PASTOR ’S PEN : Investigating the deceit of ‘The DaVinci Code’
Posted on Wednesday, May 10, 2006
Editor’s Note: This is the second in a three-part series about "The DaVinci Code."One of the dangers of the book "The DaVinci Code"is people often have difficulty separating fact from fiction. This book has so much history including actual people and places, that many are coming away believing a portion or the entirety of the book. Within these shreds of truth are the seeds of doubt, which can erode one’s confidence in the authority of the Bible, even the deity of Christ. In the book, much credence is given to the Gnostic Gospels. The term Gnostic is derived from the Greek word," gnosis,"which means to know or have knowledge. Gnosticism was an anti-Christian movement that challenged the new, yet quickly growing, Christian Church as early as the second century. There are a few things wrong with accepting the Gnostic Gospels as evidentiary to additional Scripture. One, much of what is written within them is in direct opposition to the Word of God. They could in no wise be considered complimentary to the Bible.
Secondly, they were written hundreds of years after Jesus and his disciples passed from the scene. Most Gnostic Gospels are dated in the fourth and fifth centuries A. D. If they had been written during the time of the disciples or those who had personally known them, there would have been an uprising against the content of their texts. This is why these writings appear later, after the eyewitnesses are all dead. During the first writings of original, accepted texts of Scripture, there was no mass distribution of material. Scribes were meticulous in their copying of original texts. These texts were read aloud in public settings, which was a form of accountability in itself. Any text read in public that would have been contrary to the truth, would have raised a public outcry.
The Canon of Scripture is the sacred books accepted by the early church fathers as being authentic. These Christian devotees were forced to qualify those texts that were authentic because many heretics were attacking the Christian faith using false writings or gospels.
History reveals the erroneous beliefs of the Gnostics. Among other things, they believed the true God did not create the physical realm. They believed to escape the physical realm one had to have secret knowledge. Another teaching of the Gnostics is in a feminine god, a side of God they falsely contend was repressed in the Bible.
In order to decide the Canon of Scripture, there were at least three tests involved for qualification.
The author of a book had to be an apostle of Christ, or have such relation to an apostle as to raise his writings to the same level as an apostle.
The book had to be universally received throughout the Christian community. This test guarded against a heretical sect claiming to have some secret revelation or writing.
Finally, the book had to give evidence of having been inspired and hold to an orthodox understanding of the Christian faith.
It is no wonder the Gnostic Gospels, including The Gospel of Thomas, The Gospel of Philip, The Gospel of Mary, The Gospel of Judas, The Acts of John and The Apocalypse of Peter, have been rejected.
They were written decades after Christ and were rejected immediately by those who first knew of them, namely, the early church fathers. From these "gospels"many fictitious accounts were birthed. You may have heard from Judas’ Gospel that Jesus set Judas up to betray him, promising that he would be saved for doing so. This and other deceitful stories represent attempts to discredit the truth about Jesus. If these false accounts had been written during the first century, they would have been easily documented as heresy. Three and four hundred years later, the humanistic, Gnostic writers began to interject their own versions. Take a few minutes to read Galatians 1:8 and Revelation 22:18-19.
One of the major points of "The DaVinci Code"is the secret knowledge that Jesus and Mary Magdalene were married and had a child together. There are several problems with this. First, Mr. Brown is proclaiming a lie about a lie. He states this information is in the Gospel of Mary. There is no such account, even in the false gospel. So, not only is the Gospel of Mary not credible, Brown touts a lie about it! Next, Jesus was sinless because he was God in flesh. If he would have had physical relations with Mary, He would have become," one flesh"with an entirely earthly creature, which bore in her the curse of Adam. Since Christ’s Father was God, he had sinless blood within him so that he could provide the perfect, sinless sacrifice when he died for the sins of the world. To write such horrific lies about Jesus Christ is, in my opinion, very close to blasphemous.
The Bible has stood the test of time and criticism. Archeological studies and history have culminated to provide ample proof of its authenticity. Perhaps the greatest proof is found in the lives of those who have been changed by obeying the principles contained within its pages.
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