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THE DA VINCI CODE is a very controversial
book that has gripped the imagination of millions of people around the world.
Written in the form of a novel but claiming to be based on accurate historical
facts, the book is a not-so-clever fabrication that has been condemned by the
Roman Catholic Church, and by Christians generally.
The basic controversy is the book’s
central theme: that Jesus was married to Mary Magdalene (before He was
crucified). They had children who intermarried with the French royal line. And
all of this has been known for centuries, says the theory, but the truth has
been kept from the public for fear of destroying the power of the church! In
fact, it says, there is a highly secret organization that guards documents that,
if made public, would destroy Christianity as we know it!
There is not one shred of evidence in the
Bible for such an outrageous story. But for centuries there have been many
erroneous documents available that give a person with an imaginative mind and a
cunning hand, a great opportunity to make a packet of money.
But “we did not follow cunningly
devised tales when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord,
Y’shua the Messiah. On the contrary, we were eyewitnesses of His majesty.”
(2 Peter 1:16)
CRITICS CRUCIFY DA VINCI FILM
MAY 17, 06. The most hotly-awaited movie
of the year “The Da Vinci Code” failed to impress an audience of movie critics
at a preview of the film at the Cannes Film Festival. According to an AFP
report, there were several whistles but no applause at the end of the screening.
“I didn’t like it very much. I thought it
was almost as bad as the book. Actor Tom Hanks was a zombie,” said a critic for
The Boston Globe.
The great controversy was the central
theme that Jesus Christ married and had children whose descendants still survive
today. At the movie’s key moment when Hanks reveals who is supposedly the last
surviving descendant of Jesus, the 2,000-strong audience couldn’t hold back
their laughter. “At the high point, there was laughter among the journalists.
Not loud laughs, but a snicker and I think that says it all,” said Gerson Da
Cunha from The Times of India.
Other critics said the film was confusing
to those who hadn’t read the book. “People were confused, there was no applause,
just silence,” said a reporter for the Italian television Rai 3. “I have only
read half the book, and then I got bored. It’s terrible,” she added.
The Daily Variety,
the top Hollywood trade magazine, gave the film a blistering review. Brown’s
mega best-selling novel “has become a stodgy, grim thing in its exceedingly
literal-minded film version,” it said. Director Howard and screenwriter Akiva
Goldsman have “conspired to drain any sense of fun out of the melodrama, leaving
expectant audiences with an oppressively talky film that isn’t exactly dull but
comes as close to it as one could imagine with such provocative material.”
The Da Vinci Code
The Errors &
Inaccuracies
BY PETER
RAHME
PASTOR,
INNER WEST BAPTIST CHURCH, HOMEBUSH, NSW
DAN BROWN struck gold with his Da Vinci
Code. It is a phenomenon. Its sales figures shot through the roof and its
serious following skyrocketed since its April 2003 release. It caught the
attention of young and old everywhere and captured their hearts and minds like
no other novel before it. It also gave him fame and made him a fortune.
Translated into more than 40 languages and
sold over 50 million copies worldwide, The Da Vinci Code has become one of the
best selling novels of all time. This No. 1 New York Times bestseller is also a
best seller in 150 countries around the world.
In the preface, the opening sentence of
this fast-paced murder mystery teases the readers who are assured of
this: “FACT: All descriptions of artwork, architecture, documents and secret
rituals in the novel are accurate.”
However, the stark reality is that Dan
Brown yielded to journalistic temptation and didn’t and/or wouldn’t allow the
truth to get in the way of a good story. Consequently the reader and now the
viewer ends up with a faulty product filled with simple errors, serious
inaccuracies, sinister half-truths and straight out lies.
In fact, considering the numerous
errors and many inaccuracies in the Da Vinci Code, the film’s promotion slogan -
“seeking the truth” should really be changed to “skipping the truth.” This
represents better the author’s dubious claims and reflects best the novel’s
deceptive contents.
This mother of all fiction
is filled with flaws, fallacies, and fails miserably on historical, theological,
Scriptural, artistic and architectural fronts. Here are just a few examples.
·
The Gospel of Phillip is NOT written in Aramaic BUT in Coptic.
·
The glass pyramid does NOT have 666 panes
of glass, BUT 673.
·
The community at Qumran responsible for
the Dead Sea Scrolls was NOT Christian, BUT Jewish.
·
Paris was NOT founded by the Merovingians,
BUT by the Parisi, a Gallic tribe, called Lutetia.
·
The Templars’ arrest, trial and execution
did NOT happen in one day, BUT over a couple of years.
·
Walt Disney was NOT alive when The Lion
King and Little Mermaid were made, BUT dead for years.
·
The Priory of Sion did NOT begin in the
Middle Ages BUT in the 1960s (by a French con-man Pierre Plantard).
·
The Holy Grail legend is NOT “the most
enduring legend of all time,” BUT known only since the 12th century.
·
Constantine was NOT baptized against his
wishes BUT upon his request by Eusebius - the bishop of Nicomedia.
·
The Council of Nicea did NOT vote to
determine the divinity of Jesus BUT to discuss and debunk the Arian view about
Him.
·
The Olympic Games were NOT celebrated as a
tribute to the planet Venus BUT in honour of Zeus. Its five rings are NOT a
secret tribute to goddess Aphrodite BUT symbolise the five continents.
·
etc.. etc... etc...
Since Dan Brown cannot be trusted to know
the facts and/or tell the truth about simple things such as the above dates and
details, people and places (the list mentioned is only the tip of the
iceberg), surely his Da Vinci Code cannot also be trusted when it comes to
spiritual matters such as the humanity and divinity of Jesus Christ and His
death and resurrection, nor be taken seriously in regards to the corrupt Gnostic
gospels and the crazy idea of Mrs Jesus.
It is simplistic to think and naive to say
that the Da Vinci Code is pure fiction. IT IS NOT!! While it pretends to be a
highly entertaining thriller, it presents a hugely erroneous theory. Through his
fictional characters, Dan Brown not only re-writes history but warps it to fit
his pagan mythology belief system. The outside package may appear to be
harmless, but the product inside is definitely harmful.
DON’T BE FOOLED!!
Don’t allow its foolish doctrine to
capture your soul or corrupt your mind. Stay away from its falsehoods and steer
clear from its fabrications
Dan Brown’s Da Vinci Code is a classic
illustration of how the finest philosophers in the world, if they’re unable
and/or unwilling to step outside the box of human reasoning and refuse and/or
reject to see inside the Book of divine-revelation, they will be unreliable in
their definition of God of all the earth and unreason-able in their description
of the Lord of Glory.
The best that their finite mind can come
up with, in a sort of a hit-or-miss approach or a sincere-but-poor attempt, is
to present Jesus Christ as a mythological person, a mysterious puzzle, a
mystical poet, a melancholy philosopher, a mad preacher or at best a mortal
prophet.
On the other hand,
the infinite wisdom of God
proclaims Jesus Christ as the Light of the World, the Bread of Life and the Hope
of Glory.
By Him
all things were created,
In Him
all things consist,
With Him
all things are possible,
and Through Him all
things can be done.
The Bible also says that Jesus Christ was
without sin
(Hebrews 4:15); in Him is no sin
(1 John 3:5);
He did no sin (1
Peter 2: 22); and He knew no sin
(2 Corinthians
5: 21)
The Old Testament points to His eternal
person and the New Testament paints His excellent portrait. Here is how the
Spirit of God, through the word of God, reveals the humanity and deity of the
Son of God…
¨
Righteous God! The holiness of His deity is awesome!
¨
Royal Baby! The humility of His birth
is amazing!
¨
Real Man! The healing of His presence
is astounding!
¨
Redeeming Saviour! The horror of His
death is astonishing!
¨
Risen Lord! The hope of His
resurrection is assuring!
¨
Returning Messiah! The hour of His 2nd
coming is approaching!
¨
Ruling King! The honour of His millennial reign is anticipated!
His life is unique and His love
is unparalleled.
His person is unequal
and His power is unmatched.
He calmed storms and cast out demons. The
wind and the waves obeyed His voice. Death and disease jumped at His command.
Because of Him the deaf could hear, the lame walked and the hungry were fed.
·
By
His cross and resurrection, Jesus defeated the devil, destroyed his works and
disarmed all the spiritual forces of darkness in the universe.
·
Through
His cross and resurrection, Jesus washes and wipes away our sins and acquits and
absolves us of our guilt.
·
With
His cross and resurrection, Jesus paid the full price for ALL the dead in sin
and paved the final path for ALL the dead in Christ.
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