THE DA VINCI CODE FRAUD

JERRY DEPEW

I have just finished reading the novel, The Da Vinci Code. It is a fast-paced modern-day thriller set in Paris, London, and Scotland. If you are looking for a book to past time, to take to the beach, or on a plane trip, this book is ok. However, if you are looking for a real Da Vinci code, for spiritual enlightenment, for factual history, or to learn more about Jesus, this is the wrong book. The Da Vinci Code has none of these.

This book introduces the reader to the falsehoods of Gnosticism, pagan goddess worship, sacred feminism, and false history. Mixing a little truth, and a lot of false history, the author tries to convince the reader that the above concepts should be in the Christian church.

Few Real Facts In Brown's Novel

If Dan Brown had called this book fictional, there would absolutely be no problem with the book. But he has chosen to label many of the wild theories of the book as fact. In an interview on ABC's Good Morning America, Brown said: "You can't research this explosive a topic and become so immersed in this kind of subject matter without having your fundamental philosophy altered. I began the research for The Da Vinci Code as a skeptic. I entirely expected, as I researched the book, to disprove this theory. After numerous trips to Europe, and about two years of research, I really became a believer. And it's important to remember that this is a novel about a theory that has been out there for a long time." 1

For a book that claims to be factual, I have never encountered so many errors and falsehoods in one book. It really becomes difficult to keep up with them all. Sandra Miesel, a veteran Catholic journalist, put it this way. "So error-laden is The Da Vinci Code that the educated reader actually applauds those rare occasions where Brown stumbles (despite himself) into the truth."2 The so-called facts of the book are really just a house of cards that falls apart with the slightest wind.

On Dan Brown's website, he list some of the books used for his research. Let's take a look at some of the titles. When God Was A Woman by Merlin Stone; Jesus and the Lost Goddess: The Secret Teachings of the Original Christians by Timothy Freke, Peter Gandy; The Dead Sea Deception by Michael Baigent and Richard Leigh; Holy Blood, Holy Grail by Michael Baigent, Richard Leigh and Henry Lincoln; The Woman With The Alabaster Jar: Mary Magdalene and the Holy Grail by Margaret Starbird. Every one of these could be classified as New Age books; some could be included as occultist. I did not see the earliest Christian writings from the pen of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John included in his research.

Falsehoods Found In The Da Vinci Code

Let's look at a few examples of some of the falsehoods found in the Da Vinci Code. One of the characters, Leigh Teabing says to Sophie, "The Bible is a product of man, my dear. Not of God. The Bible did not fall magically from the clouds. Man created it as a historical record of tumultuous times, and it has evolved through countless translations, additions, and revisions. History has never had a definitive version of the book."3 The character, Teabing, goes on to say that Constantine gave us the Bible.

This is not true at all. Before the council of Nicea ever convened, the four gospels and most of the epistles in the Bible of today were being read and accepted as divine by the churches. Also, the Old Testament was considered scripture during the time of Jesus. Constantine never had a version.

Massimo Introvigne, a social scientist, lawyer, and an author of more than 40 books, has written: "By the time of the Muratorian Canon--which dates from around 190 A.D.---the recognition of the four Gospels as canonical and the exclusion of the Gnostic texts was substantially completed, 90 years before Constantine was born."4

The Teabing character goes on to tell Sophie another falsehood about the council of Nicea. Teabing says, "...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."5 I don't know which new age history book Dan Brown got this one, but real historians and theologians firmly disagree with the above statement.

The Apostle Paul's epistles predate even the four gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. Paul's writings were earlier than 70 A.D. Let's look at what he says about Jesus. To the church at Colosse, Paul, speaking of Jesus, said, "He is the image of the invisible God..." Then Paul tells them this: "For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross."6

The Gnostic Gospels

Now, let's examine the so-called gospels that the character Teabing claims are the true gospels. Teabing shows Sophia a huge poster-sized book titled The Gnostic Gospels. Then he tells the Sophia character: "These are photocopies of the Nag Hammadi and Dead Sea scrolls...The earliest Christian records. Troublingly, they do not match up with the gospels in the Bible."7

Well, they shouldn't match up. First, the Dead Sea scrolls are not Christian writings; they are Jewish writings by a sect known as the Essences. Secondly, only three of the writings found at Nag Hammadi in 1945 are called gospels. Historians and theologians, both protestant and catholic, agree that these are not the earliest Christian records as Brown would have us believe. These documents were written much later, in the late second and third century. And they were written by people who believed in Gnosticism. Apostles or even those close to the apostles did not write the Gnostic gospels.

The Gnostic gospels did not even come close to meeting the criteria of the canon. To get into the canon, the writer must have been one who was an apostle or who had walked with Jesus. The writers of the Gnostic gospels were unknown Gnostics of the late second and third century. The four gospels of the New Testament had all been written in the first century by apostles and those who knew Jesus.

The requirement of orthodoxy is another requirement that is not met by the Gnostic gospels. The writings should follow doctrines taught by the Jesus, the Apostles, and the early church fathers. The writings of the Gnostics are wild, so wild that any rational, intelligent person would never consider these writings for inclusion in the canon. Here is one example. The gospel of Thomas says that in order to enter the kingdom of God a woman must become a male. Here is some of the actual text:

114, Simon Peter said to them, "Make Mary leave us, for females do not deserve life." Jesus said, "Look, I will guide her to make her male, so that she too may become a living spirit resembling you males. For every female who makes herself male will enter the kingdom of Heaven."8

This text does not make sense to anybody but a Gnostic. This text does not lift the female. When Jesus came on earth, he lifted up the female. This Gnostic notion of androgyny shows that this text was not written by a true apostle.

Gnostics taught that you needed "secret knowledge" to gain freedom and salvation. This Gnostic belief can be traced all the way back to the book of Genesis. Using the serpent, Satan said to Eve that "if you eat of this fruit you shall not die but gain knowledge."

The gospel of Jesus Christ is good news about His death, burial, and resurrection. We should never depart from the gospel preached by the Apostles. The Apostle Paul put it this way. "I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you by the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel--which is really no gospel at all. Evidently some people are turning you into confusion and are trying to pervert the gospel of Christ."* Then Paul goes on to say to the church at Galatia and to today's church. "But even if we are an angel from heaven should preach a gospel other than the one we preached to you, let him be eternally condemned!"9

We do not need the "secret knowledge" of the Gnostics for our salvation; we need the blood that was shed on an old rugged cross. It is by His blood that our sins are forgiven when we repent. It is by His blood that we are eligible for the infilling of the Holy Spirit.

The Priory of Sion Hoax

Now Let's look at this so-called real organization called The Priory of Sion. Brown writes in the very beginning of his book that this organization is a "fact." He says this: "In 1975 Paris's Bibliotheque Nationale discovered parchments known as Les Dossiers Secrets, identifying numerous members of the Priory of Sion, including Sir Isaac Newton, Botticelli, Victor Hugo, and Leonardo da Vinci."10

Poor Isaac, poor Victor, poor Leonardo. They are not here to testify and give witness to this organization. Well, they don't have to be here. It has been proven that Pierre Plantard, a man who appeared to be delusional, founded the Priory of Sion in 1956.

Let's look at some the details of this strange man and his story. The Wikipedia encyclopedia says this about him. "Pierre Athanase Marie Plantard (born March 18, 1920, died February 3, 2000) was the principal figure associated with the Priory of Sion, and the main creator of many of the claims about the Prior's supposed past history that later inspired the books Holy Blood, Holy Grail and The Da Vinci Code among others."11

In his early life, a police report described him this way. "Plantard, who boasts of having links with numerous politicians, seems to be one of those dotty, pretentious young men who run more or less fictitious groups in an effort to look important..."12 In 1956, Plantard founded the Priory of Sion with Andre Bonhomme. The organization evolved into the hoax that many have fallen for today. In 1962, Plantard co-authored the book Les Templiers sont parmi nous. "The book seems to have been the genesis of what was soon to become the popular version of the Priory of Sion, with the well-known ingredients--Godfrey of Bouillon, the Knights Templar, and so on: all of which can be easily proved to be historical fiction because the various claims as found in the Priory Documents never existed before the early 1960s in any shape or form, and cannot be substantiated from the known historical records. Furthermore, letters in existence dating from the 1960s written by Pierre Plantard, Philippe de Cherisey and Gerad do Sede to each other confirm that the three were engaging in an out-and-out confidence trick..."13 Later, Plantard planted documents about this false organization in the Bibliotheque Nationale in Paris.

The CBS Investigation

The CBS News organization, 60 Minutes, investigated the Priory of Sion. Most people would say that the CBS 60 Minutes news organization is a good one and is reliable with the facts of their investigations.

CBS sent a team to the Bibliotheque Nationale and got copies of the Priory of Sion documents. Ed Bradley says the segment, "We soon found what we were looking for. One document gives the history of the Priory of Sion dating back to the 12th Century, and there's a list of Grand Masters that include such illustrious names as Sir Isaac Newton and Leonardo da Vince. This information would be astounding--except for one thing."14

At this point, Jonathan Riley-Smith, a former professor of ecclesiastical history at Cambridge University says to Ed Bradley. "I do know what was going on in Jerusalem in the 12th Century, I do know. I spent 40 years working on it and what these people say--did not happen." Bradley continues, "French researchers have also questioned the authenticity of these files ever since they were deposited in the Bibliotheque Nationale in the 1960s. Their attention came to focus on a man named Pierre Plantard, who claimed to be the current Grand Master of the Priory of Sion. But evidence at the police headquarters in Paris tells a different story. Historian Claude Chariot, who is director of police archives, says there's a file on Plantard, who died in 2000, showing that during World War II he was investigated by the secret services. So what was their conclusion?"15

Chariot then then tells Bradley that Plantard "...is a young man whose mind--as we say in French--is cloudy. He is a fantasist; he is not a serious person."16 From my own research, it appears that Plantard was a delusional, nut-case.

Researchers, scholars, and historians know that the Priory of Sion documents are a hoax. So this makes all of the books based on these documents victims of a hoax. Among those books are Holy Blood, Holy Grail, and The Da Vinci Code. In turn, this makes all those who believe the wild theories of these two books victims of one of the biggest hoaxes in history.

Something Real

Let me tell you about something that is not a hoax. The Bible is not a hoax; the Church is not a hoax; the Lord Jesus Christ is not a hoax. The Apostle Peter, who died for this faith, said, "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."17 Another eyewitness, the Apostle John said, "That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched--this we proclaim concerning the Word of life. The life appeared; we have seen it and testify to it, and we proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and has appeared to us."18

My friend, this not the time to fall for cleverly invented hoaxes. This is not the time to let your children fall for these fables invented by men. We are living in dangerous times. The Bible says that "in the last days perilous times shall come."19 We are living in those times. We are living in times when we have seen and shall see days of terror, but through it all we can have the inner peace that comes from knowing Jesus as Lord. We are living in the times when storm clouds are gathering, but we know the One who can give shelter from the storm. We are living in the times when the seas are roaring, but we know the One who can anchor our soul.

It was during the perilous times of World War II that Ruth Caye Jones, a mother of five children, penned a song that will last an eternity. For now we are living in even more perilous times, and people are once again singing the old song.

In times like these, we need a Savior.

In times like these, we need an anchor.

Be very sure, be very sure.

Your anchor holds and grips the solid Rock.

That Rock is Jesus, the only one."20

If you do not know Him, it is high time for you to seek Him, repent of your sins, and let His Holy Spirit take control of your life. May God bless you on your journey.

Notes:

1. ABC Good Morning America, January 12, 2004

2. Sandra Miesel, Dismantling The Da Vinci Code, www.crisismagazine/september2003/feature1.htm.

3. Dan Brown, The Da Vinci Code, First Anchor Books Trade Paperback Edition, March 2006, p. 231.

4. Massimo Introvigne, The Da Vinci Code FAQ, or Will the Real Priory of Sion Please Stand Up?, www.cesnur.org.

5. Dan Brown, The Da Vince Code, First Anchor Books Trade Paperback Edition, March 2006, p. 233.

6. Colossians 1:15, 19 NIV.

7. Dan Brown, The Da Vinci Code, First Anchor Books Trade Paperback Edition, March 2006, p245.

8. Gospel of Thomas, Wikipedia Encyclopedia.

9. Galatians 1:6,7,8,9 NIV.

10. Dan Brown, The Da Vinci Code, First Anchor Books Trade Paperback Edition, March 2006, fact page.

11. Pierre Plantard, Wikipedia Encyclopedia

12. Ibid.

13. Ibid.

14. Priory of Sion, April 30, 2006 segment on 60 Minutes, produced by Jeanne Langley and narrated by Ed Bradley.

15. Ibid.

16. Ibid.

17. 2 Peter 1:16 NIV.

18. 1 John 1:1 & 2 NIV.

19. 2 Timothy 3:1 KJV.

20. In Times Like These, Ruth Caye Jones.