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Christianity and The DaVinci Code. By Katelyn Cannella. What is Christianity?. Based on the Old Testament and teachings of Jesus in the New Testament. Jesus is the savior; the son of God who is one and the same with God. Brown claims: “Almost everything our fathers
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Christianity and The DaVinci Code By Katelyn Cannella
What is Christianity? • Based on the Old Testament and teachings of Jesus in the New Testament. • Jesus is the savior; the son of God who is one and the same with God.
Brown claims: “Almost everything our fathers taught us about Christ is false.”
Why don’t Christians believe Brown? • The lack of support for his theories • The factual information contained in the Scriptures • Their faith in the divinity of Christ
Minor Details • Brown got many small ideas in the novel incorrect. So what would lead a reader to believe he got anything else right? • Brown manipulates historical events to present a negative and controversial image of the Church.
Brown’s Bold Beliefs • Roman Emperor Constantine proclaimed Jesus’ divinity and created the New Testament • Jesus and Mary Magdalene were married and had a daughter together • Leonardo DaVinci left clues to all of this in his artwork
Gnosticism • A diverse set of ideas and doctrines that became popular during the 2nd and 3rd centuries
The Gnostic Gospels • Texts that include “secret” poems and myths • Very different from the New Testament. Brown uses these to support his theory that Jesus was married to Mary Magdalene.
Shortcomings • Dated back to at least 100-150 years after the crucifixion! • The Gospel of Phillip is 2 centuries removed from Jesus’ time. • Nowhere in the Gnostic Gospels does it actually say that Jesus was married to Mary Magdalene or that they had a child.
The Bible: A Reliable Source • The Old Testament can be dated back to the 1st Century! • The New Testament tells the story of Jesus at the time of Jesus!
Lack of Evidence • The New Testament is made up of books written by the men closest to Jesus. • Nowhere in the Bible is the idea of Jesus having a wife mentioned.
Jesus’ Divinity: According to Brown • Emperor Constantine decides to unify Rome under Christianity in 325 A.D. • He calls the Council of Nicaea where it is decided by a “relatively close” vote that Jesus is divine. • Constantine creates a new Bible which omitted gospels that referred to Jesus as a human, and not divine. THIS VERSION IS INCORRECT!
The Council of Nicaea • 318 bishops met to discuss many aspects of the religion. • They created the Nicene Creed. • The bishops voted to make Jesus’ divinity an official and universal belief. • Only 2 of 318 bishops refused to sign the Nicene Creed.
Jesus Was Divine, Before the Council Met • For 2.5 centuries before the Council of Nicaea, the nearly universal opinion was that Christ was divine. • Constantine could not have rewritten the Scriptures to make Jesus divine. • Christians would notice the change in doctrine! • There is no evidence that the content of the New Testament was even discussed at the Council.
The “Evidence” • To the right of Jesus, what most people believe to be the disciple John is actually Mary Magdalene • The absence of a chalice on the table
The Disciple John • If it were Mary Magdalene in the painting, then where is the disciple John? • John clearly looks feminine, but this is consistent with DaVinci’s other illustrations of him.
The Chalice • The painting doesn’t depict Jesus breaking the bread and sharing the wine. • It captures the moment when Jesus reveals to the disciples that one of them will betray Him. • If the chalice were present in the painting, it would be misplaced!
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