By Davidson Asante Although The Da Vinci Code movie is a fictional piece, its writer, Dan Brown claims that the documents, artwork and secret rituals depicted in the movie are empirical truths. Among
the many blunt assertions portrayed in the movie are: the Bible is product of
man, not God and that Constantine saw to its collation; Jesus Christ was viewed
as a prophet and a mere man by His followers until Constantine deified Him during
the Council of Nicaea; and Jesus was married to Mary Magdalene who was pregnant
for Jesus at the time of the crucifixion.
The movie is strictly a fictional work that in my estimation seeks to attack
the very heart of Christianity. It is misleading and filled with historical
fallacies. I will examine three of such claims made by the movie.
The Bible is a product
of man
Constantine did not have
anything to do with the collation of the Bible either before or after he became
a Christian, because the process by which the Bible was formed took a long time.
The Old Testament canon for example, which Jesus and His disciples recognized
as God's authoritative word was one that had been forming for centuries (Luke
24:27; John 5:39; Acts 17:2-3; 2 Tim. 3:15).
In the first century, the Apostles and their associates wrote books of the New
Testament which were passed down to other generation of Christians and were
read in churches. During the second and third centuries, Gnostic heretics begun
manufacturing manuscripts that they claimed to be written by the Apostles. In
response to this, churches came up with a list of authentic books that had been
handed down by the Apostles. This process was largely complete before Constantine
with the exception of the apocryphal books. Constantine had nothing to do with
the collation of Scripture.
Jesus was a mere man
Constantine and the Council
of Nicaea had nothing to do with the "godhood" of Jesus because He
had always been God. Jesus claimed to be God (John 14:8, 9; 10:33; 8:58) and
His followers accepted the truth about Christ's deity (Phil. 2:6; Col. 1:15-16;
John 1:1, 14; 20:28) long before the Council of Nicaea.
The baseless historical assertion that Constantine deified Christ is once again
slammed by Church Fathers who lived before Constantine. Here are some of what
they said concerning Jesus Christ:
Ignatius of Antioch: "For our God, Jesus Christ, was conceived
by Mary in accord with God's plan: of the seed of David, it is true, but also
of the Holy Spirit" (Letter to the Ephesians 18:2 [A.D. 110]).
Tatian the Syrian: "We are not playing the fool, you Greeks, nor
do we talk nonsense, when we report that God was born in the form of a man"
(Address to the Greeks 21 [A.D. 170]).
Clement of Alexandria: "The Word, then, the Christ, is the cause
both of our ancient beginning-for he was in God-and of our well-being. And now
this same Word has appeared as man. He alone is both God and man, and the source
of all our good things" (Exhortation to the Greeks 1:7:1 [A.D. 190]).
Tertullian: "God alone is without sin. The only man who is without
sin is Christ; for Christ is also God" (The Soul 41:3 [A.D. 210]).
Origen: "Although he was God, he took flesh; and having been made
man, he remained what he was: God" (The Fundamental Doctrines 1:0:4 [A.D.
225]). Mary Magdalene was Jesus'
wife
The movie claimed that the
word "companion" used in the Gospel of Philip is Aramaic which could
also be interpreted as "spouse". However, the Gospel of Philip is
Coptic, therefore rendering its meaning in Aramaic irrelevant. Josh McDowell
explains that the word used is neither Aramaic nor Coptic, but Greek, which
when translated has the semantic range of friend or associate, not spouse.
With the interpretation of "companion" explained, it follows logically
that there was no private relationship between Jesus and Mary Magdalene; she
was not made pregnant by Jesus; and Jesus never had a daughter through her.
Conclusion
All the so-called historical references made in the movie are severely marred
if not total lies. The Da Vinci Code is a wanton cry for attention, which it
has received. May be Dan Brown could try his creativity by writing a nice fiction
fused with historical accuracy concerning Islam and its prophet, Mohammed. He
will get all the attention he is dying for.
http://www.catholic.com/library/cracking_da_vinci_code.asp
http://www.jesusanddavinci.com
Davidson Asante is
a third year student at the Jamaica Theological Seminary.
