“THERE IS PERHAPS NO GREATER SCANDAL ABOUT THESE DAYS THAN WHAT HAS APPEARED IN THE NEW BEST SELLING NOVEL CALLED – ‘THE DA VINCI CODE.’ THIS RUNAWAY SUSPENSE THRILLER HAS CAUSED MANY TO QUESTION THE ORIGINS AND REALITY OF CHRISTIANITY BY ITS OUTRAGEOUS CLAIMS INTERSPERSED BETWEEN ITS PAGES. THEREFORE WE MUST ASK, ‘WHAT IN THIS BOOK IS FACT AND FICTION?’”

 I’m Dennis Finnan, host and speaker on the World, the Word & You! Broadcast and in a moment we’ll talk about Dan Brown’s best selling novel, the DaVinci Code! Stay tuned…

…Last year while waiting to travel in an airport, I picked up a suspense novel called “the Da Vinci Code.” The title intrigued me, so I bought it and read through it while traveling in early spring of 2003. After finishing the book, I was mystified and appalled at the outrageous statements the author was making, leading his readers to believe them as “facts,” while skillfully interweaving them with the fiction story of treachery, religious fanaticism, ancient conspiracies and everything else for the suspicious mind. Without a doubt, it was good reading as far as fiction goes, but the real problem is this book went on to become a best-seller and continues to be after selling more than six million copies. In fact, it is now being translated into 40 languages and a motion picture is soon to be produced with the same story line and sadly the supposed facts as undeniable history! It is with this last emphasis I want to devote today’s radio broadcast; because, the supposed facts on which the book is based are not only flawed outrageous error, but a concentrated deceitful attack upon the faith of Christianity itself. So my friend, stay with me for after another musical pause, I’ll return with my message entitled: THE DA VINCI CODE SCANDAL…

…I confess to you – I’m a mystery thriller fan! Yes, I enjoy reading fiction books that take me through a labyrinth of intriguing plots and happenings that set me on the edge of my chair. Of course, I read and enjoy them because they are an escape from my busy reality giving me rest of mind from the pressures of our fast paced world we live in. However, I read them only as fiction, and have no difficulty sorting out fact from fiction. Yet, this was brought to the greatest test in the runaway mega-selling novel called the “DA VINCI CODE” by Dan Brown. Admittedly, the fictional story was thrilling, and it seems well written, but I was seriously disturbed by the outrageous claims the author penned in the beginning of the book about history and the origins of Christianity that are, in fact, absolute rubbish and lies!

Dan Brown, the author and former English teacher, apparently has an “ax to grind,” against the Roman Catholic Church which he erroneously equates as the solid representation of Christianity. As such, he attempts to interweave his personal bias with twisted facts and fiction. The danger here is that millions of unsuspecting and unknowledgeable readers will come to believe this book although fiction in the story line, is actually written and based on undeniable facts of history which expose Christianity as a false cult, and reduce it to a fiction fairy tale itself. Well my friend, I want to set the record straight at least for my listeners. So let’s begin…

First of all, I can’t believe that anyone exists today who has not heard something about this book, “THE DAVINCI CODE.” But for the miniscule few, who may exist, let me summarize it for you.

The Book is a story of a fierce battle down through the ages between the Roman Catholic Church representing Christianity, and a group of crusaders desperately attempting to reveal the truth concerning Jesus Christ and the faith that followed him. It begins…

“While in Paris on business, Harvard symbologist Robert Langdon receives an urgent late-night phone call. The elderly curator of the Louvre has been murdered inside the museum, with a baffling cipher found near the body. As Langdon and a gifted French cryptologist, Sophie Neveu, sort through the bizarre riddles, they are stunned to discover a trail of clues hidden in the works of DaVINCI - clues visible for all to see, and yet ingeniously disguised by the painter that reveal that Christianity today is a lie!”

The novel unfolds as a fast-paced, engaging combination of a murder mystery and thriller set in the modern day against a background of a secret society, “the Priory of Sion,” that worships the sacred feminine and performs sex rituals; and, a set of conspiracies against this society, fomented by the Roman Catholic Church and its “Knights of Templar.” The book includes references to actions and beliefs by a number of  historical people and groups, including Leonardo DaVinci, Sir Isaac Newton, Emperor Constantine, the Council of Nicaea, the Roman Catholic Church, the apostle Peter, Mary Magdalene, and of course Jesus Christ.

What’s terribly wrong with the book is, it’s Dan Brown’s antichristian propaganda vehicle to convey his hatred for Biblical Christianity and in particular the Roman Catholic Church of which he, by the way, is unable to distinguish the difference. To build the basis of the book’s story line Brown tells his readers upfront that it is based on undeniable facts of history such as:

1. Jesus Christ married Mary Magdalene and together they produced a child named Sarah.

2. Since the year 1099, a powerful and wealthy super secret society was formed known as the “Priory of Sion,” which has preserved knowledge of Christ’s marriage and family, and protected the “holy Grail,” that is his bloodline descendants down through history,

3. Leonardo DaVINCI was a “Priory” leader and a pagan-goddess worshipper and secretly coded this knowledge of Christ’s marriage and offspring into his paintings about Jesus and Mary.

4. The Christian faith and the Bible is, Brown claims, founded upon is a work of fiction produced by the Roman Catholic Church and Emperor Constantine for the express purpose of subjugating women and crowning men with authority and position as the Roman Catholic Church and Christianity has promoted down through the centuries.

Amazingly enough, all four of these teachings are presented in the book’s preface and throughout the story as proven, undeniable, reliably substantiated FACTS OF HISTORY! However, in reality ALL of them are totally unsubstantiated nonsense and false, for they are NOT found in history at all! This is where the danger lies, for it has caused many to doubt the true Christian faith, and perhaps to turn in anger and disgust against it. Now let’s take time to answer some of these outrageous claims. Here’s the first myth paraded as fact…

MYTH #1 - Jesus Christ married Mary Magdalene and together they produced a child named Sarah. 

The role of the biblical Mary Magdalene as “Mrs. Jesus,” is the most absurd and blasphemous lie ever produced. Dan Brown says this is substantiated in history. On page 244, Brown states in his book, “more specifically, her marriage to Jesus Christ… is a matter of record.” Really, “I ask, where??” This idea has come out of the ranting and raving of fairytale spinners down through the centuries. Yet there is not one shred of evidence, none whatsoever, that this is or was true. In fact, the opposite stands as convincing record. The apostle Paul stated in the first century,

1 Cor 9:5 (NIV) Don’t we have the right to take a believing wife along with us, as do the other apostles and the Lord’s brothers and Cephas ?

Here Paul states that the apostles, Peter and the Lord’s brothers all were married. Now if Jesus himself were married, Paul would surely have mentioned this is as the greatest illustration of his text. Yet he doesn’t! Without question this is “lawful” evidence Jesus was never married, regardless of what apocryphal books like the “Gospel of Philip,” or the “Gospel of Mary Magdalene,” have said three centuries later, or the atheist fictional publication such as the “Holy Blood, Holy Grail,” which Dan Brown draws heavily upon for supposed facts.

Now think about it -- If Jesus Christ, the infinite God Man, did marry and fostered a child. That child would in essence be part God, perhaps sinless herself and truly be a goddess to worship. God never allowed such a thing to happen, and nothing in history even alludes to this! It’s pure nonsense. Secondly we must debunk…

MYTH #2 - Since the year 1099, a powerful and wealthy supersecret society was formed known as the “Priory of Sion,” which has preserved knowledge of Christ’s marriage and family, and protected his descendants down through history.  

Today if anyone searches for the existence of this secret society in any public or university library, they will find nothing! The Priory of Sion never existed. that is until the year 1956 when  it was registered in France . This group never kept any watchful eye over the descendants of Jesus and Mary Magdalene, nor anything else for that matter. The trail to the "Priory of Sion" fraud begins in mid-nineteenth-century France . A resurgent interest in the occult led to the eventual creation of this and many other esoteric groups. Brown’s assertions are totally foundless and false. Now this brings us to the third supposed fact the DaVINCI Code promotes as truth,

MYTH #3 - Leonardo DAVinci was a “Priory” leader, a pagan-goddess worshipper and secretly coded this knowledge of Christ’s offspring into his paintings about Jesus and Mary.   

For years, detractors of the Bible and the Christian faith have claimed that DaVINCI’s famous portrait of the “Last Supper,” shows Mary Magdalene by Jesus’ right side. One must have a good imagination to see or believe that. If she is there, then we must ask where is the apostle John who is the real personage DaVINCI painted there? It’s amazing to build truth on the fantasy thinking of individuals. DaVINCI often painted younger men with what today we might call feminine features, which were simply gentle not feminine. The DaVinci’s “Last Supper” no where shows Mary Magdalene, nor was DaVINCI a “Priory” leader for the organization NEVER existed during his lifetime. Now forth in the line of myths is,

MYTH #4 - The Christian faith and ITS Bible ARE a work of fiction produced by the Emperor Constantine for the express purpose of suppressing women and crowning men with ABSOLUTE authority and position -  

Brown goes on to “wax ineloquently,” that Jesus Christ was never considered divine, just a mortal prophet until the fourth century; that worship was changed to Sunday by Constantine to honor the sun god; that the Christian faith produced the suppression and subjugation of women and demonized sex; and that the Bible is a worthless revision of revisions so corrupt it is useless today.. In all these claims as facts, Brown reveals his utter ignorance of history, and reality as well. For instance, the Bible we have today comprised of 66 books is not the product of the Emperor Constantine or the Council of Nicaea he funded and ordered. No, it is the product of God given through the apostles and prophets He chose, and preserved intact for us even to this day. I realize that the manuscript evidence of the bible’s authenticity and truthfulness is often unknown to the secular mind today. Yet, the fact remains of all historical literature, the Bible is the most reliably attested truth ever written. It’s more reliable than the writings of Homer, Plato, Aristotle, even Shakespeare! There are remaining today more than 5000 copies of the Greek New Testament dating back to the 2^nd century, with more than 20,000 translation copies in the languages of the first few centuries after Christ. It is a fact that the Roman Emperor Constantine was converted to Christ, but nonetheless, he like many of his day also believed a number of errors that did not in any way take away his belief that Jesus Christ was the infinite God and man who came to redeem lost sinners. On his deathbed he asked to be baptized thinking that act completed his faith and washed away his last sins against God. As to the divinity of Jesus Christ. The entire New Testament Church affirms this, as the twelve apostles, who went to their death doing so, as did Jesus Christ Himself by His miracles and His own words.

John 8:58 (NIV)  "I tell you the truth," Jesus answered, "before Abraham was born, I am!"

John 8:24 (NIV)  I told you that you would die in your sins; if you do not believe that I am the one I claim to be, you will indeed die in your sins."

Eph 1:22 (NIV)  And God placed all things under his [Jesus Christ]  feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church,

John 17:3 (NIV)  Now this is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.

In addition, there are more inconsistencies and errors in the book, the DaVINCI Code, but suffice it to say Christianity neither stands nor falls on the foolish fantasies of best selling authors or any detractors of the Christian faith. Here then is the greatest fact that remains as truth:

FACT – Jesus Christ was virgin born of a human mother, but had no human father.

The Creator God Himself came upon the virgin Mary of Nazareth, and formed a human being in her womb that was God Himself and yet fully human. The purpose of this was to bring forth a sinless, perfect human being to become the sacrificial offering for the sin penalty all humanity faced for its sin. Jesus did live a perfect life and gave up that life when the world and the devil crucified him on the cross. There, God poured out His wrath against all sin and God the Son offered His infinite life in death as final and full payment for mankind’s sins. This is the great story of the Christian faith. The wrath of God’s holiness was assuaged by Jesus Christ, and his sin payment offering His life for ours is transferred to anyone’s account through what the Bible calls “faith alone.” Listen to God’s Word on this matter,

John 1:1-3 (NIV)  In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was with God in the beginning. 3 Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made.

John 1:14 (NIV)  The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.

Gal 4:4 (NIV)  But when the time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under law,

Rom 8:3 (NIV) “… God  [sent] his own Son in the likeness of sinful man to be a sin offering.

Rom 5:8 (NIV)  But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

Eph 2:8-9 (NIV)  For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith--and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God-- 9 not by works, so that no one can boast.

John 3:16 (NIV)  “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

That my friend is true Christianity! One does not have to worship on the Sabbath, keep the Old Testament Jewish ceremonial laws, nor live a perfect life of religious asceticism to have God’s favor and forgiveness. All one needs to do is receive into their heart and life, Jesus Christ as Lord God and Savior, by faith, trusting His death was payment for your sin and acceptable to God the Father as Scripture tells us.

Dan Brown’s book of fantasy and fiction is not that at all. It is a book of absolute and total fiction cover to cover, and its emphasis is simply a pathetic attempt to incorporate Brown’s anti-Christian bias into a work that attempts to persuade others to follow his corrupt and false beliefs.

The DaVINCI Code is a best seller, indeed, but much of its sales are really based on its supposed revelations that debunk Christianity.

But now you know the truth though, for its so-called facts are really fiction too. Brown is purely a fiction writer who apparently doesn’t know fact from his fiction. The important thing is his readers need to know the difference though. My faith was not at all brought into doubt by the presentation of the false as true. The Bible says,

Prov 12:19 (NIV)  Truthful lips endure forever, but a lying tongue lasts only a moment.

Such works as these although they create a great stir, are at times good for the faith and the church of Jesus Christ . Why? Because heresy has always been helpful, as it forces a renewed attention to be given to the basic and fundamental doctrines of the Christian faith in order to counter error. Some really good books are out today that are doing this. For instance, authors such as Hank Hannegraff and Paul Maier, Professor of Ancient History at Western Michigan University, who together have written “THE DA VINCI CODE – FACT OR FICTION?” and then there is Richard Abanes, a nationally recognized author on cults and religions who has written the book, “THE TRUTH BEHIND THE DA VINCI CODE.” These two I recommend you read for more in-depth debunking of the false claims of Dan Brown.

But most important of all, why not just read the Bible? Within its pages are the words that lead to life, and contain some of the most thrilling accounts of human difficulty and feats of greatness that can be found anywhere, and best of all it is FACT not fiction!

 Moreover, it can and will lead all who embrace its truth and teachings to life eternal, beginning here and now. Friend, do you know Jesus Christ as your Lord God and Savior? If not trust Him today by a prayer of faith and reach out and receive God’s free gift of life eternal to all who crown Jesus Christ their God and King.

That my friend is the totality of Christianity which neither denigrates femininity, nor lauds male superiority. Jesus had the utmost respect for women and Christianity above all other religious beliefs elevated women to their rightful place along side of the man. Dan Brown’s book, “the DaVINCI Code,” is a work of pure fiction, based on fiction itself or more, dangerous lies that can lead many away from the truths of God and His Word.  Already thousands of internet sites have arisen promoting the errors of the DaVINCI Code as truth, with an equal number of unsuspecting readers believing its false teachings about Christianity. As such, I do not recommend this book for reading to anyone, simply because Dan Brown has attempted to use it to promote his anti-Christian beliefs quite dishonestly. Yet I do not fear this book, for truth always prevails in the end and those who are willing to look at the real facts will understand…

… Well, the hammers of dissent and rejection of God and His Son Jesus Christ have hammered the anvil of the Bible for centuries, but they have not worn away truth. We need not fear truth becoming nonexistent. The rabid voices of detractors will die away, but the Bible will stand as truth forever. I trust you’ve accepted it by crowning Jesus Christ as your God and Savior. He alone is the rock of salvation that will stand for eternity. All who put their hope of tomorrow in Him will find His power for living in this life and for eternity. May God bless His Word to every heart.