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MYTHBUSTING THE DA VINCI CODE
MAY 21st 2006 • Chris Rowney
These messages are also available as audio podcasts at www.tcfnet.org.au/podcasts
It is easy to make a claim in a single sentence… and if that claim is what people already do, or WANT TO believe, then not much is needed to substantiate the claim..
The suggestions underlying the DaVinci Code are widespread and widely believed,
Namely that
“The things we have been told about Christ are all wrong”
or that
“the church is a horrible corruption of whatever Jesus originally meant it to be.”
Unfortunately just saying back “That’s not true” is not enough –
Because like all the most believable falsehoods a bit of truth helps the Da Vinci Code along
It is TRUE that in the fourth century the church produced a document finalising a list of the books we use in our New Testament
It is TRUE that other writings exist than the ones in our Bible and
It is TRUE than in 325AD a great debate took place that concerned the divine nature of Jesus.
But a measure of truth about these things, does not make the assumption that therefore the Christian Church is based on lies and deception true.. but it does make the job of explaining why a little more long-winded.
Today will be a little bit longer than usual - maybe 40 to 45 minutes - and will contain a lot of information
IN a way – it is an excuse to teach you a bit of the history of the church, of how we came to use the bible that we do, and how and when what we believe about Jesus was established.
I DON’T expect you to remember it all or to learn it, but the reason I want to go through it all is that I hope by the end you will be able to go away and feel confident that the things you have been taught in church about the Bible and about Jesus ARE trustworthy, and based on REAL history.
You may all be people who don’t really care about the Da Vinci Code – or what other people believe – but if you were to speak to people in the street – you would find many who share the basic assumption that the church is based on falsehood – and to say to them just believe – or believe because the bible says it – is useless. Because why should they believe the bible – when one of the things they think is that the bible is just a made up book and that it was compiled 400 years after the events of Jesus life? So today I want to help you know why it is worth believing what you, as Christians believe already.
Now - to the message for today! This book – not an especially well written or ground breaking book – is the biggest selling hardcover novel of all time. A friend on holiday at a resort last year jokingly tells me that around the pool each day were about 23 people sitting reading… and 20 of them were reading the Da Vinci Code!
So.. What is the Da Vinci Code?
The code in its title refers to secret messages hidden in works of art by Leonardo Da Vinci, who the book claims was once head of an underground organization that protected a secret so shocking it would change to world.
The secret is supposedly that Jesus and Mary Magdalene were married, and had children, descendents of whom live to this day.
The real problem however is that this idea is tied up in a bigger suggestion that Christianity is based on lies –
That For the first few hundred years Jesus was NOT considered to be God, but just a mortal man
That the church ‘voted’ to make him a God in 325Ad when they deliberately suppressed other gospels that tell us Jesus was just a man, and that Christianity was meant to worship gods and goddesses – not just one creator God, -but somehow the ‘divine’ that we can find in all of us – and that this is somehow tied up in a greater respect for sexuality.
It is all a quest for the ‘Holy Grail’ – the cup used at the last supper )or so legends about King Arthur say) Holy Grail in French is SAN GREAL and one of the twists in understanding used in Dan Brown’s book (as have others before him) suggest we divide the French phrase wrongly, it is really the Sang Real (Royal Blood) and is the bloodline of the descendants of Jesus and Mary Magdalene – and the special object to be sought is the tomb where the bones of Mary Magdalene lie. (DISCLAIMER – the holy grail as a cup is a legend from the 11th century – and as for it being a bloodline – just fiction!)..
So why is there so much fuss about this story?
One – is because it has been so successful.
Over 40 Million Hardback copies sold.
Over 65 million copies altogether.
But there have been many other popular books over the years – but this story purports to be based on some reality.
It begins with a page that states these things as FACT.
And people do believe what it says..
A survey in Britain showed that after reading the book people were twice as likely to believe that Jesus married Mary Magdalene and had children, and that Opus Dei was a murderous Catholic secret society. In fact 60% of those who read the book but only 30% of those who had not believed these things.
But even many who would not believe those things, will find it re-inforces their suspicion that the Church is based on errors.
The biggest claims revolve around the Council of Nicea, held in 325AD.
The book and film claim that at this time and place, Christianity as we know it was INVENTED and VOTED ON – and that prior to this time most ‘Christians’ read very different gospels, and believed very different things than we do today.
See what Dan Brown himself – and some authors he calls ‘historians’ in his book has to say about these claims.
Video Clips Here
Well, I agree
Let’s try to find out the truth….
Now as I start, Yes I know Dan Browns book IS a novel – but the claims it makes ARE made by other writers who firmly believe they are recounting the Truth.. – there ARE people who think these coded messages really exist, and are not coincidences or inventions.
First – the ‘code’ idea in Da Vinci’s painting– and the suggestion that Mary Magdalene and Jesus were lovers or married.
Is the Last Supper a coded message about the ‘Holy Grail’ – a hidden bloodline of Jesus and Mary Magdalene?
The book claims that it is unusual to have a last supper painting with no ‘chalice’ no single large cup…
Well, its true there is no single large cup in Leonardo’s picture
But a quick look at some art history web sites and on the first three last supper frescos I find.
Just like Da Vinci’s.. no single chalice.. so perhaps there s no hidden meaning there after all – unless of course we widen the conspiracy to say all these painters were grand masters if the Prior of Sion!.
The next claim about this picture concern the figure on the left of Jesus as we see the painting.
In the book it is claimed this is a woman! – none other than Mary Magdalene.
Well, it may look more feminine than we might expect – but there was a tradition to paint John ‘ the beloved disciple in this way to highlight his youth.
Just look at this other ‘last supper painting by Jacopo Bassano for an example of this.
So – I’m happy to dispense with Da Vinci and the code right there… a nice idea to use as the plot in a mystery – but hardly firm evidence.
The other item that gets brought out to support the claim Mary Magdalene and Jesus had children is a short sentence in a document found in Egypt in 1945 – Called the Nag Hammadi texts (after where they were discovered) these are a collection of early writings belonging to a group called ‘Gnostics’ because they valued special knowledge (in Greek the word is GNOSIS) one of these Gnostic texts is called the ‘Gospel of Philip’
The Da Vinci Code book quotes it like this…
P331
“And the companion of the Saviour is Mary Magdalene. Christ loved her more than all the disciples and used to kiss her often on her mouth.
I was interested in the movie version they do not have that worded as they do in the book – but the man speaking is cut off saying “and used to kiss her…..”
I think I might know why that is! Because of what the ACTUAL Gospel of Philip says.
ACTUAL gospel of Philip
And the companion of the [...] Mary Magdalene. [... loved] her more than [all] the disciples [, and used] to kiss her [often] on her [….]. The rest of the disciples [...]. They said to him "Why do you love her more than all of us?"
Those dots are gaps in the original.. not known words left out (which dots usually mean) but words that aren’t there at all… just HOLES in the paper!..
and here is a picture of some of the documents found at the same time and place as the Gospel of Philip.
Notice the torn and missing pieces. Scholars guess at what words might be gone.. and the whole idea of kissing often on the mouth comes by filling in the gaps
And ANOTHER Gnostic document – the
Second Apocalypse of James has a story of Jesus kissing JAMES on the Mouth
“And he kissed my mouth. He took hold of me, saying, "My beloved! Behold, I shall reveal to you those things that (neither) the heavens nor their archons have known. Behold, I shall reveal to you those things that he did not know, he who boasted, "[...] there is no other except me. Behold, I shall reveal to you everything, my beloved.
You see, Gnostics believed one way to pass on the ‘secret special knowledge’ was by a kiss!..
So YES, Mary Magdalene was close to Jesus, One of the early church writers calls her the ‘apostle to the apostles (which really means just the ‘messenger to the messengers- meaning that she was the first to tell them of Jesus resurrection!)
but it goes far beyond any historical evidence to claim they were married – and the evidence people try to use is really saying something altogether different.
CLAIM: Jesus and Mary Magdalene were lovers and had children, as encoded by Da Vinci in the Last Supper.
BUSTED
BUT NOW to the two main ideas that not only get promoted in this novel and film – but that people seem to widely ‘feel’ are true – that the New Testament was made up centuries after Jesus lived- and that Jesus was only ever regarded as a wise man at first.
On p316-317 Dan Browns book says this.
“Constantine upgraded Jesus status almost four centuries after Jesus’ death, thousands of documents already existed chronicling his life as a mortal man… 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.
….
“Fortunately for historians.” Teabing said, “ some of the gospels that Constantine attempted to eradicate managed to survive. The Dead Sea Scrolls were found in the 1950s hidden in a cave near Qumran un the Judean Desert. And of course, the Coptic Scrolls in 1945 at Nag Hammadi. In addition to telling the true grail story, these documents speak of Christ’s ministry in very human terms.”..
“The scrolls highlight glaring historical discrepancies and fabrications, clearly confirming that the modern Bible was compiled and edited by men who possessed a political agenda – to promote the divinity of the man Jesus Christ and use His influence to solidify their own power base”
p317
AND A LITTLE LATER on p331 it claims this.
“These are photocopies of the Nag Hammadi and Dead Sea scrolls, which I mentioned earlier… the earliest Christian records. Troublingly they do not match up with the gospels in the Bible.”
And back on page 315 during all this other discussion it also says this about the church council meeting at Nicea in 325AD.
“at this gathering many aspects of Christianity were debated and voted upon – the date of easter, the role of bishops, the administration of sacraments and of course, the divinity of Jesus
“I don’t follow, his divinity?”
“My dear”, Teabing declared “until that moment in history, Jesus was viewed by His followers as a mortal prophets… a great and powerful man but a mannonetheless: A mortal.”
Here we have the following claims
A. Jesus status was UPGRADED four centuries after his death
B. Thousands of documents chronicled his life as a mere man
C. The Dead Sea Scrolls and Nag Hammadi texts contradict the Bible as we know it
D. That the Gnostic Gospels are the earliest Christian records
E. That prior to 325AD Jesus was viewed by his followers as a mortal prophet – as ONLY a man.
and sadly these are believed by many whether they read the da vinci code or not – it is just part of current society feeling that the church must somehow be wrong and deceived.
So.. to the Dead Sea Scrolls and Nag Hammadi documents
Both are very real and are great archeological finds.
The Dead Sea Scrolls were found hidden in caves around Judea between 1947 to 56, however they have nothing much to do with Christianity – they belonged to a Jewish community, and contain copies of ALL the Old testament books, (expect Esther) and have given us the oldest known copy of Isaiah – Commentaries on the Old testament books, AND other writings from their community know as the ‘essenes’ – that look FORWARD to a coming Messiah – Jesus doesn’t get a single mention, nor does John the Baptist, or Paul or any other Christian figure.
AND FOR GOOD REASON – it is VERY LIKELY that they were hidden in their caves BEFORE CHRIST WAS EVEN BORN!
So they are early records, just not early Christian! records.
The Nag Hammadi documents were found in 1945 by farmers uncovering a jar while digging. There were 45 separate works written in Coptic, and it is believed they were translated into Coptic from Greek… they DO mention Jesus, and Mary, and John ,and Thomas, and Philip.. so “is the question valid.. Are they the earliest Christian documents.
We know them as ‘Gnostic;’ gospels, because of the type of teaching they contain.
Do you recall the little snippet from the Apocalype of James I read earlier..
Behold, I shall reveal to you those things that (neither) the heavens nor their archons have known.
That about sums up Gnosticism – there were lots of varieties of this type of belief – but basically it boiled down to GNOSIS (secret knowledge) that the group knew, and could pass on to tis members
Knowledge that helped you to escape this physical existence and reach spiritualiy.
“reveal to you things not known.
See the mention of ‘archons; as well.
Most Gnostics believed that the universe was NOT made by God – well not the Ultimate God anyway, because physical matter was so distasteful to the Supreme Being
But emanating form this supreme being were ‘aeons’ in a descending kind of order, until you come to one that gets called the ‘demi-urge’ who was far enough removed from the supreme being to be dumb enough to create the world.
This is the god of the old testament! (so Gnosticism was pretty anti jew..) and this God made archons who were like angels who managed things.
So there.. complicated isn’t it.
You can see why people needed special knowledge!
And the reason for the special knowledge in part was passwords to let you go back through all these aeons to the supreme being.
Where does Jesus fit in?
Jesus was specially sent by the supreme being to teach us about this, and to help us escpae our existence.
So the world didn’t need salvation, just instruction!..
AND FAR from being a regular man – the Jesus of Gnosticism only appeared to be human.. genuine physical existence would have been unthinkable to the pure spirit of the supreme being.
I want to read some more of these Gnostic writings. (and yes, I’ve read a lot of these in their entirety – the things I do for research.. and to be able to honestly say I’ve looked into what I teach..)
Gospel of Thomas Nag Hammadi
13. Jesus said to his disciples, "Compare me to something and tell me what I am like."
Simon Peter said to him, "You are like a just messenger."
Matthew said to him, "You are like a wise philosopher."
Thomas said to him, "Teacher, my mouth is utterly unable to say what you are like."
And he took him, and withdrew, and spoke three sayings to him. When Thomas came back to his friends they asked him, "What did Jesus say to you?"
Thomas said to them, "If I tell you one of the sayings he spoke to me, you will pick up rocks and stone me, and fire will come from the rocks and devour you."
See the idea of hidden knowledge..
22. Jesus saw some babies nursing. He said to his disciples, "These nursing babies are like those who enter the (Father’s) kingdom."
They said to him, "Then shall we enter the (Father’s) kingdom as babies?"
Jesus said to them, "When you make the two into one, and when you make the inner like the outer and the outer like the inner, and the upper like the lower, and when you make male and female into a single one, so that the male will not be male nor the female be female, when you make eyes in place of an eye, a hand in place of a hand, a foot in place of a foot, an image in place of an image, then you will enter [the kingdom]."
Clear as mud yes?
FROM ALLOGENES ( a nag hammadi text)
Whereas there is no possibility for complete comprehension, he is (nevertheless) known. And this is so because of the third silence of Mentality and the second undivided activity which appeared in the First Thought, that is, the Aeon of Barbelo, together with the Indivisible One of the divisible likenesses and the Triple-Powered-One and the non-substantial Existence."
"And according to that activity of thine, the second power and the Mentality which derives from blessedness: Autoer, Beritheus, Erigenaor, Orimenios, Aramen, Alphleges, Elelioupheus, Lalameus, Yetheus, Noetheus, thou art great! He who knows thee knows the Universal One! Thou art One, thou art One, He who is good, Aphredon! Thou art the Aeon of the Aeons, He who is perpetually!"
Then she praised the Universal One, saying "Lalameus, Noetheus, Senaon, Asine[us, ...]riphanios, Mellephaneus, Elemaoni, Smoun, Optaon, He Who Is! Thou art He Who Is, the Aeon of Aeons, the Unbegotten, who art higher than the unbegotten (ones), Yatomenos, thou alone for whom all the unborn ones were begotten, the Unnameable One! ... (10 lines missing) ... knowledge."
Now after I heard these things, I saw the glories of the perfect individuals and the all-perfect ones who exist together, and the all-perfect ones who are before the perfect ones.
If you are at all familiar with the New testament this sounds nothing like it right?…
The letter of Peter to Philip Nag Hammadi
Then a great light appeared so that the mountains shone from the sight of him who had appeared. And a voice called out to them saying, "Listen to my words that I may speak to you. Why are you asking me? I am Jesus Christ who am with you forever."
Then the apostles answered and said, "Lord, we would like to know the deficiency of the aeons and their pleroma." And: "How are we detained in this dwelling place?" Further: "How did we come to this place?" And: "In what manner shall we depart?" Again: "How do we have the authority of boldness?" And: "Why do the powers fight against us?"
Then a voice came to them out of the light saying, "It is you yourselves who are witnesses that I spoke all these things to you. But because of your unbelief I shall speak again. First of all concerning the deficiency of the aeons, this is the deficiency, when the disobedience and the foolishness of the mother appeared without the commandment of the majesty of the Father. She wanted to raise up aeons. And when she spoke, the Arrogant One followed. And when she left behind a part, the Arrogant One laid hold of it, and it became a deficiency. This is the deficiency of the aeons. Now when the Arrogant One had taken a part, he sowed it. And he placed powers over it and authorities. And he enclosed it in the aeons which are dead. And all the powers of the world rejoiced that they had been begotten. But they do not know the pre-existent Father, since they are strangers to him. But this is the one to whom they gave power and whom they served by praising him. But he, the Arrogant One, became proud on account of the praise of the powers. He became an envier and he wanted to make an image in the place of an image, and a form in the place of a form. And he commissioned the powers within his authority to mold mortal bodies. And they came to be from a misrepresentation, from the semblance which had merged."
"Next concerning the pleroma: I am the one who was sent down in the body because of the seed which had fallen away. And I came down into their mortal mold. But they did not recognize me; they were thinking of me that I was a mortal man. And I spoke with him who belongs to me, and he harkened to me just as you too who harkened today. And I gave him authority in order that he might enter into the inheritance of his fatherhood. And I took [...] they were filled [...] in his salvation. And since he was a deficiency, for this reason he became a pleroma."
"It is because of this that you are being detained, because you belong to me. When you strip off from yourselves what is corrupted, then you will become illuminators in the midst of mortal men."
"And this (is the reason) that you will fight against the powers, because they do not have rest like you, since they do not wish that you be saved."
Then the apostles worshiped again saying, "Lord, tell us: In what way shall we fight against the archons, since the archons are above us?"
I’ve subjected you to all that because I want you to see the QUALITATIVE difference between the basically historical narrative, telling the life story of Jesus that is in the Gospels we use, and that forms the book of Acts AND these random collections of saying and almost spell like incantations that from GNOSTIC writings.
The way they get talked about in books like the Da Vinci Code would lead people to think they are just like the Gospels we read, but describing different events or having the story end a different way – but they are not like that at all.
NOW IT IS TRUE that the church decided on what books would be included as ‘allowed reading; in church services.
But they didn’t sit down in the fourth centuryat a table full of alternatives and say ‘this one is in’
And “no that one is out.”
The churches had met since the earliest days and made copies of the letters they had and the gospels they had – and most of the churches used the same ones..
Here and there an extra letter might be used
For example CLEMENT mentioned in Philippians 4:3 in the bible, was a ‘second generation’ leader of the church.
He wrote some letters to churches, (like Paul did) and those churches sometimes read them in services – but not really for very long.
Gradually the church began to regard inly letters written by an original member of Jesus; group as ‘Scripture’, but from a very early period, even before the year 100, most churches had copies of the gospels AS WE KNOW THEM and used them in their worship.
Let me read from a man named IRENAEUS who lived 115-202 (or maybe slightly later birth date)
“But it is not possible that the Gospels can be either more or fewer in number that they are. For since there are four zones of the world in which we live, and four principal winds…. It is fitting that (the church) should have four pillars. … it is evident that the Word ….gave us the gospel under four forms but bound together by one Spirit.
(he then goes on to describe these Gospels identifying them as Matthew Mark Luke and John)
NOW – the arguments he uses for establishing four gospels might not be taken seriously (four winds therefore four gospels) but this shows that at the time he was writing (centuries BEFORE the council of Nicea) the four gospels as we have them were the ones used and accepted by Christians.
Dated a couple of decades after Iranaeus is a piece of parchment which lists the “bible” that church used.
(the beginning is torn.)
but at some he was present, and so he wrote them down.
Ythe third book of the Gospel, that according to Luke, was compiled in his own name on Paul’s authority by Luke the Physician, when after Christ’s ascension Paul had taken him to be with him like a legal expert. Yet neither did he see the Lord in the flesh, and he too as he was able to ascertain eventsm begins his story form the birth of John.
The fourth of the Gospels was written by John, one of the disciples…
IT GOES ON and mentions ACTS. The 13 letters of Paul (by name)Philemon Titus and Jude.. BASICALLY THE NEW TESTAMENT that we use..
And it also mentions something called ‘The Shepherd by Hermas.. but describes that as
“written quite lately in our times in the city of Rome by Hermas, … and therefore it ought indeed to be read,, BUT it cannot to the end of time be publicly read in the church to the people, either among the prophets, who are complete in number (OT) or among the apostles”
Now these quotes show that the NT – pretty much just as we have it today WAS THE WIDELY ACCEPTED set of writing that Christians used.
This is not in the year 325 or later as claimed in the Da Vinci code.. and by other people whoi want to disregard the bible - in fact a lot of this is VERY PROBABLY before ANY of the works found at Nag Hammadi were written…
A FORMALISED OFFICIAL LIST wasn’t finalised until late in the 300s’’ but centuries before the books in OUR NT were the ones being used as the ‘bible’ by churches..
I said the gospels we have were witten before the ones found at Nag Hammadi
HOW CAN I BE SURE the NT as we have it was written first?
Well, the manuscripts (pieces of parchment etc) that we have for parts of the NT that we use, are in many cases older than the Nag Hammadi documents BUT you COULD argue that the Nag Hammadi texts are copies of even earlier originals..
SO ANOTHER simple way that TO ME proves the NT as we know it is earlier is this..
There are some phrases that are in BOTH the accepted NT documents AND IN the Gnostic documents.
Now, it would seem that ONE of these ‘quoted’ from the other.
The one doing the QUOTING is later, the one BEING quoted is earlier. (does that make sense to you)
HOW CAN THIS show the NT docs are the earlier? (or how can we know who is quoting whom?)
Like this…
In the Gnostics just one phrase (out of context) might be listed. Whereas when that phrase appears in the NT it is in a section that makes sense before and after it –
FOR EXAMPLE the Gospel of Philip (mentioned in the movie) quotes Matthew (3:10 and 6:6)
That is why the Word says, "Already the axe is laid at the root of the trees"
In Matthew it is in context….
“8 Produce fruit in keeping with repentance.
9 And do not think you can say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ I tell you that out of these stones God can raise up children for Abraham.
10 The axe is already at the root of the trees, and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.”
Matthew 3:8-10, NIV.
AND
Those who say, "There is a heavenly man and there is one above him" are wrong. For it is the first of these two heavenly men, the one who is revealed, that they call "the one who is below"; and he to whom the hidden belongs is that one who is above him. For it would be better for them to say, "The inner and outer, and what is outside the outer". Because of this, the Lord called destruction the "the outer darkness": there is not another outside of it. He said, "My Father who is in secret". He said, "Go into your chamber and shut the door behind you, and pray to your Father who is in secret" (Mt 6:6), the one who is within them all. But that which is within them all is the fullness. Beyond it, there is nothing else within it. This is that of which they say, "That which is above them"
COMPARED WITH..
“5 “And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by men. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full.
6 But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.
7 And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words.
8 Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.
9 “This, then, is how you should pray: “‘Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name,”
Matthew 6:5-9, NIV.
SO to me anyway.. it seems obvious that the Gnostics have quoted from the NT -- that the Gospels and letters WE HAVE IN OUR NEW TESTAMENT are the original and more reliable documents
The Gnostic gospels quoting from the canonical gospels makes the Gnostics LATER.
(NOT the earliest docs as claimed by Dan Brown..)
So the CLAIM on p331
“These are photocopies of the Nag Hammadi and Dead Sea scrolls, which I mentioned earlier… the earliest Christian records. Troublingly they do not match up with the gospels in the Bible.”
BUSTED
Now finally (though this will still take a while to go through!) what of the idea that prior to 325AD Jesus was regarded as ONLY a man?
Well, if we can accept that the NT as we have it is indeed an early (and not just a 4th century) version of Christianity – then we have all the places within it where Jesus is worshipped as God, where the attributes and names applied to the God of the Old Testament are given to Jesus –
But there is plenty of evidence even if we leave the NT documents out of it for now..
Look at what this person who was a CRITIC of Christianity has to say. (Celsus wrote between 176-177 this is reliably dated by references in his writings to current events in the roman empire for which we have other date sources)
CELSUS
“If these men worshipped no other God but one, perhaps they would have had a valid argument against others. But in fact they worship to an extravagant degree this man who appeared recently, and yet think it is not inconsistent with monotheism if they also worship His servant…
If you taught them that Jesus is not his Son, but that God is Father of all, and that we really ought to worship him alone they would no longer listen to you unless you included Jesus as well… indeed when they call him the son of God it is not because they are paying very great reverence to God but because they are exalting Jesus greatly.”
He writes that Christians worship the Father AND Jesus YET CLAIM TO BE MONOTHEISTS!
Centuries earlier than Nicea – Christians worship the father AND Jesus and claim to worship ONE GOD
(that also kind of knocks the idea that the ‘trinity’ is only a late invention for six too..)
From leaders in the early church are some more quotes.
IRANAEUS
For inasmuch as the Word of God was man from the root of Jesse, and son of Abraham, in this respect did the Spirit of God rest upon Him, and anoint Him to preach the Gospel to the lowly. But inasmuch as He was God, He did not judge according to glory, nor reprove after the manner of speech. For "He needed not that any should testify to Him of man, for He Himself knew what was in man."
Clement of Alexandria in 190AD
And now this same Word has appeared as man. He alone is both God and man, and the source of all our good things" (Exhortation to the Greeks 1:7:1).
IGNATIUS who died in about 110AD
"...God Himself appearing in the form of a man, for the renewal of eternal life."( Epistle of Ignatius to the Ephesians 4:13)
"Continue inseparable from Jesus Christ our God."( Epistle of Ignatius to the Trallians 2:4)
"For even our God, Jesus Christ, now that He is in the Father".( Epistle of Ignatius to the Romans 1:13)
And never mind just words, we even have pictures!
GRAFITTI (image of donkey on cross) and inscription
"Alexamenos worships his god."
To claim Jesus was thought mortal and only then in 325AD declared divine is just plain wrong.
But I said it was TRUE that at Nicea in 325AD Christ’s divinity was debated and voted on
So is Dan Brown right in some way that before that Jesus wasn’t though of as ‘divine’? Why else would they discuss it and vote?
The FACTS about Nicea are this.. the debate was not between the positions of Jesus being
ONLY a man OR him being divine,
The debate was between THESE two positions
Basically, was Jesus God capital ‘G’ or god lower case ‘g’ ?
Is Jesus UNCREATED God ‘the same stuff as the Father’
or was Jesus ‘made’ by the father – far above all other created beings – but still less than the uncreated Supreme God?
More than man but less than God (Arius) – or completely man AND completely God (Athansius)
By the way Da Vinci says it was a close vote! – well history records only 2 of the hundreds present disagreed with the conclusions… not really very close!
So in 325 AD at Nicea a statement was produced that stated Jesus was indeed GOD of the same substance as the Father.. BUT he was NEVER regarded as JUST a mortal man.
So the claim on p315?
“at this gathering many aspects of Christianity were debated and voted upon – the date of easter, the role of bishops, the administration of sacraments and of course, the divinity of Jesus
“I don’t follow, his divinity?”
“My dear”, Teabing declared “until that moment in history, Jesus was viewed by His followers as a mortal prophets… a great and powerful man but a mannonetheless: A mortal.”
BUSTED.
THE movie version of the Da Vinci code has Robert Langdon, one of the lead characters say repeatedly
“What matters is what you believe”
There is some truth in that… what YOU believe will affect the way YOU LIVE your life, the choices you make and responses you give But I think the emphasis of the statement is a bit off target..
Because no matter how firmly you BELIEVE it - if what you BELIEVE is wrong – then the whole direction of your life may be wrong, your actions and attitudes, your decisions and destiny
What matters is WHAT YOU BELIEVE!.. it definitely involves us as individuals, and our belief is part of it but WHAT shapes that belief is profoundly important.
The Da Vinci Code was promoted with the tagline “Seek the truth” and I started this message with a clip of someone saying ‘let’s find out the truth’..
Don’t be like that person though, who had already decided that the truth must be ANYTHING BUT what the church has held for 2,000 years
AND what matters so much more is not what you believe, no matter where you put the emphasis, but what matters is WHAT GOD HAS DONE.
The mindset behind the claims in the Da Vinci code is all about knowledge – the Gnostics – both then, and the modern ones now think the problem facing humanity is not sin, but ignorance
That the answer is not redemption, but enlightenment
That’s the real idea I want to BUST today..
The greatest story is not a page turning thriller novel, the greatest story is not the enlightenment or the knowledge we need as men to reach the spiritual heights of the Supreme God. It is not WHAT YOU BELIEVE
But THAT the word of God was incarnate – the son of God enfleshed as a man in time and history, it is WHAT GOD HAS DONE.
COPYRIGHT AND OTHER INFO
If you have read or used this sermon in anyway, we would love to hear from you. Please email us at sermons@tcfnet.org.au If you use material from this sermon, please adapt it into your own words, but be willing to mention that you got the idea elsewhere (as I try to do – if quoting directly I will credit, otherwise a mention to indicate the idea is not original to me).
Cheers! Chris Rowney
TORQUAY CHRISTIAN FELLOWSHIP
PO BOX 195 TORQUAY VIC 3228 AUSTRALIA
Office@tcfnet.org.au
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Some Sources…
http://www.jesusdecoded.com/
Christianity Today
Nicky Gumbel the DaVinci Code a Response
http://www.thedavincicode.org.uk
Ben Witherington “The Gospel Code”
Various Church History texts and internet early Christian and Gnostic writing sites
B. Shelley, Church History in Plain Language
B. Moynahan “The Faith”
AGES Digital Library Ante Nicene Fathers
The New Eusebius Stevenson & Frend SPCK
Elaine Pagels “ The Gnostic Gospels
