1
The Da Vinci CodeThe Real Conspiracy Revealed

• By
• Jeff Chacon
• San Diego Church of Christ

2
The Da Vinci Code

• A fictional mystery novel by Dan Brown (2003)
• Worldwide bestseller
• Over 60 million copies in print
• Translated into 44 languages

3
Barna Research Group

• The Da Vinci Code has been read cover to cover
  by roughly 45 million adults in the U.S. thats
  one out of every five adults (20).
• That makes it the most widely read book with a
  spiritual theme in America other than the Bible.

4
Barna Research Group

• 24 (11 million) adults consider The Da Vinci
  Code to have been a helpful spiritual document.
• 2 million adults said that they changed one or
  more beliefs or religious perspectives because of
  the books content.
• The Washingon Post Read the book and be
  enlightened.

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The Da Vinci Code

• Recently turned into a major motion picture with
  Tom Hanks directed by Ron Howard
• Movie trailer
• Seek the Truth
• We are led to believe that The Da Vinci Code will
  reveal to us the truth.
• Q But what is the real truth behind The Da Vinci
  Code?

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The fictional conspiracy of the book

• The premise of this book is that there is a
  conspiracy by the Catholic Church to cover up the
  true story of Jesus.

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The fictional conspiracy of the book

• The title of the book comes from the claim that
  Leonardo Da Vinci was a member of a secret
  society (The Priory of Sion) entrusted with the
  secret truth about Jesus.

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The fictional conspiracy of the book

• The secret of this group is that Jesus had a
  daughter by Mary Magdalene, named Sarah, and that
  their family tree extends all the way to the
  present day a living royal bloodline.

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The fictional conspiracy of the book

• The sarcophagus containing the bones of Mary
  Magdalene and ancient documents that tell the
  true story of her life, according to this secret
  society, is the true Holy Grail, since Marys
  womb is the metaphorical chalice that bore the
  royal bloodline of Jesus on earth.

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The fictional conspiracy of the book

• The church, not wanting the truth of Jesus
  humanity to be known, has conducted a massive
  cover up for over 1700 years to conceal this
  truth from the public.

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The fictional conspiracy of the book

• Quote from The Da Vinci Code
• almost everything our fathers taught us about
  Christ is false. (page 255, DVC)

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The real conspiracy of the book

• But what is the real conspiracy
• of The Da Vinci Code?
• Where is author Dan Brown leading us?

13
The real conspiracy of the book

• If Jesus and Mary Magdalene were married and had
  a child

14
The real conspiracy of the book

• And if Jesus was not truly the Son of God, but
  merely another mortal man like the rest of us

15
The real conspiracy of the book

• And if Jesus entrusted the future leadership of
  the church to Mary Magdalene instead of the
  Apostle Peter

16
The real conspiracy of the book

• And if Jesus and the early church shared the
  pagan belief that the world is divided into two
  halves, masculine and feminine, with the feminine
  half referred to as the sacred feminine, and
  the feminine counterpart to God referred to as
  the divine goddess, who is equally worthy of
  worship

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The real conspiracy of the book

• And if the Emperor Constantine led the early
  Church at the Council of Nicaea in 325 A.D. to
  cover all this up by burning all the so-called
  alternative gospels that supposedly exposed
  these truths so that the male-dominated clergy
  would wield more power

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The real conspiracy of the book

• And if enlightened people throughout the
  centuries like Leonardo DaVinci, Botticelli, Sir
  Isaac Newton and Victor Hugo were a part of a
  secret society that devoted itself to protecting
  these truths, giving hints of them in their art
  and planning one day to make them public so that
  mankind could be liberated from the destructive
  effects of male chauvinism in the name of God and
  enter into a new era of enlightenment where we
  worship many Gods and Goddesses, or better yet,
  where dont need religion at all

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The real conspiracy of the book

• Then obviously we have all been the victims of a
  massive conspiracy, and its time to liberate
  ourselves from these lies!

20
The real conspiracy of the book

• We need to liberate ourselves from monotheism and
  sexism - the worship of only one God and a male
  one at that the God of the Bible!

21
The real conspiracy of the book

• We need to liberate ourselves from the worship of
  Jesus as the God the Son!

22
The real conspiracy of the book

• We need to liberate ourselves from the ignorant
  belief that the Bible is inspired and
  authoritative!

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The real conspiracy of the book

• And ultimately, we need to liberate ourselves
  from the tyranny of religion altogether!

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The real conspiracy of the book

• Then we can be free to worship several Gods and
  Goddesses as the Israelites and the early
  Christian Church supposedly did before this
  massive cover-up.

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The real conspiracy of the book

• We can be free to see Jesus as just another good
  teacher as the early church supposedly did not
  as the Son of God.

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The real conspiracy of the book

• We can be free to see the Bible as simply a good
  book, as the early church supposedly did not as
  the uniquely inspired and authoritative Word of
  God.

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The real conspiracy of the book

• And ultimately we can be free from the tyranny of
  religion altogether so that we can live
  independently from God!
• This is the hidden agenda in The Da Vinci Code,
  the real conspiracy

28

• Lets piece this hidden puzzle together as we
  read excerpts from The Da Vinci Code (DVC) and
  ask ourselves this question
• Where is Dan Brown really leading us?
• (Note some of this material appears in the book,
  but not in the movie.)

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Excerpt from DVC

• The point here, Langdon said, motioning back to
  the bookshelf, is that all of these books
  substantiate the same historical claim.
• That Jesus was a father. Sophie was still
  uncertain.
• Yes, Teabing said, And that Mary Magdalene was
  the womb that carried his royal lineage. The
  Priory of Sion, to this day, still worships Mary
  Magdelene as the Goddess, the Holy Grail, the
  Rose, and the Divine Mother. (page 275, DVC)

30
Excerpt from DVC

• At its heart, the quest for the Holy Grail has
  always been a quest for Magdalene the wronged
  Queen, entombed with proof of her familys
  rightful claim to power. (page 278, DVC)

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Excerpt from DVC

• Teabing spoke more quietly now. The quest for
  the Holy Grail is literally the quest to kneel
  before the bones of Mary Magdalene. A journey to
  pray at the feet of the outcast one, the lost
  sacred feminine. (page 277, DVC)

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Excerpt from DVC

• Sophie, Langdon said, the Priorys tradition
  of perpetuating goddess worship is based on a
  belief that powerful men in the early Christian
  church conned the world by propagating lies
  that devalued the female and tipped the scales in
  favor of the masculine Constantine and his male
  successors successfully converted the world from
  matriarchal paganism to patriarchal Christianity
  by waging a campaign of propaganda that demonized
  the sacred feminine, obliterating the goddess
  from modern religion forever (page 133, DVC)

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Excerpt from DVC

• we are currently in an epoch of enormous
  change. The millennium has recently passed, and
  with it has ended the two-thousand-year-long
  astrological Age of Pisces the fish, which is
  also the sign of Jesus. As any astrological
  symbologist will tell you, the Piscean ideal
  believes that man must be told what to do by
  higher powers because man is incapable of
  thinking for himself. Hence it has been a time
  of fervent religion. Now, however, we are
  entering the age of Aquarius the water bearer
  whose ideals claim that man will learn the truth
  and be able to think for himself. The
  ideological shift is enormous, and is occurring
  right now. (pages 289-290, DVC)

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The real conspiracy

• The real conspiracy in The Da Vinci Code is where
  author Dan Brown is leading his readers.
• But is this really where we want to go?

35
The real conspiracy

• Replace religion with humanism and place our
  trust and confidence in ourselves rather than in
  God?

36
The real conspiracy

• Extol the virtues of atheism as the supreme
  enlightenment and laud nature worship and
  polytheism as a step in the right direction?

37
The real conspiracy

• Praise pagan sexual fertility rites as
  appropriate worship?

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The real conspiracy

• Here is the type of worship
• that this book exalts
• and commends to the reader
• Note in the movie, it is a brief flashback that
  Sophie (the main female character) has of seeing
  her grandfather engaged in a pagan sex ritual.

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Excerpt from DVC

• He (Langdon) explained that although what she
  saw probably looked like a sex ritual, Hieros
  Gamos had nothing to do with eroticism. It was a
  spiritual act. Historically, intercourse was the
  act through which male and female experienced
  God. The ancients believed that the male was
  spiritually incomplete until he had carnal
  knowledge of the sacred feminine. Physical union
  with the female remained the sole means through
  which man could become spiritually complete and
  ultimately achieve gnosis knowledge of the
  divine. Since the days of Isis, sex rites had
  been considered mans only bridge from earth to
  heaven. (page 335, DVC)

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The real conspiracy

• Group sex is a spiritual act?
• Immorality is how we experience God?

41
The real conspiracy

• And this is the sole means to becoming
  spiritually complete and ultimately achieve
  gnosis? (Gnosis is the Greek word for
  knowledge from which the Gnostic Gospels get
  their name.)
• Sex rites are mans only bridge from earth to
  heaven?

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• No wonder the Apostles warned us about the
  destructive teachings of the Gnostic heretics!

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1 Timothy 620-21

• Timothy, guard what has been entrusted to your
  care. Turn away from godless chatter and the
  opposing ideas of what is falsely called
  knowledge, 21which some have professed and in so
  doing have wandered from the faith.

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2 Peter 21-3

• But there were also false prophets among the
  people, just as there will be false teachers
  among you. They will secretly introduce
  destructive heresies, even denying the sovereign
  Lord who bought thembringing swift destruction
  on themselves. 2Many will follow their shameful
  ways and will bring the way of truth into
  disrepute. 3In their greed these teachers will
  exploit you with stories they have made up. Their
  condemnation has long been hanging over them, and
  their destruction has not been sleeping.

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Cont.

• Even the vulgar way that the fictional male
  experts (Leigh Teabing and Robert Langdon) tell
  the fictional female character (Sophie Neveu)
  about the supposedly hidden secret of Jesus and
  Mary Magdalenes relationship (the Holy Grail)
  exposes the books ungodliness hardly a book to
  be followed in the moral and spiritual areas it
  claims expertise
• Note this dialogue is not in the movie script.

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Excerpt from DVC

• Langdon sighed. I was hoping you would be kind
  enough to explain to Ms. Neveu the true nature of
  the Holy Grail.
• Teabing looked stunned. She doesnt know?
• Langdon shook his head.
• The smile that grew on Teabings face was almost
  obscene. Robert, youve brought me a virgin?
• Langdon winced, glancing at Sophie. Virgin is
  the term Grail enthusiasts used to describe
  anyone who has never heard the true Grail story.
• Teabing turned eagerly to Sophie. How much do
  you know my dear?
• Sophie quickly outlined what Langdon had
  explained earlier
• Thats all? Teabing fired Langdon a scandalous
  look. Robert, I thought you were a gentleman.
  Youve robbed her of the climax!
• I know, I thought perhaps you and I could
  Langdon apparently decided the unseemly metaphor
  had gone far enough.
• Teabing already had Sophie locked in his
  twinkling gaze. You are a Grail virgin, my
  dear. And trust me, you will never forget your
  first time. (page 248-249, DVC)

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• This is a book of spiritual enlightenment?
• This is a book that is more credible than the
  Bible?

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Matthew 715-19,20

• Watch out for false prophets. They come to
  you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are
  ferocious wolves. 16By their fruit you will
  recognize them. Do people pick grapes from
  thornbushes, or figs from thistles? 17Likewise
  every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree
  bears bad fruit. 18A good tree cannot bear bad
  fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit
  20Thus, by their fruit you will recognize them.

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• But this is not about author Dan Brown
• Satan is the real conspirator behind
• The Da Vinci Code

50
2 Corinthians 211

• in order that Satan might not outwit us. For we
  are not unaware of his schemes.

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Satan is a schemer

• scheme a secret plot a secret and cunning
  plan, especially one designed to cause damage or
  harm. (Encarta Dictionary)

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Revelation 129

• The great dragon was hurled downthat ancient
  serpent called the devil, or Satan, who leads the
  whole world astray.

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Satan is the real conspirator

• So, Satan is the real conspirator who is
  constantly devising clever schemes to lead the
  world astray.

54
Satan seduces us to sin

• (DVC) Is it surprising we feel conflicted about
  sex? he asked his students. Our ancient
  heritage and our very physiologies tell us sex is
  natural a cherished route to spiritual
  fulfillment and yet modern religion decries it
  as shameful, teaching us to fear our sexual
  desire as the hand of the devil. (page 336, DVC)

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Satans scheme revealed

• According to The Da Vinci Code the reason we feel
  conflicted about sex is that modern religion has
  taught us to be ashamed of our sexuality and fear
  it as from the Devil. But our pagan ancestry and
  the cravings of our human physiology tell us that
  sex is a cherished route to spiritual
  fulfillment.

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Satans scheme revealed

• Sex is a cherished route to spiritual
  fulfillment?

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Proverbs 721-22

• With persuasive words she led him astray she
  seduced him with her smooth talk. 22 All at once
  he followed her like an ox going to the
  slaughter, like a deer stepping into a noose.

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Satans scheme revealed

• 1 John 37-8
• Dear children, do not let anyone lead you
  astray. He who does what is right is righteous,
  just as he is righteous. 8He who does what is
  sinful is of the devil, because the devil has
  been sinning from the beginning.

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Satan seduces us to doubt

• 2 Corinthians 113-4
• But I am afraid that just as Eve was deceived by
  the serpent's cunning, your minds may somehow be
  led astray from your sincere and pure devotion to
  Christ. 4For if someone comes to you and preaches
  a Jesus other than the Jesus we preached, or if
  you receive a different spirit from the one you
  received, or a different gospel from the one you
  accepted, you put up with it easily enough.

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Satan seduces us to doubt

• (DVC) Sophie looked skeptical. My friends who
  are devout Christians definitely believe that
  Christ literally walked on water, literally
  turned water into wine, and was born of a literal
  virgin birth.
• My point exactly, Langdon said. Religious
  allegory has become a part of the fabric of
  reality. And living in that reality helps
  millions of people cope and be better people.
• But it appears their reality is false.

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Are the accounts of Jesus miracles merely
allegorical and not literally true?
62
Dr. John Oakes

• College professor
• Dual Phd. in chemistry and physics
• Written four books, including
• Is There a God? Questions of Science and the
  Bible
• Reasons for Belief A Handbook of Christian
  Evidences.
• (from article on Evidence For Christianity
  website) Everyone knew that Jesus was a worker
  of miracles. He healed thousands of people. Even
  his enemies indirectly confirm this.

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• The Bible is historically accurate attested to
  by eyewitness accounts and written down for us by
  inspiration of the Holy Spirit

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2 Peter 116-21

• We did not follow cleverly invented stories when
  we told you about the power and coming of our
  Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of
  his majesty. 17For he received honor and glory
  from God the Father when the voice came to him
  from the Majestic Glory, saying, "This is my Son,
  whom I love with him I am well pleased." 18We
  ourselves heard this voice that came from heaven
  when we were with him on the sacred mountain.
  19And we have the word of the prophets made more
  certain, and you will do well to pay attention to
  it, as to a light shining in a dark place, until
  the day dawns and the morning star rises in your
  hearts. 20Above all, you must understand that no
  prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet's
  own interpretation. 21For prophecy never had its
  origin in the will of man, but men spoke from God
  as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.

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Satan seduces us to doubt

• Do not let Satan seduce you
• to doubt the Bible.
• It is the literal, inspired Word of God. (More
  on this later.)

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Decoding The Da Vinci Code

• We need to separate fact from fiction.
• 1 John 41
• Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but
  test the spirits to see whether they are from
  God, because many false prophets have gone out
  into the world.
• The Da Vinci Code is a work of fiction. It does
  not stand the test of historical truth.

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Decoding The Da Vinci Code

• Lets explore
• 10 false claims
• in The Da Vinci Code

68
FALSE CLAIM 1

• Christianity is simply a compilation of pagan
  religions

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Excerpt from DVC

• Nothing in Christianity is original. The
  pre-Christian God Mithras called the Son of God
  and the Light of the World was born on December
  25, died, was buried in a rock tomb, and then
  resurrected in three days. The newborn Krishna
  was presented with gold, frankincense, and myrrh.
  Even Christianitys weekly holy day was stolen
  from the pagans. Originally, Christianity
  honored the Jewish Sabbath of Saturday, but
  Constantine shifted it to coincide with the
  pagans veneration day of the sun. He paused,
  grinning. To this day, most churchgoers attend
  services on Sunday morning with no idea that they
  are there on account of the pagan sun gods
  weekly tribute Sunday. (page 252, DVC)

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Question

• Was the idea of Jesus Christ being the Son of God
  and the Light of the World actually borrowed from
  a pagan god named Mithras?

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Josh McDowell

• World-renowned expert in Christian apologetics
  (proving the truth of Christianity)
• Was once an agnostic who tried to disprove
  Christianity, but through his research discovered
  compelling historical evidence that caused him to
  convert to it instead.
• Since then, hes authored over 77 books,
  including
• Evidence That Demands a Verdict
• And More Than a Carpenter

72
Josh McDowell quote

• Specific myths about Mithras miraculous birth
  and becoming a savior god were modeled after
  the stories of Jesus and developed after
  Christianity came to Rome.

73
The TRUTH

• No wonder the early Church apologist, Justin
  Martyr (160 A.D.) referred to the Mithraic meal
  as a Satanic imitation of the Lords supper.
  (First Apology, 66)

74
Josh McDowell quote

• With Christianity exploding onto the scene of
  the Roman Empire, it is evident that other
  religions adopted certain teachings or practices
  from Christianity in order to stem the tide of
  departing adherents and/or to attract Christians
  to their side.

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The TRUTH

• And the claim that Originally, Christianity
  honored the Jewish Sabbath of Saturday, but
  Constantine shifted it to coincide with the
  pagans veneration day of the sun (DVC) is
  equally absurd.

76
Josh McDowell quote

• the Christians have been celebrating their
  weekly liturgy on Sunday, the first day of the
  week, since the time of Paul and the other
  apostles (long before Constantine almost 300
  years later).

77
Acts 207

• On the first day of the week we came together to
  break bread.

78
Justin Martyr quote

• The early church father, Justin Martyr (100-165
  A.D.), confirms that the 2nd Century church
  continued to meet on Sunday well before the time
  of Constantine
• And on the day called Sunday there is a
  gathering together in one place of all those who
  live in cities or in the country, and the memoirs
  of the apostles or the writings of the prophets
  are read

79
The TRUTH

• In summary, it is a false claim to say that
  Christianity is a compilation of pagan religions.
  The truth is that many pagan religions imitated
  Christianity.

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FALSE CLAIM 2

• Nobody worshipped Jesus as God before the Roman
  Emperor, Constantine, made it mandatory. Jesus
  is simply a mortal man, not the Son of God.

81
Excerpt from DVC

• Constantine turned Jesus into a deity who
  existed beyond the scope of the human world, an
  entity whose power was unchallengeable. It was
  all about power the early Church literally stole
  Jesus from his original followers, hijacking His
  human message, shrouding it in an impenetrable
  cloak of divinity, and using it to expand their
  own power. (page 253, DVC)

82
Excerpt from DVC

• (speaking of the Council of Nicaea, in 325 A.D.)
  My dear, Teabing declared, until that moment
  in history, Jesus was viewed by His followers as
  a mortal prophet a great and powerful man, but a
  man nonetheless. A mortal.
• Not the Son of God?
• Right, Teabing said, Jesus establishment as
  the Son of God was officially proposed and
  voted on by the Council of Nicaea. A relatively
  close vote at that. (page 253, DVC)

83
The TRUTH

• From the very beginning of Christianity, Jesus
  was worshipped as the Son of God, some 300 years
  before Constantine and the Council of Nicaea in
  325 A.D.

84
The TRUTH

• Jesus is referred to as God at least seven
  times in the New Testament, and Lord as a
  divine title many other times.

85
John 11, 14, 17-18

• In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was
  with God, and the Word was God 14The 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 17For the law was given through Moses
  grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. 18No
  one has ever seen God, but God the One and Only,
  who is at the Father's side, has made him known.

86
Reliability of text

• This segment of the gospel of John has been
  discovered and carbon-dated at 175-225 A.D.
• This is forensic evidence, scientific proof if
  you will, that Jesus was clearly believed to be
  God at least 100 years before Constantine and the
  Council of Nicaea in 325 A.D.

87
John 2027-28

• Then he said to Thomas, "Put your finger here
  see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into
  my side. Stop doubting and believe." 28Thomas
  said to him, "My Lord and my God!
• The Apostle Thomas clearly worshipped Jesus as
  God.

88
Early Church Fathers

• Not only the Apostles, but also many of the most
  famous 1st and 2nd century church fathers
  recorded the same belief long before
  Constantine and the Council of Nicaea in 325 A.D.

89
Justin Martyr

• Justin Martyr wrote of Christ, being the
  first-begotten Word of God, is even God. (First
  Apology, Ch. 63)

90
Irenaeus

• Irenaeus (A.D. 130-200) wrote about Christ, our
  Lord, and God, and Saviour, and King. (Irenaeus,
  Against Heresies, bk. 1, ch. 10)

91
Clement of Alexandria

• Clement of Alexandria wrote, truly most manifest
  Deity, He that is made equal to the Lord of the
  universe because he was his Son. (Clement of
  Alexandria, Exhortation to the Heathen, ch. 10)

92
Ignatius of Antioch

• Ignatius of Antioch wrote, For our God, Jesus
  Christ, was, according to the appointment of God,
  conceived in the womb by Mary, of the seed of
  David, but by the Holy Ghost. (Ignatius of
  Antioch, Letter to the Smyrneans, 10)

93
The early Christians worshipped Jesus as God

• Even non-Christian writings from Romans such as
  Celsus, Pliny and Lucian state that the
  Christians worshipped Jesus as God.

94
The TRUTH

• Constantine did not turn Jesus into a deity in
  order to give the church more power. That is a
  false claim. The truth is that Jesus was
  worshipped as God by the Apostles and the early
  Christian church since the very beginning of
  Christianity, and that worship has continued to
  this day.

95
1 John 222

• Who is the liar? It is the man who denies that
  Jesus is the Christ

96
FALSE CLAIM 3

• The four Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke and John)
  were personally selected by Constantine in 325
  A.D. at the Council of Nicaea, to be included in
  the Bible because they were the only gospels that
  emphasized Jesus divinity and downplayed his
  humanity.

97
Excerpt from DVC

• Aha! Teabing burst in with enthusiasm. The
  fundamental irony of Christianity! The Bible, as
  we know it today, was collated by the pagan Roman
  emperor Constantine the Great. (page 251, DVC)

98
Excerpt from DVC

• More than eighty gospels were considered for the
  New Testament, and yet only a relative few were
  chosen for inclusion Matthew, Mark, Luke and
  John among them. (page 251, DVC)

99
Excerpt from DVC

• Constantine commissioned and financed a new
  Bible, which omitted those gospels that spoke of
  Christs human traits and embellished those
  gospels that made Him godlike. The earlier
  gospels were outlawed, gathered up, and burned.
  (page 254, DVC)

100
The TRUTH

• Dr. Erwin Lutzer, author of The Da Vinci
  Deception says Constantine did not decide
  which books would be in the canon indeed, the
  topic of the canon did not even come up at the
  Council of Nicaea. By that time the early church
  was reading a canon of books it had determined
  was the Word of God two hundred years earlier.

101
The TRUTH

• The early church father, Origin, writing 75-100
  years before the time of Constantine and the
  Council of Nicaea, writes, Nevertheless, among
  all these we have approved solely what the church
  has recognized, which is that only the four
  gospels should be accepted.

102
The TRUTH

• The early church father, Irenaeus, only about 100
  years after the four orthodox gospels were
  written, referred to them in his book, Against
  Heresies, saying that it was fitting that she
  (the church) should have four pillars. Later on
  he speaks of them as the Gospels in quadriform.
  (Ch. 3.11.8)

103
Josh McDowell

• The four New Testament Gospels were written
  within 10 to 40 years after Jesus death and
  resurrection by those who were either
  eyewitnesses or gathered the records of
  eyewitnesses. The historical record makes clear
  that the early Gospel accounts were accepted very
  early on in the canon of Scripture.

104
Seen Elvis lately?

• Dr. Erwin Lutzer writes in The Da Vinci
  Deception The Da Vinci Codes assertion that
  Constantine tampered with the Scriptures or
  excluded certain books is bogus As fabrications
  go, The Da Vinci Code is right up there with
  Elvis sightings.

105
FALSE CLAIM 4

• The Gnostic gospels (referred to as the Sangreal
  documents in the DVC) are written by the early
  followers of Jesus, and implied to have been
  written in a similar time frame to the orthodox
  gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke and John).

106
Excerpt from DVC

• The Sangreal documents simply tell the other
  side of Christs story. (they are) the Purist
  Documents thousands of pages of unaltered,
  pre-Constantine documents, written by the early
  followers of Jesus, revering Him as a wholly
  human teacher and prophet. (page 277, DVC)

107
The TRUTH

• The Gnostic gospels were forgeries claiming to
  be written by the apostles, but actually written
  by imposters over 100 years later.

108
New Testament scholarNorman Geisler

• New Testament scholar Norman Geisler writes, The
  Gnostic writings were not written by the
  apostles, but by men in the second century (and
  later) pretending to use apostolic authority to
  advance their own teachings. Today we call this
  fraud and forgery.

109
John McMannersThe Oxford History of
Christianity

• John McManners writes in The Oxford History of
  Christianity about Gnosticism Gnosticism was
  (and still is) a theosophy (a philosophy based on
  intuition) with many ingredients. Occultism and
  oriental mysticism became fused with astrology,
  magic They collected sayings of Jesus shaped to
  fit their own interpretation (as in the Gospel of
  Thomas)...

110
Irenaeus

• Irenaeus, (AD 130-200), commenting about how the
  Gnostics used the Bible in his day, said that it
  is like taking a beautiful picture of a king and
  reassembling it to become a picture of a fox.
  (Dr. Erwin Lutzer, Jesus, Lover of a Womans
  Soul)

111
The TRUTH

• No wonder the Apostles, the early church fathers,
  and every serious Bible scholar since, has
  recognized the Gnostic writings as counterfeit
  Christianity. And yet, they are the primary
  sources for Dan Browns conspiracy theory.

112
The Gnostic Gospels?Lets be careful where we
get our information
113
FALSE CLAIM 5

• Jesus and Mary Magdalene were married.

114
Excerpt from DVC

• As I said earlier, the marriage of Jesus and
  Mary Magdalene is part of the historical record.
  (page 265, DVC)

115
The TRUTH

• The speculation that Jesus and Mary Magdalene
  were married or romantically involved at all is a
  complete fabrication, and certainly not part of
  the historical record as author Dan Brown
  asserts.

116
Josh MCDowell

• First and foremost, there is no historical
  evidence supporting the marriage of Christ and
  Mary Magdalene, or that they had a child.

117
The TRUTH

• There is a single verse in a Gnostic writing
  (The Gospel of Philip not written by Philip)
  that says Jesus kissed Mary. But greeting
  friends with a holy kiss was common in the Bible
  (1 Corinthians 1620 Greet one another with a
  holy kiss), and had no sexual connotation. But
  even if that is what this Gnostic gospel writer
  had in mind, the Gospel of Philip is a forged
  document, written 150-220 years after Christ by
  an unknown author. So, its statement about Jesus
  isnt historically accurate, and there is no
  other historical document to confirm this theory.

118
Newsweek Magazine

• A Newsweek magazine article that summarized
  leading scholars opinions concluded that the
  theory that Jesus and Mary Magdalene were
  secretly married has no historical basis.
  (Barbara Kantrowitz and Anne Underwood, Decoding
  the Da Vinci Code, Newsweek, December 8, 2003,
  pg. 54)

119
FALSE CLAIM 6

• God has a powerful female equal named
  Shekinah, and to experience wholeness with this
  deity, men must have sex with temple prostitutes
  as a pathway to union with God.

120
Excerpt from DVC

• Early Jews believed that the Holy of Holies in
  Solomons Temple housed not only God but also His
  powerful female equal, Shekinah. Men seeking
  spiritual wholeness came to the Temple to visit
  priestesses or hierodules with whom they made
  love and experienced the divine through physical
  union. The Jewish tetragrammaton YHWH the
  sacred name of God in fact derived from
  Jehovah, an androgynous physical union between
  the masculine Jah and the pre-Hebraic name for
  Eve, Havah. (page 336, DVC)

121
The TRUTH

• Shekinah? Advocating sex with temple
  prostitutes? Are you kidding? (No, Dan Brown is
  not kidding.)

122
Josh McDowell

• Shekinah is A term referring to the glory of
  God. The idea that this term is paired with the
  name of God, Yahweh, so that a male (Yahweh) and
  female (Shekinah) counterpart exists with God, is
  simple fabrication.

123
Josh McDowell

• Again, it is apparent that Dan Browns facts
  behind his fiction are in many cases exactly
  opposite of the truth.

124
Josh McDowell

• Yes, there was a problem in Jewish history with
  temple prostitution, but this was clearly against
  the Law of Moses, the prophets, and Jewish
  tradition. It was actually the adoption of
  Canaanite rituals, which Moses sternly warned
  them against (Deuteronomy 2317-18).

125

• What would Moses say about polytheism and temple
  prostitution today?!

126
FALSE CLAIM 7

• The Bible is not inspired by God, and the New
  Testament is historically inaccurate and
  therefore unreliable.

127
Excerpt from DVC

• The Bible is a product of man, my dear. Not of
  God. (page 250, DVC)
• presenting to the world thousands of ancient
  documents as scientific evidence that the New
  Testament in false testimony the New Testament
  is based on fabrications. (page 369, DVC)

128
The TRUTH

• The Bible is definitely inspired by God, and the
  New Testament has been proven to be historically
  accurate and therefore completely reliable.

129
Dr. John Oakes

• On the inspiration of the Bible, a lot more can
  be said. The historical accuracy of the Bible is
  only a tiny fraction of the evidence for biblical
  inspiration. I will again refer you to my book,
  and also three others I have written, all
  available at www.ipibooks.com. My book From
  Shadow to Reality is jam packed with prophetical
  information which proves beyond a reasonable
  doubt that the Bible is inspired by God. Is
  There a God is on the evidence from science for
  inspiration of the Bible. The prophecies of the
  Messiah in the Old Testament provide wonderful
  proof of the inspiration of the Bible. I suggest
  the article at my web site titled Prophecies in
  the Old Testament Predict Events in the Life of
  Jesus of Nazareth for details on this topic

130
Dr. John Oakes, continued

• In addition, there is the overwhelming evidence
  supporting the actual, historical resurrection of
  Jesus. If Jesus was resurrected from the dead,
  then the entire gospel message is confirmed, and
  the inspiration of the Bible is strongly
  supported. I suggest an article at my web site
  titled The Resurrection of Jesus for more
  information on that. I could go on almost
  indefinitely. The internal consistency of the
  Bible, the lack of contradiction, the evidence
  for the miracles of Jesus, the non-messianic
  prophecies and so forth

131
Dr. John Oakes, continued

• The evidence for the inspiration of the Bible is
  simply overwhelming--so much so that there is no
  excuse for not accepting that the Bible is indeed
  the Word of God.

132
Josh McDowell

• Using the accepted standard for evaluating the
  textual reliability of ancient texts, the New
  Testament stands alone. It has no equal. No
  other book of the ancient world can even approach
  the reliability of the New Testament.
• For further study see handouts

133
FALSE CLAIM 8

• That the term heretic was born at the Council
  of Nicaea in 325 A.D. and referred to those who
  chose the forbidden gospels over Constantines
  version (DVC).

134
Excerpt from DVC

• An interesting note, Langdon added. Anyone
  who chose the forbidden gospels over
  Constantines version was deemed a heretic. The
  word heretic derives from that moment in
  history. (page 254, DVC)

135
Josh McDowell

• The term, heresy actually dates back several
  centuries prior to Constantine It was not
  Constantine who branded the Gnostic beliefs as
  heretical it was the apostles themselves.

136
2 Peter 21

• But there were also false prophets among the
  people, just as there will be false teachers
  among you. They will secretly introduce
  destructive heresies, even denying the sovereign
  Lord who bought thembringing swift destruction
  on themselves.

137
FALSE CLAIM 9

• Author Dan Brown asserts that Christianity
  demonized Mary Magdalene in order to suppress her
  influence.

138
The TRUTH

• Amy Welborn, in her USA Today article, 5 Biggest
  Flaws in Da Vinci, points out that Mary
  Magdalene is a saint. In every Gospel, she (Mary
  Magdelene) is cited as the first person to find
  the empty tomb. She was the second-most revered
  saint of the Middle Ages, after Mary, Jesus
  mother. Thats an odd way to demonize.

139
The TRUTH

• Ironically, the Gnostic Gospel of Thomas, one
  of Dan Browns primary sources for his allegation
  of sexism in the orthodox gospels, has passages
  in it that thoroughly demean women.

140
From The Gospel of Thomas

• (supposedly quoting Peter) Let Mary go away from
  us, because women are not worthy of life.
• Then Jesus allegedly tells Peter that he will
  make Mary male so that she may enter the kingdom
  of heaven.
• Not much of a battle cry for womens rights, and
  yet the Gospel of Thomas is one of the primary
  sources for Dan Browns feminist agenda.

141
FALSE CLAIM 10

• That the secret society known as the Priory of
  Sion actually existed in medieval times and had
  the noble task of protecting the bloodline of
  Christ.

142
Excerpts from DVC

• The Priory of Sion a European secret society
  founded in 1099 is a real organization The
  modern Priory of Sion has a momentous duty they
  must nurture and protect the bloodline of Christ
  (page 279).

143
The TRUTH

• The modern Priory of Sion was created in 1956
  by Pierre Plantard. All documents proving a
  bloodline and a list of historical Priory
  members (such as Leonardo Da Vinci) were proven
  to be forged by a French court of law.

144
Excerpt from the Wikipedia Encyclopedia on The Da
Vinci Code

• In 2005, UK TV personality Tony Robinson edited
  and narrated a detailed rebuttal of the main
  arguments of Dan Brown The Real Da Vinci Code,
  shown on British TV Channel 4. The programme
  featured lengthy interviews with many of the main
  protagonists cited by Brown as absolute fact in
  the Da Vinci Code

145
Excerpt from the Wikipedia Encyclopedia on The Da
Vinci Code, continued

• Arnaud de Sede, son of Gerrard de Sede, stated
  categorically that his father and Plantard had
  made up the existence of the Priory de Sion, the
  cornerstone of the Jesus bloodline theory to
  quote Arnaud de Sede in the programme, frankly
  it was piffle Detailed analysis of many other
  claims in the Da Vinci Code in the programme
  showed them to be unverifiable or unhistorical.

146
Josh McDowell

• Browns Priory of Sion was really a creation
  of forged documents The most important strand in
  the central plot of The Da Vinci Code, then, is
  a total hoax.

147
Seek the real TRUTH

• 1 John 519-21
• We know that we are children of God, and that
  the whole world is under the control of the evil
  one. 20We know also that the Son of God has come
  and has given us understanding, so that we may
  know him who is true. And we are in him who is
  trueeven in his Son Jesus Christ. He is the true
  God and eternal life. 21Dear children, keep
  yourselves from idols.

148
Seek the real TRUTH

• Verse 19 the whole world is under the control
  of the evil one.
• Satan is the real conspirator

149
Seek the real TRUTH

• Verse 20 Jesus Christ. He is the true God
• Jesus is the true God

150
Seek the real TRUTH

• Verse 21 Dear children, keep yourselves from
  idols.
• An idol is anything worshipped that is not the
  one, true God.
• Worship the one, true God of the Bible

151
The Da Vinci CodeThe Real Conspiracy Revealed