The Da Vinci Truth

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The Da Vinci Truth Sorting the facts from the
nonsense Fr Dominic Howarth, Youth Chaplain 7th
June 2006
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DVC fact or fiction?

• Fact The Priory of Sion, founded in 1099, is a
  real organisation (DVC, page 3)
• TRUTH The Priory of Sion was a fabrication by
• four Frenchmen in 1956
• - One has multiple convictions for fraud
• - One admitted the hoax in a BBC interview
  in 1996

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DVC fact or fiction?

• Fact All descriptions of artwork, architecture,
  documents and secret rituals in this novel are
  accurate (DVC, page 3)
• TRUTH There are 91 statements presented as fact
  in the DVC. Of these 15 are true, 7 are
  partially true, and sixty nine are false. That
  is one factual error every nine pages.
• For example

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DVC fact or fiction?

• this Louvre pyramid, at President Mitterands
  explicit demand, had been constructed of exactly
  666 panes of glass the number of Satan (DVC,
  page 40)
• TRUTH The website of the manufacturer of the
  glass for the architect, I M Pei, tells us
  there are 673 panes of glass. The person who
  does not tell the truth about small things !

5
DVC fact or fiction?

• The Bible as we know it today was collated by
  the pagan Roman Emperor Constantine the Great a
  lifelong pagan until 325AD (DVC, page 313-314)
• TRUTH There are multiple historical texts and
  works of art which verify that Constantine
  converted in 312AD.
• TRUTH The Bible was indeed collated over a
  period of time, but this finished well before
  Constantine and had nothing to do with
  Constantine. More on this later.

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DVC fact or fiction?

• We have the male god, Amon, and the female
  goddess, Isis once called LIsa. Put them
  together and you have AMON LISA. Ring any
  bells?
• Mona Lisa somebody gasped
• Her name is an anagram of the divine union of
  male and female. And that, my friends, is Da
  Vincis little secret and the reason for the Mona
  Lisas knowing smile. (Art lecture by Langdon,
  DVC, page 168)
• TRUTH Leonardo knew the painting as La
  Gioconda after the person who is in it and
  never called the painting the Mona Lisa, so
  this theory is completely false and groundless.

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But its just a novel lighten up!

• Dan Brown begins the novel with a page of
  facts. In November 2003, on NBC, he said
• I began the research for the DVC as a sceptic. I
  entirely expected the research for the book to
  disprove the theory. After numerous trips to
  Europe and about two years of research I really
  became a believer

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But its just a novel lighten up!

• Brown presents it as if it is fact
• People believe it to be true
• It matters because it presents a false, distorted
  and malicious picture of Christianity, of things
  that we hold to be central to our life and faith.
• Here are some more of the facts in the DVC

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What the DVC is teaching

• Jesus Christ was not God, but only a man
• Jesus married Mary Magdalene, and they had a
  child MM was pregnant at the crucifixion
• The early Christians believed Jesus was only a
  man until the 300s AD
• In 325AD Emperor Constantine used his power as an
  Emperor to make people believe Jesus was God.
  This is what the DVC says

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What the DVC is teaching

• Teabing Until 325AD Jesus was viewed by his
  followers as a mortal prophet a man Jesus
  establishment as the Son of God was proposed
  and voted on by the Council of Nicaea.
• Sophie Hold on. Youre saying Jesus divinity
  was the result of a vote?
• Teabing A relatively close vote at that
• There is nothing that is more central to our
  faith than the truth that, in fact, Jesus Christ
  was, is and will always be God. This is what
  Jesus said, what the Bible says, and what
  Christians have always believed.

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What the DVC is teaching

• But Dan Brown says
• The Gospels were edited later to support the idea
  the Jesus was God
• Other gospels existed which show Mary Magdalene
  did marry Jesus and that MM, not Peter, was
  directed by Jesus to set up the Christian Church.
• The Priory of Sion exist to protect the true
  bloodline of Christ, and to speak the truth about
  MM
• AND the Catholic Church have known about this for
  the whole time and have acted as ruthless
  murderers to suppress the truth about Jesus
  Christ.

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If it was any other faith If it was my family
We need to get the facts, and we need to
stand up for what we believe.
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So here and now, it is time to tell the truth
about Jesus Christ, Mary Magdalene, and the
Catholic Church
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Who are Opus Dei ?

• They were founded in 1928, and now have 83,000
  members. Their founder is now a canonized Saint.
• They are an integrated organisation in the
  Catholic Church, not a sect.
• Its members are just that members, not monks
• It does not ask people to live a monastic life,
  away from the world. In fact, it encourages
  people to work and contribute as Christians in
  daily life.
• They are not as transparent as they could be with
  regards to finance, or openness of membership

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Who are Opus Dei ?

• In the DVC there are graphic and hideous scenes
  with Silas. The violent use of whip and cilice in
  the DVC is appalling and in no way consistent
  with how Opus Dei would want people to live.
  Jesus way is gentle, loving and kind.
• Discipline, however, is part of the Christian
  tradition, for example fasting. Also part of life
  for actors, musicians, sportsmen. To be good at
  anything takes dedicated effort and so it is
  with faith.
• So what is true mortification, if it is not
  beating yourself up!?

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Who are Opus Dei ?

• The founder of Opus Dei, St Josemaria Escriva,
  said mortification is
• Your friendly conversation with the person you
  find boring and tactless that daily effort to
  overlook one irritating detail or another in the
  persons who live with you. this, with
  perseverance, is indeed solid interior
  mortification.
• Opus Dei are not perfect who is? But nor are
  they ruthless, violent or murderers. They try to
  live hard-working Christian lives including
  generous charitable actions and support for
  charities.

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When were the Gospels written ?

• A simplified, but accurate timeline, agreed on by
  almost all Christian and non-Christian
  historians, based on documentary evidence
• 30s AD Jesus dies
• 50s AD First letters of St Paul, (starting with
  Corinthians)
• Q document sayings of Jesus
• 65AD Marks Gospel written down
• 80AD Matthews Gospel written down
• 80AD Lukes Gospel written down
• 90 100AD Johns Gospel written down

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When were the Gospels written ?

• It is complex to explain the writing of the
  Gospels
• In first century, traditions passed on by
  stories, word of mouth. Not many written
  documents.
• So vital that Gospels written down within a
  generation of Jesus death eye witness
  accounts fact they were put in writing shows
  their significance.
• Differences between some of details in Gospels
  because so geographically spread and written for
  a different audience writers had slightly
  different emphasis. But remarkable similarity.

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But what about the extra gospels ?

• The Biblical Gospels are Matthew, Mark, Luke and
  John
• Yes, there are other gospels.
• They are published, and available in print
• The Church has never tried to deny or suppress
  them
• They are called Gnostic or apocryphal
• None of these gospels refers to a marriage
  between Jesus and Mary Magdalene, or that they
  had a child.
• BUT why are they not in the Bible?

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Why are the extra gospels not in the Bible?

• Look at it this way

Friends 1994 2004 Gospels 65 100AD
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Why are the extra gospels not in the Bible?
Friends 1994 2004 Gospels 65 100AD Joey 2004
2006 But if Joey had been a Gnostic
gospel (Philip, Thomas, Mary Magdalene) it would
have been Joey 2054, and possibly Joey 2254
Even more new and invented character
details! Even less to do with the original!
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Why are the extra gospels not in the Bible?

• They were written later anywhere from 150 to
  300AD centuries after Jesus death.
• They were written after the Gospels that are in
  the Bible had been established as credible and
  widely used.
• They are very different from Matthew, Mark, Luke
  and John example of Jesus and the sparrows
• We know all this from many writers of the time,
  e.g. Ignatius of Antioch (100AD) refers to
  Matthew, Mark, Luke and John by name and says,
  It is written

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But surely there is a code in the picture. That
bit is right, isnt it?

• Everything about the Holy Grail is discussed in
  the excellent Tony Robinson DVD, The Real Da
  Vinci Code. As he concludes, there is nothing in
  this at all, it is a medieval myth.
• For Dan Brown, the Holy Grail is Sang Real,
  Royal Blood, and the clue to whose blood it is
  was given to us by Leonardo da Vinci, in the
  painting of the Last Supper. Lets see

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But surely there is a code in the picture?

• No code! Just a evocative picture of the scene in
  John 1321-24
• Jesus was deeply disturbed and declared, In all
  truth I tell you, one of you is going to betray
  me. The disciples looked at each other, wondering
  what he meant. The disciple Jesus loved was
  reclining next to Jesus. Simon Peter signed to
  him and said, Ask who it is he means

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• The Last Supper has been analysed by art
  historians for decades.
• No respected art historian backs any of the
  conclusions in the Da Vinci code.

The Last Supper was painted for Dominicans,
fighting heresies. It is unlikely Leonardo would
have included an extra heresy in a picture for a
Dominican dining room! The Last Supper follows
the Gospel accounts it is the moment already
quoted from John 13, backed by references in Mark
and Matthew definitively to The Twelve being
present at the Last Supper with Jesus. But what
about the figure that looks like a woman?
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This painting is also by Leonardo It is
entitled John the Baptist and was painted
1513-1516 The Last Supper was painted
1495-1498

• Leonardo was trained in Florence. Paintings of
  effeminate looking men were very normal in his
  era and especially from the school of Florence.
  The painting above is just one example of
  hundreds from the time. There is no reason at all
  to think the disciple in The Last Supper is
  anyone other than John, the beloved disciple.

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A little look at the real Mary Magdalene

• Mary Magdalene is depicted in the Gospels as
• A woman of courage (Jn 1925) standing at the
  foot of the cross of Jesus
• A careful woman, noting the details of where
  Jesus was laid (Mk 1547)
• A woman of reverence, going to anoint Jesus (Mk
  161, Lk 241-10)
• A woman who was the first witness to the
  resurrection (Mk 169, Mt 289, Jn. 2011-18)
• So why would anyone think badly of her?

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A little look at the real Mary Magdalene

• Mary Magdalene is also referred to as having
  seven devils cast from her (Mk 1610, Lk 81).
  In the 590s AD Pope Gregory the Great accentuated
  this, linking her with the woman in Luke chapter
  seven, and thus giving her the reputation of a
  prostitute.
• Only in recent decades has this been challenged.
• BUT in the Eastern Church they have always viewed
  Mary Magdalene well. There are many churches
  dedicated to her, and all that is positive about
  her in Scripture is seen as a model for us.

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A little look at the real Mary Magdalene

• And lets again emphasise that in no Gospel,
  Biblical or apocryphal, does anyone ever write of
  Mary Magdalene as marrying Jesus or as carrying
  his child.
• That is entirely invention, with no basis in
  history at all.
• Mary Magdalene deserves to be remembered as
  courageous, reverent and the first witness to the
  Risen Christ.

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The most serious claims of all Jesus was a man,
not GodNo Christians believed Jesus was God
until the 300s AD when Constantine forced them to
believe itThe Church voted on it in 325AD and
by a close vote decided Jesus was God
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Jesus was not just a man

• We believe Jesus was fully human and fully divine
  uniquely God and human. That means Jesus knows
  us, through and through, he understands us as a
  human, and loves us as God. It is this love that
  meant he died for us, and this love that meant he
  triumphed over death.
• We believe it now, Christians have always
  believed it, and it is what Christ said

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Jesus was not just a man

• I and the Father are one (John 1030)
• The Father is in me and I am in the Father
  (John 1038)
• In Luke 4 Jesus quotes Isaiah, The spirit of the
  Lord is on me for Jews this is a clear
  reference to Jesus as Messiah, Son of God so
  clear is it that they try to kill him there and
  then for his blasphemy
• St Paul says, Christ is above all, God, blessed
  for ever. (Romans 95)
• Early Christians write much about this around
  100AD Ignatius of Antioch speaks of Jesus Christ
  our God

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So what did they vote on in 325AD ?

• Yes the DVC is right (!) that there was a
  Council at Nicaea in 325AD. And the Bishops did
  vote.
• They were responding to a man called Arius, who
  was gathering followers who believed that Jesus
  was a god - more than a person and created by
  God - but not actually God.

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So what did they vote on in 325AD ?

• The Bishops realised that there had to be some
  clarity about what it meant to call yourselves a
  Christian what were the basic and defining
  beliefs. One of these is that Jesus is fully God.
• The vote to confirm this was 316 2 (not close
  as the DVC says)
• The vote was not saying anything new it was the
  Bishops confirming what Christians have always
  believed, because as we have just seen - it was
  what Christ said.

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Some final truth

• The Catholic Church is not perfect. St Peter was
  impulsive, doubted Jesus at times, even betrayed
  Jesus. In the letters of St Paul we read about
  divisions in early Christian churches, and we
  have made mistakes throughout history
• In 2000AD the Pope read a Mea Culpa letter of
  sorrow and apology to many groups who Catholics
  have treated badly through the ages
• But the Church is and has always been full of
  people trying our best to live like Christ. For
  example

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Some final truth

• The Church provides 27 of all AIDS care in
  Africa today
• The Church runs schools across the world, giving
  education where in many cases there would be none
• The Church promotes life, both by opposing
  abortion and euthanasia, and by championing peace
• The Church works hard across the world to end
  poverty, through its agencies Cafod and Caritas
  International
• We believe Jesus Christ is fully human and fully
  God, that he died for us, rose from the dead, and
  now lives eternally
• We believe in the power of prayer, and the truth
  found in love for God and for each other, always.

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The Greatest Truth

• The reason Dan Brown gets it so wrong is summed
  up in the final dialogue between Sophie and
  Langdon in the film. Twice, Langdon says, What
  matters is what you believe.
• It is certainly important that we shape our
  beliefs, important that we have beliefs that we
  value. But actually
• what matters is what is true
• The Da Vinci Code is fiction. If Dan Brown had
  just done some simple research he would have
  discovered that the truth is much more
  inspirational, much more dynamic, much more
  interesting and much more loving. The truth is
  awesome, challenging, life-changing and
  astonishing. We need to tell people the truth.
  People deserve to know the truth.
• The Truth is Jesus Christ.