1	The Dan Brown Agenda “Everyone loves a conspiracy.”
2	What is The Da Vinci Code? This is Dan Brown’s second novel which features the character Robert Langdon (a symbologist) Brown claims his novel is accurately based on facts Over 40 million copies have been sold Dan Brown’s best-seller has been adapted to a movie by Ron Howard and Akiva Goldsman The hyped-up media attention has book customers: Doubting the historical Jesus & Suspicious of His message carried-on by the New Testament Church Dan Brown’s novel has spawned: Misconceptions, Misinformation, and Misinterpretations
3	Our Outline for Today: Examine the claims made by the best-selling author of the Da Vinci Code, Dan Brown Point-out the glaring “misstatements made by Dan Brown’s characters” Correct these inaccuracies with Observations from: Historians, Curators, eminent Instructors, & reliable Writers. Know where the faithful Skeptic can appeal to concerning: Culture, History, Artwork, Architecture, Documents, and the Teachings of the ancient historical Church.
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6	Myth #1: Leonardo da Vinci was known as & is presently referred to as: “Da Vinci” Leonardo da Vinci was simply known as Leonardo. “Da Vinci” is not a last name at all. “da Vinci” means “of Venice” (Italy)
7	Myth #2: The “Professor of Religious Symbology” at Harvard University There is no such thing as a “symbologist” Dr. Karen L. King is Harvard University’s Winn Professor of Ecclesiastical History She has remarked about “Langdon’s nonexistent field of symbology”
8	Myth #3: The marriage of Jesus and Mary Magdalene “kept recurring in the gospels” and “is a matter of historical record.” This item is not found in the New Testament. None of the Apostolic Fathers mention this. Though Dan Brown’s appeal to the Gnostic “gospels” is althroughout his novel, these noncanonical gospels are silent and has yielded no results on the claim of “marriage”
9	Myth #4: The Dead Sea Scrolls were discovered in the 1950’s and they are one of the earliest Christian records. Dead Sea Scrolls were discovered in 1947. These Scrolls are dated from about 200 BC The Dead Sea Scrolls are the work of a Jewish sect (the Essenes) , not of Christians This means that these cannot called ‘The earliest Christian records.’
10	Myth #5: The Nag Hammadi library is one of the earliest Christian records. Nag Hammadi reflects a 3rd Century world-view This cache of books were composed by the Gnostics The Nag Hammadi documents, which Dan Brown confidently quotes, cannot be described as the earliest. It’s old, but it’s not old enough. Gnosticism is not the church of the 1st Century
11	Myth #6: “The Bible, as we know it today, was collated by . . . Constantine.” Constantine had nothing to do with the forming of the canon of Scripture. The earliest extant list of the books of the New Testament, in exactly the number and order in which we presently have them, is written by St. Athanasius (Bishop of Alexandria) in his Easter letter of 367. Pope Damasus at the Synod of Rome (AD 382) The Synods of : Hippo (Algeria) on AD 393, and Carthage (Tunisia) on AD 397 and AD 419.
12	Myth #7: “More than eighty gospels were considered for the New Testament.” Concerning gospels, at most four were employed by: St. Clement, Bishop of Rome (circa AD 97) St. Ignatius, Bishop of Antioch (c. AD 105). St. Polycarp, Bishop of Smyrna (AD 100-110). St. Justin Martyr in his defense “Apology” (130-63) St. Irenæus of Lyons “Against Heresies” c. AD182 “The number 80 is pure fiction. The actual number of documents that can accurately be described as gospels is far smaller.”
13	Myth #8: The Council of Nicea (in AD 325) invented the divinity of Jesus. The New Testament writers: St. Paul and others taught the deity of Christ almost immediately (Romans 9:5; Titus 2:13; Hebrews 1:8-9; 2 Peter 1:1; 1 John 5:20), as did the Gospels (John 1:1; 1:18; 8:58; 10:30; 20:28). The early Christian Apologists: St. Ignatius of Antioch (35-107), Justin Martyr (100-165), St. Clement of Alexandria (150-215), Tertullian (160-225), Origen (185-254), and St. Hippolytus (170-236) all continued teaching Jesus’ divinity. Thus it was an established belief before AD 50. The early Church Fathers (St. Clement of Rome, St. Ignatius of Antioch, Justin Martyr, et al.) continued this teaching The Council, however, condemned the teachings of Arius
14	Myth #9: Constantine commanded & controlled the Council of Nicea. Constantine called for a general (or “ecumenical”) council to be held in Nicea. He did not run it nor monopolized it: Hosius the Bishop of Cordoba (Spain) presided Eusebius the Bishop of Caesarea (Palestine) gave one of the first opening addresses Though Sylvester the Bishop of Rome was called to decide the Arian question, but due to illness he sent two papal legates: Victor and Vincentius About 300 bishops participated in the council. Nicea condemned the teachings of Arius. (cf. Galatians1:6-9) All but two approved the definition of Jesus’ divinity. Note: It was not a “close vote” as Dan Brown claims: p.233
15	Myth #10: “Christianity honored the Jewish Sabbath of Saturday, but Constantine shifted it to coincide with the pagan’s veneration day of the sun.” The New Testament Church met on Sunday so to commemorate Jesus’ resurrection: Matthew 28:1-5, Acts of the Apostles 20:7, 1 Corinthians 16:1-2 Early Church Fathers concurred: Didache 14 [AD 70], Letter of Barnabas 15:6–8 [AD 74], Ignatius of Antioch (Letter to the Magnesians 8 [AD 110]), Tertullian (An Answer to the Jews 2 [AD 203]), (Didascalia 2 [AD 225]), Origen (Commentary on John 2:28 [AD 229]), et al., . . . Today’s historical Churches continue this tradition
16	Myth #11: The Church denounces, down-grades, & dismisses Mary Magdalene. Mary Magdalene followed Jesus throughout She was present at Jesus’ Crucifixion and Burial Later, she went to the tomb on to annoint His body She was the first to see the Risen Lord She announced His Resurrection to the apostles Accordingly, she is referred to in early Christian writings as "the apostle to the apostles" The historical Churches recognizes Mary Magdalene as a canonized Saint; therefore, . . . the Church honors her as a role-model of faith
17	Myth #12: Clement V had his soldiers arrest all the Templars. They were charged, tortured, burned, & had their ashes tossed into the Tiber River in Rome The grim King Philip IV of France (1285-1314) had his royal French officials did the arresting in 1307 Manipulated by King Philip, the weak Pope Clement V (a Frenchman) dissolved the Templars in 1312 Clement burned no one in Rome (Italy): Clement V was the first pope to reign from Avignon in France (so much for the ashes in the Tiber; either the Tiber was diverted hundreds of miles, or Clement had a good throwing arm)
18	Myth #13: God’s Hebrew name “YHWH” (“Yahweh”) came from the word “Jehovah” Dan Brown has it backwards. YHWH (Yahweh) is the Hebrew name of God (see God's declaration to Moses in Exodus 3:14, "I AM") Note: ancient Hebrew employed consonants with no vowel-characters “Jehovah” is from an erroneous conflation of two Hebrew references to God: YHWH and Adonai “Jehovah” is from a bad mix of: the vowels from Adonai (Lord) with the consonants from Yahweh. English e.g.,Mix the Consonants “bldg” & vowels of “house” (Is this OK?) Scholars in the 16th century, not knowing this system, rendered the name for God "JeHoVaH" [using J for Y and V for W].
19	Myth #14: The Priory of Sion -a European secret society founded in 1099- is a real organization This “Priory of Sion” was a hoax by Pierre Plantard Plantard founded the Priory of Sion in the 1950s Pierre Plantard and his associates planted forged documents in the Bibliotheque Nationale (Paris, France) so to make his group historical in origin his Priory is basically a right-wing French political hoax perpetrated by a group headed Pierre Plantard, a former Vichy French organizer of anti-Semitic and anti-Masonic groups
20	Myth #15: Monks of the Opus Dei organization with its headquarters is in New York city. Opus Dei is a lay-person organization which means it’s not a religious order of monks The headquarters of Opus Dei is in Rome
21	Myth #16: In this novel, all descriptions of architecture are accurate: Westminster Abbey The Abbey has towers, not spires Parliament cannot be seen from St James’ Park College Garden is an extremely private place, not ‘a very public place’ outside the Abbey’s walls (p.527) You cannot look out into College Garden from the Chapter House Nor is there a ‘long hallway’ leading to the latter, with a ‘heavy wooden door’ at the end (p.529)
22	Myth #17: In this novel, all descriptions of Art are accurate. Leonardo had ‘hundreds of lucrative Vatican commissions’ (p. 45). Actually he had just one, but it’s incomplete Leonardo made an ‘enormous output of breathtaking Christian art’ (p. 45). Reality: Less than thirty-two. Leonardo’s the Last Supper is a fresco (p. 235), but it’s not. It is tempera on stone. “A centerpiece of Brown’s theory is the contention that Mary Magdalene is depicted next to Jesus in Leonardo’s The Last Supper. Since there are thirteen figures in the painting (Jesus and twelve others), that leaves us wondering who was absent that day. The answer is surely, ‘no one’: John was traditionally shown as a young and delicate person. And whereas Brown sees him/her with breasts, I am unable to locate them, certainly not in the customary place.”
23	Myth #18: The Bible diminishes women’s dignity: Nothing feminine is sacred Homemaker: Psalm 123:1f, cf. Proverbs 31:21. Nursing: Isaiah 49:15, cf. Num 11:12 & 1 Peter 2:2f Midwife: Isaiah 66:9, Ps. 22:9f, Jn16:21,17:1, Rom 8:26-29, cf. Gal 5:22 Baker Woman: Matthew 13:33, Luke 13:20f. Female Pelican: Psalm 102 Mother Bear: Hosea 13:8, cf. 2 Sm17:8, Prv17:2, 2 Kings 2:24 Mother Eagle: Dt32:11f, Job39:27-30, cf. Ex.19:4 Mother Hen: Mt13:33, Lk13:34 Dame Wisdom: Prv1:24-27, Sirach24:3,24:4;cf. Ex 16:10, 16:10.
24	Myth #19: The Church denies women of their dignity: Nothing feminine is sacred Mary, Mother of Jesus: “the Mother of My Lord” Lk1:43 Mother Theresa of Calcutta: Social Action against all odds: War, govts, Saint Catherine of Siena (Rebuked a hypocritical pope) St. Mary of Egypt : overcame abysmal hurdles thru Jesus St. Thérèse of Lisieux (Christian mystic & Doctor of the Church) Saints Perpetua, Felicitas, and their Companions: Martyrs St. Macrina the Younger : sister of the Cappadocian Fathers St. Teresa of Avila : her insights into prayer are unparalleled St. Mary Magdalene (first to witness the Risen Lord)
25	So it may be said that: “We view The Da Vinci Code as a work of speculative fiction, and at its heart, it's a thriller, not a religious tract.” -Jim Kennedy, a senior vice president at Sony
26	Kindly Remember the Publisher’s Page:
27	Kindly Note:
28	Any Questions? “Everybody loves a conspiracy, but nobody likes to be duped.”
29	For Further Reading: Donald Senior (gen. ed.). The Catholic Study Bible. New York, NY: Oxford University Press, 2002 Peter E. Gillquist, Alan Wallerstedt, Joseph Allen, and St. Athanasius Orthodox Academy (Santa Barbara, California). The Orthodox Study Bible. Nashville, Tennessee: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1993. Mary R. Thompson. Mary of Magdala: Apostle and Leader. Mahwah, New Jersey: Paulist Press, 1995. Joanne Turpin. Twelve Apostolic Women. Cincinnati, Ohio: St. Anthony Messenger Press, 2004. Leonard Swidler. Biblical Affirmations of Woman. Philadelphia, Penn: Westminster Press, 1979 Jo Ann Kay McNamara. Sisters in Arms: Catholic Nuns Through Two Millennia. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press, 1996. Virginia Ramey Mollenkott. Divine Feminine. New York, New York: Crossroad Press, 1994 Amy Welborn. De-Coding Da Vinci: The Facts Behind the Fiction of The Da Vinci Code. Huntington, Indiana: Our Sunday Visitor, 2005. Sandra Miesel and Carl E. Olson. The Da Vinci Hoax: Exposing the Errors in The Da Vinci Code. San Francisco, California: Ignatius Press, 2004. Nancy de Flon and John Vidmar, OP. 101 Questions & Answers on The Da Vinci Code and the Catholic Tradition. Mahwah, New Jersey: Paulist Press, 2006. Bart D. Ehrman. Truth and Fiction in The Da Vinci Code: A Historian Reveals What We Really Know about Jesus, Mary Magdalene, and Constantine. New York, New York: Oxford University Press, 2004. Leo Donald Davis. The First Seven Ecumenical Councils (325-787): Their History and Theology (Theology and Life Series 21). Wilmington, Delaware: Michael Glazier, Inc., 1983. Aidan Nichols. Rome and the Eastern Churches. Collegeville, Minnesota: Liturgical Press, 1992. Bart Ehrman. Lost Scriptures: Books That Did Not Make It Into The New Testament. NY: Oxford, 2003 Philip Jenkins. Hidden Gospels: How the Search for Jesus Lost Its Way. NY: Oxford Univ Press, 2001 Eamon Duffy. Saints and Sinners: A History of the Popes. New Haven, CT:Yale University Press, 1999