Decoding The Da Vinci Code (Part 3)
“For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths.” (2 Timothy 4:3-4, NIV)
No matter how believable a claim may sound, you can dismiss it if it does not have a factual basis.
That’s exactly the problem with The Da Vinci Code. It is a novel, that is, a work of fiction. But it presents itself as factual. In the opening page of the book, you would find this claim: “All descriptions of artwork, architecture, documents, and secret rituals in this novel are accurate.” For example, the book claims that, in the 4th century, Emperor Constantine outlawed altered and destroyed the Word of God. But, allegedly, “some of the gospels that Constantine attempted to eradicate managed to survive.” (The Da Vinci Code) He particularly mentioned the Nag Hammadi scrolls. Bedouins discovered it in Egypt in 1945. Dan Brown calls it “the unaltered gospels” and “the earliest Christian records.” In one of the supposed gospels we find a verse that claims Jesus often kissed Mary Magdalene on her lips. The book based its claim that Jesus and Mary were married on the Nag Hammadi scrolls.
How come the Nag Hammadi scrolls were not included in the Bible? To become part of the New Testament, a book had to be ancient or written near the time of Jesus and His original followers. This exclude any writings dated after the first century A.D. Second, it had to be apostolic or written by an apostle or a companion of an apostle. The apostles and their companions wrote the New Testament in the first century A.D. But scholars date the Nag Hammadi texts in the second and third centuries A.D. So, we reject the Nag Hammadi scrolls because they were neither ancient nor apostolic. The basis for the claims of The Da Vinci Code is bogus. If the basis is questionable then the conclusions are not accurate.
Thus, let us not turn away from the truth and turn aside to myths. Let us hold firmly to our faith for we have the firm foundation of the Bible. “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.” (2 Timothy 3:16-17)
No matter how believable a claim may sound, you can dismiss it if it does not have a factual basis.
That’s exactly the problem with The Da Vinci Code. It is a novel, that is, a work of fiction. But it presents itself as factual. In the opening page of the book, you would find this claim: “All descriptions of artwork, architecture, documents, and secret rituals in this novel are accurate.” For example, the book claims that, in the 4th century, Emperor Constantine outlawed altered and destroyed the Word of God. But, allegedly, “some of the gospels that Constantine attempted to eradicate managed to survive.” (The Da Vinci Code) He particularly mentioned the Nag Hammadi scrolls. Bedouins discovered it in Egypt in 1945. Dan Brown calls it “the unaltered gospels” and “the earliest Christian records.” In one of the supposed gospels we find a verse that claims Jesus often kissed Mary Magdalene on her lips. The book based its claim that Jesus and Mary were married on the Nag Hammadi scrolls.
How come the Nag Hammadi scrolls were not included in the Bible? To become part of the New Testament, a book had to be ancient or written near the time of Jesus and His original followers. This exclude any writings dated after the first century A.D. Second, it had to be apostolic or written by an apostle or a companion of an apostle. The apostles and their companions wrote the New Testament in the first century A.D. But scholars date the Nag Hammadi texts in the second and third centuries A.D. So, we reject the Nag Hammadi scrolls because they were neither ancient nor apostolic. The basis for the claims of The Da Vinci Code is bogus. If the basis is questionable then the conclusions are not accurate.
Thus, let us not turn away from the truth and turn aside to myths. Let us hold firmly to our faith for we have the firm foundation of the Bible. “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.” (2 Timothy 3:16-17)
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