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Da Vinci Code Seminar Heresy or History Robin Dugall, Ex'Director YLI Professor of Biblical Studies

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Title: Da Vinci Code Seminar Heresy or History Robin Dugall, Ex'Director YLI Professor of Biblical Studies


1
Da Vinci Code SeminarHeresy or History?Robin
Dugall, Ex.Director YLIProfessor of Biblical
StudiesHaggard School of Theologyrdugall_at_apu.edu
2
Welcome!
3
Da Vinci Code SeriesPart OneIntroduction to
the Book
4
(No Transcript)
5
8 million copies
Went to the top of the book list in its first
week in release Has been on list for 2 years
Customer Reviews Avg. Customer Review Number of
Reviews 2996 Amazon.com Sales Rank 6
6
From Library Journal When Robert Langdon is
called in to investigate the murder of a curator
at the Louvre, he discovers that the body is
surrounded by strange ciphers evidently linked to
the paintings of Da Vinci-and a powerful relic
protected by the Priory, a secret society to
which the artist belonged.
From Cracking Da Vincis Code The Da Vinci Code
argues that Jesus and Mary Magdelene were lovers,
had children, and a descendant of that biological
line presently lives in Paris. Elements within
the church will kill to keep this secret from
ever getting out. The novel develops the theory
that Mary was the apostle whom Jesus intended to
lead the church but was forced to flee to France
to escape the ire of her male colleagues.
7
A film is being made of the book and will be
directed by Ron Howard.
Dan Brown is currently working on a follow-up to
The Da Vinci Code. It again features Robert
Langdon and is expected to be released in 2005.
8
August 27, 2004 Excerpt from Tourists search
for key to "Da Vinci Code" By Joelle Diderich
PARIS (Reuters) - Tourist guides were quick to
catch on. They now offer tours exploring the
book's locations and the theories surrounding
Leonardo's works of art such as the enigmatic
Mona Lisa. "By the time the 30th person asked
me 'Is this where the curator was murdered?' or
'Is this true about Leonardo's Virgin of the
Rocks?', I figured, wow, this is really how
people are beginning to approach the Louvre, so
why not take advantage of that?" said Ellen
McBreen, founder of tour firm Paris Muse. The
Harvard-educated art historian launched her
"Cracking The Da Vinci Code at the Louvre" tour
in February and it now accounts for half her
business, with around 100 tours a month catering
mainly to North Americans.
9
Comments
  • The book is a NOVEL
  • If you like mystery, intrigue, and literary fun!
  • No. 1 best seller for 100 weeks (10 less than
    PDL), ABC news and upcoming movie
  • Even so, it does claim to be based upon fact
  • all descriptions of artwork, architecture,
    documents, and secret rituals in this novel are
    ACCURATE page 1

10
fact

fiction

faction
11
From the TODAY SHOW with host Matt Lauer (June
9, 2003 Monday) LAUER How much of this is based
on reality in terms of things that actually
occurred? I know you did a lot of research for
the book. Mr. BROWN Absolutely all of it.
Obviously, there are--Robert Langdon is
fictional, but all of the art, architecture,
secret rituals, secret societies, all of that is
historical fact.
12
Raises important Questions
  • What about the other documents about the life
    of Jesus?
  • Are they more reliable than the four gospels?
  • Was Jesus married?
  • Did they have a child?
  • What about Leonardo Da Vinci and a secret
    societydid they know about this?
  • Do we know why we have the books in the NT that
    we do?
  • Was Jesus human or divine?
  • How long will we be here to sort this out?

13
The Answers
  • Yes
  • No
  • No
  • No
  • No
  • No
  • Yes both
  • A long time
  • Lets close in prayer!

14
Is there a Response to the Da Vinci code -
Christian or Otherwise?
  • No reason to be defensive!
  • The issue of truth - take it captive
  • The issue of truth - is it a relationship
  • The issue of intellectual confidence
  • Truth is bigger than we possess

15
Three Umpires
  • Theres balls and theres strikes, and I call
    em the way they are.
  • Theres balls and theres strikes, and I call
    em the way I see em.
  • Theres balls and theres strikes, and they
    aint nothing until I call them.

Truth Is Stranger Than It Used to Be (1995)
16
Three Views of Truth
  • Pre-modernism God-centered universe,
    revelation, truth is absolute.
  • Modernism (1850-1945) Enlightenment, science,
    truth is relative.
  • Postmodernism (1945) loss of hope for truth,
    truth is created.

17
Postmodernism
  • Postmodernism is the belief that truth is not
    discovered but created.
  • It is the belief that truth doesnt exist except
    as the individual wants it to exist.
  • In a postmodern world, the narrative becomes an
    important way to communicate truth.
  • The Da Vinci Code is successful because it is a
    novel that tells a story.

18
Da Vinci Code SeriesPart TwoThe books key
assertions
19
What is the Da Vinci Code?
  • Mary Magdalene is in Leonardo Da Vincis painting
    The Last Supper (244).
  • V-shape is the symbol for the Holy Grail.

20
Biblical Challenges
  • p. 231 The Bible is a product of man, my dear.
    Not of God.
  • p. 235 Almost everything our fathers taught us
    about Christ is false.
  • p. 233 Youre saying Jesuss divinity was the
    result of a vote?

21
Biblical Challenges
  • p. 231 More than eighty gospels were
    considered for the New Testament.
  • p. 249 Mary Magdalene carried the royal
    bloodline of Jesus Christ?
  • p. 249 Jesus and Mary Magdalene were married
    and had a child.

22
The Four Gospels were frauds
  • Imposed upon the church by Constantine and the
    Council of Nicea in AD 325. The real story was
    supressed. Books were burned and hidden from
    people.

23
The Four Gospels were frauds
  • Question started surfacing in Spring 2003.
  • Didnt drop out of the sky but came from this
    bestseller.
  • Already 19 of respondents of beliefnet have said
    they believe that Jesus was married.

24
Jesus married Mary Magdalene and they had a child.
  • The Jesus and Mary bloodline still exists today

25
Jesus was not God. There was no resurrection.
Every major divinity issue was borrowed from
pagan mythology
  • Resurrection, Virgin Birth, etc.

26
The truth of all this was key for centuries by a
secret society that has included Leonardo Da
Vinci who encoded the story via symbols in his art
27
Answering the ChallengesfromThe Da Vinci Code
28
The Four Gospels were frauds
  • Imposed upon the church by Constantine and the
    Council of Nicea in AD 325. The real story was
    supressed. Books were burned and hidden from
    people.

29
The Four Gospels were frauds
  • Question started surfacing in Spring 2003.
  • Didnt drop out of the sky but came from this
    bestseller.
  • Already 19 of respondents of beliefnet have said
    they believe that Jesus was married.

30
Excerpts from The Da Vinci Code
 The Bible is a product of man, my dear. 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. (p. 231)
31
Excerpts from The Da Vinci Code
 These are photocopies of the Nag Hammadi and
Dead Sea Scrolls, the earliest Christian
records. Troublingly, they do not match up with
the gospels in the Bible.
32
Excerpts from The Da Vinci Code
 Jesus Christ was a historical figure of
staggering influence, perhaps the most enigmatic
and inspirational leader the world has ever
seen.Understandably, His life was recorded by
thousands of followers across the land More
than eighty gospels were considered for the New
Testament, and yet only a relative few were
chosen for inclusion Matthew, Mark, Luke, and
John among them. (p. 231)
33
Assertions Made
  • The gospels were recorded well after the lifetime
    of the eyewitnesses and have been embellished
    over time
  • The church created a picture of Christ that would
    portray him as the divine Son of God.
  • The idea that Christ is divine was not taught
    till the Council of Nicea in the 4th Century AD

34
Assertions Made
  • Of the 80 gospels available, the church chose
    only four of the gospels and even these four
    present a distorted portrait of Christ as the
    Divine Son of God.
  • The gospels were not transmitted accurately
    through the years so what we have is not accurate
    to the original texts.
  • Contradictions in the text confirm the inaccuracy
    of the gospels.

35
Reason for Differences
  • Differences do not equate to errors.
  • The reason for the variations is that each author
    is writing for a different audience and from a
    unique perspective.
  • We would expect these differences between four
    independent accounts.
  • If they were identical, we would suspect the
    writers of collaboration with one another.
  • The four gospels actually give us a fuller and
    richer picture of Jesus

36
Date of the Gospels
  • Jesus ministry was from AD 27-30.
  • Noted New Testament scholar F.F. Bruce gives
    strong evidence that the New Testament was
    completed by AD 100. (F.F. Bruce 14)
  • Most writings of the New Testament works were
    completed 20-40 years before this.

37
Date of the Gospels
  • The gospels are dated traditionally as follows by
    Scholars
  • Mark AD 60
  • Matthew and Luke AD 70
  • John AD 90-100

38
Gospels
Mark
Q
Matthew and Luke
John
39
Date of the GospelsInternal Evidence
  • The gospels prophesy the destruction of the
    Temple (occurred in AD 70) but never mention its
    fulfillment.
  • Matthew 24, Mark 13, Luke 21.
  • Acts
  • Luke never mentions the death of Paul and Peter
  • Pauls Epistles date AD 48-64.

40
Date of the GospelsExternal Evidence
  • Over 5000 Greek Manuscripts
  • Chester Beatty Papyri contains most of the NT
    writings is dated AD 250.
  • The Bodmer Papyri contains most of John and dates
    AD 200.

41
Date of the GospelsExternal Evidence
  • Rylands Papyri that was found in Egypt,
    containing a fragment of John and dates AD 130.
  • Dead Sea Scrolls Cave 7
  • Gospel of Mark and dated it to have been written
    in AD 50.
  • Fragments of Acts and other epistles and dated
    them to have been written slightly after AD 50

42
Testimony of the Church Fathers
  • Papias AD 70-163 includes all four gospels
  • Shepherd of Hermas (2nd Century)
  • Polycarp AD 69-155
  • 3 John, James, Hebrews, Jude
  • Clement of Rome AD 90
  • Justin Martyr AD 100-165
  • 2 Peter, 1,2,3 John, James, Hebrews, Jude

43
Testimony of the Church Fathers
  • Ignatius, Bishop of Antioch writes a letter
    before his martyrdom in Rome in AD 11 quoting
    Gospels and other NT letters.
  • Iranaeus AD 130-200
  • Philemon, James, 2 Peter, and 3 John
  • Clement of Alexandria AD 150-215
  • 2 Timothy, and 2 John, 2 Peter and James
  • Origen AD 185-254

44
Church Fathers
  • Church fathers of early second century are
    familiar with the Apostles writings and quote
    them as inspired scripture.

45
Oral Tradition
  • The evidence shows that in oral cultures where
    memory has been trained for generations, oral
    memory can accurately preserve and pass on large
    amounts of information.

46
Oral Tradition
  • Jewish culture stressed memorizations of the law.
  • Deuteronomy 64-9
  • It is a well known fact that the rabbis had the
    OT and much of the oral law committed to memory.
  • The Jews placed a high value on memorizing
    whatever writing reflected inspired scripture and
    the wisdom of God.
  • In a culture where this was practiced, their
    memorization skills were far advanced from ours
    today. New Testament scholars call the Jewish
    culture a culture of memory.

47
Oral Tradition
  • Jesus trained his disciples to teach his lessons
    even while he was on earth.
  • Jewish boys educated at least till twelve, so
    disciples knew how to read and write.
  • Finally, as was done by Jewish and Greek teachers
    who gathered disciples, they trained them to
    carry on the masters teachings.

48
Oral Tradition
  • The teachings of Jesus and his illustrations are
    easy to memorize.
  • We also know that the church preserved the
    teachings of Christ in the forms of hymns which
    were easy to memorize.
  • Pauls summary of the gospel in 1 Corinthians 15
    is a good example of this.
  • We can have confidence that the oral tradition
    accurately preserved the teachings and the events
    of Jesus life till they were written down just a
    few years later.

49
The Authority of the Canon
  • Criterion of the Canon
  • 1 - Does this document have roots connected to an
    apostle?
  • 2 - Is the teaching in the document consistent
    with the teaching of Jesus?
  • 3 - Does this document have widespread influence?

50
Jesus married Mary Magdalene and they had a child.
  • The Jesus and Mary bloodline still exists today

51
Who was Mary Magdalene?
  • Mary was from the town of Magdala.
  • Mary traveled with Jesus (entourage).
  • Mary was at the cross, at the burial, and at the
    resurrection.
  • Mary was not a prostitute
  • Misperception began with Pope Gregory (AD 591)
    who conflated two different people into one.
  • Confused with prostitute (Luke 736-50) who
    washed the feet of Jesus.

52
New Testament
  • No reference to Jesus being married.
  • Gospels talk about his natural relatives (father,
    mother, siblings), but never a wife.

53
Jesus Other Women
  • Unlike other Jewish leaders, Jesus had close
    relationships with women.
  • Several women (Mary Magdalene, Joanna, and
    Susanna) helped support Jesus and the disciples.

54
The Last Supper
55
Gnosticism
  • Gnosis - to know
  • First Christian heresy
  • Blending of Platonic Philosophy and Christian
    teaching
  • First Gnostic - Marcion
  • Marcions canon and the Churchs response
  • Jesus and the injection of the Christ-spirit
  • What really happened on the cross
  • What Jesus came to do

56
Gnostic Texts
  • Discovered at Nag Hammadi in Egypt in 1945.
  • They were an important archaeological find.
  • Yielded 45 works, five of which were called
    gospels.
  • Gospel of Truth, Thomas, Egyptians, Philip, and
    Mary.

57
Gnostic Texts say
  • Contain stories that make Jesus look less human
  • Jesus as little boy and the clay pigeons
  • Jesus curses a boy - dies
  • Jesus and the His appearance as Paul Bunyan
  • The talking cross

58
Gnostic Texts
  • A few of the texts are cited in The Da Vinci
    Code to prove that Jesus was married to
    Mary Magdalene.
  • These are
  • Gospel of Mary (2nd C.)
  • Gospel of Philip (3rd C.)

59
Gospel of Mary
  • But Andrew answered and said to the brethren,
    Say what you (wish to) say about what she has
    said. I at least do not believe that the Savior
    said this. For certainly these teachings are
    strange ideas. Peter answered and spoke
    concerning these same things. He questioned them
    about the Savior Did He really speak with a
    woman without our knowledge and not openly? Are
    we to turn about and all listen to her? Did He
    prefer her to us?

60
Gospel of Mary
  • Then Mary wept and said to Peter, My brother
    Peter, what do you think? Do you think that I
    have thought this up myself in my heart, or that
    I am lying about the Savior? Levi answered and
    said to Peter, Peter, you have always been hot
    tempered. Now I see you contending against the
    woman like the adversaries. But if the Savior
    made her worthy, who are you indeed to reject
    her? Surely the Savior knows her very well. That
    is why He loved her more than us.

61
Gospel of Philip
  • And the companion of the Mary Magdalene.
    loved her more than all the disciples and
    used to kiss her often on her . The rest
    of the disciples were offended by it and
    expressed disapproval.
  • Gospel of Philip 6333-36

62
Gnosticism
  • Gnosis - to know
  • First Christian heresy
  • Blending of Platonic Philosophy and Christian
    teaching
  • First Gnostic - Marcion
  • Marcions canon and the Churchs response
  • Jesus and the injection of the Christ-spirit
  • What really happened on the cross
  • What Jesus came to do

63
Gnostic Evidence
  • Both texts are probably symbolic.
  • Gospel of Mary Peter (Orthodox), Mary
    (Gnostics).
  • Gospel of Philip kissing is most likely
    symbolic.
  • Neither teaches that Jesus was married.

64
Other Evidence
  • Mary traveled with Jesus.
  • She was not the only women to do so.
  • Mary had a special relationship with Jesus.
  • Even if this is true, notice that this is never
    called marriage.
  • Jesus as a good Jew would be married. He was
    also a teacher and functioned like a rabbi (Mark
    1121).

65
Was Single UnJewish?
  • Jesus was a rabbi, he was always addressed with
    that level of respect YET that doesnt prove he
    was married.
  • Jesus talks about eunuchs for the kingdom
    (Matthew 1910-12) and appears to model it after
    Himself.
  • The Essenes were known for their emphasis on
    celibacy (Josephus, Antiquities 18.1.5.21 Jewish
    War 2.8.2.121-122 Philo, Hypothetica 11.14-18).

66
Contrary Evidence
  • Mary is not tied to any male anywhere when she is
    named in Scripture.
  • Jesus shows no special concern for Mary Magdalene
    at the cross.
  • Other disciples were married, but Jesus is not
    named (1 Corinthians 94-6).
  • Early church had no problem with prominent women
    (e.g. Mary, the Mother of Jesus).

67
Conclusion
  • Jesus was not married to Mary Magdalene.
  • She was not pregnant with his child
  • She did not flee to France.
  • There is no royal bloodline.
  • There is no conspiracy to cover up what never
    happened.

68
Jesus was not God. There was no resurrection.
Every major divinity issue was borrowed from
pagan mythology
  • Resurrection, Virgin Birth, etc.

69
The truth of all this was key for centuries by a
secret society that has included Leonardo Da
Vinci who encoded the story via symbols in his art
70
Sound Familiar?
  • Most of the ideas can be found in the book Holy
    Blood, Holy Grail.
  • The difference?
  • The book Holy Blood, Holy Grail sold 20,000
    copies while The Da Vinci Code has already sold
    millions.

71
The Deity of Jesus
  • Not only mentioned in the gospels but throughout
    NT
  • Not only mentioned in the NT but throughout early
    Christian history
  • Genesis 1 and John 1
  • Council of Nicea (325) does create a
    creed/doctrine but that only reflects what people
    already believe

72
Da Vinci Code SeriesPart ThreeResponding to
the Da Vinci Phenomenon
73
Ask the person where he/she is coming from
  • Have they read the book or have they just heard
    about it?
  • What did they think?
  • Have they seen the movie?
  • Which claims of the book/movie seem most
    important to them?
  • Have they read anything else that sheds light on
    the book/movie?

74
I would recommend
  • Dont get into a debate
  • Dont try to become an amateur art speculator
  • Remember, Leonardo lived 1500 years after Jesus
  • Read the book, watch the movie and enjoy it
  • Read the book, watch the movie and be prepared
    for a spiritual conversations
  • McLaren, what we need now are less conversions
    and more conversations - this is a great
    opportunity for spiritual conversions
  • Trust God for His work in and through you
  • John Ortberg, it is the only book I know that
    after youve read it , youre dumber than you
    were when you started
  • 1 John 11-3

75
Da Vinci Code SeminarHeresy or History?Robin
Dugall, Ex.Director YLIProfessor of Biblical
StudiesHaggard School of Theologyrdugall_at_apu.edu
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