Errors in the “Da Vinci Code”. Summary of the Book –The search for the Holy Grail is revealed to be Mary Magdalene. She carried Jesus child and his lineage

Errors in the Errors in the “Da Vinci Code”“Da Vinci Code”

Errors in the “Da Vinci Code”Errors in the “Da Vinci Code”

• Summary of the Book– The search for the Holy Grail is revealed

to be Mary Magdalene. She carried Jesus child and his lineage is still alive today.

• Impact of the Book– Big budget movie May 19, 2006– Major stars including Tom Hanks

Movie Promo“Clues in Da Vinci’s paintings lead to the discovery of a

religious mystery protected by a secret society for two thousand years –

which could shake the foundations of Christianity”


• The Current Numbers as of June ‘06– Paperback #1, Hardback #7 (NY Times)– Over 40 million copies sold (Hardback)– Movie #5 in US, $175 mil. (US), $585 mil.

(Worldwide) (3 weeks old)– Other Ron Howard Movies: Cinderella

Man – $61 mil., A Beautiful Mind – $170 mil., Apollo 13 – $172 mil.

• Code Error #1: Jesus and Mary Magdalene were married.

– “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. It is a matter of historical record and Da Vinci was certainly aware of that fact. The Last Supper practically shouts at the viewer that Jesus and Magdalene were a pair.” (pg. 244, Dan Brown, The Da Vinci Code)


– Lk. 8:1-3; Matt. 27:55-56; 27:61; 28:1; Jn. 20:11-18.

– Why doesn’t he show her affection on the cross? (Jn. 19:26-27)

• Code Error #2: The Gnostic Gospels Are The True Story of Jesus

– “The Gospel of Philip is a good place to start.” – “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.” (pg. 244, Dan Brown, The Da Vinci Code)

– Actual copy of Philip – “And Mary the companion of….Mary Magdalene….her more than all the disciples kiss her on her…

– Lots of added words and ideas.


– There is also the Gospel of Mary he quotes from; “Levi said, “Surely the Saviour knows her very well. That is why he loved her more than us.” (Pg. 247, Dan Brown, The Da Vinci Code)

– This is it in the Gnostic gospels, yet he says, “I shan’t bore you with the countless references to Jesus and Magdalene’s union.” (Pg. 247). Flat out lie!


– Problems with the Gnostic Gospels• Picture a complex Jesus.• Manuscript evidence• Most written approx 225 AD

• Code Error #3: Christianity As We Know It Is A 4th Century Creation

– “The Bible as we know it today, was collated by the pagan Roman emperor Constantine the Great” (Pg. 231, Dan Brown, The Da Vinci Code)

– He goes on to say, “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.” (Pg. 231)

– Dan Brown says there were 80 gospels and Constantine picked what he wished. (231)


– Why would a story of an ordinary man survive 300 years?

– 175 AD -“The third book of the gospel is that according to Luke” (Book from an Italian Historian Antonio Muratori). • And it refers to the book of John as “The

fourth of the gospels is that of John, one of the disciples.

– Irenaeus wrote in 170 AD and mentions only Matthew, Mark, Luke and John as the gospels.


– A man who lived between 185-254 AD named Origen said, “I know a certain gospel which is called, “The Gospel of Thomas” and a Gospel According to Matthias, and many others have we read – lest we in any way be considered ignorant because of those who imagine they possess some knowledge if they are acquainted with these. Nevertheless, among all these we have approved solely what the church has recognized, which is that only the four gospels should be accepted.”


– The truth is that the Catholic church did not create the Bible. The NT books were already in use and agreed upon by those that were honest.


– People knew Jesus to be deity before 325 AD– Ignatitus, “God Himself was manifested in human

form.” (105 AD)– Clement, “It is fitting that you should think of Jesus

Christ as of God.” (150 AD)– Justin Martyr, “The Father of the universe has a

Son. And He…is even God.” (160 AD)


– Ireaneus, “He is God, for the name Emmanuel indicates this.” (180 AD)

– Origen, “No one should be offended that the Savior is also God.” (225 AD)

– Novatian, “He is not only man, but God also.” (235 AD)

– Cyprian, “Jesus Christ, our Lord and God.” (250 AD)

– All Inspired NT writers dated before 100 AD


Movie Promo“Clues in Da Vinci’s paintings lead to the discovery of a

religious mystery protected by a secret society for two thousand years –

which could shake the foundations of Christianity”




• Dan Brown believes these things with all his heart. These are facts to him not fiction!

• This Has Deceived Many People– Today Show (June 9, 2003)– Matt Lauer: “How much of this is based on

reality in terms of things that actually occurred?– Dan Brown: Absolutely all of it. Obviously,

Robert Langdon is fictional, but all the art, architecture, secret rituals, secret societies—all of that is historical fact.”

– “His research is impeccable” (New York Daily News)

– Testimonials on the Internet about finding out the truth by the Da Vinci Code.

• Is There An Agenda?– “These are topics that resonate at a deep, deep

spiritual level – really at the core of the human psyche.”

– “Whether you agree or disagree with the topics – there on the table, and we are talking about them, and these are topics that for centuries have been taboo.” (ABC News, May 19, 2005)

• Code Error #4: The Early Church Suppressed Women

– “Constantine and his male successors successfully converted the world from matriarchal paganism to patriarchal Christianity…” (Pg. 124, Dan Brown, The Da Vinci Code)

– Dan Brown essentially is saying that Christianity destroyed and killed women. Paganism affirmed them.

– The opposite is true!


– In the world of Paganism women were held in low regard. Women in Greece, India, and China had no rights and were considered property of their husbands.

– Aristotle taught that a woman ranked somewhere between a man and a slave.

– Plato taught that if a man lived a cowardly life, he would be reincarnated as a woman.

– Wherever Christianity has been introduced, it has lifted up women. (Under the Influence: How Christianity Transformed Civilization)


– In the Old Testament• Esther, Ruth, Deborah, Virtuous wife of Prov. 31

– In the New Testament• Genealogy of Jesus, Gal. 3:28; Eph. 5:22, 25

– Gnostic Gospel of Thomas• “Let Mary leave us, for women are not worthy of life. I

myself shall lead her in order to make her male, so that she too may become a living spirit, resembling your males. For every woman who will make herself male will enter the kingdom of heaven” (Gospel of Thomas)

• Code Error #5: The Early Church Believed The Union Between Man and Woman was Evil

– “The natural union between man and woman had been recast as a shameful act.” (Pg. 125, Dan Brown, The Da Vinci Code)

– “Holy men…now feared their natural urges as the work of the devil, collaboration with his favorite accomplice…woman” (Pg. 125, Dan Brown, The Da Vinci Code)

– “For obvious reasons, they worked hard to demonize sex and recast it as a disgusting and sinful act.” (Pg. 309)

• Code Error #5: The Early Church Believed The Union Between Man and Woman was Evil

– Prov. 5:18-19; Song of Solomon– 1 Cor. 7:1-6; Heb. 13:4

• Code Error #6: Paganistic Forms of Worship Involving Fornication Is How One Knows God

– “The natural union between man and woman through which each became spiritually whole…had been recast as a shameful act.” (Pg. 125, Dan Brown, The Da Vinci Code)

– “For the early church, mankind’s use of sex to commune directly with God posed a serious threat to the Catholic power base. It left the Church out of the loop, undermining their self-proclaimed status as the sole conduit to God.” (Pg 309)

– “Historically, intercourse was the act through which male and female experienced God.” (pg. 308)

• Code Error #6: Paganistic Forms of Worship Involving Fornication Is How One Knows God

– He has spoken publicly on 20/20 of his “conversion” to a new way of thinking about the origins of Christianity. He also admitted that he saw himself as being on a mission to bring this religious message to mainstream America!

• Broken Code– Two levels of the book– One is the plot level; where the heroes

track down the Holy Grail (location of Magdalene’s body) while outsmarting adversaries like Indiana Jones.

– One is the code level; “Third-century laws, cannot be applied to the modern followers of Christ. The rules are not workable in today’s society.” (Pg. 416, Dan Brown, The Da Vinci Code)

• Extra Code Error #7: Many Mistakes and Inaccuracies

– Dead Sea Scrolls• Said they were found in the 1950’s but

actually in the 40’s (1947)• And some of the secret gospels found in

them. Wrong these were Judaic writings only OT documents.


– Pyramid entrance to the Louvre has 793 panes of glass not 666.

– Robert Langdon is a Symbology Professor at Harvard yet Symbology is not a real academic discipline.

– Sophie smart car travels 100 kilometers per liter, that would be 239 miles per gallon, an impossible figure.


– An ancient secret society called the Knights Templar were to take documents from Solomon’s Temple in the 1100’s.• Would have been a neat trick since

Solomon’s Temple was destroyed in 586 BC

– If Brown cannot get some of these simple historical tidbits right how accurate are his descriptions of other things in the book?

Last eve I passed beside a blacksmith’s door,And heard the anvil ring the vesper chime; Then looking, I saw upon the floor,Old hammers, worn with beating years of time.“How many anvils have you had,” said I,“To wear and batter all these hammers so?”“Just one,” said he, and then with twinkling eye;“The anvil wears the hammers out, ye know.”And so, thought I, the anvil of God’s Word,For ages skeptic blows have beat upon;Yet though the noise of falling blows was heardThe anvil is unharmed…the hammers gone.

John Clifford (1836-1923)

Documents

Errors in the “Da Vinci Code”. Summary of the Book –The search for the Holy Grail is revealed to be Mary Magdalene. She carried Jesus child and his lineage