Published on 18th August 2009.

Hi all,

Today, I'd like to talk to you a little bit about Dan Brown's immensely-popular "The Da Vinci Code": its claims, its implications, and where, ultimately, its historical "evidence" fails. I have written this blog entry to shed some light on the fictional claims of "The Da Vinci Code", which no doubt will have challenged the faith of many believers.

Fact Vs. Fiction

Firstly, and foremostly, it is important to remember that, although in many senses the subject content of "The Da Vinci Code" is marketed as being thoroughly researched and historically accurate, the book is fictional. The plot is merely a wildly dramatised and corrupted version of the true history of the Bible and the Christian faith.

Reading the book, its rotund prose and sense of articulation can make it easy to be swayed into thinking, "This sounds true, so it probably is.". Whether Dan Brown ultimately believes in what he suggests in the novel or not, he has obviously written the story in such a way as to, at the very least, make the reader think twice about their perceptions of scotomatous historical events.

A Holey Grail

Perhaps the most infamous proposition of The Da Vinci Code is the notion that Mary Magdalene was married to Jesus. Brown initially uses Leonardo Da Vinci's "The Last Supper" as evidence to support this claim, though he also delves into the Gnostic Gospels and, indrectly, the Bible itself.

Brown, by way of character Leigh Teabing, suggests that Da Vinci's masterpiece shows Mary Magdalene seated at the right hand of Jesus - not the disciple John, as is widely accepted. He notes her feminine complexion, her robes (of which the colours are the inverse of Jesus's) and her orientation with respect to Jesus (the fact that they make an "M" shape, supposedly denoting "Magdalene", and also a chalice symbol, denoting femininity).

"The Da Vinci Code" claims that Da Vinci's "The Last Supper"
shows Mary Magdalene, not John, at the right hand of Jesus.

Brown then goes on to "quote" (which is not a direct quote, but has in fact been "filled in") the Gnostic Gospel of Philip:

"And the companion of the Saviour is Mary Magdalene. Christ loved her more than all the disciples, and used to kiss her often on the mouth."

Compare this with the original surviving manuscript:

"And the companion of the [...] Mary Magdalene. [...] loved her more than all the disciples, and used to kiss her often on the [...]."

Importantly, even if it were assumed that the Gospel of Philip did suggest any sexual connection between Jesus and Mary Magdalene, its testimony would still be questionable. Not least of all, it was written at least a century after Jesus's death, by an unknown author with no eyewitness testimony or involvement. It is also worth noting that, contrary to Brown's claims, the contemporary use of the word "companion" was not analogous to the word "marriage", and, in fact, kissing on the mouth was often used as a friendly greeting between parties.

As we can see, to assume such a marital connection between Jesus and Mary Magdalene would require a leap of faith, indeed.

The Council Of Nicea

At one point in the book, Brown convincingly details how, seeking to unify the traditional paganism of Rome with the newly-arising Christian faith, Constantine the Great (born 27 February c. 272) held a famous ecumenical gathering known as the Council of Nicea. At this gathering, key elements of Christianity were "voted" upon by a panel of bishops, such as the date of Easter, the published content of the Bible, and even the divinity of Jesus himself.

Supposedly, it was the Nicean council who chose what gospels were to be included in the New Testament - gospels which portrayed Jesus as a divine figure were kept, whilst those which gave the "true" message of his unholiness were removed. Afterall, who would place faith in a normal man being the Son of God? Constantine is described by Brown as being a "businessman" of his time, and it is inferred that Constantine wanted desperately to monopolise the very foundations of Christianity so that they worked in his favour.

Original sin, the formation of woman from man, the disallowance of women at the head of the church - all of this was supposedly introduced into Bible scripture by Constantine to promote the inferiority of women in society. It is a dangerously convincing argument, but it is also a false one: a movement to formalise the contents of the New Testament was already well underway by the end of the 2nd century, almost 100 years before Constantine was even born to tell the tale.

Brown suggests that the idea of "original sin"was
invented by the Romans to promote male superiority,
and edited into the Bible according.

All the above said, we do know that the Council of Nicea meeting did take place, albeit under different pretenses. It is true that Constantine met with various bishops to discuss aspects of Christianity, such as the date of Easter, and other formalities. One thing they did not do, however, was to edit Bible canon, and they certainly did not edit any scripture itself.

A Mortal Prophet

Brown's claim that "until that moment in history, Jesus was viewed by His followers as a mortal prophet... a great and powerful man, but a man nevertheless," is also false - throughout the New Testament, Jesus is constantly referred to and reaffirmed as the Son of God (Matthew 14:33, Mark 3:11, Luke 4:41, John 1:34), our Lord and Saviour (Luke 2:11, 2 Peter 1:11, 2 Peter 3:18, Jude 1:25), and the only one through which we will be saved (John 3:17, John 10:9, Acts 16:31, Romans 10:9, 1 John 4:9).

In the words of co-protagonist Sophie Neveu, "How could a secret that big be kept quiet all these years?" - quite simply, because no such secret exists.

Jesus is the one true path to God. He is divine, and more than a mere man. The Bible tells us this over and over again, and we have sufficient evidence to believe that what the Bible says is historically accurate and reliable (I'll be blogging more about this in future).

Further Reading

• How Do We Know The Bible Is True?
• History Vs. The Da Vinci Code
• The Truth About Da Vinci: Gospel Of Philip
• The Council Of Nicea & The Da Vinci Code
• Development Of New Testament Canon