Codex

Where’s John?

Let me quickly debunk some of the lies in The Da Vinci Code, then we’ll move on to the serious problems with the book and movie.

First, the council of Nicaea did not establish the New Testament Canon. The Canon was established through use over several centuries. Gospels were not left out of the Canon because the church was trying to censor dangerous ideas. The books that were left out were either forgotten about or were never considered to be reliable and authoritative in the first place.

Second, the Knights Templar did not suddenly leave Jerusalem and begin building strange churches all over Europe after finding a mysterious artifact near the Temple of Solomon. The Da Vinci Code would have you believe that the Templars found documents confirming that Jesus and Mary Magdalene had a child. They left Jerusalem to hide these documents in Europe. Then the Church killed the Knights so that the secret wouldn’t be revealed. The truth is that the Knights were killed because the Church and other powers in Europe were jealous of their wealth and power. Since the Templars were entrusted with the safekeeping of pilgrims’ money, they created an early banking system. Through this system, the Templars became very wealthy.

Third, the figure to the right of Jesus in Leonardo’s The Last Supper is not Mary Magdalene. It is John the Apostle. John was the youngest of the disciples. He was often depicted as a young, effeminate man. If that is really Mary, then where is John? There are only thirteen people in the painting.

Fourth, The Da Vinci Code says that the Church has tried to cover up the idea of the Sacred Feminine. Pagan religions often believed that there were two forces at work in the universe, a masculine and a feminine force. Think of the Yin-Yang. According to these beliefs, there is a balance between the masculine and feminine. Christianity does not have this belief. There is simply God, who is always referred to using masculine pronouns due to the limitations of human language, but is actually without gender. The idea of a child of Christ gives support to the pagan myth. So, the book says, the church has spent the last two millennia trying to destroy this belief and cover up the truth of a holy and royal blood line. They declared that Mary Magdalene was a prostitute. They have oppressed women, even killing them after denouncing them as “witches.” They are attempting to elevate the masculine above the feminine and that is causing suffering throughout humanity. Of course, this is ridiculous. Mary Magdalene is recognized as a saint by the Catholic Church. The idea that she was a prostitute was merely a legend which the Church has since rejected. Also, if the Church is trying to elevate the masculine above the feminine, then what’s with all the worship of Mary, Jesus’ mother?

But The Da Vinci Code suggests that the Church is worshiping the wrong Mary. At the end of the movie, Robert Langdon, the main character, kneels at the tomb of Mary Magdalene. The Catholics have a problem with worshiping this Mary. Protestants have a problem with worshiping either Mary because it is the worship of humanity, not God. But, Langdon says there is no difference between human and divine. And this is the biggest problem with The Da Vinci Code. Human is divine? Not only blasphemous, but very dangerous. Throw out all the stuff about the Templars and the Priory of Sion. The Da Vinci Code’s most damaging lie is this: that we are all gods. The theory that Jesus and Mary had a child is not intended to elevate woman to the same level as man, but to elevate human flesh to the same level as God. If we believe that we in our current state are gods, or even god-like, then we flatter ourselves.

While driving along the freeway the other day, I saw a car with a bumper sticker that read, “Born OK the first time.” Meaning, this person sees no need to be born again. I thought to myself, what arrogance! Are you saying that you were born perfect the first time? That you have never made a mistake, never sinned, never been violent or caused another person pain? Have you always loved your neighbor as yourself? Are you God? And if you are not perfect, then how do you know that you were born OK the first time? If you are capable of making a mistake, then couldn’t you be mistaken about this?

This attitude is the epitome of human error. There is a need for a touchstone. The touchstone is the foundation of Truth that is used to discover and learn. Plato speaks of the Perfect Forms. A true understanding of the world, he says, comes only through an understanding of the Perfect Forms. In Christianity, this idea is perfected. The Bible calls Christ the Word. The Greek word is “logos” which also means “wisdom.” Christ is the foundation of understanding. He is the Truth, the Touchstone. Only faith in Him brings salvation. But, our fleshly tendency is to believe that truth comes from within us, that we can save ourselves.

Here’s a good way of describing what is meant by “touchstone.” Many cable networks have recently been cashing in on this Da Vinci fever by running documentaries on the subject. One of these documentaries features an art historian who is trying to figure out if a newly discovered painting is a work of Leonardo Da Vinci. To help him figure this out, he decides to place the painting next to a work that he knows was done by Leonardo. He says that when you put a fake next to an authentic work then the fake becomes immediately obvious. This is what is meant by the touchstone. You can tell a crooked line by comparing it to a straight line. You can tell a lie by comparing it to the truth. But this little trick only works if you have an independent standard by which to judge. If that standard becomes relative to the observer then it becomes impossible to tell a fake from a true work of art.

This is why the Gnostic gospels were left out of the New Testament Canon. Gnosticism professes that divinity is within all of us, and so the touchstone is no longer independent but within us and relative to us. The Gnostics were also the first to claim that Jesus and Mary Magdalene were married. Gnosticism was not in line with the rest of Scripture, especially the Hebrew Canon (which had already been settled and was accepted by Christ and the disciples), and so these writings were left out of the Canon. The Church was not attempting to censor Christian writings, but to keep non-Christian writings out of the Christian Canon. It is this Gnostic belief, that there is a god within all of us, that re-emerges in The Da Vinci Code. (By the way, the Gnostics were almost right. There is an innate desire for the divine in all of us, but not divinity itself.)

So, where’s John? Remember that The Da Vinci Code would have you believe that the figure to Jesus’ right is not John the Apostle, but Mary Magdalene? Is it just a coincidence that, of all the apostles, the book removes John from the picture and replaces him with Mary? John is the writer who calls Christ the Light that shines in the darkness, God as man, the true and only path to enlightenment and salvation. But The Da Vinci Code literally takes John out of the picture and replaces him with Mary, Jesus’ lover. The truth has been denied and replaced with a carnal lie. Now who is censoring and covering up?

I don’t care if The Da Vinci Code makes the Catholic Church look bad. Frankly, I don’t think the Church needs any help to do that. I also don’t care that the book gets its history wrong. It is, after all, only fiction. But even fiction is intended to deliver a message, something that the author believes is worth telling and believing. In this case, that message is clear: we were born OK the first time. That is utterly wrong, arrogant, and dangerous. Once we begin to believe that we are gods, that there is nothing above or beyond us, and we have all the answers, then we begin to believe in our own mistakes and our own lies. We corrupt our morality and create our own hell. That is the real danger. That is what Christ warned about. That is what the Great Liar has propagated since the time of Adam and Eve. It is, in fact, the very first lie, and it is what caused our fall in the first place.

Top