Dialoguing Da Vinci

[Soldier4Christ]

The Deception of The Da Vinci Code


The Da Vinci Code is a Satanic masterpiece. It is utterly deceptive, and particularly so in Chapter 55. In this chapter, you find the two talking snakes, Teabing and Langdon, seducing Sophie with their sophistry. Alas, the helpless lass is mesmerised, and the serpentine duo go for the jugular with their venom of lies.

Deception #1: Da Vinci’s Fresco Tells the Truth, Not the Bible
 

The Da Vinci Code assumes that Leonardo was telling the truth concerning who Jesus was and what happened in His life. Teabing pontificates, “In fact, Da Vinci painted the true Grail.” At the end of the chapter, Teabing again presses the point that Da Vinci’s fresco is truthful and not the Bible, “You will be shocked to learn what anomalies Da Vinci included here that most scholars either do not see or simply choose to ignore. This fresco [of the Last Supper], in fact, is the entire key to the Holy Grail mystery.”

Refutation

It must be said that Da Vinci, born in 1452 and died in 1519, was not an eyewitness to the Last Supper. How can his painting then be regarded as an authoritative depiction of that event? We should rather trust in eyewitness accounts. Matthew and John who were there recorded what happened during the Last Supper in their respective Gospels. The truth is not in the painting of Da Vinci, but in the testimonies of Matthew and John, and of Peter and Paul as found in Mark and Luke, who wrote under divine inspiration (2 Tim. 3:16, 2 Pet. 1:20-21).

One proof that Da Vinci’s fresco is historically unreliable is that he painted Jesus and His disciples dining at a long and high table with some sitting down and others standing up. The people in those days did not have their meals in such a way. In those days, they had their meals in a reclining posture. This fact is accurately reported in the Four Gospels where we find Jesus and His disciples reclining on mattresses around a low table during the Last Supper (cf John 13:23, 25).

Deception #2a: If You Believe in the Bible, You Must be Stupid

In order to cause Sophie to doubt, Teabing made her read a couple of Da Vinci’s sayings that demean believers of the supernatural and miraculous. Quotation of Da Vinci #1 reads, “Many have made a trade of delusions and false miracles, deceiving the stupid multitude.” In other words, Sophie is made to think that anyone who believes that the Bible is a supernatural God-given Book, and that the miracles recorded therein are true, must be simple-minded and stupid.

Refutation

People ought to realise that Da Vinci is but a creature, and not the Creator. Da Vinci is dead, but Jesus is alive (1 Cor. 15:1-20). As such, it is not what Da Vinci says in his paintings that we should worry about, but what Jesus the risen Lord says in His Word.

Who are the fools in God’s eyes? They are those who deny His existence and His miracles. Twice in the Psalms, God says, “The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God” (Ps. 14:1, 53:1). The judgement of such fools as recorded in Romans 1:18-22 applies to Teabing, Langdon, and the author Brown himself, “For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness; Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God hath shewed it unto them. For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse: Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened. Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools.” The truly blind are they who deny the miracle of creation, even the Creator God—the Lord Jesus Christ—Himself (John 1:3, Col. 1:16).

Deception #2b: If You Believe in the Bible, You Must be Blind

Quotation of Da Vinci #2 states, “Blinding ignorance does mislead us. O! Wretched mortals, open your eyes!” Teabing could be quoting Da Vinci out of context. Whatever the case may be, Teabing is trying to tell Sophie, “Don’t be blind! Don’t be misled! Stop believing in the Bible! Stop following Christ!”

Refutation

Da Vinci says “Blinding ignorance does mislead us,” and so it does. Jesus speaks against “blinding ignorance” and calls on all to seek and know the truth. “Seek ye the LORD while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near: Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the LORD, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon. For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts” (Isa. 55:6-9).

From where do we seek the Lord? “Seek ye out of the book of the LORD, and read: no one of these shall fail” (Isa. 34:16). Why the book of the Lord? Because “The law of the LORD is perfect, converting the soul: the testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple.  The statutes of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart: the commandment of the LORD is pure, enlightening the eyes” (Ps. 19:7-8).

How should we seek the Lord? We should seek Him by faith, “But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him” (Heb. 11:6). We do not see in order to believe, we believe in order to see. “And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free” (John 8:32). We should seek Him with great reverence, “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge” (Prov. 1:7). “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom: and the knowledge of the holy is understanding” (Prov. 9:10). 

cont'd on page two

[Soldier4Christ]

Page Two

Deception #3: The Bible is a Product of Man, Not of God

Teabing tells 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. … More than eighty gospels were considered for the New Testament, and yet only a relative few were chosen for inclusion—Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John among them.” Teabing lies to Sophie, “The Bible, as we know it today, was collated by the pagan Roman emperor Constantine the Great. … 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.”

Refutation

It is not true that the Four Gospels—Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John—were 4th century inventions of Constantine and the Nicaean Council. The Four Gospels were written in AD 40-50 shortly after Christ rose from the dead and ascended to heaven. The Early Church Fathers—Papias (in AD 110) and Irenaeus (in AD 180)—mentioned them by name and affirmed their Apostolic origins. It is thus not the over 80 gospels that Teabing mentioned that were the early and authentic Gospels but the Four that we have in the Canonical Scriptures today, totally inspired and entirely preserved to this day.

It must be pointed out that the over 80 gospels that Teabing regards as authentic do not paint Jesus as a mere mortal at all, but super-divine in a fairy-talely way that can only come from the corrupt imagination of unregenerate men. As a matter of fact, these false gospels deify Mary more than they do Jesus which eventually led to Mary-worship that we see in the Roman Catholic Church today. It is no wonder that God’s people have always rejected those 80 gospels as spurious. A born-again, Spirit-indwelt Christian (John 14:16-17, 1 John 2:27) when reading about the boyhood of Jesus in these false gospels can easily tell that they are myth and not truth (see The Lost Books of the Bible, especially 1 Infancy 14-15, about Jesus being bitten by a mad and demonised Judas, and Jesus being a proud and boastful show-off).

Teabing’s claims that Constantine (1) was “a lifelong pagan who was baptized on his deathbed,” and that he (2) financed a new Bible in AD 327 to consolidate his power as emperor, are lies. The truth is: (1) Constantine lived from AD 285-337, and became a Christian in AD 312—i.e. 25 years before his death! (2) The NT Canon as we know it today existed since the first century. By God’s special providence, it was the Council of Carthage of AD 397 and not the Council of Nicaea AD 327 that settled the NT Canon; this happened 60 years after Constantine’s death!

Teabing says that the Scriptures “evolved,” and there is no such thing as a definitive version of the book. This is nonsense. As already discussed above under “Blasphemy,” the biblical doctrine of the Verbal Plenary Inspiration (VPI) and Verbal Plenary Preservation (VPP) of the Scriptures tells us that we have an absolutely perfect and definitive Bible today as found in the infallible and inerrant Hebrew and Greek Scriptures underlying the Authorised King James Version. Dr E F Hills of Harvard says that the logic of faith is the key to such a certainty, “You must begin with Christ and the Gospel and proceed according to the logic of faith. This will lead you to the Traditional text, the Textus Receptus and the King James Version.” See Edward F Hills, The King James Version Defended (Des Moines IA: The Christian Research Press, 1984), 220. See also my paper, “A Plea for a Perfect Bible,” The Burning Bush 9 (2003): 1-15.

Deception #4: Jesus was Only a Man, and Not God at All

Teabing says, “Jesus Christ was a historical figure … a great and powerful man, but a man nonetheless. A mortal. … Jesus’ establishment as ‘the Son of God’ was officially proposed and voted on by the Council of Nicaea. … A relatively close vote at that. … Many scholars claim that the early Church literally stole Jesus from His original followers, hijacking His human message, shrouding it in an impenetrable cloak of divinity, and using it to expand their own power.”

Refutation

The Council of Nicaea was convened to hear the case of Arius, a priest from Alexandria, who taught that Jesus was only half God and not fully God. Arius said that Jesus (1) was a creature and thus not the Creator, (2) had a beginning and thus not eternal, (3) was different from and not the same as God Himself. But God raised up a defender of the faith in Athanasius. In the Council of Nicaea, Athanasius argued from the Scriptures that the Lord Jesus Christ was fully God and fully Man (John 1:1, 14, Col. 2:9, 1 Tim. 3:16), eternally begotten of the Father, not created (John 1:3, 3:16, 18, 10:30, 1 John 4:9). Arius was declared a heretic. The vote was hardly close—315 for Athanasius and only 3 for Arius. Arius was defrocked and excommunicated.

Furthermore, Teabing’s claim that the deity of Christ was a NT invention is not true at all! It was not the NT that first spoke of the deity of Christ but the OT. “We have also a more sure word of prophecy” (2 Pet. 1:19). The OT prophetic Scripture had already made mention of a coming Messiah who would be none other than God Himself. Isaiah 7:14 was one such prophecy, “Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.” Jesus Himself fulfilled this prophecy in 5 BC as announced by the angel Gabriel. Jesus was Immanuel, “God with us” (Matt. 1:22-23). It is significant to note that Isaiah’s prophecy of the virgin-born Son of God was given 750 years before Jesus came. It goes without saying that the lie that Jesus was never God but made God by the Council of Nicaea in AD 325 was not Constantine’s invention, but Teabing’s.

Today, Arius’ teaching is found in a cult called the Jehovah’s Witnesses, and in the corrupt modern versions of the Bible (like the NIV) that are based on the Alexandrian text. It would be no surprise if Arius and his followers had altered the inspired text to create their own text to undermine the deity of Christ. It is indeed troubling to note that in the NIV, I Timothy 3:16 should read falsely, “He appeared in a body,” which undermines His deity and humanity. The true reading is, “God was manifest in the flesh” (as accurately and faithfully translated from the original by the KJV) which tells us that Christ is Theanthropos—100% God and 100% Man. Deception abounds today not only in the cults that claim to be “Christian,” but also in the modern versions that claim to be “Holy Bible.”

Deception #5

THE DA VINCI CODE only focuses on those who are part of the "divine bloodline," or those who have special knowledge about God. Thus, the theology of THE DA VINCI CODE is bad news for anyone who wants to be saved. If you don't have special knowledge (as in Gnosticism), and/or are not part of the bloodline, then you will be excluded from salvation.

Refutation

We know this is not true and that God would "have all men to be saved" (1Tim 2:4)


“Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times, some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils; Speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with a hot iron” (1 Tim. 4:1-2). In the face of such dangers, what must Christians do? The Apostle Paul exhorts, “Take heed unto thyself, and unto the doctrine; continue in them: for in doing this thou shalt both save thyself, and them that hear thee” (1 Tim. 4:16).

May the Lord protect His Church from falling into Satan’s trap of deception.

[nChrist]

Brothers and Sisters,

Their is no doubt in my mind that the DaVinci will deceive millions, including many who call themselves Christians. It's simply a slick and well-packaged lie of the devil.

We know that at any given time that hosts of people are considering a decision for Christ. It makes me very sad to know that DaVinci will cause many to die in their sins without JESUS.

Christians should pray and continue to yield to the Will of God in whatever work He has for us to do. We can use this as an opportunity to witness, and we should.

Love In Christ,
Tom

Psalms 139:16 NASB  Your eyes have seen my unformed substance; And in Your book were all written The days that were ordained for me, When as yet there was not one of them.

[TalkerCat]

Hollywood is satan's favorite tool to use agains Christianity and Jesus. . . .

I trust that the Holy Spirit will help me when it comes time for me to confront these issues, that is why it is so important to submerge ourselved in God's Word.

Praise The Lord Sister Maria!  I couldn't agree more!  This forum has discussed the issue of how media and movies, music and books, affect the way we think ~ the way we act ~ therefore molding our character.  That's why I avoid anything that is not Christian-based . . . I may be BORING but I'm SAVED and walking the narrow path.     HALLELUJAH!

Blessings ~

Terri

[Shammu]

"Da Vinci Code" fuels US religious publishing boom
Tue Mar 28, 2006 11:20 AM ET6

 By Claudia Parsons

NEW YORK (Reuters) - A wave of religious books is coming to bookstores to cash in on "The Da Vinci Code" movie in May, including a book saying Jesus survived crucifixion and an Evangelical novel with a modern-day Mary Magdalene heroine.

Americans are finally able to buy Dan Brown's best seller in paperback on Tuesday, three years after it was first published, and with "Da Vinci Code" fever as strong as ever, it's never been so profitable to write about Christianity.

After Brown's book sold 40 million copies worldwide, books that once might have been released in a limited print run will be stacked at the front of bookstores this spring.

Even Michael Baigent, who sued Brown in a London court this month for plagiarism, is riding on the "Code's" coattails, publishing his latest book, "The Jesus Papers," on Tuesday.

Baigent's previous book examined the controversial idea Jesus was married to Mary Magdalene, and had children -- a key plot element in "The Da Vinci Code." His new book suggests Jesus did not die on the cross and lived on for years.

The new batch of "Da Vinci Code" spin-offs comes ahead of the May 19 release of the movie starring Tom Hanks.

Ehud Sperling, publisher of Inner Traditions, already owes a lot to Brown, who credited several of the publisher's books as sources, fueling a jump in sales for unlikely titles.

"The Gospel of Mary Magdalene," one of the so-called Gnostic Gospels not included in the New Testament, has sold more than 100,000 copies. "That's amazing for a translation from the Coptic," said Sperling, who has several new releases.

DEFENDING THE FAITH

Evangelical Christian publisher Tyndale wants to do more than sell books -- it aims to defend the faith. It has created a campaign titled "Da Vinci Didn't Convince Me" aimed at some 2,300 stores in the Christian Booksellers Association (CBA).

"The church needs to equip itself to answer the questions that this movie will raise," said Les Dietzman of CBA member Berean Christian Stores, an Ohio-based chain of 17 bookstores.

Erwin Lutzer's "The Da Vinci Deception" has sold some 300,000 copies. He likened the movie to a "spiritual tsunami."

"'The Da Vinci Code' is the most serious assault against Christianity that I have ever witnessed," Lutzer said.

Lutzer, an Evangelical minister in Chicago, has prepared discussion packs for churches in the Tyndale package.

"The majority of people in our churches are going to see the movie and we're not telling them not to," he said, adding that he plans to see it so as to be able to discuss it.

Karen Kingsbury, a Christian fiction writer whose books have sold more than 4 million copies, has written a new book called "Divine," a parable about a modern Magdalene figure.

"There's different ways you can go after reading 'The Da Vinci Code.' You can just take it as entertainment and walk away or you may say 'I need to learn more about the history.'"

"But maybe even bigger is going to be that our society has a very strong curiosity about Mary Magdalene," Kingsbury said.

Amy Welborn, the Catholic author of "De-Coding Da Vinci" who has written a new book about Magdalene, says she is wary of giving credence to a work of fiction by protesting too much.

"What 'The Da Vinci Code' says about Jesus and Mary Magdalene is silly," she said.

On the more academic side, Oxford University Press is publishing "Peter, Paul and Mary Magdalene," by Bart Ehrman.

Ehrman, author of the 2004 book "Truth and Fiction in The Da Vinci Code," said most such books were by Evangelical Christians or Catholics worried about defending the faith.

"That wasn't my concern at all. I'm just interested in the historical issues that 'The Da Vinci Code' raised."

Still he may be popular among such Christians because he says there is no evidence for the marriage of Jesus to Mary Magdalene and he dismisses the more controversial theories put forward by Baigent and others.

"There's not a single scholar on the face of the Earth who buys any of it," Ehrman said.

"Da Vinci Code" fuels US religious publishing boom

[airIam2worship]

Praise The Lord Sister Maria!  I couldn't agree more!  This forum has discussed the issue of how media and movies, music and books, affect the way we think ~ the way we act ~ therefore molding our character.  That's why I avoid anything that is not Christian-based . . . I may be BORING but I'm SAVED and walking the narrow path.     HALLELUJAH!

Blessings ~

Terri

Amen Sister Terri, you know I don't care what other people think or say about me either, as long as God knows that I am His child. I am not on earth to be a people pleaser, I know God doesn't need me I need Him. Too many people want to believe other people opinions and theories and ignore God's Word, too bad that they will learn the truth the hard way. I pray for the lost and the decieved every night.

[TalkerCat]

Nice to see you Sister Maria!  I've been incongnito lately, just peeking in but not posting . . . I never got your call.  I'm going to try to talk to you privately ASAP ~ I have a huge burden I need to share.  The Lord knows what's on my heart so I ask my CU family to pray for me.

Blessings ~
Terri

[Soldier4Christ]

Nice to see you Sister Maria!  I've been incongnito lately, just peeking in but not posting . . . I never got your call.  I'm going to try to talk to you privately ASAP ~ I have a huge burden I need to share.  The Lord knows what's on my heart so I ask my CU family to pray for me.

Blessings ~
Terri

Sister Terri, My prayers are with you as always.

[airIam2worship]

Nice to see you Sister Maria!  I've been incongnito lately, just peeking in but not posting . . . I never got your call.  I'm going to try to talk to you privately ASAP ~ I have a huge burden I need to share.  The Lord knows what's on my heart so I ask my CU family to pray for me.

Blessings ~
Terri

Dear sister, I am so sorry I didn't return your call my computer was down I just got it fixed this week and it has been a very tough week for me, going to doctor appointments, lab tests, e-rays, more medication, more pain you name it. Please don't hesitate to PM me or call me if you need to. I've been moving very slowly these last few days, I even had to break out my walker which I hadn't used in 5 years. I am here for you so please just let me know. I may try to call you later this afternoon, but I am on some new meds now and they affect me differently, so I don't do much but read the Bible and other Christian books and a lot of praying.  You will not be bothering me I promise, it will do me a lot of good to take my mind off my situation and help you out, we will both be blessed.

[Shammu]

'Da Vinci Code' Judge Slams Lawsuit

By JENNIFER QUINN, Associated Press Writer Fri Apr 7, 5:54 PM ET

LONDON - "The Da Vinci Code" author Dan Brown and his publishing house were cleared of copyright infringement in a British court Friday, with the judge finding the lawsuit based on a contrived and "selective number of facts and ideas."

Authors Michael Baigent and Richard Leigh had sued Random House, claiming Brown's best-selling novel "appropriated the architecture" of their 1982 nonfiction book, "The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail."

"It would be quite wrong if fictional writers were to have their writings pored over in the way DVC (`Da Vinci Code') has been pored over in this case by authors of pretend historical books to make an allegation of infringement of copyright," Judge Peter Smith said in his 71-page ruling.

Both books explore theories that Jesus married Mary Magdalene, the couple had a child and the bloodline survives, ideas dismissed by most historians and theologians.

"The Da Vinci Code" has sold more than 40 million copies — including 12 million hardcovers in the United States — since its release in March 2003. It came out in paperback in the United States last week, and quickly sold more than 500,000 copies. An initial print run of 5 million has already been raised to 6 million.

Those sales should go even higher with the planned May 19 release of a film version starring
Tom Hanks.

The decision was lauded by Brown, Random House and those who believed the case was a test for fiction authors wanting to use the research of others in their work.

"Cases like this hopefully will clarify what copyright is all about," said Allan Adler, vice president for legal and government affairs at the Association of American Publishers.

"Copyright doesn't protect ideas and copyright doesn't protect facts. That's why we have genres, fiction and nonfiction, and a number of people can write novels based on the same idea and still have freedom of expression."

Brown, who testified for a few days and then returned to his home in New Hampshire, said in a statement that a novelist must "be free to draw appropriately from historical works without fear that he'll be sued and forced to stand in a courtroom that call into question his very integrity as a person."

The case proved a distraction for Brown, who dislikes publicity and has been trying to complete a much-anticipated follow-up to "The Da Vinci Code," and a costly embarrassment for Baigent and Leigh. They spent two years on the lawsuit and nearly $3.5 million, between their own legal expenses, and Random House's fees. Though Smith ruled against allowing the authors to appeal, they can still apply to higher courts.

No decision on an appeal has been made, Leigh said.

The authors must also find an interim payment of $600,000 by May 5. In court, their lawyer said at least one of the claimants will have to sell their home to make the first installment. When Leigh was asked if his house would be going on the market, he smiled and said wryly, "what house?"

Random House may end up the biggest winner. Its legal costs are covered and, as publisher of "The Da Vinci Code" and "The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail," it benefits from increasing sales for both books.

After the ruling, Leigh lit up a cigarette at his lawyers' office — "I'm more eloquent when I smoke," he said — and announced that he and his co-author never intended for the case to have an impact on artistic freedom.

"I would simply want the interpretation of that material to be their own," he said. "If it is not their own, I would like it to be acknowledged."

Brown said in his statement that he was "still astonished that these two authors chose to file their suit at all." But he did have kind words for the courthouse itself, hinting fans someday will read more about it.

"I found the London High Court building to be a magnificent example of neo-Gothic architecture," wrote Brown, who set "The Da Vinci Code" in Europe. "I look forward to returning soon to view it from a vantage point other than the witness stand."

'Da Vinci Code' Judge Slams Lawsuit