Debunking The Da Vinci Code

1. Debunking The Da Vinci Code Debunk: (Informal). To expose the pretensions or falseness of. (Collins English Dictionary)

2. “It’s Just a Story” “People should enjoy the film and the book for what they both are - entertaining escapism. Getting pretentious about it is so pointless and false - and annoying!”

3. “It’s Just a Story” • It claims to be based on fact. Fact: “The Priory of Sion – a European secret society founded in 1099 – is a real organization… All descriptions of artwork, architecture, documents and secret rituals in this novel are accurate.” (Da Vinci Code, page 1)

4. “It’s Just a Story” • It claims to be based on fact • It is falsely rewriting history • It is distorting the truth about the most important person who has ever lived • It is immensely popular and influential

5. A. Constantine’s Conspiracy “Almost everything our fathers taught us about Christ was false.” (page 318) “Constantine was a very good businessman. He could see that Christianity was on the rise, and he simply backed the winning horse… he created a kind of hybrid religion that was acceptable to both sides.” (page 314)

6. 1. He “made” the ordinary man Jesus of Nazareth into the Son of God “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.” (page 315) “Jesus’ establishment as ‘the Son of God’ was officially proposed and voted on by the Council of Nicaea… A relatively close vote at that.” (page 315)

7. 1. He “made” the ordinary man Jesus of Nazareth into the Son of God • The council was merely affirming the long-held orthodox view that Jesus was God • The earliest Christian documents clearly show that Jesus taught, and his followers believed, he was God

8. 1. He “made” the ordinary man Jesus of Nazareth into the Son of God • Mark 1:1 (c. 55AD): “The beginning of the gospel about Jesus Christ, the Son of God.” • Titus 2:13 (c. 57AD): “… our great God and Saviour, Jesus Christ.” • John 10:33 (c. 80AD): “We are stoning you for blasphemy because you claim to be God.” • Ignatius of Antioch (d. 107AD): “God and man in one.”

9. 1. He “made” the ordinary man Jesus of Nazareth into the Son of God • The council was merely affirming the long-held orthodox view that Jesus was God • The earliest Christian documents clearly show that Jesus taught, and his followers believed, he was God • This is confirmed even by pagan Roman writers, e.g. Pliny the Younger (c.110AD): “They worship Christ as a God.”

10. 2. He “doctored” the historical record “To rewrite the history books…Constantine commissioned and financed a new Bible, which omitted those gospels that spoke of Christ’s human traits and embellished those gospels that made him godlike. The earlier gospels were outlawed, gathered up and burned” (page 316f)

11. 2. He “doctored” the historical record The New Testament was collected and circulated long before Constantine was even born! It had nothing to do with him!

12. 2. He “doctored” the historical record The New Testament is full of references to Jesus’ humanity: • Mark 4.38 “Jesus was…sleeping on a cushion.” • Matthew 4.2 “After fasting…he was hungry.” • John 4.6-8 “Jesus, tired as he was… sat down.” • Romans 1.3-4 “As to his human nature, he was a descendant of David.” • 1 Timothy 2.5 “...there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus.”

13. B. Bible’s Believability The Bible is a product of man, 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. (page 312)

14. Manuscript evidence for the New Testament Author BookWrittenEarliest copyTime gap# Copies Aristotle Poetics 343 BC 1100 AD 1400 yrs 5 Caesar Gallic Wars 50 BC 900 AD 950 yrs 10 Homer Iliad 900 BC 400 BC 500 yrs 643 Bible-NT 40-100 AD 125 AD 25 yrs 25,000

15. B. Bible’s Believability “It can’t be too strongly asserted that in substance the text of the Bible is certain: this is especially the case with the New Testament… This can be said of no other ancient book in the world.” (Sir Frederic Kenyon)

16. 0 100 200 300 400 Nag Hammadi Life of Jesus New Testament B. Bible’s Believability “These are… the Nag Hammadi and Dead Sea Scrolls,” Teabing said. “The earliest Christian records. Troublingly they don’t match up with the gospels in the Bible.” (page 331)

17. C. Mary’s Marriage “The early church needed to convince the world that the mortal prophet Jesus was a divine being. Therefore, any gospels that described earthly aspects of Jesus’ life had to be omitted from the Bible. Unfortunately for the early editors, one particularly troubling earthly theme kept recurring in the gospels. Mary Magdalene…more specifically, her marriage to Jesus Christ” (page 328f)

18. “It’s a matter of historical record” “As I said earlier, the marriage of Jesus and Mary Magdalene is part of the historical record.” (page 330) “Teabing flipped through the book and pointed out several other passages that, to Sophie’s surprise, clearly suggested Magdalene and Jesus had a romantic relationship.” (page 331) “I shan’t bore you with the countless references to Jesus and Magdalene’s union.” (page 333)

19. The Gospel of Philip appears to say…. “And the companion of the Saviour is Mary Magdalene. Christ loved her more than all the disciples and used to kiss her often on her mouth. The rest of the disciples were offended by it and expressed disapproval. They said to him, “Why do you love her more than all of us?”

20. The Gospel of Philip actually says… “And the companion of the ______ is Mary Magdalene. _______ her more than all the disciples and used to kiss her ____ on her _____. The rest of the disciples ________________________________. They said to him, “Why do you love her more than all of us?”

25. Seek the Truth “I am the way, the truth and the life. No-one comes to the Father except through me.” Jesus Christ, John 14.6