viewed by his followers as a mortal prophet … a great and powerful man, but a man nonetheless. A mortal.”

“Not the Son of God?” [said Sophie].

“Right,” Teabing said. “Jesus’ establishment as ‘the Son of God’ was officially proposed and voted on by the Council of Nicaea.”

“Hold on. You’re saying Jesus’ divinity was the result of a vote?”

“A relatively close vote at that,” Teabing added (DVC, p. 233).

According to A History of Christianity, by Kenneth Scott Latourette, pp. 152-157, the only issue debated at Nicaea (A.D. 325) was the question: “Was Jesus coeternal with the Father?” The council, which was convened by Constantine, called for bishops from throughout the Roman Empire to convene to discuss issues. The original New Testament system of a plurality of bishops, or elders overseeing one congregation (Acts 20: 17, 28) had evolved to a system of one bishop over a city or area. The convened council dealt with an issue raised by a recently deposed bishop named Arius.

Arius decided that the words of Jesus in John 14:28, “Ye have heard how I said unto you, I go away, and come again unto you. If ye loved me, ye would rejoice, because I said, I go unto the Father: for my Father is greater than I,” indicated that Jesus did not share the same level of deity as the Father. (Interestingly, TDVC denies that John’s gospel should be part of the canon.) As a matter of simple logic, the son of deity must be of the same substance as deity.

318 bishops were in attendance at Nicaea. Initially 28 sided with Arius. After debate, Constantine said anyone siding with Arius would be deposed. The final vote rejecting the position of Arius was 316 to 2. Even changing the 28 votes, 290 to 28 is hardly “a relatively close vote.” Things did not happen as TDVC alleges. And even if it had happened as TDVC alleges, it does not matter, because the New Testament is clear that Jesus as the Son of God is deity, and shares the same nature as His Father. “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God” (John 1:1). Here we see why Dan Brown wants to get rid of the gospel of John!

There was never any question that Jesus was deity. The apostles were very slow to understand this, as we learn from the story unfolding in Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, but when they understood, they risked and gave their lives to defend the fact that Jesus was God in the flesh. Men do not risk their lives for a lie. They gained nothing from a worldly standpoint by affirming the divinity and resurrection of Christ.

Thomas was not present when Jesus made his first appearance to the apostles on the first day of the week as He was raised from the dead, but he was present one week later, the next first day of the week. “And after eight days again his disciples were within, and Thomas with them: then came Jesus, the doors being shut, and stood in the midst, and said, Peace be unto you. Then saith he to Thomas, Reach hither thy finger, and behold my hands; and reach hither thy hand, and thrust it into my side: and be not faithless, but believing. And Thomas answered and said unto him, My Lord and my God” (John 20:26-28). Thus Thomas recognized very clearly the deity of Christ. (Strangely enough, TDVC says that the Gospel of Thomas, a spurious document which was not really written by Thomas, supposedly says Jesus is not deity.)

“Jesus saith unto him, Thomas, because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed: blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed” (John 20:29). There is a blessing offered to us when we believe the evidence of the gospel accounts, that Jesus is the Son of God. John then tells us why he wrote his account of the life and ministry of Jesus: “And many other signs truly did Jesus in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book: But these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his name” (John 20:30-31).

We see then that Thomas and John both recognized that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God. Peter affirms: “For we have not followed cunningly devised fables, when we made known unto you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses of his majesty. For he received from God the Father honour and glory, when there came such a voice to him from the excellent glory, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased” (2 Peter 1:16-17). Peter, who had been present at the baptism of Christ, knew the truth that Jesus is the Christ. For Paul’s explanation of what Jesus did in coming to earth, read Philippians 2:5-11.

The message that Peter and the other apostles preached on the day of Pentecost was that Jesus, the Son of God, needs to be obeyed. “Now when they heard this, they were pricked in their heart, and said unto Peter and to the rest of the apostles, Men and brethren, what shall we do? Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost” (Acts 2:37-38).

In conclusion:

(1) The Bible is complete and accurate. The thirty-nine books of the Old Testament and twenty-seven books of the New Testament are the inspired word of God (2 Timothy 3:16-17).

(2) The scriptures reveal that Jesus is the Son of God, King of kings, and Lord of lords (1 Timothy 6:13-16).

(3) The church of Christ we read of in the New Testament understood the deity of Jesus Christ and fulfilled prophecy as His kingdom (Matthew 17:18-19).

(4) The Da Vinci Code is no more than a novel, and most of the history in it has been twisted and fabricated solely to delude the unwise and profit from the gullible.