Confronting The Da Vinci Code

International
Church of Christ

A Christian Evidences Work Shop

CONFRONTING
THE

DA VINCI
CODE
International Church of Christ
Islands Region, Lagos

Dan Brown
The Man
Behind the
Book
Recently named
one of the World's
100 Most Influential
People by TIME
Magazine

The Book!
[a conspiracy theory]
Has been the best
selling book in the past
few years.
Its only recent rival has
been the Harry Potter
series

Over 60 million copies in
print

Translated into over 44
languages

The Da Vinci Code:
A Worldwide
Phenomenon
[Every author and Publisher Dreams]

TAIWAN
CHINA Chinese CATALAN CRUATIAN CHINESE

ALBENIAN
ARABIC
BOLGARIAN

FRENCH
GALICIAN GERMAN
FINNISH

DENISH ESTONIAN DUCH
CZECH

JAPANESE
ICELANDIC INDONECIAN ITALIAN

GREEK
HUNGARIAN JAPANESE HEBREW

PORTUGUESE NORWEGIAN
RUSSIAN ROMANIAN

PORTUGUESE
[BRAZIL] KOREAN
LATVIAN POLISH

THAI VIETNAM SLOVENE TURKISH

SLOVAK
SPANISH SERBIAN SWEDISH

SERMABI
KSIAZKI MARATHI
TJ-GERMAN TJ-PORTUGUESE
POLISH

FINNISH
KNJIGA
SLOVENE [AUDIO] VIETNAMEES

WHEN WILL IT
―HIT‖
AFRICA?
FRENCH

ARABIC

ENGLISH
PORTUGUESE

OTHER BOOKS BY
1996 DAN BROWN

The Book‘s Four Main Characters
Robert Langdon
The main character, is a professor of Religious Symbology
at Harvard University. There is actually no post at Harvard
called Professor of Religious Symbology.

Jacques Sauniere
Murdered museum curator at the Louvre, Grand Master of
the Priory of Sion, sworn protectors of the Holy Grail.

Sophie Neveu
An agent of the Department of Cryptology. It is a branch of
the French state police.
She is also the granddaughter of the murdered curator.

Sir Leigh Teabing
Wealthy grail researcher, British Royal Historian affiliated
with Oxford University

Dan Brown begins his book by the
usual disclaimer,
―All characters and events in
this book are fictitious, and any
resemblance to actual persons,
living or dead, is purely
coincidental.‖
We can easily end the
discussion here.
This is a book of fiction!

So, Why The
Fuss Over A
Novel?

•It‘s written like no
other fiction

•Controversy should
Make Us Think!

The Books Opening Statements
―FACT‖
―All descriptions of artwork,
architecture, documents, and
secret rituals in this novel are
accurate.‖
In a Television interview now transcribed on his own
web pages, Brown was asked regarding his novel:
"How much of this is based on reality in terms of
things that actually occurred?"
Brown responded:
"Absolutely all of it."

REMEMBER THIS STATEMENT?
―All characters and events in
this book are fictitious, and
any resemblance to actual
persons, living or dead, is
purely coincidental.‖

WHAT IS DAN BROWN UP TO?

THE

DA VINCI
CODE
Another

Trojan Horse

A Cleverly Written Book
1.The Book is presented as a novel;
therefore, Brown has no footnotes to
question his claims.
2. The ―Fact‖ statement allows the reader to
assume the ―Facts‖ in the book are true
except for the fictional story line.
3. The reader then gives consent to these
―Facts‖ allowing false claims about
history, Jesus and Christianity to be
weaved into the story.

THE JESUS CONSPIRACY
•The Da Vinci Code begins with the murder
of a French museum curator named
Jacques Sauniere.
•A scholarly Harvard professor and a
beautiful French cryptologist are
commissioned to decipher a message left by
the curator before his death.
•The message turns out to reveal the most
profound conspiracy in the history of
humankind: a cover-up of the true message
of Jesus Christ by a secret arm of the
Roman Catholic Church called Opus Dei.

•Before his death, the curator had
evidence that could disprove the deity of
Christ.
•Although (according to the plot) the
[Roman Catholic] church tried for
centuries to suppress the evidence.
•Great thinkers and artists have planted
clues everywhere: in paintings such as
the Mona Lisa and Last Supper by Da
Vinci, in the architecture of cathedrals,
even in Disney cartoons.

Prepare to Answer!
―But in your hearts set apart Christ as
Lord. Always be prepared to give
an answer to everyone who asks
you to give the reason for the hope
that you have. But do this with
gentleness and respect, keeping a
clear conscience, so that those who
speak maliciously against your good
behavior in Christ may be ashamed
of their slander‖
1Peter 3: 15-16

Is Christianity Based on
BLIND FAITH?
―The New Testament is based on
fabrications…every faith is…based on
fabrications…Jesus was not born of a
literal virgin birth….Those who truly
understand their faiths understand the
stories are metaphorical‖
(Pages DVC 341-342)

IS THIS STATEMENT TRUE?

Paul before Agrippa
Please Open your Bibles to Acts 26:22b-29
• Christianity is not based on Blind Faith!
• We need to Know why we believe what we
believe.
• Match Biblical events with Relevant world
History
• We must be confident to talk about the
Christian Faith!
• A line must be drawn. A line between
EMOTIONS and FACTS

The Da Vinci Code Provides
for us another Opportunity to
Teach People about the
History of Christianity,
The Divinity of Jesus,
and
Core Doctrines from the Bible

Nothing new under
the sun
We live in an Era
of Conspiracy
Theories

Proposed the
marriage as a
―hypothesis‖

―HYPOTHESIS‖
Suggested but not
Proven

1982

Michael Baigent and Richard Leigh
[Authors of The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail]

Sir Leigh Teabing
[Wealthy Grail Researcher and one of four main characters in DVC]

T e a b i n g The name
Teabing
is actually an
anagram of
B a i g e n t Baigent

Also proposes a
hypothesis,
this time regarding
the relationship
between Jesus,
John the Baptist
and Mary
Magdalene, and
states that their true
story has been
1997 suppressed by the
Roman Catholic
Church.

Allegations of plagiarism
In February 2006, Michael Baigent and Richard
Leigh, two of the three authors of The Holy Blood
and the Holy Grail, took the UK publisher of The Da
Vinci Code to court for breach of copyright, alleging
plagiarism

On April 11, 2005, novelist Lewis Perdue sued Brown
and his publisher Random House for plagiarizing his
novels The Da Vinci Legacy (1983) and Daughter of
God (2000), claiming "there are far too many
parallels between my books and The Da Vinci Code
for it to be an accident."

Other ―stabs‖ at this
now lucrative
business include…

THE
HIDDEN
LINEAGE
OF JESUS
REVEALED

Conspiracy
theories thrive
where there are
lots of MONEY to
be made!

Leonardo
Da Vinci
Born in the Tuscan
village of Vinci
1452-1519
Regarded as the
founder of the High
Renaissance
Painter, sculptor,
architect,
engineer, and scientist

The ‗Mona Lisa‘:
Leonardo‘s most
famous painting
and today, the
world‘s most
expensive piece of
art work.

Brown says that the
―Madonna of the Rocks” 'nuns' of the
Confraternity of the
Immaculate Conception
gave instructions for
this painting
(p. 191).

The problem is;
there were no nuns in
the order –
it was an all male
group.

The Da Vinci Code
on Trial
Dan Brown‘s ―Facts‖
versus
Biblical and
Historical Facts

Dan Brown‘s
Opening Statement:

“…almost everything
our fathers taught us
about Christ is false”
(DVC: Page 235)

OVERVIEW AND
CLAIMS OF THE
DA VINCI CODE

THE
CONSPIRACY

1.The Roman emperor Constantine
conspired to deify Jesus Christ.

2.Constantine personally selected
the books of the New Testament.

3.The Gnostic gospels were banned
by men to suppress women.

4.Thousands of secret documents
disprove key points of Christianity.

5.Jesus was married to Mary
Magdalene.
6.Mary Magdalene herself was the
Holy Grail. The vessel that contained
the blood of Jesus – meaning their
daughter together (Sarah).
7.Mother and child fled to France after
the death of Jesus, and they were
assisted there by Joseph of
Arimathea.

8.Jesus and Mary‘s descendants
became royalty, forming the
Merovingian line of kings in France.
9.Their secret was handed on through
a secret society called the Priory of
Zion.
10.Some of the Grand Masters, the
leaders of this secret society include
Isaac Newton, Victor Hugo, and
Leonardo Da Vinci.

So, what's our
Reply to all these?

Our Opening Statement
―we did not follow cleverly invented stories
when we told you about the power and
coming of our lord Jesus Christ, but we
were eyewitnesses of his majesty. For he
received honor and glory from God the
father when the voice came to him from the
Majestic Glory, saying, ―This is my son,
whom I love; with him I am well pleased.‖
we ourselves heard this voice that came
from heaven when we were with him on the
sacred mountain.‖ [NIV]
[2Pet 1:16-18]

Examples of
Cleverly invented
Stories…

“I think there is no sense in forming
an opinion where there is no
evidence to form it on. If you build a
person without any bones, he may
look fair enough to the eye, but he
won’t be able to stand up. I
consider that evidence is the bones
of an opinion.”
-Mark Twain
[Down The Rhone]

Constantine
and the Council
of Nicaea
In 325 A.D.,
Constantine
convened an
Ecumenical meeting
of more than 318
bishops at Nicaea
from throughout the
Emperor Constantine
Christian world.
(Reign: 306-337 A.D.)

Why the Council was
Convened

Emperor Constantine

Two Opposing Views:
Arius and Athanasius

Arius (250-336)
•Popular preacher in Alexandria who
taught that Jesus was a created
being inferior to God.
•His teaching became known as
Arianism, which was denounced at
the Council of Nicea but continued to
hold sway in the Eastern Church for
many years.

Athanasius (297-373)
Also known as Alexander of Alexandria.
•A bold deacon from the Church of
Alexandria championed the opposing
view that Christ was both human and
divine at that same time.

•Not only did Christ have a
pre-human existence as Arius
believed, but Athanasius advocated
Christ never had a beginning. He always
existed and was always divine.

DVC page 233
―Until that moment in
history Jesus was viewed
by his followers as a
mortal prophet…not the
Son of God‖.
IS THIS STATEMENT TRUE?

The question is;
what did the early
Christians and
apostles believe
about Jesus before
the council?

Christology

JESUS: HUMAN OR DIVINE?

The Incarnation:
A Lesson in Humility

―In the beginning the Word already existed.
He was with God, and he was God. He
created everything there is. Nothing exists
that he didn't make. Life itself was in him.
So the Word became human and lived here
on earth among us‖ John 1:1-4 (NLT)
This passage from John 1, has been
discovered in an ancient manuscript, and it
is carbon-dated at 175-225 A.D. Thus Jesus
was clearly spoken of as God over a hundred
years before Constantine convened the
Council of Nicaea.

This is p66, which
is called the
Bodmer Papyrus. It
dates from around
200 A.D. The text is
John 1:1-13, plus
the first word of
verse 14.

Philippians 2: 5-8
―Your attitude should be the same as that of
Christ Jesus:
Who , being in the very nature God,
did not consider equality with God
something to be grasped,
but made himself nothing,
taking the very nature of a servant,
being made in human likeness.
And being found in the appearance as a man,
he humbled himself
and became obedient to death-
even death on a cross!‖

Isaiah 9:6 [700 B.C.]
―For unto us a Child is born,
unto us a Son is given;
and the government will be
upon His shoulder.
And his name will be called
Wonderful, Counselor,
Mighty God, Everlasting
Father, Prince of Peace.‖

Daniel 7:13-14 [562 B.C.]
13. "I was watching in the night visions,
And behold, One like the Son of Man,
Coming with the clouds of
heaven! He came to the Ancient of Days,
And they brought Him near before Him.
14Then to Him was given dominion and
glory and a kingdom, That all peoples,
nations, and languages should
serve Him. His dominion is an everlasting
dominion, Which shall not pass away,
And His kingdom the one
Which shall not be destroyed.

Zechariah 12:9-10 [520 B.C.]
9 "It shall be in that day that I will seek to
destroy all the nations that come against
Jerusalem.
10"And I will pour on the house of David
and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem the
Spirit of grace and supplication; then they
will look on Me whom they pierced. Yes,
they will mourn for Him as one mourns for
his only son, and grieve for Him as one
grieves for a firstborn‖

John 10:31-33
Again the Jews picked up stone to
stone him, but Jesus said to them, ―I
have shown you many great miracles
from the father. For which of these do
you stone me?‖
―We are not stoning you for any of
these,‖ replied the Jews, ―but for
blasphemy, because you, a mere
man, claim to be God.‖

Hebrews 1:7-8
In speaking of the angels he
says,
―He makes his angels winds,
his servants flames of fire.‖
But about the son he says,
―Your throne God, will last for
ever and ever,
and righteousness will be
scepter of your kingdom…‖

Early Christians Speak
50 AD The Huleatt Manuscript
"She poured it [the perfume] over his [Jesus']
hair when he sat at the table. But, when the
disciples saw it, they were indignant. . . . God,
aware of this, said to them: 'Why do you
trouble this woman? She has done [a beautiful
thing for me.] . . . Then one of the Twelve, who
was called Judas Iscariot, went to the chief
priest and said, 'What will you give me for my
work?' [Matt. 26:7-15]"
(Huleatt fragments 1-3)

Polycarp of Smyrna [69-155A.D.]

"I praise you for all things,
I bless you, I glorify you,
along with the everlasting and
heavenly Jesus Christ,
your beloved Son, with
whom, to you and the Holy Spirit,
be glory both now and to all coming
ages. Amen"
(Martyrdom of Polycarp 14)

74 AD The Letter of Barnabas
"And further, my brethren, if the Lord
[Jesus] endured to suffer for our soul,
he being the Lord of all the world, to
whom God said at the foundation of
the world, 'Let us make man after our
image, and after our likeness,'
understand how it was that he
endured to suffer at the hand of men―
(Letter of Barnabas 5)

Justin Martyr [100-165 A.D.]
"The Father of the universe has a
Son, who also being the first begotten
Word of God, is even God."
(First Apology, ch 63)

"Christ is called both God and Lord
of hosts."
(Dialogue with Trypho, ch, 36)

Justin Martyr quotes Hebrews 1:8 to prove the
Deity of Christ. "Thy throne, O God, is forever
and ever."
(Dialogue with Trypho, ch 56)

150 AD Justin Martyr
"We will prove that we worship him
reasonably; for we have learned that he is
the Son of the true God Himself, that he
holds a second place, and the Spirit of
prophecy a third. For this they accuse us
of madness, saying that we attribute to a
crucified man a place second to the
unchangeable and eternal God, the
Creator of all things; but they are ignorant
of the Mystery which lies therein"
(First Apology 13:5-6)

170 AD Tatian the Syrian

"We are not playing the fool,
you Greeks, nor do we talk
nonsense, when we report
that God was born in the form
of a man"
(Address to the Greeks 21)

177 AD Athenagoras
"The Son of God is the Word of the
Father in thought and actuality. By
him and through him all things were
made, the Father and the Son being
one. Since the Son is in the Father
and the Father is in the Son by the
unity and power of the Spirit, the
Mind and Word of the Father is the
Son of God…

And if, in your exceedingly great
wisdom, it occurs to you to inquire
what is meant by ‗the Son‘, I will tell
you briefly: He is the first- begotten of
the Father, not as having been
produced, for from the beginning God
had the Word in himself, God being
eternal mind and eternally rational, but
as coming forth to be the model and
energizing force of all material things"
(Plea for the Christians 10:2-4)

Clement Of Alexandria 190 AD
"I understand nothing else
than the Holy Trinity to be
meant; for the third is the
Holy Spirit, and the Son
is the second, by whom
all things were made according
to the will of the Father."
(Stromata, Book V, ch. 14)

200 AD Hippolytus [170-235A.D.]

"As far as regards the
power, therefore, God is
one. But as far as
regards the economy
there is a threefold
manifestation, as shall be
proved afterwards when
we give account of the
true doctrine"
(Against The Heresy Of One Noetus)

Jesus in The Trinity
1Timothy 3:16
‗‗Beyond all question, the mystery of
godliness is great:
He [God] appeared in the body,
was vindicated by the Spirit,
Was seen by angels,
was preached among the nations,
Was believed on in the world,
was taken up in glory‘‘.
[A possible "early creed" of the church]

What is MAN?
An illustration from the ‗image‘ of MAN

BODY

SOUL SPIRIT

Yet, MAN is seen as a single been!

What is ‗the image of God?‘

God‘s ‗image‘ is not Physical but Spiritual

Forensic manuscript
evidence contradicts The
Da Vinci Code's claim
that Jesus' divinity was a
fourth century invention.

The Creed of "We believe in one God, the
Nicaea 325 A.D Father Almighty, maker of
heaven and earth, of all
things, visible and invisible"
... "We believe . . . in our one
Lord Jesus Christ the Son
of God, the only-begotten
born of the Father, that is, of
the substance of the Father,
God of God, light of light,
true God of true God, born,
not made. One in being with
the Father. Through him all
things were made . ."

The Nicene Vote
Brown asserts in his book, through
Teabing, that the majority of
bishops at Nicaea overruled
Arius's belief that Jesus was a
"mortal prophet― and adopted the
doctrine of Jesus' divinity by a
"relatively close vote."
True or false?

Not a
―relatively close‖
vote
2 vs 318 bishops
The landslide vote came after
considerable debate. But in the end the
council overwhelmingly declared Arius
to be a heretic, since his teaching
contradicted what the apostles had
taught about Jesus‘ divinity.

The council simply
AFFIRMED
what Jesus, the
Apostles and other
early Christians
taught.

Saturday or Sunday Worship?
―Nothing in Christianity is original . . .
Originally Christianity honored the Jewish
Sabbath of Saturday, but Constantine
shifted it to coincide with the pagan‘s
veneration day of the sun . . . .To this day,
most churchgoers attend services on
Sunday morning with no idea that they are
there on account of the pagan sun god‘s
weekly tribute—Sunday.‖
(DVC page 232-233)
True or False?

Christians always worshipped on
the first day (Sunday)
•Early Christians state that they stopped keeping
the Sabbath to worship on Sunday started with
the apostles.
•They partook of the Lord‘s Supper (communion)
every first day.
•They called the first day (Sunday) the Lord‘s
day.
•They called the day Jesus rose from the dead,
the Lord‘s Day.
•They said the reason they worshipped on the
first day, was because it was a weekly memorial
of the day Jesus rose from the dead!

Justin Martyr A.D. 150

―On the day called Sunday, all
who live in cities or in the
country gather together in one
place and the memoirs of the
apostles or the writings of the
prophets are read.‖

Acts 20:7 says that they gathered
on the first day of the week.
1Corinthians 16:2 says, ―They
gathered on the first day of the
week.‖
Revelation 1:10 calls it ―the Lord‘s
Day.‖
The Didache, an early second-
century manuscript, states that
Christians worshipped on Sunday,
and calls it ―the Lord‘s Day.‖

The Da Vinci Code page 231

"The Bible is a
product of man
my dear, not of
God."

(DVC page 254)
―Constantine commissioned and
financed a new Bible, which
omitted those gospels that spoke
of Christ‘s human traits and
embellished those gospels that
made Him godlike. The earlier
gospels were outlawed, gathered
up, and burned.‖

DVC page 234
―Fortunately for historians, some
of the gospels that Constantine
attempted to eradicate managed
to survive. The Dead Sea Scrolls
were found in the 1950s hidden
in a cave near Qumran in the
Judean desert. And, of course,
the Coptic Scrolls in 1945 at Nag
Hammadi.‖

THE GOSPELS
"More than eighty gospels were
FALSE!
considered for the New
Testament, and yet only a
relatively few were chosen."
In all of antiquity, there are only twenty eight
other sources no longer in existence that are
cited or mentioned in Jewish or Gnostic
writings as gospels.

Irenaeus of Lyon A.D. 180
Matthew also issued a written Gospel among
the Hebrews in their own dialect, while Peter
and Paul were preaching at Rome, and laying
the foundations of the Church. After their
departure, Mark, the disciple and interpreter of
Peter, did also hand down to us in writing what
had been preached by Peter. Luke also, the
companion of Paul, recorded in a book the
Gospel preached by him. Afterwards, John, the
disciple of the Lord, who also had leaned upon
His breast, did himself publish a Gospel during
his residence at Ephesus in Asia.
(Against Heresies 3.1.1).

Why FOUR Gospels?
A lesson from personal name signing
•Try signing your name four times.
•What do you notice?
Non is perfectly
identical to another
•What will be the assumption if the four were
perfectly identical?

FORGERY!

A photograph of the harbor in Rockport,
Massachusetts, featuring the red fishing shack known
as "Motif #1." It's one of the most commonly
photographed and painted buildings in America.

John Barbour Mary Poore

Allison Goldstein
Marilyn Swift

All four canonical gospels exist in
lists of church scripture as early as
Papias (115 A.D.) and Justin
Martyr (165 A.D.) and no other
gospels ever appear in any list as
authoritative. Constantine did not
summon the council of Nicea until
A.D. 325 - far too late for this
claim to be taken seriously.

FOUR
Gospels are
Better than
ONE!

The oldest fragment of the New
Testament.
Dated to around 125 A.D.
The text is from the Gospel of John,
written around 90 A.D.
The gap between the original and
this copy is about 30-50 years.
The text reads:
The Jews replied,
―We are not permitted to put
anyone to death.‖ (This was to
fulfill what Jesus had said when
he indicated the kind of death he
was to die.) Then Pilate entered
the headquarters again,
summoned Jesus, and asked him,
―Are you the King of the Jews?‖
(John 18:31-33)
This is papyrus 52

A portion of p75
(Papyrus 75),
which contains
Luke and John,
and was written
around A.D. 200.
This picture
shows the place
where Luke ends
and John begins.

This detail from the previous picture shows the end
of Luke and the beginning of John.
The scribe has added:
EUAGGELION KATA LOUKAN . . . EUAGGELION
KATA IOANEN
(Gospel according to Luke . . . Gospel according to John).

Other than the
four recognized gospels,
there are only
Eleven
ancient documents still in
existence today that are
called "gospel"

What Are
THE DEAD SEA
SCROLLS

The Dead Sea scrolls
Roughly 825-870 documents,
including texts from the
Hebrew Bible.
They are practically the only known
surviving Biblical documents written
before AD 100.
WHY IS THIS SO?

―But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this
surpassing power is from God and not from us‖ 2COR. 4:7

Cave 4

About 15,000
fragments from
500 manuscripts
were found from
every book of the
Old Testament
canon--except
Esther.

The Isaiah scroll, found relatively intact,
is 1000 years older than any previously
known copy of Isaiah. In fact, the scrolls
are the oldest group of Old Testament
manuscripts ever found!

The assertion that the Dead Sea Scrolls,
contain lost or hidden Gospels is false.
The scrolls contain books of the
Old Testament, apocryphal and
pseudepigraphic books, and manuals
used by the Jewish Essene community.

All of the scrolls were written before the
time of Christ; no Christian documents -
orthodox, Gnostic, or otherwise - have
ever been found at this site.

Books Ranked According to Number of
Manuscripts found (top 15)
Books No. found

Psalms 39
Deuteronomy 33
1 Enoch 25
Genesis 24
Isaiah 22
Jubilees 21
Exodus 18
Leviticus 17
Numbers 11
Minor Prophets 10
Daniel 8
Jeremiah 6
Ezekiel 6
Job 6
1&2 Samuel 4

Textual Evidence for Ancient Manuscripts

Author Date Oldest Copy Interval Copies

Aristophanes 400 BC AD 900 1,300 years 45
Aristotle 340 BC AD 1100 1,450 years 5
Demosthenes 300 BC AD 1100 1,400 years 2
Julius Caesar 50 BC AD 900 950 years 10
Herodotus 435 BC AD 900 1,350 years 8
Homer 800 BC AD 100 900 years 643
Plato 360 BC AD 800 1,150 years 15
Sophocles 415 BC AD 1000 1,400 years 7
Thucydides 410 BC AD 900 1,300 years 8
Old 1500 BC
Testament – 500 BC 200 BC 200-400 5’000
years
New AD 50-90 AD 125 50 years 8,000
Testament

THE EARLY CHURCH ADOPTED APOSTOLIC
WRITINGS AS CANONICAL
They continued steadfastly in the apostles‘ doctrine
- Ac 2:42; cf. 2 Pet. 3:2; Jude 17
They received their words as the Word of God
- 1 Th 2:13; cf. 1 Co 14:37
Paul quoted the gospel of Luke as Scripture
- 1 Ti 5:18; cf. Luke 10:7
Paul‘s letters were designed to be circulated among
the churches - Co 4:16
Peter equated Paul‘s letters with ―Scripture‖
- 2 Pet. 3:15-16
The church accepted the apostles‘ writings
because to accept their teaching was to accept
Jesus Christ Himself - cf. Jn. 13:20

THE UNITY OF THE BIBLE
THE BIBLE CONTAINS 66 BOOKS
1. Over a 1600 year span
2. Over a period of 40 generations
3. By approximately 40 authors from every walk of life; e.g.:
a. Moses Political leader trained in Egypt
b. Peter Fisherman
c. Amos Herdsman
d. Joshua Military general
e. Nehemiah Cup bearer to a king
f. Daniel Prime minister
g. Luke A physician
h. Solomon King
i. Matthew Tax collector
j. Paul Tentmaker and rabbi

WRITTEN IN DIFFERENT PLACES

a. Moses In the wilderness
b. Jeremiah In a dungeon
c. Daniel On a hillside and in a palace
d. Paul Inside prison walls
e. Luke While traveling
f. John In exile on island of Patmos

g. Others In the rigors of military
campaign

AT DIFFERENT TIMES
a. David - In times of war
b. Solomon- In times of peace
DURING DIFFERENT MOODS
a. Some writing from the heights of joy
b. Others from the depths of sorrow and `
despair
ON THREE CONTINENTS:
Asia - Africa - Europe
IN THREE LANGUAGES:
Hebrew - Aramaic - Greek

THE FULFILLED PROPHECIES IN THE BIBLE
A FEW EXAMPLES...
1. Fall of Babylon, written 200 years before it occurred
- Isa 13:17-22
2. Fall of Egypt, that it would be destroyed more by civil war
than by outside forces – Isa. 19:1-4
3. The fall of Nineveh, with its utter desolation
- Zeph. 2:13-15
4. The fall of Tyre, with its becoming a place for the spreading
of nests - Ezek 26:1-5
5. There are the prophecies concerning Christ
- cf. Lk 24:44-45
a. It has been stated there 332 prophecies fulfilled in Christ.
b. The mathematical probability that all could be fulfilled in one
person by chance alone has been calculated as one in 84
times ten to the 123rd power (84 followed by 123 zeroes)

IN NUMERICAL FORM

1 in 84 x 10123!
1 in 840, 000, 000,000,
000,000, 000, 000, 000, 000,
000,000, 000, 000, 000, 000,
000, 000, 000, 000, 000, 000,
000, 000, 000, 000, 000, 000,
000, 000, 000, 000, 000, 000,
000,000,000,000,000,000,000

THE SCIENTIFIC FOREKNOWLEDGE OF THE BIBLE
1. In the Bible there are scientific truths
a. Unknown by man with all his wisdom and resources
b. Stated as facts hundreds of years in advance of the
discovery of these truths by men

2. The writers of the Bible could have known these facts
only through inspiration
a. They could not have known such things on their own
b. They must have had divine help, i.e., inspiration from God

A FEW EXAMPLES...
1. The roundness of the earth – Isa. 40:22
2. The suspension of the earth in space - Job 26:7
3. The currents in the seas – Psa. 8:8
4. The springs in the seas - Job 38:16
5. All nations of one blood - Ac 17:26

HARMONY AND CONTINUITY
OF THE BIBLE
Compare the continuity of the Bible with any
other such writings of man
a. Imagine what you would have if you just took ten
authors...
1) From one walk of life, one generation, one place,
one time, one mood one continent, one language

2) Speaking on one controversial subject
b. You would have a conglomeration of ideas, not
harmony!
The reason for the unity of the Bible? The writers
were all moved by the same Holy Spirit
(2 Pet. 1:20-21)

The
Gnostic
Gospels

The Gnostic gospels are attributed to a
group known as the Gnostics.

Gnosticism 101
Gnosis means ―To Know‖
They were a kind of religious secret
society.
Gnostics believed that salvation was
attained through attaining certain
Knowledge
These people thought they had secret,
special knowledge hidden from ordinary
people.

"The Nag Hammadi and the Dead
Sea Scrolls [are] the earliest
Christian records.“- DVC
All of the Biblical gospels date from
the last half of the first century,
whereas the two texts the Da Vinci
Code relies on mostly, the gospel of
Phillip and the gospel of Mary
Magdalene, are from the third to fifth
century.

The Nag Hammadi
&
The Gospel of Phillip
Brown‘s Error:
The Gnostic Gospel, The Gospel of
Philip was not written in Aramaic as
the Da Vinci Code implies but in
Coptic, translated from Greek.
(DVC Page 246)

The Nag Hammadi Discovery
•Discovery date: December 1945
•Egyptian town of Nag Hammadi
•By a peasant
•Content: codices [Handwritten Books]
•Dates back to the fourth century.
•They included poems, myths,
mysticism and what some call
the ―Secret Gospels‖

Facts on the Gnostic gospels
•Fifty-two copies of ancient writings.
•13 leather-bound papyrus codices.
•Written in Coptic and belonged to a library in a
monastery.
•Among the 52 writings, scholars discovered
works many attribute to the leading Gnostic,
Valentinus.
•The texts reject the Genesis account of
creation, the Creator God is mocked as a blind
fool. He is called the Demiurge, the lesser God.
•The Gospel of Egyptians was used by the
Gnostic sect, called Nassenes.

Valentinus
One document, the manifesto of the Valentinian
school called ―The Gospel of Truth,‖ contains
themes and passages from Matthew, Luke,
John, 10 of Paul‘s 13 letters, 1 John, and
Revelation and likely contained 2 John,
Hebrews, and Jude.
This is a sizable portion of our New Testament,
and it was in place 120 years after Jesus.
In spite of Brown‘s assertion in DVC that eighty
gospels‖ existed, only New Testament Gospels
were alluded to by Valentinus

The Gnostic ―Gospels‖
The quickest way to have the Gnostic teaching
accepted by the masses was to attach the names of
Apostles to their writings. These were used to gain
acceptance for the Gnostic teachings.
The earliest dates for these Gnostic works date from
the early 2nd and 3rd century.
The Gospel The Gospel The Gospel
of Thomas of Philip of Truth
The Gospel The Apocalypse The Apocalypse
of the Egyptians of Peter of Paul

The Letter Testimony Perfect Mind and
of Peter to Philip of Truth The Thunder

CHINESE WISPERS, ANYONE?
It's a rule of thumb in the ancient
history detective business that the
documents closest to the event are the
ones most likely to tell us the truth.
In other words, the documents that Ban
Brown thinks hold the secrets about
Jesus aren't as ancient and reliable as
the ones that tell us the secrets every
time we open a Bible.

Why where the Gnostic
gospels Rejected?
• They are too late to be written
by the purported authors.
• They rely heavily on the stories
in the existing gospels.
• They contradict the beliefs
taught in the orthodox gospels.

Use of Literal
Deceit in
the Da Vinci
Code

“Teabing flipped through the book
(The Gnostic Gospels) and pointed out
several other passages that clearly
suggest MM and Jesus had a romantic
relationship.”

Teabing was still talking. “I shan’t bore
you with the countless references to
the Jesus and Mary Magdalene union.
That has been explored, ad nauseam,
by modern historians.” (Pg. 247)

1John 4:1-3
―Dear friends, do not believe every spirit; but
test the spirits to see whether they are from
God, because many false prophets have
gone out into the world. This is how you can
recognize the Spirit of God: Every spirit that
acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come in
the flesh is from God, but every spirit that
does not acknowledge Jesus is not from
God. This is the antichrist, which you have
heard is coming and even now is already in
the world‖

This is a portion of
the Gospel of
Thomas
manuscript found
in Nag Hammadi.
The title at the
bottom reads, in
Coptic,
"The Gospel of
Thomas."

The Gospel According to Thomas

The Gospel According to Thomas
"These are the secret words which the
living Jesus spoke and Didymos Judas
Thomas wrote. And he said, Whoever
finds the explanation of these word will
not taste death.
Jesus said: Let him who seeks, not
cease seeking until he finds, and when
he finds, he will be troubled, and when
he has been troubled, he will marvel
and he will reign over the All.."

Jesus said: If those who lead you say to
you: 'See, the Kingdom is in heaven,' then
the birds of the heaven will precede you. If
they say to you: 'It is in the sea,' then the
fish will precede you. But the Kingdom is
within you and it is without you. If you will
know yourselves, then you will be
known and you will know that you are
the sons of the Living Father. But if
you do not know yourselves, then you
are in poverty and you are poverty.

Jesus said: The man old in days will
not hesitate to ask a little child of
seven days about the place of Life,
and he will live. For many who are
first shall become last and they
shall become a single one. Jesus
said: Know what is in thy sight, and
what is hidden from thee will be
revealed to thee. For there is
nothing hidden which will not be
manifest.

His disciples asked Him, they
said to Him: Wouldst thou that
we fast and how should we pray
and should we give alms and
what diet should we observe?
Jesus said: Do not lie; and do
not do what you hate, for all
things are manifest before
Heaven.

For there is nothing hidden that shall
not be revealed and there is nothing
covered that shall remain without
being uncovered.
Jesus said: Blessed is the lion
which the man eats and the lion
will become man; and cursed is
the man whom the lion eats and
the lion will become man

The Gospel of Mary
•The Gospel of Mary came from neither the
Dead Sea Scrolls or the Nag Hammadi
Library.
•Dan Brown does not tell us the source of the
Gospel of Mary, but we are led to believe that
it came from the Nag Hammadi Library.
•The Gospel of Mary was found in the Berlin
Codex discovered in 1896. It is a manuscript
dated to the fifth century.
•DVC says mid-second century!

The following portion of The Second Treatise of
the Great Seth illustrates how the Gnostics
viewed the Old Testament. The words
Hebdomad, meaning "the seventh god," and
Archon, "the ruler," are epithets they used in
reference to the God of Israel. English
translation by Roger A. Bullard and Joseph A.
Gibbons, in James M. Robinson, ed., The Nag
Hammadi Library in English, translated and
introduced by members of the Coptic Gnostic
Library Project of the Institute for Antiquity and
Christianity, Claremont, California, third edition
(Leiden: E.J. Brill, 1988), pp. 368-69.

"Adam was a laughingstock, since he was
made a counterfeit type of man by the
Hebdomad, as if he had become stronger
than I and my brothers . . . Abraham and
Isaac and Jacob were a laughingstock . . .
David was a laughingstock . . . the prophets
were laughingstocks . . . they came into
being as counterfeits . . . Moses, a 'faithful
servant,' was a laughingstock, having been
named 'The Friend' since they perversely
bore witness concerning him who never
knew me .. .

the Archon was a laughingstock
because he said, 'I am God, and
there is none greater than I. I alone
am the Father, the Lord, and there is
none other beside me. I am a
jealous God, who brings the sins of
the fathers upon the children for
three and four generations,' as if he
had become stronger than I and my
brothers.

Thus he was in an empty glory . . . I did
not succumb to them as they had planned.
But I was not afflicted at all . . . I did not
die in reality but in appearance . . . I
removed the shame from me . . . It was
another . . . who drank the gall and the
vinegar . . . who bore the cross . . . upon
whom they placed the crown of thorns. But
I was rejoicing in the height over all . . . I
was laughing at their ignorance. I am
Christ, the Son of Man."

The Controversial Quote from the
gospel of Mary

The companion of the [ ] Mary
Magdalene. [ ] her more
than [ ] the disciples, and used to
kiss her [ ] on her [ ]. The
rest [ ] … They said to him,
“Why do you love her more than all of
us?" The savior answered and said,
"Why do I not love you as her?"

Dan Brown‘s Insertions

The companion of the [ savior is ] Mary
Magdalene. [ But Christ loved ] her
more than [ all ] the disciples, and
used to kiss her [ often ] on her [
mouth ]. The rest of [ the disciples
were offended ] …. They said, “Why do
you love her more than all of us”? The
savior answered and said to them,
“Why do I not love you as her”?

Let‘s Play the Devil‘s Advocate

• Even though the script did not say
any of the things Dan Brown wants
his readers to believe, question
is…
• Why would the Apostles be
―OFFENDED‖ by Jesus ―KISSING‖
MM on her ―MOUTH‖ if they were
―MARRIED‖ ?
• Why would they demand a man
loves his wife less?

1COR. 3:18-19
Do not deceive yourselves. If any
one of you thinks he is wise by the
standards of this age, he should
become a ―fool‖ so that he may
become wise. For the wisdom of
this world is foolishness in God‘s
sight. As it is written: ―He catches
the wise in their craftiness‖.

1Pet. 2:21-22
To this you were called, because
Christ suffered for you, leaving
you an example that you should
follow is his steps.
―He committed no sin,
and no deceit was found in his
mouth.‖

Nowhere do these documents
found in Nag Hammadi state
that Jesus married Mary
Magdalene.

To what extent do you think
the Apostle went in their fight
against the Gnostics?

2 John 7-11
―Many deceivers, who do not
acknowledge Jesus Christ as
coming in the flesh, have gone out
into the world. Any such person is
the deceiver and the antichrist.
Watch out that you do not lose
what you have worked for, but that
you may be rewarded fully.

Anyone who runs ahead and
does not continue in the teaching
of Christ does not have God;
whoever continues in the
teaching has both the Father and
the Son. If anyone comes to you
and does not bring this teaching,
do not take him into your house
or welcome him. Anyone who
welcomes him shares in his
wicked work‖

What is the
"Holy Grail"

A PEEP INTO THE
WORLD OF GRAIL
LEGENDS

In ―Christian‖ mythology,
the Holy Grail was the
dish, plate, or cup used
by Jesus at the Last
Supper, said to possess
―miraculous powers‖.

The beginnings of the Grail in literature
The Grail is first featured in
“Perceval, le Conte du Graal”
(The Story of the Grail)
by Chrétien de Troyes,
A Poem dated sometime between
1180 and 1191
The Grail was considered a bowl or dish
when first described by Chrétien de
Troyes. Other authors had their own
ideas; Robert de Boron portrayed it as
the vessel of the Last Supper

The connection of Joseph of Arimathea
with the Grail legend dates from Robert
de Boron's Joseph d'Arimathie (late
twelfth century) in which Joseph receives
the Grail from an apparition of Jesus and
sends it with his followers to Great Britain;
building upon this theme, later writers
recounted how Joseph used the Grail to
catch Christ's blood while interring him
and that in Britain he founded a line of
guardians to keep it safe.

THE DA VINCI CODE
CLAIMS
The sarcophagus
containing the bones of
Mary Magdalene and
ancient documents that
tell the true story of her
life, according to the
Opus Dei secret society,
is the true Holy Grail,
since Mary‘s womb is
the metaphorical chalice
that bore the royal
bloodline of Jesus on
earth.

Hear Dan Brown
―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)

OUR POSITION AGAIN
―we did not follow cleverly
invented stories when we told
you about the power and
coming of our lord Jesus
Christ, but we were
eyewitnesses of his majesty‖
-2PETER 1:16

The next few slides will
focus on relics attributed to
Jesus that people believe or
believed to be authentic
The Shroud of Turin.
PICTURE TAKEN 1898

The Holy Chalice which Jesus used for
serving wine during the Last Supper

Other alleged Holy relics include:
3.Pieces of the True Cross, including the half
of the INRI inscription tablet, preserved at the
ancient basilica Santa Croce in Gerusalemme
in Rome. Very small pieces or particles of the
True Cross are preserved in hundreds of
other churches in Europe.
4.The Calvary of crucifixion, a small rock
called Golgotha, in the Church of the Holy
Sepulcher in Jerusalem. Inside the church is
a pile of rock about 3 m high, believed to be
what is now visible of Calvary.

5.The Holy Prepuce or foreskin of
Jesus, removed during his
circumcision
• The Spear of Destiny or Holy Lance,
the spear of Longinus used to pierce
Jesus' side when he was on the cross,
to ensure that he had died.
• The Crown of Thorns which was
placed upon the head of Jesus at his
crucifixion by Pontius Pilate

Veronica's Veil
Used to wipe the
sweat from
Jesus' brow as
he carried the
cross

Note that this is only a
painting

9.The Seamless robe of Jesus,
which is kept at the cathedral of
Trier

10.Letters Jesus himself has
written to Abgar, the King of
Edessa declining an invitation to
visit his palace.

11.The Holy Sponge, in Santa
Croce in Gerusalemme
12.The Holy Umbilical Cord
13. Hair
14. Tears
15. Blood
16. Milk teeth

"Jesus was the original
feminist. He intended for
the future of the church to
be in the hands of Mary
Magdalene"
Sir Leigh Teabing, The
Da Vinci Code p.248

Which Mary?
•There is Mary "the mother of Jesus―
•Mary "the mother of James and Joses―
•Mary "the wife of Clopas", and
•Mary "the sister of Lazarus".
•However, Mary Magdalene stands out from the
other Marys as she is not directly associated with
any man.
•Mary "Magdalene" means "Mary of Magdala",
just as Jesus "the Nazarene" means "Jesus of
Nazareth".
•If they were married, Mary Magdalene should
have been called, by all logic, Mary "the wife of
Jesus"

•In three different passages we learn of Mary
of Bethany, who washes Jesus‘ feet. You read
of a prostitute who washes Jesus‘ feet in
chapter seven of Luke.
•Mary Magdalene is introduced in Luke chapter
eight, where Jesus cleanses her of seven
demons.
•In John 12, the sister of Martha and Lazarus,
Mary of Bethany, washes Jesus‘ feet in
preparation for his death and burial, and also
as a display of worship for raising her brother
from the dead in the preceding verses.
•That was Mary of Bethany, not Mary
Magdalene.

The Son of God came to earth not to start a family
but to save the Church, which is his true bride
(Ephesians 5:22-33)

If Jesus had married Mary Magdalene, we would
expect to see some type of her veneration in the
history of the early church as like we see for Mary,
Jesus mother.

Whenever Jesus' family is referred to, it is his
brothers and sisters who are mentioned, but
never a wife. Contrast this to descriptions of
the apostles, Peter, and the brothers of the
Lord, all of whom are said to have had wives

Another use of Literal Deceit
"According to these unaltered
gospels, it was not Peter to
whom Christ gave directions with
which to establish the Christian
Church. It was Mary Magdalene."


The Gnostic gospel of
Thomas, to which the book
refers, records Jesus as
wanting to transform Mary
Magdalene into a man to
make her acceptable to enter
heaven.

The Mary Magdalene of the
Da Vinci Code would have us
accept would be a ―Bridal
Chamber‖ Bride…someone
having a public act of sex.
(Hieros Gamos)
―Sacred Marriage‖

THE SECRET SOCIETIES

The Poor Knights of the
Temple of Solomon ,officially
recognized as such in 1118

The Knights
Opus Dei Templar Priory of Sion
Founded in the early
Founded in 1928 1099
12th century by
by a Roman [1950‘s]
Hughes de Payens,
Catholic priest, St.
a veteran of the First
Josemaría Escrivá
Crusade.

The claim that the
Order of the Knights
Templar was formed
by the Priory of Sion
is entirely false.

Alleged Grand Masters of The
Priory of Sion?

Victor Hugo Da Vinci
1802-1885 Isaac Newton 1452-1519
Botticelli

Frenchman, Pierre Plantard (1920-2000)
The whole basis of the Da Vinci Code is based on a hoax
created by Pierre Plantard.

Leonardo da Vinci never could have
known about the Priory of Sion, since
it wasn't founded until 1956,
437 years after his death!

Unanimous conclusion of scholars
and serious investigators:
The Priory of Sion was a 20th-century
hoax, and that the famous people
listed never had anything to do with it

Silas the Monk
There are no monks in
Opus Dei.
Albinism is a real medical
condition in which a
person's
body cannot produce the
proper
amount of the pigment
melanin.

Although few are blind,
many do not see well
enough to drive a car or,
as seen in "The Da Vinci
Code," to shoot people
from a distance. In other
words, it's extremely
unlikely that Silas could
perform the tasks
described in the novel.

Corporal Mortification
Practiced by
Mother Teresa, Padre Pio
and slain archbishop
Oscar Romero.

1cor. 9:24-27(?)

cilice "...a spiked chain
worn around the
upper thigh for
two hours each
day, except for
Church feast
days, Sundays,
and certain times
of the year‖

A VERY TRUE NUGGET:
―A career hazard of
symbologists was a
tendency to extract
hidden meanings from
situations that had
none.‖
DVC Page 172

The
Scared Feminine
Theory

―His Mona Lisa is
neither male nor
female. It carries a
subtle message of
androgyny.‖
(DVC120)

This, he claims, is
why she is smiling –
it was her secret
(DVC121)

The book alleges
that the Mona Lisa is
an androgynous self
portrait of Da Vinci.

She is smiling
because she knows
the secret of the
Priory of Zion.

She appears to be
androgynous, again,
because of the
equality of
god and goddess.

Mona Lisa is a young Florentine
woman who in 1495 married the
well-known figure, Francesco del
Giocondo, and thus came to be
known as ``La Gioconda'‗.
This is confirmed by the discovery
of documentation in Florence,
Italy archives. She had five
children and two became nuns.

Many artists have offered a rendition of the
―last supper.‖ Among them are:
Duccio (1308)
Lorenzetti (1320)
Andrea del Castagno (1447)
Dieric Bouts (1464)
Ghirlandaio (1480)
Reubens (1630), and
Poussin (1640)
Without exception, they all had the apostle
John either sitting straight up next to
Jesus, or resting against his breast. Only
Da Vinci has him leaning away.

The Florentine School had a long tradition of
often depicting young males as sweet,
pretty, rather effeminate persons.

JOHN

Raphael‘s ―Crucifixion‖
- London National Gallery

Iconography from the
Russian Orthodox Church.
It goes back much farther
in time than Leonardo Da
Vinci's era.
Pictured is another
crucifixion scene where
Jesus is giving St. John
the responsibility of caring
for his mother. It's hard to
tell which is which, since
both are somewhat
androgynous. Despite the
long flowing hair, John is
the person on the right.

These are photos of the St. John figure taken
before and after the most recent restoration
project that concluded in 1998.

All these paintings are from the 14th
and 15th centuries, done by artists who
were contemporaries of Leonardo.

It should be clear that his style merely
reflected the spirit of the age.

This is why it would‘ve been strange if
he didn’t paint John with delicate
features

A look at
artistic fusion
of imagery in
landscape painting

What if we could call in
Leonardo Da Vinci
as a Star Witness
in this case?

“Da Vinci Speaks.”
On page 665 of,
The Notebooks of Leonardo da Vinci,
we do find him engaged in preparing the
layout for The Last Supper.
He made one entry that can help us
answer our question.
Here we find him fashioning the
blueprint for his masterpiece.
In verses 9 through 14, he wrote the
following:

“[9] Another [disciple] speaks into
his neighbor’s ear and he, as he
listens to him, turns towards him to
lend an ear [10], while he holds a
knife in one hand, and in the other
the loaf, half cut through by the
knife. [13] Another who has turned,
holding a knife in his hand, upsets
with his hand a glass on the table
[14]

“The Last Supper” in Light of The
Gospel of John (13:21-25)

A ―Newsweek magazine‖
article that summarized
leading scholars‘ opinions
concluded that the theory
that Jesus and Mary
Magdalene were secretly
married
has no historical basis.
(Barbara Kantrowitz and Anne
Underwood, ―Decoding the Da
Vinci Code‖, Newsweek,
December 8, 2003, pg. 54)

The Merovingians

The Merovingians were a dynasty of
Frankish kings who ruled a (frequently
fluctuating) area in parts of present-day
France and Germany from the 5th to 8th
century AD. They were sometimes referred to
as the "long-haired kings" by contemporaries,
though the significance of their long hair is not
clear.

What is The
Real Truth
Behind The
Da Vinci
Conspiracy?

The Real Da Vinci
Conspiracy

The Battle to keep Christianity
Pure in the First Century B.C.
• Pagan mythology and philosophies
began to fall with the spread of
Christianity
• Temple-prostitutes would facilitate
worship with Aphrodite/Venus, Ishtar,
Astoria.
•The Churches at Pergamum and
Thyatira were warned about proto-
Gnostic and sexual immorality

•Using the Gnostic
―Gospel of Philip‖ and ―Mary
Magdalene‖ as the Da Vinci Code argues
that Mary was Jesus‘ wife,
Dan Brown is trying to subvert
Christianity back to Greek
paganism!
• The main sacrament in the
―Gospel of Philip‖
was the bridal chamber, which was the
way to redemption.

The ―Bridal Chamber‖ was sexual
mystery rite, in which the new member
would have the right to watch only after
he became a ―Bridegroom‖ or ―Bride‖
or ―Heiros Gamos‖

―Let the others yearn just to listen to
her voice and enjoy her ointment...
Bridegrooms and brides belong to the
bridal chamber. No one shall be able to
see the bridegroom with the bride
unless one becomes one.‖
Gospel of Philip

The Exegesis on the Soul
Those who are to have intercourse with
one another will be satisfied with the
intercourse. And as if it were a burden,
they leave behind them the annoyance
of physical desire and they do not
separate from each other. They become
a single life….For they were originally
joined to one another when they were
with God. This marriage brings them
back together again.

•Brown‘s thread throughout the
book is that male and female are
exactly represented in deity, but
they have been changed by a
male-dominated Church.

•True worship, he argues, should
include god and goddess worship
equally, and that is the conspiracy
of the Church over the last two
thousand years.

On the acknowledgments page, Dan
Brown thanks those who helped him
complete this book, one of those
mentioned is
the Gnostic Society Library.

The Da Vinci Code champions the
Gnostic Gospels, their view of
Christianity, their sexual orgies and
claims ―Orthodox‖ Christianity stole
Jesus from the original Gnostic
followers.

Early Israelites
•The book claims that the early
Israelites worshipped the
goddess Shekinah as the equal
to Yahweh.
•In fact, the term Shekinah
(derived from Hebrew for
"dwelling") does not appear in
early Judaism at all.

•It was only used in later Talmudic
Judaism to refer to the "dwelling",
or presence of God among his
people.
•The term is used to describe a
spiritual radiance.
•Dan Brown is probably confusing
Shekinah with Asherah.

Christianity started to spread
throughout the Greek and
Roman worlds, Pagan ideas
and theology began to fall
out of favor.

Acts 19 is a great example of
when people began to burn
the sorcery scrolls in public
and stopped buying statues
of the temple goddess
Artemis in about 54 A.D.
where Paul was preaching.

REVELATION
2:14-17, 20-29

TILL DEATH DO
US PART!

20 "Nevertheless I have a few things against
you, because you allow that woman Jezebel,
who calls herself a prophetess, to teach and
seduce My servants to commit sexual
immorality and eat things sacrificed to
idols‖

21 "And I gave her time to repent of her sexual
immorality, and she did not repent.‖
22 "Indeed I will cast her into a sickbed, and
those who commit adultery with her into great
tribulation, unless they repent of their deeds.
Revelation 2:20-21

We see these warnings to the churches
in Revelation, especially
Pergamum and Thyatira.

In Thyatira, we have a so called
prophetess, who is teaching sexual
immorality and idol practices.

This would be one of the many proto
Gnostic movements that would
eventually spread throughout the
Christian world.

A Peek into the
Mystical World of
GNOCISM

•Jesus came to deliver
―Gnosis‖ knowledge from the
―All-Father‖ the unknown God.
•Christ did not die on the Cross,
but only a phantom.
•The Gnostics took on familiar
names and terminology but with
much different theology.

•They believed there was an
unknown All-Father, and Mother
God.
•This goddess was referred to as
Sophia.
•They believed all souls originally
lived in a spiritual realm of light,
the Pleroma, until they were
imprisoned in physical bodies on
the earth.

•Flesh and all matter were
viewed as intrinsically evil.
•Gnostic ―Salvation‖ equated
liberation of the soul from the
body—the freeing of the inner
spirit from the confines of
matter.
BIBLE RESPONSE?
[Colossians 2:23]

•Such liberation could only be
achieved through ―Gnosis‖ which
brought about the detachment
from the evil world (similar to Buddhism)
•To achieve this enlightenment,
one needed to know the truth
about God, (All-Father), himself
and life.

•Ancient Gnostics preached two
gods, a good deity of light and
an evil deity of darkness.
•The good deity (The Principle,
or All-Father) was seen as the
epitome of love.
•This God was responsible for
creating the other god.

•This evil god, the demiurge, is the
one who created the physical
world; He is the God of the Old
Testament.
•This evil God of the Jews, who
favored the Jews, seeks to impede
human souls from returning to God
and returning to the Divine.

•The good God is utterly
removed from the world, he is
unknowable.
•But through sexual intercourse,
the bridal chamber, man can
return to the Plemoria and
become one with the Divine!

(DVC page 336)
―Early Jews believed that the Holy of Holies in
Solomon‘s 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.‖

The Best Way to Justify Sin
―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 man‘s only bridge from earth to
heaven.‖
(page 335, DVC)

What is page 335 of DVC
Saying?
•Group sex is a
spiritual act [?]

•Immorality is how we
experience God [?]

Do you now see why
the Bible is so
intense when it
comes to
Sexual Immorality?

The next 28
slides are proof
of this point

1 Timothy 6:20-21
“Timothy, guard what has been
entrusted to your care. Turn away
from godless chatter and the
opposing ideas of what is falsely
called knowledge, 21which some
have professed and in so doing
have wandered from the faith.”

2 Peter 2:1-3
“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 them—
bringing 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.”

NUM 25:1-2
1While Israel was staying in Shittim,
the men began to indulge in sexual
immorality with Moabite women,
2who invited them to the sacrifices to

their gods. The people ate and
bowed down before these gods. 3So
Israel joined in worshiping the Baal of
Peor. And the LORD's anger burned
against them.

MATT 15:19
19For out of the heart come evil
thoughts, murder, adultery,
sexual immorality, theft, false
testimony, slander. 20These are
what make a man `unclean';
but eating with unwashed
hands does not make him
`unclean.' "

ASTS 5: 20
"It is my judgment, therefore, that
we should not make it difficult for
the Gentiles who are turning to
God. 20Instead we should write to

them, telling them to abstain from
food polluted by idols, from sexual
immorality, from the meat of
strangled animals and from blood.

ROM. 1:18-32
The wrath of God is being
revealed from heaven against all
the godlessness and wickedness
of men who suppress the truth by
their wickedness, 19since what
may be known about God is plain
to them, because God has made
it plain to them.

20For since the creation of the world
God's invisible qualities--his eternal
power and divine nature--have been
clearly seen, being understood from
what has been made, so that men are
without excuse.
21For although they knew God, they

neither glorified him as God nor gave
thanks to him, but their thinking became
futile and their foolish hearts were
darkened.

22Although they claimed to be wise,
they became fools 23and exchanged
the glory of the immortal God for
images made to look like mortal man
and birds and animals and reptiles.
24Therefore God gave them over in

the sinful desires of their hearts to
sexual impurity for the degrading of
their bodies with one another.

25They exchanged the truth of God for a lie,
and worshiped and served created things
rather than the Creator--who is forever
praised. Amen.
26Because of this, God gave them over to

shameful lusts. Even their women
exchanged natural relations for unnatural
ones. 27In the same way the men also
abandoned natural relations with women
and were inflamed with lust for one another.
Men committed indecent acts with other
men, and received in themselves the due
penalty for their perversion.

28Furthermore, since they did not think it
worthwhile to retain the knowledge of
God, he gave them over to a depraved
mind, to do what ought not to be done.
29They have become filled with every

kind of wickedness, evil, greed and
depravity. They are full of envy, murder,
strife, deceit and malice. They are
gossips, 30slanderers, God-haters,
insolent, arrogant and boastful; they
invent ways of doing evil; they disobey
their parents;

31they are senseless, faithless,
heartless, ruthless. 32Although
they know God's righteous
decree that those who do such
things deserve death, they not
only continue to do these very
things but also approve of those
who practice them.

ROM. 13: 13
12The night is nearly over; the day is
almost here. So let us put aside the
deeds of darkness and put on the armor
of light. 13Let us behave decently, as in
the daytime, not in orgies and
drunkenness, not in sexual immorality
and debauchery, not in dissension and
jealousy. 14Rather, clothe yourselves with
the Lord Jesus Christ, and do not think
about how to gratify the desires of the
sinful nature.

1COR 10:8
8We should not commit sexual
immorality, as some of them
did--and in one day twenty-
three thousand of them died.
9We should not test the Lord,

as some of them did--and
were killed by snakes.

GAL. 5:19
The acts of the sinful nature are
obvious: sexual immorality, impurity
and debauchery; 20idolatry and
witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy,
fits of rage, selfish ambition,
dissensions, factions 21and envy;
drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I
warn you, as I did before, that those
who live like this will not inherit the
kingdom of God.

COL. 3:5

Put to death, therefore,
whatever belongs to your
earthly nature: sexual
immorality, impurity, lust,
evil desires and greed,
which is idolatry.

1THESS. 4:3-5
3Itis God's will that you should
be sanctified: that you should
avoid sexual immorality; 4that
each of you should learn to
control his own body in a way
that is holy and honorable, 5not

in passionate lust like the
heathen, who do not know God;

HEB. 12:15-17
15See to it that no one misses the grace
of God and that no bitter root grows up to
cause trouble and defile many. 16See that
no one is sexually immoral, or is godless
like Esau, who for a single meal sold his
inheritance rights as the oldest son.
17Afterward, as you know, when he

wanted to inherit this blessing, he was
rejected. He could bring about no change
of mind, though he sought the blessing
with tears

HEB.13:4

4Marriage should be
honored by all, and the
marriage bed kept pure,
for God will judge the
adulterer and all the
sexually immoral.

JUDE 1:5-7
5Though you already know all this, I want to
remind you that the Lord delivered his people
out of Egypt, but later destroyed those who did
not believe. 6And the angels who did not keep
their positions of authority but abandoned their
own home--these he has kept in darkness,
bound with everlasting chains for judgment on
the great Day. 7In a similar way, Sodom and
Gomorrah and the surrounding towns gave
themselves up to sexual immorality and
perversion. They serve as an example of those
who suffer the punishment of eternal fire.

1PET. 4:1-5
1Therefore, since Christ suffered in his body, arm
yourselves also with the same attitude, because
he who has suffered in his body is done with sin.
2As a result, he does not live the rest of his

earthly life for evil human desires, but rather for
the will of God. 3For you have spent enough time
in the past doing what pagans choose to do--
living in debauchery, lust, drunkenness, orgies,
carousing and detestable idolatry. 4They think it
strange that you do not plunge with them into the
same flood of dissipation, and they heap abuse
on you. 5But they will have to give account to him
who is ready to judge the living and the dead.

REV 9:20-21
20The rest of mankind that were not
killed by these plagues still did not
repent of the work of their hands; they
did not stop worshiping demons, and
idols of gold, silver, bronze, stone and
wood--idols that cannot see or hear or
walk. 21Nor did they repent of their
murders, their magic arts, their sexual
immorality or their thefts

REV. 22:14-15
14"Blessed are those who wash their
robes, that they may have the right to
the tree of life and may go through
the gates into the city. 15Outside are
the dogs, those who practice magic
arts, the sexually immoral, the
murderers, the idolaters and
everyone who loves and practices
falsehood.

EPH 5:3
But among you there must
not be even a hint of
sexual immorality, or of
any kind of impurity, or of
greed, because these are
improper for God's holy
people

1COR. 6:12-20
12"Everything is permissible for me"--but
not everything is beneficial. "Everything
is permissible for me"--but I will not be
mastered by anything. 13"Food for the
stomach and the stomach for food"--but
God will destroy them both. The body is
not meant for sexual immorality, but for
the Lord, and the Lord for the body. 14By
his power God raised the Lord from the
dead, and he will raise us also.

15Do you not know that your bodies
are members of Christ himself? Shall
I then take the members of Christ and
unite them with a prostitute? Never!
16Do you not know that he who unites

himself with a prostitute is one with
her in body? For it is said, "The two
will become one flesh."17But he who
unites himself with the Lord is one
with him in spirit.

18Flee from sexual immorality. All other
sins a man commits are outside his
body, but he who sins sexually sins
against his own body. 19Do you not
know that your body is a temple of the
Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you
have received from God? You are not
your own; 20you were bought at a
price. Therefore honor God with your
body.

Matthew 7:15-19,20
“Watch out for false prophets. They
come to you in sheep's clothing, but
inwardly they are ferocious wolves.
16By their fruit you will recognize
them. Do people pick grapes from
thornbushes, or figs from thistles?
17Likewise every good tree bears
good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad
fruit. 18A good tree cannot bear bad
fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good
fruit… 20Thus, by their fruit you will
recognize them.”

Goddess Worship
in Ancient and
Modern Religions

GODDESS
OF THE HEARTH Sea Goddess Mod

Adtti

kwanyinlight
The Goddess Durga Earth goddess

CAT
GODDESS

Coatlicue GODDESS OF TRANSFORMATION

The Olympic Games
•The motions of the planet Venus do
not determine the official length of
the Olympic Games, but DVC says
that they do.
•The Olympic Games were not
originally formed to honor Aphrodite.
They were originally formed to honor
Zeus.
•The book claims the Olympics were
held for Venus in 8-year cycles but
they were actually held for Zeus in 4-
year cycles.
(Page 36)

Remember the
―cleverly invented stories‖
slide?
They are called
―fairy tales‖

Dan Brown uses
fairy Tale
to support his claims!
WE NOW INTRODUCE TO YOU…

DAN Brown just has to
catch himself this time
―A career hazard of
symbologists was a
tendency to extract hidden
meanings from situations
that had none.‖
(DVC 172)

The book claims there are 666 panes of
glass on the pyramid outside the Louvre.
The Museum says there are 673. (Page 21)
Six hundred three of them are diamond shaped and only
seventy of them are triangular

Only liquid soap in the rest rooms.
No bar soaps

The Inverted
Pyramid

Smart car unable to achieve the speed
and dexterity described in the book

How do any of these Human
activities destroy Jesus‘ divinity?

- Birth, Schooling and Carpentry
- Eating and Drinking
- Tiredness, Crying and Bleeding
- Physical Death
- Marrying and Ability to Have Children
- Would Jesus being single be
un-Jewish?

The True Marriage and Children
Jesus' Bride is still in preparation, but soon will be
ready. Rev 19:7-8
"Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honour to him: for
the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath
made herself ready. And to her was granted that she
should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the
fine linen is the righteousness of saints."

Their children? Revelation 22:17
"And the Spirit and the bride say, 'Come!'" Jesus and his
Bride will give life to "whosoever will" to
"take the water of life freely."

The whole world will be given an opportunity to
become their children!

Food for Thought
•Are you a CHILD of God?
•Have you been BORN AGAIN and HOW?
•Do you know SCRIPTURES [not stories]
that confirm or affirms this new birth?
•Are you WILLING to TALK about them?
•Is your religion or faith based on
FEELINGS, EMOTIONS or biblical facts?
•How will you respond to CHALLENGE
from the BIBLE? [ACTS 24:24-25]

Pictures Tell
a Thousand
Stories!

What do all
these pictures
have in
common?

OUR STAND AGAIN…

―WE DID NOT FOLLOW
CLEVERLY INVENTED
STORIES WHEN WE
TOLD YOU ABOUT THE
POWER AND COMING
OF OUR LORD JESUS
CHRIST…‖

Be Careful where we get Your
Information from

$
Why is
Dan Brown
Smiling?

Conclusion on the Da Vinci Code
•Salvation is available to those who
come to Jesus- The Jesus of the
Bible.
• The Jesus of the Da Vinci Code is
the Gnostic Jesus- another Jesus.
• The Da Vinci Code claiming to be a
novel, but is plainly a veiled attack on
Christianity

• The book is built on a hoax
created by Pierre Plantard, a
convicted embezzler.

•The book is filled with factual
and historical errors which are
either intentional or
irresponsible scholarship.

Q&A
THIS SESSION WILL
HOLD ON
WEDNESSDAY
SEPTEMBER 13TH

Questions or comments should be written on the
participants card given to you and submitted to the
users or email to
emmanuelemeh@yahoo.co.uk
before 6.00pm, Tuesday September 12TH 2006

Thank You For Coming
and Participating
Peace of the Lord!

Emmanuel Emeh
[Evangelist]
International Church of Christ
Lagos, Nigeria

Confronting The Da Vinci Code

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