A commentary on the "Da Vinci Code"

Is there any truth in ANY of the following claims made in the book:

Jesus was married

Brown says of himself that he is a Christian, yet “a student of many religions”. From this alone, we can discern his motives. Brown’s only ‘source’ supposedly proving Jesus’ marriage to Mary Magdalene is the Gnostic Gospel of Phillip, written sometime in the third century and proven to be fraudulent as well as incomplete.

Nag Hammadi/Dead Sea Scrolls/Q

Brown suggests that these are all alternate biblical sources with nothing secret about them. However the Dead Sea Scrolls are purely Old Testament, meaning pre-Jesus, Nag Hammadi is a third century Gnostic (heretic) document, and Q is a dubious book supposedly of Jesus’ sayings. So he has attempted to substitute the proven texts of the canonical bible that have come down to us from 2000 years ago for certain counterfeit texts that no real scholar would consider as authentic or even credible.

Nicea/Constantine

Well, this assertion by Brown is just plain rubbish, and his representation of Saint Constantine is flawed and blasphemous, to say the least. The First Ecumenical Council of Nicea was held in 325AD and attended by most bishops of Christendom at the time to discuss matters of faith and certain heresies that were forming at the time, not for the bible to be compiled, as claimed.

Priory of Sion

Far from being ‘the oldest known secret society in the world,’ as Brown incorrectly states through the character Langdon, it was actually an elaborate hoax set up in 1956 by a French conman, Pierre Plantard, to further his own nefarious agenda.

Leonardo and his works

Any serious scholar would NEVER refer to the historical Leonardo as ‘Da Vinci’, for that was merely the region he was from. Brown seems to mock even his protagonist by using this term rather that his correct name, Leonardo.

Wicca

Unlike Brown’s suggestions, WICCA is NOT an ancient pagan nature worshipping religion, which was replaced by this new Christianity, but rather a misogynistic hotch-potch of pseudo-satanism concocted during the Second World War, by one Gerald Gardner who merely used it to give spiritual credence to his adulterous proclivities. In order to draw in the highest number of female ‘initiates’ he added a few female deities to his God of Death deity and Wham Bam there you have it.

The Grail

The novel’s premise centres on the preposterous notion that there was no “HOLY GRAIL”, or cup of Christ, used in the last supper to inaugurate the first Holy Communion of the believers, merely because Leonardo chose not to depict one in his work, “The Last Supper”. So as a Christian, which he claims to be, he instead implies that the “Holy Grail” was Mary Magdalene’s womb, which carries the Holy Blood-Line of Christ, rather that the common cup of wine he gave His disciples to partake of during the actual Last supper.

Therefore if this foundation, which the whole novel is based on, is correct, and the Gospel accounts are ALL wrong, then we must assume that the Last Supper was an orgiastic event wherein which Jesus shared Mary Magdalene, sexually, with all of his disciples.

With the movie due to be released soon - having promotional material that states, “The greatest conspiracy of the past 2,000 years is about to unravel” - this confusion will surely increase. Brown plays on the fact that few people know much about Christianity and, given human nature, even fewer will bother to research any assertions he makes which he presents as "fact". You need not be one of those duped!

While it is true that the Roman Catholic Church continues to compromise to keep pace with the modern world, and while protestant sects continue to appear as if out of nowhere, ORTHODOXY is steadfast as Christ's one, true, undivided church, which has remained dogmatically unadulterated for over 2000 years.

The author of this commentary can be contacted at stratagi@hotmail.com