Title:
1The Da Vinci CodeThe Real Conspiracy Revealed
2A Very Popular Book
- 21 in the US have read the book.
- 25 of those say it was a helpful spiritual
document. - 2 million American say they changed one or more
religious beliefs because of the content of the
book.
3Why So Popular?
- A great read
- Great suspense
- A smart premise
- Intelligent writing style, yet not over head of
readers - A love interest
- Titillating controversy
- A slap at authorities we love to hate
- A subtle appeal to our own pride to be smarter
than those in power
4So, is it a good book?
Trailer for the movie Seek the truth
- A lot of research behind this book
- Very bad scholarship underlying the premises of
the book
5The fictional conspiracy of the book
- Quote from The Da Vinci Code
- almost everything our fathers taught us about
Christ is false. (page 255, DVC)
6The Premise of the Da Vinci Code
- Jesus Christ was married to Mary Magdalene. Their
royal bloodline is still in existence today - A secret society known as the Priory of Sion has
guarded and protected this truth for over one
thousand years - The conservative Roman Catholic lay group Opus
Dei is in a murderous conspiracy to cover up the
truth about Jesus and Mary Magdalene
7The Premise of the Da Vinci Code (cont.)
- The early church worshiped the Holy
feminine/mother goddess. Mary represents the
holy femininerepresenting the divine goddess. - The early church believed Jesus Christ was just a
manthat he was not deity. - Emperor Constantine changed Christianity. He
created the myth that Jesus is God. He threw out
most of the gospelsonly keeping those of a small
segment of Christianity which agreed with his
premise.
8The premise of the Da Vinci Code (cont.)
- Western Christendom is a conspiracy of epic
proportions.
9But what is the real conspiracy?
- The Real conspiracy is that of Dan Brown.
- His co-conspirator is Satan himself.
10The real conspiracy of the book
- We need to liberate ourselves from monotheism and
sexism - the worship of only one God and a male
one at that the God of the Bible!
11The real conspiracy of the book
- We need to liberate ourselves from the worship of
Jesus as the God the Son!
12The real conspiracy of the book
- We need to liberate ourselves from the ignorant
belief that the Bible is inspired and
authoritative!
13The real conspiracy of the book
- Then we can be free to worship several Gods and
Goddesses as the Israelites and the early
Christian Church supposedly did before this
massive cover-up.
14- Lets piece this hidden puzzle together as we
read excerpts from The Da Vinci Code (DVC) and
ask ourselves this question - Where is Dan Brown really leading us?
- (Note some of this material appears in the book,
but not in the movie.)
15Excerpt from DVC
- The point here, Langdon said, motioning back to
the bookshelf, is that all of these books
substantiate the same historical claim. - That Jesus was a father. Sophie was still
uncertain. - Yes, Teabing said, And that Mary Magdalene was
the womb that carried his royal lineage. The
Priory of Sion, to this day, still worships Mary
Magdelene as the Goddess, the Holy Grail, the
Rose, and the Divine Mother. (page 275, DVC)
16Excerpt from DVC
- At its heart, the quest for the Holy Grail has
always been a quest for Magdalene the wronged
Queen, entombed with proof of her familys
rightful claim to power. (page 278, DVC)
17Excerpt from DVC
- Teabing spoke more quietly now. The quest for
the Holy Grail is literally the quest to kneel
before the bones of Mary Magdalene. A journey to
pray at the feet of the outcast one, the lost
sacred feminine. (page 277, DVC)
18Excerpt from DVC
- Sophie, Langdon said, the Priorys tradition
of perpetuating goddess worship is based on a
belief that powerful men in the early Christian
church conned the world by propagating lies
that devalued the female and tipped the scales in
favor of the masculine Constantine and his male
successors successfully converted the world from
matriarchal paganism to patriarchal Christianity
by waging a campaign of propaganda that demonized
the sacred feminine, obliterating the goddess
from modern religion forever (page 133, DVC)
19Excerpt from DVC
- we are currently in an epoch of enormous
change. The millennium has recently passed, and
with it has ended the two-thousand-year-long
astrological Age of Pisces the fish, which is
also the sign of Jesus. As any astrological
symbologist will tell you, the Piscean ideal
believes that man must be told what to do by
higher powers because man is incapable of
thinking for himself. Hence it has been a time
of fervent religion. Now, however, we are
entering the age of Aquarius the water bearer
whose ideals claim that man will learn the truth
and be able to think for himself. The
ideological shift is enormous, and is occurring
right now. (pages 289-290, DVC)
20The real conspiracy
- The real conspiracy in The Da Vinci Code is where
author Dan Brown is leading his readers. - But is this really where we want to go?
21The real conspiracy
- Replace religion with humanism and place our
trust and confidence in ourselves rather than in
God?
22The real conspiracy
- Extol the virtues of atheism as the supreme
enlightenment and laud nature worship and
polytheism as a step in the right direction?
23The real conspiracy
- Praise pagan sexual fertility rites as
appropriate worship?
24The real conspiracy
- Here is the type of worship
- that this book exalts
- and commends to the reader
- Note in the movie, it is a brief flashback that
Sophie (the main female character) has of seeing
her grandfather engaged in a pagan sex ritual.
25Excerpt from DVC
- He (Langdon) explained that although what she
saw probably looked like a sex ritual, Hieros
Gamos had nothing to do with eroticism. It was a
spiritual act. Historically, intercourse was the
act through which male and female experienced
God. The ancients believed that the male was
spiritually incomplete until he had carnal
knowledge of the sacred feminine. Physical union
with the female remained the sole means through
which man could become spiritually complete and
ultimately achieve gnosis knowledge of the
divine. Since the days of Isis, sex rites had
been considered mans only bridge from earth to
heaven. (page 335, DVC)
26The real conspiracy
- Group sex is a spiritual act?
- Immorality is how we experience God?
27- No wonder the Apostles warned us about the
destructive teachings of the Gnostic heretics!
282 Peter 21-3 and Gnosticism
- But there were also false prophets among the
people, just as there will be false teachers
among you. They will secretly introduce
destructive heresies, even denying the sovereign
Lord who bought thembringing swift destruction
on themselves. 2Many will follow their shameful
ways and will bring the way of truth into
disrepute. 3In their greed these teachers will
exploit you with stories they have made up. Their
condemnation has long been hanging over them, and
their destruction has not been sleeping.
29The real conspirator
- But this is not about author Dan Brown
- Satan is the real conspirator behind
- The Da Vinci Code
302 Corinthians 211
- in order that Satan might not outwit us. For we
are not unaware of his schemes.
31Satan seduces us to sin
- (DVC) Is it surprising we feel conflicted about
sex? he asked his students. Our ancient
heritage and our very physiologies tell us sex is
natural a cherished route to spiritual
fulfillment and yet modern religion decries it
as shameful, teaching us to fear our sexual
desire as the hand of the devil. (page 336, DVC)
32Satans scheme revealed
- According to The Da Vinci Code the reason we feel
conflicted about sex is that modern religion has
taught us to be ashamed of our sexuality and fear
it as from the Devil. But our pagan ancestry and
the cravings of our human physiology tell us that
sex is a cherished route to spiritual
fulfillment.
33Satans scheme revealed
- Sex is a cherished route to spiritual
fulfillment?
34Satan seduces us to doubt
- 2 Corinthians 113-4
- But I am afraid that just as Eve was deceived by
the serpent's cunning, your minds may somehow be
led astray from your sincere and pure devotion to
Christ. 4For if someone comes to you and preaches
a Jesus other than the Jesus we preached, or if
you receive a different spirit from the one you
received, or a different gospel from the one you
accepted, you put up with it easily enough.
35Satan seduces us to doubt
- (DVC) Sophie looked skeptical. My friends who
are devout Christians definitely believe that
Christ literally walked on water, literally
turned water into wine, and was born of a literal
virgin birth. - My point exactly, Langdon said. Religious
allegory has become a part of the fabric of
reality. And living in that reality helps
millions of people cope and be better people. - But it appears their reality is false.
36Decoding The Da Vinci Code
- Lets explore
- 10 false claims
- in The Da Vinci Code
37FALSE CLAIM 1
- Christianity is simply a compilation of pagan
religions such as Mithraism and Mystery Religions
such as the Greek Cult of Dionyssus
38Excerpt from DVC
- Nothing in Christianity is original. The
pre-Christian God Mithras called the Son of God
and the Light of the World was born on December
25, died, was buried in a rock tomb, and then
resurrected in three days. The newborn Krishna
was presented with gold, frankincense, and myrrh.
Even Christianitys weekly holy day was stolen
from the pagans. Originally, Christianity
honored the Jewish Sabbath of Saturday, but
Constantine shifted it to coincide with the
pagans veneration day of the sun. He paused,
grinning. To this day, most churchgoers attend
services on Sunday morning with no idea that they
are there on account of the pagan sun gods
weekly tribute Sunday. (page 252, DVC)
39The Truth
- Brown offers no evidence for this
- Others make these claims. They fall into two
categories - Vague parallels which prove nothing
- Mithra supposedly performed miracles (even though
he is clearly a mythical figure) - Ideas borrowed from Mithraism from Christianity,
not the other way around.
40The TRUTH
- No wonder the early Church apologist, Justin
Martyr (160 A.D.) referred to the Mithraic meal
as a Satanic imitation of the Lords supper.
(First Apology, 66)
41Josh McDowell quote
- With Christianity exploding onto the scene of
the Roman Empire, it is evident that other
religions adopted certain teachings or practices
from Christianity in order to stem the tide of
departing adherents and/or to attract Christians
to their side.
42The Bottom Line
- The god Mithra is a myth. This person never
lived, so any parallels are spurious. Jesus
really lived and he really did the things
recorded in the gospels.
43The TRUTH
- And the claim that Originally, Christianity
honored the Jewish Sabbath of Saturday, but
Constantine shifted it to coincide with the
pagans veneration day of the sun (DVC) is
equally absurd.
44The truth on Sunday worship
- Acts 207 On the first day of the week we came
together to break bread. - Revelation 110 On the Lords Day I was in the
Spirit - From the first century, all available evidence,
both biblical and extra-biblical, even from
non-believers proves the church always met on
Sunday. - Dan Brown is not mistaken. He is lying!
45Justin Martyr quote
- The early church father, Justin Martyr (100-165
A.D.), confirms that the 2nd Century church
continued to meet on Sunday well before the time
of Constantine - And on the day called Sunday there is a
gathering together in one place of all those who
live in cities or in the country, and the memoirs
of the apostles or the writings of the prophets
are read
46The TRUTH
- In summary, it is a false claim to say that
Christianity is a compilation of pagan religions.
The truth is that many pagan religions imitated
Christianity.
47FALSE CLAIM 2
- Nobody worshipped Jesus as God before the Roman
Emperor, Constantine, made it mandatory. Jesus
is simply a mortal man, not the Son of God.
48Excerpt from DVC
- Constantine turned Jesus into a deity who
existed beyond the scope of the human world, an
entity whose power was unchallengeable. It was
all about power the early Church literally stole
Jesus from his original followers, hijacking His
human message, shrouding it in an impenetrable
cloak of divinity, and using it to expand their
own power. (page 253, DVC)
49Excerpt from DVC
- (speaking of the Council of Nicaea, in 325 A.D.)
My dear, Teabing declared, until that moment
in history, Jesus was viewed by His followers as
a mortal prophet a great and powerful man, but a
man nonetheless. A mortal. - Not the Son of God?
- Right, Teabing said, Jesus establishment as
the Son of God was officially proposed and
voted on by the Council of Nicaea. A relatively
close vote at that. (page 253, DVC)
50The TRUTH
- From the very beginning of Christianity, Jesus
was worshipped as the Son of God, some 300 years
before Constantine and the Council of Nicaea in
325 A.D.
51The Truth
- John 11,2,14 The Word was God
- John 852 Before Abraham was born, I AM
- Titus 213 Our great God and savior, Jesus
Christ - Colossians 115-20 He is the image of the
invisible God. - Colossians 29 In him all the fullness of deity
lives in bodily form. - John 2027 Thomas My Lord and my God
- And many more.
- The Bible says Jesus is God.
52Reliability of text
- This passage from the gospel of John (chapter
one), known as the Rylands Papyrus, has been
discovered in an ancient manuscript, and has been
carbon-dated at 125-135 A.D. - This is forensic evidence, scientific proof if
you will, that Jesus was clearly believed to be
God at least 200 years before Constantine and the
Council of Nicaea in 325 A.D.
53The early church fathers were unanimous about the
deity of Jesus
- Justin Martyr wrote of Christ, being the
first-begotten Word of God, is even God. (First
Apology, Ch. 63) - Irenaeus (A.D. 130-200) wrote about Christ, our
Lord, and God, and Saviour, and King. (Irenaeus,
Against Heresies, bk. 1, ch. 10)
54The TRUTH
- Constantine did not turn Jesus into a deity in
order to give the church more power. That is a
false claim. The truth is that Jesus was
worshipped as God by the Apostles and the early
Christian church since the very beginning of
Christianity, and that worship has continued to
this day.
551 John 222
- Who is the liar? It is the man who denies that
Jesus is the Christ
56FALSE CLAIM 3
- The four Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke and John)
were personally selected by Constantine in 325
A.D. at the Council of Nicaea, to be included in
the Bible because they were the only gospels that
emphasized Jesus divinity and downplayed his
humanity.
57Excerpt from DVC
- Aha! Teabing burst in with enthusiasm. The
fundamental irony of Christianity! The Bible, as
we know it today, was collated by the pagan Roman
emperor Constantine the Great. (page 251, DVC)
58Excerpt from DVC
- More than eighty gospels were considered for the
New Testament, and yet only a relative few were
chosen for inclusion Matthew, Mark, Luke and
John among them. (page 251, DVC)
59Excerpt from DVC
- Constantine commissioned and financed a new
Bible, which omitted those gospels that spoke of
Christs human traits and embellished those
gospels that made Him godlike. The earlier
gospels were outlawed, gathered up, and burned.
(page 254, DVC)
60The TRUTH
- Matthew, Mark, and Luke were written before AD
70 John before AD 85. - The church chose the canon of scriptures in the
first and second century AD. - The Muratorian fragment has been dated to 180 AD.
It mentions all the New Testament books except
Matthew and Mark (but it says Luke is the third
gospel), Hebrews, James, 1 and 2 Peter and 1 John
as being inspired and therefore having apostolic
authority.
61The TRUTH
- The early church father, Irenaeus, only about 100
years after the four orthodox gospels were
written, referred to them in his book, Against
Heresies, saying that it was fitting that she
(the church) should have four pillars. Later on
he speaks of them as the Gospels in quadriform.
(Ch. 3.11.8)
62When was the canon scripture assembled?
- The letters known as the Epistle of Barnabus, the
Didache and the Letter of Clement of Rome have
all been dated from around 100 AD. These authors
quote from Matthew, Mark, Luke, Acts, Romans, I
Corinthians, Ephesians, Titus, Hebrews, I Peter
and others. The early church father Ignatius was
martyred in 115 AD. In a set of letters he
composed on his way to his execution in Rome, he
quoted from nearly every New Testament book. - Virtually the entire New Testament can be
recreated from church father quotes pre AD 200.
63Did Constantine create his own list of inspired
scripture in AD 325 at the council of Nicea?
- Answer
- The New Testament Canon was developing by AD
100 and was virtually set and unchanged after AD
200. 125 years before Nicea.
64FALSE CLAIM 4
- The Gnostic gospels (referred to as the Sangreal
documents in the DVC) are unaltered, written
before the orthodox gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke
and John), and written by the early followers of
Jesus.
65Excerpt from DVC
- The Sangreal documents simply tell the other
side of Christs story. (they are) the Purest
Documents thousands of pages of unaltered,
pre-Constantine documents, written by the early
followers of Jesus, revering Him as a wholly
human teacher and prophet. (page 277, DVC)
66The TRUTH
- The Purist Documents? Hardly. The Gnostic
gospels were forgeries claiming to be written
by the apostles, but actually written by
imposters over 100 years later.
67The TRUTH
- The Gnostics were never part of the mainstream of
Christianity. They followed a combination of
Greek philosophy and the mystery religions. - The Gnostics taught that the God of the Old
Testament was an evil God, unlike the God of the
New Testament. - The book of 1st John was written to oppose the
Gnostic false teaching that Jesus did not have a
physical body. That which our hands have
touchedthis we proclaim.
68The Gnostic Gospels
- The Gospel of Thomas. Written about AD 150.
Definitely not written by Thomas. A forgery. - 122 They said to him, "Then shall we enter the
kingdom as babies?" Jesus said to them, "When you
make the two into one, and when you make the
inner like the outer and the outer like the
inner, and the upper like the lower, and when you
make male and female into a single one, so that
the male will not be male nor the female be
female, when you make eyes in place of an eye, a
hand in place of a hand, a foot in place of a
foot, an image in place of an image, then you
will enter the kingdom. - 1114 Simon Peter said to him, "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.
69The Gnostic Gospels (cont.)
- The Gospel of Judas was written about AD 170.
- Obviously, Judas did not write it.
- Judas was Jesus closest apostle.
- Judas did a favor to Jesus by betraying him. But
you ie. Judas will exceed all of them. For you
will sacrifice the man that clothes me. - Are these the purest documents about Jesus?
70FALSE CLAIM 5
- Jesus and Mary Magdalene were married.
71Excerpt from DVC
- As I said earlier, the marriage of Jesus and
Mary Magdalene is part of the historical record.
(page 265, DVC)
72Dan Brown Da Vinci is hinting at the secret
Mary Magdalene was at the Last Supper
73The apostle John of Mary Magdalene?
74(No Transcript)
75Raffaelos John the Apostle, 1503
76Hans Baldung St. John the Evangelist c. 1515
77Juan de Juannes 1445-1450 John the Evangelist
78The TRUTH
- The speculation that Jesus and Mary Magdalene
were married or romantically involved at all is a
complete fabrication, and certainly not part of
the historical record as author Dan Brown
asserts.
79The TRUTH
- There is a single verse in a Gnostic writing
(The Gospel of Philip not written by Philip)
that says Jesus kissed Mary. But greeting
friends with a holy kiss was common in the Bible
(1 Corinthians 1620 Greet one another with a
holy kiss), and had no sexual connotation. But
even if that is what this Gnostic gospel writer
had in mind, the Gospel of Philip is a forged
document, written 150-220 years after Christ by
an unknown author. So, its statement about Jesus
isnt historically accurate, and there is no
other historical document to confirm this theory.
80FALSE CLAIM 6
- God has a powerful female equal named
Shekinah, and to experience wholeness with this
deity, men must have sex with temple prostitutes
as a pathway to union with God.
81Excerpt from DVC
- Early Jews believed that the Holy of Holies in
Solomons Temple housed not only God but also His
powerful female equal, Shekinah. Men seeking
spiritual wholeness came to the Temple to visit
priestesses or hierodules with whom they made
love and experienced the divine through physical
union. The Jewish tetragrammaton YHWH the
sacred name of God in fact derived from
Jehovah, an androgynous physical union between
the masculine Jah and the pre-Hebraic name for
Eve, Havah. (page 336, DVC)
82The TRUTH
- Shekinah? Advocating sex with temple
prostitutes? Are you kidding? (No, Dan Brown is
not kidding.) - Can you imagine Moses advocating sex with
prostitutes in the tabernacle? - The Hebrew word Shekinah means the glory of God.
The idea that this is a reference to the female
God is a total fabrication.
83FALSE CLAIM 7
- The Bible is not inspired by God, and the New
Testament is historically inaccurate and
therefore unreliable.
84Excerpt from DVC
- The Bible is a product of man, my dear. Not of
God. (page 250, DVC) - presenting to the world thousands of ancient
documents as scientific evidence that the New
Testament in false testimony the New Testament
is based on fabrications. (page 369, DVC)
85The Truth
- The Bible is by far the most reliable book of
ancient history we have. - Luke is a historian of the highest order.
- The evidence for the resurrection of Jesus is
overwhelming. (www.evidenceforchristianity.org) - Krishna is a myth, Mithras is a myth, Dionysus is
a myth, Isis is a myth. Jesus was a very real
person.
86FALSE CLAIM 8
- That the term heretic was born at the Council
of Nicaea in 325 A.D. and referred to those who
chose the forbidden gospels over Constantines
version (DVC).
87Excerpt from DVC
- An interesting note, Langdon added. Anyone
who chose the forbidden gospels over
Constantines version was deemed a heretic. The
word heretic derives from that moment in
history. (page 254, DVC)
882 Peter 21
- But there were also false prophets among the
people, just as there will be false teachers
among you. They will secretly introduce
destructive heresies, even denying the sovereign
Lord who bought thembringing swift destruction
on themselves.
89FALSE CLAIM 9
- Author Dan Brown asserts that Christianity
demonized Mary Magdalene in order to suppress her
influence.
90The TRUTH
- Amy Welborn, in her USA Today article, 5 Biggest
Flaws in Da Vinci, points out that Mary
Magdalene is a saint. In every Gospel, she (Mary
Magdelene) is cited as the first person to find
the empty tomb. She was the second-most revered
saint of the Middle Ages, after Mary, Jesus
mother. Thats an odd way to demonize.
91The TRUTH
- Ironically, the Gnostic Gospel of Thomas, one
of Dan Browns primary sources for his allegation
of sexism in the orthodox gospels, has passages
in it that thoroughly demean women.
92From The Gospel of Thomas
- (supposedly quoting Peter) Let Mary go away from
us, because women are not worthy of life. - Then Jesus allegedly tells Peter that he will
make Mary male so that she may enter the kingdom
of heaven. - Not much of a battle cry for womens rights, and
yet the Gospel of Thomas is one of the primary
sources for Dan Browns feminist agenda.
93FALSE CLAIM 10
- That the secret society known as the Priory of
Sion actually existed in medieval times and had
the noble task of protecting the bloodline of
Christ.
94Excerpts from DVC
- The Priory of Sion a European secret society
founded in 1099 is a real organization The
modern Priory of Sion has a momentous duty they
must nurture and protect the bloodline of Christ
(page 279).
95The TRUTH
- The modern Priory of Sion was created in 1956
by Pierre Plantard. All documents proving a
bloodline and a list of historical Priory
members (such as Leonardo Da Vinci) were proven
to be forged by a French court of law.
96Excerpt from the Wikipedia Encyclopedia on The Da
Vinci Code, continued
- Arnaud de Sede, son of Gerrard de Sede, stated
categorically that his father and Plantard had
made up the existence of the Priory de Sion, the
cornerstone of the Jesus bloodline theory to
quote Arnaud de Sede in the programme, frankly
it was piffle Detailed analysis of many other
claims in the Da Vinci Code in the programme
showed them to be unverifiable or unhistorical.
97Conclusions
- The entire basis of the Da Vinci Code and its
outrageous claims is a fabrication created to
destroy faith in the truth about Jesus. - Jesus Christ claimed to be God and he proved it
by his miracles and by being raised from the dead
on the third day. - The New Testament we have in our hands is Gods
authoritative word. The books were selected by
the church in the first century because they had
apostolic authority.
98The Da Vinci CodeThe Real Conspiracy Revealed