The da Vinci Code...Book of Lies and Evil

[bronzesnake]

This may be an issue which is getting old in the tooth, but I believe it is imperative that we continue to fight this kind of evil attack on our Lord Jesus Christ whenever we can.
I am talking about Dan Brown’s evil novel The da Vinci Code.
I believe it is a purposeful and deliberate attack on Judaeo Christianity, and the book is rife with venom and slanders.
I have decided to take up just nine of the many lies and inaccuracies and shine the light of truth on them.

John Bronzesnake

The Many Errors and Outright Lies Of Dan Brown’s da Vinci Code

1) The canonical gospels are not the earliest gospels. Instead. The Gnostic gospels are the earliest written gospels and the canonical gospels were selected from among 80 other gospels.

Right off the bat, there was not even half that number of books written about the life of Jesus.
The New Testament was complete before the end of the 1st Century, and the Gnostics weren’t written until the second century. Also, the names attributed to the Gnostics were most definitely not the actual authors, and so right off the hop the books lead us to conclude they are illegitimate.

2) In "The Last Supper," Leonardo da Vinci allegedly painted Mary Magdalene seated next to Jesus.

OK, this is just foolish. Brown’s “proof” for this is the fact that John looks feminine in the painting, but the reality is that John was the youngest of the disciples, and was portrayed as a young man. Let’s say for argument sake that Brown is correct, and this is not John, but actually Mary…OK, so where is John? Where is the “beloved disciple? LOL!

3) The Priory of Sion was created by the Knights templar in 1099.

Documents discovered in the Biblioteque Nationale in Paris, which allegedly “proved” that the Priory of Sion was as old as 1099, and that da Vinci and Isaac Newton among others secretly presided over it.
These documents were proved beyond any doubt to be utter fakes, and it was discovered that a French anti-Semite con man named Pierre Plantard had invented the entire lie!

4) Jesus was just a man, and not God! Brown claims that “pagan” Roman Emperor Constantine, created the “myth” that Jesus was crucified and resurrected in order to consolidate his empirical power!

This is amazing! It is general knowledge that Constantine converted to Christianity and ended Rome’s persecution of Christians, and convened the Council of Nicea in 325.
Constantine did not add any new books to the canon and the council was convened to sort out differences among early church leaders, all of whom absolutely believed Jesus was divine, and in fact was God!

The Council of Nicea, which took no votes, was convened by Constantine with Christian leaders across the empire mainly to dispense with the theories of Arius (father of Arianism), who claimed that Jesus, while divine, was a created being. Only two of 318 clerics at the Council did not sign the Nicene Creed. The early church had already adopted the Four Gospels and most of the rest of the New Testament as authoritative long before the Council of Nicea.

5) Christianity was based on pagan religions. Dan Brown quote - "Nothing in Christianity is original. The pre-Christian God Mithras ­ called the Son of God and the Light of the World ­ was born on Dec. 25, died, was buried in a rock tomb, and then resurrected in three days."

This is an amazingly stupid and baseless assertion!
The exact opposite is true! These pagan religions stole from Christian themes!
Just as Islam, Mormon, and Jehovah’s Witnesses have done!
In ancient cultures, there was always the myth of the dying and resurrecting god ­ essentially "winter" and "spring." However, these are never alleged to have been real history. In contrast, on such and such a day (some scholars, including Dr. Alan Whanger, retired professor of Duke Medical Center ­ believe April 7, A.D. 30) Jesus Christ was crucified and laid in a tomb in Jerusalem. He came out alive with a resurrected body in three days (as Jews count it ­ two days as we would count it).
Going further on the mystery religions, note what authors Carl Olson and Sandra Miesel write in their book, "The Da Vinci Hoax":
“Unfortunately for Brown and the authors of "Holy Blood, Holy Grail," there is little or no evidence that most pagan mystery religions, such as the Egyptian cult of Isis and Osiris or the cult of Mithras, existed in the forms described in their books prior to the mid-first century. This is a significant point, for much of the existing evidence indicates that the third- and fourth-century beliefs and practices of certain pagan mystery religions are read back into the first-century beliefs of Christians ­ without support for such a presumptive act …”

So many people, and even some Christians, actually do not know this fact, and incorrectly believe the Egyptian, and other pagan religions predate Christian, and or, Jewish old testament themes.

6) The four New Testament Gospels (the Books of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John) comprise a false account. Numerous ancient writings tell a more truthful story.

Again, utterly dumbfoundingly stupid! The “Numerous ancient writings” Brown is speaking of are of course the 52 books collectively called the Gnostic Gospels.
These were discovered in Nag Hammadi, Egypt in 1945. All were written more than a century after the real Gospels were written and none of the Gnostics has any link to any eye witnesses in the time of Christ, so we can see why Brown would place so much stock in them! LOL!

 
7) Jesus married Mary Magdalene and fathered a daughter with her. Brown claims the church was led by Mary Magdalene, whose role was covered up by a ruthless Catholic Church.

OK, I’m what the English refer to as “Gob smacked”!
This is such an utterly incredibly, amazingly stupid statement as to be almost beyond need of rebuttal…but…
OK, this foolishness states that Jesus was not actually killed on the cross, and that He somehow managed to fool the Romans into believing He was dead, and was helped to escape and eventually married Mary and had children after escaping to France!
Wowee! Alright, let’s look at what Roman pagan historian Flavius Josephus recorded…
“He was [the] Christ; and when Pilate, at the suggestion of the principal men amongst us, had condemned him to the cross, those that loved him at the first did not forsake him, for he appeared to them alive again the third day, as the divine prophets had foretold these and ten thousand other wonderful things concerning him”

The nonsense about Jesus marrying Mary Magdalene and having children with her came from the Plantard forgeries and the Gnostic gospels of Phillip and “Mary Magdala.”

The Dead Sea Scrolls were discovered in the 1950’s.

Another amazing example of the utter incompetence, or willingness to lie outright.
 The Dead Sea Scrolls were discovered in 1947, not in the 1950’s.

9) The Bible is an ever-changing living document. The Bible “has evolved through countless translations, additions, and revisions. History has never had a definitive version of the book,”

This is without doubt the most widely accepted perversion of truth as far as the scriptures are concerned. I get more people making this remark than any other objection to the scriptures. Whenever I challenge the person to give examples, the usual response is “well, that is just fact”, when pressed further to give specific examples, none are forthcoming
Or, if examples are given, they are very easily refuted.

No other book in antiquity has as many manuscripts that are consistently accurate, even after 2,000 years. The New Testament, of which 5,000 early copies exist, also has the shortest gap between time of authorship (55-95 A.D.) and the earliest copies (around 200 A.D.). Other ancient books have gaps of 1,000 years or more. In total there are over 28,000 copies of antiquity of the scriptures in existence today and more are being discovered all the time. These manuscripts have been carefully cross referenced and we know today that the Bible we have today is virtually identical to the original manuscripts!

There are more examples of inaccuracies in this evil novel, but I’m going to end with a quote from a leading authority on scriptures and biblical history, Dr Paul Maier…
Historian and first-rate scholar Paul Maier just has to shake his head. He notes, "Detailing all the errors, misinterpretations, deceptions, distortions, and outright falsehoods in "The Da Vinci Code" makes one wonder whether Brown's manuscript ever underwent editorial scrutiny or fact-checking."
Amazingly, we live in the Information Age, yet we live in an age of massive disinformation. The Bible says Satan is the "the prince of the power of the air" Ephesians 2:2. The Bible also says that in the end times, "men will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears" 2 Timothy 4:3. Is that not happening in our own day?


John

[nChrist]

Hello Bronzesnake,

Brother John, it's hard to imagine the number of attacks by the devil against JESUS CHRIST. You and I both know why - JESUS CHRIST is the ONLY WAY to SALVATION.

YES - we must proclaim the TRUTH - the GOSPEL OF THE GRACE OF GOD, and we must expose and denounce the works of the devil. I do believe that the days grow short in this Age of Grace, and there is a mighty battle for souls. Naturally, JESUS CHRIST is at the center of this battle because HE is the ONLY ONE who can rescue mankind from the curse of sin and death. HE has already provided PROOF beyond any doubt in the presence of many witnesses.

The lost of today have the benefit of great hosts of witnesses who have testified that HE is REAL, HE LIVES, and HE IS who HE Says that HE IS! JESUS CHRIST is the most written about and talked about REALITY in history. HE IS GOD ETERNAL AND HE'S ALWAYS BEEN! HE did die for us, and HE did arise from the dead. HE LIVES as our Loving LORD AND SAVIOUR FOREVER! HE SPEAKS through HIS WORD, and the HOLY SPIRIT OF GOD reveals all TRUTH! LISTEN TO HIM AND BELIEVE HIM!

Love In Christ,
Tom

Romans 1:16-32 ASV  For I am not ashamed of the gospel: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.  17  For therein is revealed a righteousness of God from faith unto faith: as it is written, But the righteous shall live by faith.  18  For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hinder the truth in unrighteousness;  19  because that which is known of God is manifest in them; for God manifested it unto them.  20  For the invisible things of him since the creation of the world are clearly seen, being perceived through the things that are made, even his everlasting power and divinity; that they may be without excuse:  21  because that, knowing God, they glorified him not as God, neither gave thanks; but became vain in their reasonings, and their senseless heart was darkened.  22  Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools,  23  and changed the glory of the incorruptible God for the likeness of an image of corruptible man, and of birds, and four-footed beasts, and creeping things.  24  Wherefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts unto uncleanness, that their bodies should be dishonored among themselves:  25  for that they exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshipped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed for ever. Amen.  26  For this cause God gave them up unto vile passions: for their women changed the natural use into that which is against nature:  27  and likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward another, men with men working unseemliness, and receiving in themselves that recompense of their error which was due.  28  And even as they refused to have God in their knowledge, God gave them up unto a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not fitting;  29  being filled with all unrighteousness, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, malignity; whisperers,  30  backbiters, hateful to God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents,  31  without understanding, covenant-breakers, without natural affection, unmerciful:  32  who, knowing the ordinance of God, that they that practise such things are worthy of death, not only do the same, but also consent with them that practise them.


2 Timothy 1:7-10 ASV  For God gave us not a spirit of fearfulness; but of power and love and discipline.  8  Be not ashamed therefore of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me his prisoner: but suffer hardship with the gospel according to the power of God;  9  who saved us, and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before times eternal,  10  but hath now been manifested by the appearing of our Saviour Christ Jesus, who abolished death, and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel,

[bronzesnake]

Amen brother Tom!
I agree wholeheartedly with you that in these end days in particular, we are in an almighty battle for souls, and as long as there are warriors such as yourself, and brothers Bob and Roger, and sister warriors such as granmummy and barb, just to name a few, then satan is on the run and is receiving a severe thrashing becasue greater is He who is in us, than he who is on the run and screeming in terror becasue he knows his time is extreemly short!!

John

[nChrist]

Brother John,

I give thanks for you and many others who are not ashamed of the GOSPEL OF THE GRACE OF GOD and share it. I also give thanks that GOD is the Strength within us. I was just thinking about many who labor for GOD from afflicted bodies. As a contrast, we are already in the PERFECT AND ETERNAL BODY OF CHRIST. I would love for the lost to understand this, especially that the PERFECTION is CHRIST - not us. As Christians, we only have Eternal Life in CHRIST because of HIS LIFE and HIS RIGHTEOUSNESS.

As Christians, I hope that we all see the devil working overtime. I honestly do think that CHRIST will come for us soon. I anxiously await that day of rejoicing. In the meantime, I think we all have a heavy burden on our hearts for the lost. May GOD help us to yield to HIS WILL and give us the strength to do HIS bidding.

Brother John, I've been down some with illness, and I know that the same is true for many others. I give thanks that we pray for each other, and I know that GOD loves to hear our prayers. I've been doing a Bible Study on the Promises of GOD, and it's for me. I'm trying to share it as I'm able, but the main thing I want to mention is THE GLORY OF GOD AND HIS PROMISES. It's a beautiful and powerful study that gives new Strength. Men ask "WHY", and GOD tells us "WHY" in HIS WORD. GOD'S Promises answer the biggest mysteries of mankind, and ALL IS TO GOD'S GLORY!

Love In Christ,
Tom

2 Corinthians 1:1-11 NASB  Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother, To the church of God which is at Corinth with all the saints who are throughout Achaia:  2  Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.  3  Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort,  4  who comforts us in all our affliction so that we will be able to comfort those who are in any affliction with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.  5  For just as the sufferings of Christ are ours in abundance, so also our comfort is abundant through Christ.  6  But if we are afflicted, it is for your comfort and salvation; or if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which is effective in the patient enduring of the same sufferings which we also suffer;  7  and our hope for you is firmly grounded, knowing that as you are sharers of our sufferings, so also you are sharers of our comfort.  8  For we do not want you to be unaware, brethren, of our affliction which came to us in Asia, that we were burdened excessively, beyond our strength, so that we despaired even of life;  9  indeed, we had the sentence of death within ourselves so that we would not trust in ourselves, but in God who raises the dead;  10  who delivered us from so great a peril of death, and will deliver us, He on whom we have set our hope. And He will yet deliver us,  11  you also joining in helping us through your prayers, so that thanks may be given by many persons on our behalf for the favor bestowed on us through the prayers of many.


Romans 8:16-28 NASB  The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God,  17  and if children, heirs also, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him so that we may also be glorified with Him.  18  For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us.  19  For the anxious longing of the creation waits eagerly for the revealing of the sons of God.  20  For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it, in hope  21  that the creation itself also will be set free from its slavery to corruption into the freedom of the glory of the children of God.  22  For we know that the whole creation groans and suffers the pains of childbirth together until now.  23  And not only this, but also we ourselves, having the first fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our body.  24  For in hope we have been saved, but hope that is seen is not hope; for who hopes for what he already sees?  25  But if we hope for what we do not see, with perseverance we wait eagerly for it.  26  In the same way the Spirit also helps our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we should, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words;  27  and He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.  28  And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.


2 Corinthians 5:1-21 NASB  For we know that if the earthly tent which is our house is torn down, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.  2  For indeed in this house we groan, longing to be clothed with our dwelling from heaven,  3  inasmuch as we, having put it on, will not be found naked.  4  For indeed while we are in this tent, we groan, being burdened, because we do not want to be unclothed but to be clothed, so that what is mortal will be swallowed up by life.  5  Now He who prepared us for this very purpose is God, who gave to us the Spirit as a pledge.  6  Therefore, being always of good courage, and knowing that while we are at home in the body we are absent from the Lord--  7  for we walk by faith, not by sight--  8  we are of good courage, I say, and prefer rather to be absent from the body and to be at home with the Lord.  9  Therefore we also have as our ambition, whether at home or absent, to be pleasing to Him.  10  For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may be recompensed for his deeds in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad.  11  Therefore, knowing the fear of the Lord, we persuade men, but we are made manifest to God; and I hope that we are made manifest also in your consciences.  12  We are not again commending ourselves to you but are giving you an occasion to be proud of us, so that you will have an answer for those who take pride in appearance and not in heart.  13  For if we are beside ourselves, it is for God; if we are of sound mind, it is for you.  14  For the love of Christ controls us, having concluded this, that one died for all, therefore all died;  15  and He died for all, so that they who live might no longer live for themselves, but for Him who died and rose again on their behalf.  16  Therefore from now on we recognize no one according to the flesh; even though we have known Christ according to the flesh, yet now we know Him in this way no longer.  17  Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.  18  Now all these things are from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation,  19  namely, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and He has committed to us the word of reconciliation.  20  Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were making an appeal through us; we beg you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.  21  He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.

[bronzesnake]

Excellent study Tom.
I don't know why we are in the physical condition we are tom.
But I do know there is a reason for it whatever it is!

I know you trust Jesus as i do, so I could care less if I am suffering because I know Jesus is my Lord and my Saviour and He made me a promise that He will keep.
I will have a brand new body one day soon, as will you, and all others who place their trust in Jesus!
Amen!

I have come across many people who are bitter Christians Tom, and I know you have as well.
Whatever reason they have is not good enough because they have missed the promise and truth of Jesus...if they had faith in Him they would not be able to be bitter no matter how hard they tried! LOL!

yes, we all have bad days, hey guess what? we are still human right?
But deep in the heart, I know you are assured and convinced, and solid in faith Tom, as I am.
It serves His purpose that we are suffering...perhaps others see us, and know that in spite of our afflictions we still love and fully trust God no matter what happens.

I could have thrown myself off the deep end many times in my life because many horrible things have happened to me, and many horrible things have happened to many people, but although I was down for a time, I woke up out of it, and I shook my self pity off like a dog shakes off water!
I came out of my tribulation stronger than ever because He was with me the entire time, and He was telling me to get up John! get up John! Get up John! Get up dummy!  I finally listened and I got up, and I may go down again some day, who knows, but I will NEVER SURRENDER, I will not stay down, and I will pick myself up with His help.

One day, and very soon, we will have our eternal bodies brother, and when we do I'll race you to the lake of living waters for a nice refreshing drink!
I bet we get there at the exact same time!!

God bless you Tommy, I am so blessed to know you brother!

John

[nChrist]

AMEN BROTHER JOHN!

Brother, I think that most of our ups and downs are physical - not spiritual. I'm talking about many sweet Christians I've known - both friends and family - who have gone through difficult physical illnesses. Many I'm thinking about are already HOME with the LORD.

I'll speak for myself and say that I don't always handle physical illness the way that I should. Regardless, I'm convinced that GOD does have a purpose for us in illness, in dying, and even death. Some might look at my statements as morbid, most likely because they don't understand. I'll just say that some of the most beautiful worship services I've ever seen were funerals. Glorifying GOD is what the person wanted. Regardless, the person was at HOME with the LORD - not in that casket.

Regarding human emotions, I know that Christians aren't immune - even though GOD has better equipped them. Thankfully, that's a human weakness that's only temporary for the vast majority of Christians. Nearly all Christians have been hurt or angry more than once, but GOD helps them get over it. I've heard of some bitter Christians, but I'm happy to say that I don't know any. Most Christians know that our relationship with GOD is much more important than any conflict with humans. The examples running through my mind right now are actually the opposite of bitterness. I'm thinking of many outrageous examples in police work. I'll never be able to forget one example - a fairly large group of Christians who met once a month called "Parents Of Murdered Children". I've seen Christians in various stages of grief and other human emotions, but I've also seen the same people after the work of GOD and HIS Peace. GOD is the only one who can give PEACE with many of the horrible things being done in this world. I do know some Christians who could have easily become bitter with some of the things they went through, but GOD was with them.

Love In Christ,
Tom

Romans 8:11 ASV  11  But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwelleth in you, he that raised up Christ Jesus from the dead shall give life also to your mortal bodies through his Spirit that dwelleth in you.