The Da Vinci Code
Part 1
It’s just a novel, why bother?
USA Today:
the book consists of “historical fact with a
contemporary storyline.”
Charles Taylor: “The most amazing thing about this
novel is that it’s based on fact.”
Dan Brown: “I began as a skeptic. As I started
researching…I really thought I would disprove a lot of
this theory about Mary Magdalene and Holy Blood and
all of that. I became a believer.”
First page: “FACT,…All descriptions of artwork,
architecture, documents, and secret rituals in this novel
are accurate.”
The Da Vinci Code claims:
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Almost everything the church teaches is false.
Jesus was only human. No one claimed he was
divine until a church council in the fourth century.
Jesus married Mary Magdalene, and had a child
whose descendants live today. This has been
covered up.
Mary is the “Holy Grail” and was commissioned
by Jesus to lead the church, celebrating the
“Sacred Feminine”. Peter stopped her and took
over power.
The early church worshiped the “divine feminine”
until the pagan Constantine create the gospels
and led the church to put men instead of women
in control.
This book has raised questions.
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Are there other ancient documents about Jesus
beside what we have in the NT?
Are they more reliable or authoritative?
Was Jesus married? To Mary Magdalene? Was
there a child, whose descendants live today?
Was Leonardo da Vinci part of secret
organization that knew about this?
Do we know why the NT has the books it does?
Was Jesus just human or just divine or both?
What is the Holy Grail? How long will this take?
Let’s answer some questions
Question one: Is it really possible for a gray
haired middle aged, slightly over the hill
man to be considered dashing and
attractive (as Robert Langdon is
described)?
I thought this might be one aspect that could
be realistic, but the answer is NO.
Question two: How can we trust the veracity,
the reliability of the Bible? Were there
other authentic sources or gospels that
were discarded in the process?
One of the characters in The Da Vinci Code
says, “The Bible is a product of man,
my dear, not of God. History has never
had a definitive version of the book.
The Bible as we know it today was
collated by the pagan Roman Emperor
Constantine the Great in 325 AD.”
How was the New Testament
formed?
In a book called Excavating Jesus, a scholar by
the name of John Dominic Crossan cites a study
that says that in the ancient Mediterranean
Basin, “Our best guess is that the literacy rate
was about 5 percent.”
In ancient Israel, the best guess is it was about 3
percent. That means that when Jesus was
teaching people, probably only about three out
of one hundred would have been able to read
the Old Testament Scriptures for themselves.
Let’s look at some of the writers
Luke 1:1-4 Many have undertaken to draw up an
account of the things that have been fulfilled
among us, just as they were handed down to us
by those who from the first were eyewitnesses
and servants of the word. Therefore, since I
myself have carefully investigated everything from
the beginning, it seemed good also to me to write
an orderly account for you, most excellent
Theophilus, so that you may know the certainty of
the things you have been taught.
John 20:30-31 Jesus did many other
miraculous signs in the presence of his
disciples, which are not recorded in this
book. But these are written that you may
believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of
God, and that by believing you may have
life in his name.
21:24-25 This is the disciple who testifies to
these things and who wrote them down.
We know that his testimony is true. Jesus
did many other things as well. If every one
of them were written down, I suppose that
even the whole world would not have room
for the books that would be written.
2 Peter 1:16-21 We did not follow cleverly invented
stories when we told you about the power and
coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were
eyewitnesses of his majesty. For he received
honor and glory from God the Father when the
voice came to him from the Majestic Glory, saying,
“This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well
pleased.” We ourselves heard this voice that
came from heaven when we were with him on the
sacred mountain. And we have the word of the
prophets made more certain, and you will do well
to pay attention to it, as to a light shining in a dark
place, until the day dawns and the morning star
rises in your hearts. Above all, you must
understand that no prophecy of Scripture came
about by the prophet’s own interpretation. For
prophecy never had its origin in the will of man,
but men spoke from God as they were carried
along by the Holy Spirit.
2 Peter 3:14-16 So then, dear friends, since
you are looking forward to this, make
every effort to be found spotless,
blameless and at peace with him. 
Bear in
mind that our Lord’s patience means
salvation, just as our dear brother Paul
also wrote you with the wisdom that God
gave him. 
He writes the same way in all
his letters, speaking in them of these
matters. His letters contain some things
that are hard to understand, which
ignorant and unstable people distort, as
they do the other Scriptures, to their own
destruction.
Gnostic writings were rejected.
The Canon was formed early.
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Canon is from a Greek word which means “the
norm, the standard, the rule.”
Which books would be canonical must pass at
least three criterion:
-Does this document have a direct
connection to one of the apostles?
-Is this document consistent with the
teaching of Jesus the Christ?
-Did this document have early widespread
influence and acceptance in the churches?
First criterion, connection
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Matthew was an apostle.
Mark was a student of Peter and Paul.
Luke traveled with Paul.
John was an apostle.
All of the books of the New Testament
have a direct connection to an apostle.
All of the books of the New Testament
were also written within 30 to 65 years
after Jesus ascended into heaven.
Second criterion, consistency
The Gospel of Thomas, written in the
second century is an example of not being
consistent.
 Here’s an excerpt:
“Simon Peter said, ‘Let Mary leave us, for
women are not worthy of life.’ Jesus said,
‘I myself shall lead her in order to make
her male so that she too may become a
living spirit resembling you males. For
every woman who will make herself male
will enter the kingdom of heaven.’”
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Third criterion, early widespread
influence and acceptance
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One historian puts it like this: “None of the
non-canonical gospels comes close in
date of composition, breadth of
distribution, or proportion of acceptance.”
William Barclay once wrote, “It is the
simple truth to say that the New Testament
books became canonical because no one
could stop them from doing so.”
The Canon of Scripture was
formed by the second century
Mark Strauss stated: The four gospels
from the New Testament…are the only
historical documents that really can be
shown, with certainty, to be first century
documents. That is, they are documents
that arose within the first and second
generation of Jesus’ followers. The claim
that these other gospels were competing
with those until this particular date is just
simply not accurate.”
Third question, what happened
at Nicea in 325 AD?
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The Da Vinci Code states, “any gospels that
describe earthly aspects of Jesus’ life had to
be omitted from the Gospel—what was
included in the New Testament.”
Yet the Bible states that Jesus was hungry,
thirsty, saddened, tired, wept and was in pain.
The Da Vinci Code implies that Jesus must
have been married because all Jewish men
had to get married.
As a prophet of God, the contrary was true.
So, what happened at Nicea?
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The canon of scripture was recognized.
The Nicene Creed was adopted.
There was much discussion about whether or
not Jesus was of the same substance or similar
substance as the Father. The vote was not
close, over 300 for, 2 against. Jesus is divine,
co-eternal with the Father - of the same
substance.
Constantine, a convert for several years prior,
led and financed the council to unify the church.
There is more to examine, but for now the
Bible you hold is reliable and authoritative
for your faith and your life.
We can be secure in knowing God has
preserved His Word in these Scriptures.
We need not be shaken. We stand in
Christ alone.
The Nicene Creed
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We believe in one God, the Father, the Almighty,
Maker of heaven and earth, and of all that is,
seen and unseen.
We believe I one Lord, Jesus Christ, the only
Son of God, eternally begotten of the Father,
God from God, Light from Light, true God from
true God, begotten, not made, of one Being with
the Father; through Him all things were made.
For us and for our salvation He came down from
heaven, was incarnate of the Holy Spirit and the
Virgin Mary and became truly human.
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For our sake He was crucified under Pontius
Pilate; He suffered death and was buried. On
the third day He rose again in accordance with
the Scriptures; He ascended into heaven and is
seated at the right hand of the Father. He will
come again in glory to judge the living and the
dead, and His kingdom will have no end.
We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the Giver
of life, who proceeds from the Father and the
Son, who with the Father and the Son is
worshiped and glorified, who has spoken
through the prophets. We believe in the one
holy catholic and apostolic church. We
acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness of
sins. We look for the resurrection of the dead
and the life of the world to come. Amen.