THE GREAT DIVIDE - PART 1
“The Da Vinci Code: Is it real?”
Colossians 2:8-10, 1 John 1:1-2
INTRODUCTION:
The book has sold over 40 million copies, it has been on the best seller list for almost 3 years and is presently the New York Times Best Seller as the #1 paperback fiction. The movie, which I saw last Friday, is expected to pull in huge numbers for it’s first weekend. What makes The Da Vinci Code so popular? I think it’s popularity rests in at least two reasons. And let me say something from the very start, it may surprise you. You will not hear me today try to discourage you from reading the book or going to see the movie. The fact is that the book is a well written, fast paced, “can’t put down” thriller. If you like authors like John Grisham for example, you will enjoy this novel. The movie, starring Tom Hanks is good, it’s long but it makes no overall assertion of facts like the book does. Now, I said that I thought the popularity of The Da Vinci Code rested in at least two reasons. One, it is a good story, but there’s another reason.
The book is very controversial. Dan Brown has managed to do something that is rarely ever done. He has managed to unite both the liberal thinkers, most of them in the art world, and the conservative thinkers, most of them in the religious and history world and has brought them together in condemning his book. And indeed there are a number of reasons why all these groups are upset. We’ll get to that in just a moment.
Let me stop here to explain why we are talking about this topic. We begin today a series of messages we are calling “The Great Divide.” These messages will be about topics that divide believers from non-believers, seekers from agnostics, some of these topics even divide believers, depending on their conservative or liberal theological orientation. It’s true: There are some topics that are central to Christianity and these same topics can form a chasm for people in their faith. So, this series will have two main purposes: 1. To address core values about Christianity that those seeking the truth may wonder about. Hopefully we’ll provide some answers. 2. To help those who do believe address these issues that are often asked by seekers or unbelievers. And so next week we will look at the question, “Is the Bible credible?” Should I trust Scripture and if so what does that mean? In two weeks we’ll ask “Does my faith background matter?” Is the way I was brought up religiously, or is what I believe really critical as long as I believe something? And then we’ll conclude by asking, “Would a loving God really send people to hell?” Aren’t those two things, “loving” and “hell” oxymorons? How could they ever go together?
But this morning we want to start with a culturally relevant and incredibly dividing topic by asking: “The Da Vinci Code: Is it real?” So, let’s get back to today’s topic and start by:
I. SIZING UP THE DA VINCI CODE:
Some of you might be asking, “Tim, what is all the fuss about? What is the Da Vinci Code? Isn’t it just a novel? How could anything in a work of fiction divide anyone?” Well, it’s not because of the characters or even the plot line. It’s because, the author, Dan Brown, asserts that the background for his story is historically accurate. In fact, in a study by Lee Strobel, he has met many who are reading the The Da Vinci Code and are assuming that the claims about Jesus and the church in the book are true. They take it seriously because Dan Brown says that the background for the story is accurate.
So, I have researched and may have used more resources for this one message than any sermon I’ve ever written in 20+ years. One of those resources is a DVD entitled, “The Da Vinci Code Deception.” You’ll be able to check out a copy after the service but knowing many of us are visual learners I want use a couple of clips from that DVD. First, is one that I think will give us the background of the Da Vinci Code Story.
{Video clip: From “Da Vinci Code Deception” Da Vinci Intro with Janet Partial. Mpeg - 5:36}
Here lies the problem. The author, Dan Brown asserts that the background of his novel is historically accurate. In fact, there are some who are calling his book “Faction.” Factual background with a fictional foreground or plot. Let me expound on what Dr. Mierer said in that clip about historical background. He mentioned that the background of any book needs to be accurate in order for it ti have credibility. He mentioned a setting in World War II where the background asserted that the Nazi’s won the war. Now, if an author would to say, “What would it be like if Hitler had won,” and then wrote his book, no one would have a problem because we would know from the start that the background was fictional. But if that author said, “Fact: All battles, war crimes and war strategy in this novel are accurate,” and then went on to write that WWII was won by Germany? There would be an outcry or downright laughter. Well, that’s basically what has happened here. Dan Brown has written a novel about the history of Christianity that is full of historical inaccuracies and has said that it is all factual. Not only in his book but on “The Today Show,” when interviewer Matt Lauer asked Dan Brown how much of the book is based on reality, Dan Brown answered, “Absolutely all of it. Obviously, there are- Robert Langdon is fictional, but the rest is historical fact. He said the same thing on “Good Morning America.” Now that caused a landslide of negative backlash from historians, artists and theologians. And please understand the problems in this book are not just religious. There are many historical assertions that are just flat wrong.
Let me give you one example. On the fact sheet it says that the Priory of Sion, a secret society, that was founded in 1099. It also says that parchments known as Les Dossiers Secrets identified the society and some of their members were notables such as Sir Isaac Newton and Leonardo Da Vinci. But CBS’ 60 minutes recently did an expose on the Priory of Sion finding that it wasn’t established until 1956. And that a man by the name of Pierre Plantard who was a con man, faked the so-called secret documents and neither Da Vinci nor Newton nor anyone else (except Plantard) were members. One of the resources we have for you is the transcript from Ed Bradley and CBS of that expose that you can read. In fact, there are so many historical inaccuracies in the background that it would take us weeks to get through them. We have supplied resources for you to study them.
So, this morning I want to focus on what I believe is the pivotal problem in the book. Answering this question: Jesus - who was he really? The answer to that question will not only shape the way you view The Da Vinci Code, but will ultimately shape her entire life. Why? Because if what Dan Brown asserts about Jesus is true then everything we know about Christianity is false. And the Bible does tell us in 1 John: “My dear friends, don’t believe everything you hear. Carefully weigh and examine what people tell you. Not everyone who talks about God comes from God.” (1 Jn. 4:1 Msg) So, let’s carefully examine the claims.
II. SEPARATING FACT FROM FICTION:
What does the Da Vinci Code assert about Jesus? Let’s look at two main assertions and see if we can separate fact from fiction.
Assertion #1 - Jesus was married to Mary Magdalene. In the story, a key character is a historian by the name of Leigh Teabing. He tells another main character, Sophie Neveu, “...the marriage of Jesus and Mary Madalene is a part of the historical record... Moreover, Jesus as a married man makes infinitely more sense than our standard biblical view of Jesus as a bachelor.”(245) Dan Brown, and remember he says all the background in the book is accurate, makes the point through Teabing that a great conspiracy was launched by the church to keep an incredible secret: Jesus Christ was married to Mary Magdalene and even had a child named Sarah. He says, the church hushed up this truth because they thought it’d be a threat to Jesus’ divinity. Allow me to let some of the experts in this field comment on this assertion.
{Video clip: From “Da Vinci Code Deception” Da Vinci Interview 3 Doctors. Mpeg - 3:20}
There is not one shred of historical evidence that Jesus was married or married to Mary Magdalene. In fact, Mary is never tied to any male when she is named and Jesus shows no special concern for her at the cross, when she is there just like His mother, Mary who he does show special concern for. Even the one source that is claimed, “The Gospel of Phillip” a document written over 200 years after Jesus, doesn’t say they were married. And yet Dan Brown would have us stake our faith on his inaccuracy.
But the next assertion is the one that must be carefully examined. Because if assertion #2 is right than everything we’ve ever heard about Jesus is wrong. Assertion #2 states: Jesus was not divine. Through Teabing, Brown asserts a couple of things about this. 1. Jesus nor his closest followers ever thought of him as divine. “Jesus was viewed by his followers as a mortal prophet... a great and powerful man, but a man nonetheless.”(233) 2. That Roman emperor Constantine held a gathering called the Council of Nicaea in 325AD and there voted that Jesus Christ was the Son of God. “Jesus’ establishment as the Son of God was officially proposed and voted on by the Council of Nicaea... a relatively close vote at that.” (233) In other words, it was not until some 300 years after Jesus’ death that he was made out to be divine. Up until that time Jesus nor his followers or anyone else thought of him as divine. It’s only after this Constantine called gathering did Jesus become the Son of God.
Do you see the problem? In a book that is said to be historically accurate there are people who are actually getting their theology, their belief in God, from a novel. A novel with gross inaccuracies. There are also people who don’t want to believe so they use this novel to say, “See, I told you so. Jesus never was divine.” But wait, let’s look deeper, let’s carefully weigh and examine what has been said in The Da Vinci Code. Let’s do that by:
III. SHARING THE TRUE JESUS:
Let’s ask a couple of questions. (1) How did Jesus view Himself? Remember, The Da Vinci Code makes the point that Jesus was mortal and never thought of himself as anything else, nor did his followers, but was voted divine in 325AD. The Bible tells a very different story. The Gospel of Matthew was written, and all historical and Biblical scholars agree on this, somewhere between 70 & 100 AD. At least 200 years before the Council of Nicaea. In Matthew 16 we have a discussion between Jesus and his closest followers. Jesus asks,“Who are the people saying I am?” 14“Well,” they replied, “some say John the Baptist; some, Elijah; some, Jeremiah or one of the other prophets.” 15Then he asked them, “Who do you think I am?” 16 Simon Peter answered, “The Christ, the Messiah, you are the Son of the living God.” 17“God has blessed you, Simon, son of Jonah,” Jesus said, “for my Father in heaven has personally revealed this to you - this is not from any human source.” (Mt. 16:13-17 LB) It’s clear that at least Peter knew Jesus was divine and Jesus congratulated him on that knowledge. And all through the Gospels, which are all written well before the Council of Nicaea, Jesus asserts his divinity. He talks about existing from the beginning, (Jn. 8:58) that he and God were one, (John 10:30), that He would go to heaven and come back on the clouds. (Mk. 14:62) It is clear that Jesus knew he was, the Son of God, divine.
But is Matthew 16 the only passage to answer the question: How did Jesus’ early followers view him? Not hardly. In fact, I’ve given you five different scriptures as just a taste of how his followers thought of him. And notice that the dates of each book that contains the passage was written long before 325AD. Let me share just a couple of them. In fact, reading these would make a great quiet time. 1 Cor. 15:3-6 was written by Paul. He says this: “I passed on to you what I received, of which this was most important: that Christ died for our sins, as the Scriptures say; 4 that he was buried and was raised to life on the third day as the Scriptures say; 5and that he was seen by Peter and then by the twelve apostles. 6After that, Jesus was seen by more than five hundred of the believers at the same time.”(NLT) Now, you have to be pretty divine to rise from the dead and be seen by over 500 people! John, writes this in 1 John 1:1-2 (Printed): “The one who existed from the beginning is the one we have heard and seen. We saw him with our own eyes and touched him with our own hands. He is Jesus Christ, the Word of life. 2This one who is life from God was shown to us, and we have seen him. And now we testify and announce to you that he is the one who is eternal life.”(NLT) Col. 2:8-10 would warn us about listening to those who would say that Jesus wasn’t divine. “(Printed) “Don’t let others spoil your faith and joy with their philosophies, their wrong and shallow answers built on men’s thoughts and ideas, instead of on what Christ has said. 9For in Christ there is all of God in a human body; 10so you have everything when you have Christ, and you are filled with God through your union with Christ. He is the highest Ruler, with authority over every other power.”(LB) It is clear that Jesus’ followers did consider him divine.
And how did early church leaders view Jesus? Once again we find that many thought of Jesus as divine, the Son of God, well before 325AD. Justin Martyr who lived early in the 2nd century said, “Jesus is the first begotten word of God, even God.” Irenaeus in the last part of the 2nd century referred to Jesus as “Our Lord, Our God, Our Savior and our King.” So, Jesus, his closest followers and the first church leaders all prove that what Brown says about the Council of Nicaea is false. So, what did really happen at the Council of Nicaea in 325AD?
Well, Brown is right about a couple of things. Constantine did arrange the council (although there is no evidence he attended) and they did discuss religious stuff. But they did not do what Brown asserts. There were 20 rulings passed down by the council and not one single line has anything to do with what books should be included in the New Testament or whether Jesus Christ was the Son of God. There was some debate about whether Jesus should be worshiped in the same way God, the Father, was worshiped, because a small sect was saying Jesus was created like the angels, but the council said, in a vote of 316 to 2 (not exactly a close vote like Brown’s book asserts) that Jesus was equal to God the Father and should be worshiped in the same way.
All of this goes to show that Brown’s novel is just that, a novel of fiction. Go ahead and read it, see the movie, enjoy both. But don’t get caught up in the lie that says that all the background of the book is fact, it is not even close! The fact is, Jesus was married. The Bible says his bride is the Church. There’s some passages that you can look at. The Church is not a building or organization but is all those who believe. That makes it true that Jesus has relatives, that are even alive today: Brothers and sisters in Christ. Jesus Himself said, “Whoever does what God wants is my brother and sister...”(Mk. 3:35 GW) Anyone who gives themselves to Jesus as Savior and Lord becomes a part of His family.
I think the bottom line in this discussion may have been best articulated by C.S. Lewis in his book, Mere Christianity. He wrote: “I am trying to prevent anyone saying the really foolish thing that people often say about Him: ‘I’m ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don’t accept his claim to be God.’ That is the one thing we must not say, A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic - on a level with the man who says he is a poached egg - or else he would be a demon, the devil from hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God: or else a mad man or something worse. You can shut Him up for a fool, you can spit at Him and kill him as a demon; or you can fall at His feet and call Him Lord and God.”(Mere Christianity p.40-41)
Lewis is right. The choice is yours. If Jesus is not a liar or a lunatic then he must be Lord and God. And here’s the most important thing to remember. If Jesus is Lord then it changes everything. This isn’t about people who lived two thousand years ago or about a code created by a renaissance genius. It’s about you and me. It’s about the fact that it’s all true, it’s all real. Everything God says about who He is, and who you are and... what He is willing to do for you, what He’s already done for you. He offers forgiveness, purpose and life eternal. That makes Jesus Christ, not just an answer but The Answer. And you don’t have to crack a code to find Him.. He’s right here, right now.
(Prayer)
{All Scripture taken from the Holy Bible, versions as listed.}
