News
Separate Fact From Fiction in "The DaVinci Code"
"The DaVinci Code" represents a great opportunity for Catholics to become more aware of why they believe what they believe. You may also use this opportunity to get into spiritual conversations with friends and co-workers and share the real story of Jesus Christ. Oh yeah, in case you're wondering, the No. 1 best selling book far and away is the Holy Bible with more than 6,000,000,000 copies. God is still the best-selling author of all time.
| The DaVinci Code Fiction |
Historical Fact |
| Mary Magdalene was pregnant when Jesus died and later gave birth to His daughter, Sarah. |
Even the Gnostic gospels, which are considered heresy, don't claim that Jesus had a romantic relationship with Mary Magdalene, much less a daughter. |
| The New Testament was compiled and edited by men who had an agenda to solidify their own power. |
The writings of the New Testament were directly connected to an apostle - the trusted eyewitnesses of Jesus' resurrection. |
| Constantine, who ruled in the fourth century, had New Testament books embellished to make Jesus appear "divine". |
Liberal and conservative scholars agree that the books of the New Testament were completed by the end of the first century -long before Constantine began his rule. None of the apostles would have given their lives as martyrs for Jesus if they would have not believed in His divinity. |
| Scholars can't confirm the authenticity of the New Testament. It evolved through countless translations, additions and revisions. |
Manuscript evidence for the New Testament far surpasses any other ancient book. There are some 5,000 ancient Greek copies of the New Testament and 10,000 copies of the ancient languages. |
| Almost everything the Church taught us about Christ is false. |
Historical scholars easily prove almost everything "the DaVinci Code" teaches about Christ is false. |
| The Priory of Sion is a real organization founded in 1099 that included members like Leonardo Da Vinci, Sir Isaac Newton and Victor Hugo. |
The Priory of Sion in the DaVinci Code was actually a hoax created in 1953 by convicted felon Pierre Plantard who later testified under oath that he falsified documents used to "prove the organization's existence". |
| The Council of Nicea voted on whether or not Christ was divine. |
The Council of Nicea met to clarify the divinity of Christ and condemn popular heresies. |
| In Leonardo DaVinci's painting, The Last Supper, Mary Magdalene was replaced with one of the 12 disciples. |
Art historians overwhelmingly agree that DaVinci's painting, the Last Supper, depicts Jesus with His 12 disciples. |
| The Knights Templar guarded the bones of Mary Magdalene along with ancient documents about the bloodline of Christ and French royalty who descended from Him. |
The Knights Templar is a military order founded in the 12th century. Claims that the order protected the bones of Mary Magdalene are the invention of Pierre Plantard, who declared at one point that he was a descendent of Jesus. |
The New Testament underwent a compilation process referred to as canonization, from the Greek word 'kanon', meaning measuring stick. To be included in the Bible or "Biblos", meaning Sacred books, writings had to meet three requirements:
- The writings had to be directly connected to an apostle - the apostles were the trusted eyewitnesses of Jesus' resurrection; many underwent a violent death for their faith in the living Jesus Christ.
- The writing had to be "orthodox" - it could not contradict the teachings of the Jewish Scriptures (Old Testament) and that of the apostles.
- The writings had to be accepted in churches throughout the known world. It could not be accepted only by one group of Christians. Then had to be approved by the successor of the apostle Peter, the Vicar of Christ or Pope. These requirements specifically prevented the manipulation of the canon by any single group.
The four canonical gospels - Matthew, Mark, Luke and John - were recognized from the very beginning as the authoritative accounts of the life and ministry of Jesus Christ.
'The DaVinci Code' relies heavily upon the Gnostic gospels: gospel of Mary Magdalene and the gospel of Philip, which were never considered for inclusion in the Bible, first because of their Gnosticism and second because they were not contemporary to the apostles. Gnosticism was a heresy that attempted to infiltrate Christianity around 150 AD. Gnostics falsely claimed that, to be saved, people needed to experience a secret knowledge (gnosis) that would take them beyond the "evil physical world", beyond the flesh. The secret knowledge was that each individual is god and that Jesus Christ was a human who arrived to this knowledge in order to remind us of our pure divinity incarcerated in an evil and sinful body. Our salvation comes from knowledge not from the cross.
|
|
