JULY 18, 2010 - The Da Vinci Code

Dan Brown's The Da Vinci Code is clearly labeled as a novel. If you simply read it as mystery fiction, it is an entertaining diversion. But it is also a novel that makes some implied claims about the history of Christianity. A cover page before the body of the novel is labeled "FACT" - and then it states that all descriptions of documents in the novel are accurate.

Ben Witherington has a helpful book about the ideas and theories referred to in the novel. If you want to dig deeper into these ideas and theories, Witherington's book would be a helpful volume:

The Gospel Code: Novel Claims About Jesus, Mary Magdalene and Da Vinci, by Ben Witherington III.

NOTE: Witherington is professor of New Testament at Asbury Theological Seminary in Wilmore, Kentucky.

Chapter one of Witherington's book describes "deadly historical errors" found in The Da Vinci Code. I will summarize six of those here...but remember, you may want to get a copy of The Gospel Code to dig in further on these issues.

1. The idea that our four gospels are not the most reliable ones - that there are some earlier, more accurate gospels that have been suppressed. (Witherington notes that the four books we call gospels were widely accepted very early in Christianity.)

2. The idea that Jesus' early followers only saw him as a great human leader or prophet - and the idea of Jesus being the Son of God was a political idea lifted up many years later. (Witherington notes that the councils of the 4th and 5th centuries did solidify the teachings about Jesus' divinity that are also reflected in the much earlier Scriptures we still study today.)

3. The idea that our four gospels were imposed upon the church by Emperor Constantine, along with the idea that Jesus was divine. (Witherington notes that the authoritative Scriptures of the New Testament were accepted well before Constantine was born.)

4. The idea that Jesus was married to Mary Magdalene. (Witherington and other authors have pointed out that there would be no reason for Christianity to "hide" any supposed marriage of Jesus, for he never taught against marriage. Because Jesus fully participated in human life - including growing up in a human family - if he had married, it would not have affected his divine work. Yet there still remains no solid evidence of a marriage having taken place.)

5. The idea that marriage would have been absolutely expected for a young man of Jesus' age and time.

6. The idea that the Dead Sea Scrolls are early Christian records. (The documents that we call the Dead Sea Scrolls are are Jewish documents, including copies of sections of what we call the Old Testament.)


Here are some links for further review:

Ben Witherington's article on Mary Magdalene - "Mary, Mary, Extraordinary"

Here is an article giving an overview of some of the books commenting on The Da Vinci Code:

"Da Vinci Debunkers," by Marcia Ford

This is an interview with Darrell Bock, author of Breaking the Da Vinci Code:
Da Vinci's Secret Agenda


What are the specific statements and theories contained in the novel The Da Vinci Code which might conflict with mainstream Christianity? Here goes.

From Chapter 55:

"The Bible is a product of man, my dear. Not of God."

"The Bible, as we know it today, was collated by the pagan Roman emperor Constantine the Great."

"Until that moment in history [referring to 325 A.D.], Jesus was viewed by His followers as a mortal prophet...a great and powerful man, but a man nonetheless. A mortal."

"By officially endorsing Jesus as the Son of God, Constantine turned Jesus into a deity."

"Almost everything our fathers taught us about Christ is false."

From Chapter 58:

"The marriage of Jesus and Mary Magdalene is part of the historical record."

"Not only was Jesus Christ married, but He was a father."

From Chapter 60:

"Mary Magdalene was pregnant at the time of the crucifixion. For the safety of Christ's unborn child, she had no choice but to flee the Holy Land....Mary Magdalene secretly traveled to France....It was here in France that she gave birth to a daughter."