the fiction ofthe bestselling novel and hit movie J The Da Vinci Code was first published in 2003 and has remained on or near the top of bestseller lists ever since, reaching tens of millions of readers worldwide. With the release of a film based on the novel, directed by Ron Howard and starring the populaV Tom Hanks, the message of The Da Vinci Code will reach millions more. But What Is The Da Vinci Code Really All About? he Da Vinci “code” at the plot’s center refers to cryptic messages that the artist supposedly incorpo- rated into his work. Leonardo, as the story goes, was a member of an ancient secret society called the “Priory of Sion.” This group was dedicated to preserving the “truth” that Jesus was married to Mary Magdalene and had designated her as the leader of His movement, which is all about the appreciation of the “sacred feminine” in life. The “Code” claims that the legendary “Holy Grail” is really Mary Magdalene, the bloodline of the descendants she and Jesus produced, and the “sacred feminine” that she represents. The Da Vinci Code film dramatizes these claims in flashback form, gives them life,, and will probably prompt even more people to ask: Could the traditional Christian understanding of Jesus be false? Was the Son of God Invented? oth the Da Vinci Code novel and film assert that that early Christians viewed Jesus as merely a “mortal teacher” and that it was only at the Council of Nicaea in 325, under pressure from the Emperor Constantine, that belief in Jesus’ divinity became official Christian teaching. This IS simply not true. The Gospels and letters of Paul, as well as writings and liturgies from the centuries preceding Nicaea, give ample evidence that Christian faith was based on a bdlief that Jesus was the Son of God. They worshipped Jesus as Lord. What Nicaea did was to cor- rect the heresy of Arianism: the belief that Jesus was a highly exalted creature — but a crea- ture, nonetheless — who did not share in God’s nature. We repeat the Council’s affirmation of Jesus’ human and divine natures when we say the Nicene Creed: “God from God, Light from Light, True God from True God.” This was not an innovation. It was simply a more precise articulation of the truth about the Jesus we encounter in the Gospels. f —— — ^ —— — \ Consider the Sources The claims about art, history, and religion made in The Da Vinci Code are not original, but are all taken from other works. First, there are books of pseudo-history (Holy Blood, Holy Grail; The Templar Revelation) from which €very bit ofthe story connecting Jesus, Mary Magdalene, the Holy Grail-as-Mary, and the Priory of Sion are taken. (Incidentally, the “Priory of Sion” and itsjist of “grand masters”— as Brown and these other books describe them — have been proven to be frauds originated by a reac- tionary, anti-Semitic Frenchman in the 195(k Brown also depends on speculative and fictional works about Mary Magdalene (The Woman With the Alabaster Jar), ixom which he takes the notion of Mary as the designated leader of early Christianity. Curiously, Brown never refers to any book of the New Testament nor to any of the writings or liturgies of the early Christian . Church as he discusses Jesus’ identity or what early Christians believed about Jesus. Photo by Comstock Is THE Bible Reliable? most scholars agree these texts have no value in under- standing Jesus or apostolic Christianity. For his part, Brown launches his fictional account )f Je^s’ life, all e canon— the be inspired by Church— was n The Da Vinci Code, the scholar Dr. Teabing (played by Sir Ian McKellan) declares that at the time of Nicaea, there were “thousands” of texts documenting a very human life of Jesus. He says that there were 80 gospels in circulation, 80 gospels that give the story of the “original Christ” that Constantine repressed and— if the film is to be believed—personally had burned! The implication is that during the first three centuries of Christianity, there were many accounts equally reliable, and that the selection < books of the New Testament determined to the Holy Spirit and to be used by the entire based on nothing but a desire for power. This is not true. First, there were not uiuub such texts. There wefi certainly more than are C( in the Bible, but relatively few with any confirmed 1 -apostolic times. Further, by the middle of ttte secoL tury, Christian writers regularly cited the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, as well as Paul’s lette the most reliable sources of information about Jesus’ and the faith of the apostles. And, contrary to Brown’s story, it wasn’t under Constantine that the canon of Scripture was formally accepted. That happened at Church councils decades later, after a great deal of praver debate. rroill LCAL5 LlldL WCIC pH by heretical groups in the late second through fifth centuries as more reliable sources for this n w Was Jesus Married? ^ he story of The Da Vinci Code asserts that Jesus ' must have been married because that was the norm V for Jewish men at the time, and He wouldn’t have been taken seriously as a religious teacher if He had not been married. The Gospels do not describe Jesus as being married. They describe and name His parents, other family mem- bers, and even women whom Luke says accompanied Him and the apostles: And the twelve were with him, and also some women who had been healed of evil spirits and infirmities: Mary, called Magdalene, from whoni seven demons had gone oift, and Joanna, the wife of Chuza, Herod’s steward, and Susanna, and many others, who provided for them out of their means. —Lk. 8:2-3, RSV The Gospels describe Jesus’ interaction with the peo- ple of His hometown. If Jesus had been married, given the frequency with which other relations are mentioned, the marriage would have been mentioned as well. There would be no reason not to. Secondly, being unmarried would not have dimin- ished Jesus’ authority as a Jewish teacher. Certain Jewish prophets, Jeremiah among them, were unmarried. John the Baptist was unmarried, as was Paul; and, during the first century, an entire community of Jewish celibates, called the Essenes, lived near the Dead Sea. In other words, while being unmarried would have, been unusual for a Jewish man, it would not be unheard of, especially for a man totally consumed by dedication to God. rown says that Mary Magdalene was of ro^l blood, of the tribe of Benjamin, and |esus’ wife. According to his story, after the Crucifixion, Mary, pregnant with Jesus’ child, moved to France and became the root of the Merovingian royal family.^ He also says that Jesus intended Mary to be the head of His church, but that Peter seized power from her, sup- pressed all evidence of Jesus’ real intentions, and s^t into motion a 2,000-year conspiracy to demonize Mary Magdalene. % But belying that assertion is the fact that Mary Magdalene is honored as a saint in both the Catholic and Orthodox Churches— so one wonders what basis he has for the accusation that she’s been ''demonized.” Mary is honored in Christianity for her faithfulness to Jesus and her role as a witness at the empty tomb. Orthodox Christians call her “Equal-to-the-Apostles” for this reason— not because she led any alternative branch of Christianity in competition with Peter. While legends from Western Christianity describe her as evangelizing southern France, no legend mentions any power struggle or any "alternative” Christian group. If she had led such a body, and if Peter’s branch was so anxious to suppress her, it hardly makes sense that they would retain the portions of the Gospels describing her as the first to meet the Risen Christy opus Dei Opus Dei, a central element in The Da Vinti Code , characterized as a radical, cult-like fringe group, associat- ed with the Catholic Church. In the story, this group is all about control and repression of the truth. However, this depiction, in both novel and film, is not only inaccurate but unjust. What are the facts? • Opus Dei f‘Work of God”) was founded by St. Josemaria Escriva, in Spain, in 1928. • It is an institution fully approved by, and part of, the Catholic Church, with a mission to help lay geople develop their spiritual lives. ^ • It involves a number of different levels of member- ship. Some associated with Opus Dei benefit from its retreats and spiritual direction while living completely in the world at secular jobs, with families. Others live in Opus Dei houses and commit to celibacy. • There are priests associated with Opus Dei, but there are definitely no monks. • Opus Dei runs many institutions throughout the world dedicated to education, spiritual development, and healthcare. The Da Vinci Co& '5 portrayal of Opus Dei is not even a caricature; it is a fabrication. More can be found at the group’s website: http://www.opusdei.org. Messages in the Paintings? rown claims that Leonardo Da Vinci communicated this “truth” about Jesus and Mary Magdalene in his work, and gives several examples to make his point. But it’s hard to believe what Brown says about this art, con- sidering how regularly he incorrectly describes the content of the paintings and garbles the historical background behind them. He writes, for example, that the John in “The Last Supper” is too feminine-looking to be a man (thereby con- eluding it is meant to be Mary Magdalene). However, it was traditional during the time when Leonardo painted “The Last Supper” to represent John as a beardless, attractive youth. Brown says that since there is no Last Supper chalice or “grail,” the “grail” must be Mary Magdalaie. However, there is noxhalice in the painting because it portrays a scene from the Gospel of John (13:21-25) in which the Institution of the Eucharist is not described, and the Last Supper is not specified as a P^sover Meal— hence, no cen- tral chalice. For More Information: Welborn, Amy. The Da yinci Code Mysteries: What the Movie Doesn ’t Tell You. Our Sunday Visitor Bpoks, i)06 . Welborn, Amy, de-Coding Da Vinci: The Facts Behind the Fiction of The Da Vinci Code. 0\xx Sunday Visitor Books, 2004. Welborn, Amy. de-Coding Mary Magdalene: Truth, Legeml, and Lies. Our Sunday Visitor Books, 2006. , See w)vw.osv.com/davinci for other articles on The Da Vinci Code. For additional Catholic resources or to order bulk copies of this pamphlet contact: OurSuiiday\to)r 200 Noll Plaza • Huntington, IN 46750 I -800-348-2440 • Fax: I -800-498-6709 • www.osv.com Inventory Number: P319E * ^oduct Number: 160P09 By Amy Wclboim Copyright © 2006 by Our Sunday Visitor, Inc. "Last Supper" post-restoration ®Scala/Art Resource, NY Used with permission