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May 18, 2006

Da Vinci Code - A Hoax and greatest SPIN of our times

As Christians we ought to know that heretics and their heresies revisit history. Dan Brown's Da Vinci Code is one such. Many scholors have responded against Dan Brown's fictitious rendition of erroneous facts that has become the best selling controversy - because it is about Jesus Christ, the Son of God and His church. Millions have shed their blood in defending this faith in Him in this two millenia of Christianity. No Dan Brown or a heretic can ever defile the Savior of the universe, with cheap fiction. Many have tried it. Don't we remember the "Last Temptation of Christ" which carried a similar theme years ago?

Dan Brown's claims in his "Da Vinci Code" are ruthless for the following reasons:

Claim #1:That the Divinity of Christ was voted by the Council of Nicea by Emperor Constantine:

Fact: A practice prevalent among the early christians and new catechumans who would be preparing for baptism was the Apostle's Creed, (the Creed that the Apostles believed from their encounter with Jesus during His public ministry and resurrection)which was the bedrock of Christian belief. Across the Christendom this was a baptismal assertion.
- Let us reverence the Lord Jesus Christ, whose blood was given for us. Clement of Rome (C.96)
- The Christians trace the beginning of their religion to Jesus the Messiah. He is called the Sond of the Most High God. It is said that God came down from heaven. He assumed the flesh and clothed himself with it from a Hebrew virgin. And the Son of God lived in a daughter of man. Aristides (c.125)
- The Word... He is Divine. Justin Martyr (c.160)
- He is God, for the name Emmanuel indicates this. Irenaeus(c.180)
- He is God in the form of man, stainless, the minister of His Father's will, the workd of God who is God, who is in the Father, who is at the Father's right hand. And with the form of God. He is God. Clement of Alexandria (c.195)
- Christ's name is extending everywhere, believed everywhere, worshipped by all enumerated nations, reigning everywhere. Tertullian (c.197)
-Jesus Christ Himself is the Lord and Creator of the soul. Origen(c.225)
-Jesus Christ is our Lord and God, is the Son of God the Father and Creator. Seventh Council of Carthage (c.256)
In the Council of Nicea, the early fathers of the church and bishops gathered to promulgate the Apostle's Creed as the universal(catholic) creed and counteract the then prevalent heresy - Arianism.Those who read the early father's teachings know too well, that Dan Brown is absolutely wrong. Emperor Constantine was not the one to authenticate the Divinity of Christ.

The fact is, little does Dan Brown realize, that he is challenging two millennia of church history, which primarily comprised of the Apostolic Tradition that has safeguarded the canons and the interpretation of Scripture.
- Therefore stop your ears when anyone speaks to you contrary to Jesus Christ, who was descended from David, and was also of Mary...His Father raising Him to life- in the same manneras His Father will also raise us up, we who believe in Him by Christ Jesus. Ignatius of Antioch(c.105)

Claim #2 That Jesus was married to Mary Magdalene.

Fact: New Hammadi findings, are coptic scripts, not the aramaic the language of Jesus and the apostles, written 3 centuries later and the coptic tradition has it that they tell their tale through a historic mouthpiece. Scholars agree that the farther the scripts are from the date they signify, the more they lose their credibility. Hence, the false claim based on any of these coptic texts and presumably Dan Brown's interpretation of Da Vinci Code, that Jesus was married to Mary Magdalene is ABSOLUTE NONSENSE. With Shakespeare we can say,'Its a tale told by an idiot full of sound and fury, signifying nothing at all'. People are entitled to their opinion but they cannot undermine a tradition that is two thousand years old, whose veracity has been tested through the sands of times, whose followers have been martyred for their faith in Jesus Christ. So, it was someone's wishful thinking that brought about these extra so called gospels of controversy. Cudos to the archeological discovery! St. Thomas, one of the Twelve, would cringe at the gospel written in his name, 'Gospel of Thomas'. Thomas was an apostle who came to South India, whose feet brought the good news to the coastlands of Southern India. Just because some dunces had some fantastic tale to offer, that does not mean that the saint was clamouring to proclaim his views but that of Christ. His own martyrdom and the tomb stand as historic testimonial to his faith in Jesus Christ, whom he accepted as 'My Lord and My God'. And so is Mary Magdalene, who brought the good news of the resurrection of Jesus to the apostles. And so is Leonardo Da Vinci, who repented at the time of his death and reconciled with his savior.

In every age there are sympathisers and followers even for the most notorious people. It is not surprising that there was a gospel for Judas Iscariot, hailing him as a saint when he was a traitor. Repetition of multiple lies is not going to turn in to truth. If in the year 4000 A.D. should some one unearth a document about a current notorious criminal, whom they idealized as a saint, such document is not going to counter validate the truth, that this person is a criminal.

Thank heavens we are not in those times of retribution when hereteics were burnt at stake. Today we value life over lies, and let people opine. But that does not mean that they can undermine what we treasure, namely our faith in Jesus. Dan Brown will pay a price for his own voluptuous rendition of the Divinity of Jesus Christ, at his own death bed. His cheap shot is not going to malign the nature of Christ. One thing is sure, that all must die some day and meet their Creator who is their savior and judge.

So, if you don't care about this novel or movie and want to boycott them, that is good. But if you read the book or watch the movie, be careful, lies are told subtly and as my friend Don puts it, 'you don't want to gulp crystal clear water, not knowing that it has a pinch of cyanide in it'. Tertullian (c.197) aptly puts it:

Heresies have no power if men would cease to wonder that they have such power. Fot it either happens that, while men wonder, they fall into a snare. Or because they are ensnared they cherish their surprise-as if heresies were so powerful because of some truth which belonged to them.

May we have the discernment in reading the signs of our times and deepen our relationship with the Risen Christ until His sure but second coming. And to all those that are seeking to defend the Truth that Jesus is true God and true man, turn to the early Fathers of the Church who bore witness to Jesus Christ by their life and their death.

Almighty and everlasting Father, who hast promised to be with thy Church to the end of the world: Grant that by the power of the Holy Ghost, we all may hold fast to the faith once delivered to the saints, and in all truth and godly discipline, fulfill the purpose of Him loved it and gave Himself for it, thy Son our Savior Jesus Christ. Amen

Posted by frleo at May 18, 2006 8:53 AM

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