Da Vinci Facts

1
Da Vinci Facts

• 9th Top Selling Book of all time
• Second best selling novel of all time
• Sold 43 million copies
• Read by 1 in 5 adults in the UK
• Two thirds of those who read it believe it to be
  based on truth

2
Josh McDowell

• Video Clip Fact or Fiction?

3
Da Vinci Quiz

• 1. The Priory of Sion has ever been a real
  organisation.

TRUE
4
Da Vinci Quiz

• 2. The Priory of Sion dates back to Medieval
  times.

FALSE
Founded in 1956 by convicted French con artist
Pierre Plantard. In 1993 its history was
discovered to be an elaborate hoax.
5
Da Vinci Quiz

• 3. The Priory of Sion was related to the Knights
  Templar

FALSE
The priory had nothing to do with the Knights
Templar. Also the Knights Templar had nothing to
do with the Holy Grail except in works of fiction
like Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade.
6
Da Vinci Quiz

• 4. The Priory of Sion had well known figures like
  Sir Isaac Newton as grand masters

FALSE
It had four registered members and operated out
of Plantard's council flat.
7
Sir Isaac Newton
"I have a fundamental belief in the Bible as the
Word of God, written by those who were inspired.
I study the Bible daily."
8
Da Vinci Quiz

• 5. Leonardo Da Vinci hid messages in his
  paintings.

FALSE
Not according to any reputable art historian.
9
Da Vinci Quiz

• 6. The Mona Lisa is an androgynous painting whose
  name derives from the male god Amnon and the
  female goddess Isa

FALSE
Mona is an Italian contraction of the word
Madonna, meaning Lady. So it means Lady Lisa.
This is a 19th century title never used by
Leonardo himself. He called it a certain
Florentine lady The Italians refer to it as La
Gioconda the light hearted woman.
10
Da Vinci Quiz

• 7. There are two versions of the Madonna of the
  rocks

TRUE
One hangs in the Louvre in Paris, the other in
the National Gallery in London.
11
Da Vinci Quiz

• 8. The first version of Madonna of the rocks
  was rejected because it contained disturbing
  imagery

FALSE
The dispute was over money. He sold the first to
a higher bidder, then made another for the
original church.
12
(No Transcript)
13
Da Vinci Quiz

• 9. The emperor Constantine presided over the
  council of Nicea in 325AD

TRUE
However he did not make any of the decisions. He
ratified the rulings of the Bishops present.
14
Da Vinci Quiz

• 10. The church did not believe in the divinity of
  Christ before this point.

FALSE
Only a fringe heretical sect known as the
Ebionites believed that Jesus was just a mortal
man. The disagreement at Nicea was between the
Arians who believed that Jesus was the first and
greatest created being, and the rest who held
that he was eternal, uncreated and equal in
divinity with God the Father.
15
Da Vinci Quiz

• 11. The canon of Scripture was formed at this
  council

FALSE
The four gospels were already agreed upon before
this council and the full canon was not agreed
until afterwards. No discussion about the canon
was made. The matters discussed were the Arian
controversy and the date for Easter.
16
Da Vinci Quiz

• 12. Mary Magdalene was demonised by the church
  after Nicea

FALSE
She has always been highly esteemed in the
Catholic church, as a faithful disciple of Jesus
and the first to witness his resurrection. In
fact she was made a saint.
17
Josh McDowell

• Video Clip Nicea

18
Da Vinci Quiz

• 13. The Gnostic gospels portray Jesus as only
  human

FALSE
The Gnostics believed that all matter was
inherently evil. If anything they portrayed Jesus
as less of the flesh and blood man as portrayed
in the four biblical gospels.
19
Da Vinci Quiz

• 14. The Gnostic gospels have a higher place for
  the role of women

FALSE
The Gnostic gospels have a high regard for Mary
Magdalene who is used as a vehicle for gnostic
thought, but women in general are treated with
contempt
20
Simon Peter said to them "Let Mary go away from
us, for women are not worthy of life." Jesus
said "Look, I will draw her in so as to make her
male, so that she too may become a living male
spirit, similar to you." (But I say to you)
"Every woman who makes herself male will enter
the kingdom of heaven." The Gospel of Thomas
21
Da Vinci Quiz

• 15. The Gnostic gospels are an alternative
  historic account of the life of Jesus

FALSE
There is very little narrative in the gnostic
gospels. They were written two centuries after
Christ and were a vehicle for spreading gnostic
teachings. Those narrative stories included are
very odd.
22
The Lord went into the dye works of Levi. He
took seventy-two different colors and threw them
into the vat. He took them out all white. And he
said, "Even so has the Son of Man come as a
dyer. The Gospel of Philip
23
Da Vinci Quiz

• 16. The Gnostic gospels suggest Jesus was married
  to Mary Magdalene

FALSE
They say she was favoured more than the
disciples. This is because in the gnostic gospels
Mary represents the ideas of gnosticism, and the
disciples the ideas of the church, not because
they wanted to suggest they were married.
24
Josh McDowell

• Video Clip Mary

25
Da Vinci Quiz

• 17. Leonardo's painting The Last Supper is an
  authoritative record of the historic event.

FALSE
It was painted in the late 15th century. How
could it be!?
26
Da Vinci Quiz

• 18. He painted Mary Magdalene next to Jesus

FALSE
Not according to any credible art historian. It
is held that the figure in question is a young
apostle John. The disciple whom Jesus loved.
27
(No Transcript)
28
Da Vinci Quiz

• 19. The thirteen cups on the table contradict the
  biblical record

FALSE
Jesus introduced the covenant meal while they
were all eating together. It is natural they
would have had their own cups.
29
And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks
he gave it to them, saying, Drink of it, all of
you, for this is my blood of the covenant, which
is poured out for many for the forgiveness of
sins. Matthew 2627-28
30
Da Vinci Quiz

• 20. The Holy Grail is an important Christian
  doctrine

FALSE
It is a mythological story with no significance
to the Christian faith other than it is
supposedly the cup which held his blood.
31
The Truth

• The True Grail

The wine at the Lord's table

• The True Bride

The Church

• The True Mystery

The Gospel