The Da Vinci Code

Up until now, I had managed to avoid the hype of the Dan Brown's The Da Vinci Code, despite the overwhelming amount of press it had generated when it was first released. However, at my cousin's insistance, I finally read the novel. It was much as I had anticipated. I enjoy history very much and religious history has always fascinated me. Christianity was born of Judaism and, yet, Christians have persecuted the Jews for nearly 2000 years. That has always amazed me. Anyway, I'll spare you of delving into that and sticking with the revelations made in The Da Vinci Code.

Essentially, the entire book revolves around the premise that a secret society is entrusted with maintaining proof that Jesus Christ was merely a mortal prophet...born of Mary but not of a virgin birth. That bombshell in itself would be enough to shake the Christian Church to its core. However, they take it a step further by claiming that Jesus married Mary Magdalene and she bore him a child, thereby creating a bloodline that exists to this day. Direct descendents of Christ...this is certainly blasphemy in the eyes of the Church. The book claims that, in order to establish the current Church, the Vatican turned Christ into the immortal Son of God and disgraced the name of Mary Magdalene and disavowed any knowledge of a possible marriage or child. In addition, they sought to destroy any evidence of Christ's mortality and, essentially, did everything in their power to destroy the view of Woman as a goddess and instead recast her as inherently evil. This goes against everything that had been established before the reign of Pope Constantine...pagan religions had always considered woman as a goddess to be worshipped and praised.

The story turns into a search for the Holy Grail. Not the grail that many think...a chalice that He drank from before being crucified...but, instead, evidence that He was born of a normal birth, married a woman and had a child, thereby creating a mortal Jesus.

Fascinating...it truly is. And, it would be easy to get caught up in the entire story. As evidence, they point to paintings, sculptues and music and the symbolism they contain. The creators were clearly sending messages about the true nature of Jesus...or this is what Dan Brown would have you believe. This is where I have problem. The author claims, as many do, that Da Vinci hid many messages about the Holy Grail and Mary and the secret society in his paintings. Perhaps he did...but how can one be certain?

After every major event, people find occurrences that, supposedly, indicated the event would occur if we looked closer. September 11, 2001 is a prime example. People claimed that Nostradamus predicted the attacks would occur in his prophecies in the 16th century. Others claimed they had broken a Bible Code that accurately predicted the 9/11 attacks along with several other world events. Once again, all these things foreseen post-event. There's no way of telling for sure if these were really predicted or just simple coincidence. Look at the coincidences between the assassinations of Kennedy and Lincoln...lists that go around to claim some type of divine connection. But, the fact is, similar coincidences can be found between many events and people in life...and that's all they are.

It is impossible to say Da Vinci was sending messages to us in his paintings without him clearly telling us he was...and, since he has been gone for a long time, that will never happen. Perhaps it is a message of a secret society and the secret the church has hidden from us. Perhaps it is mere coincidence. Or, perhaps, it is a message that we are completely misinterpreting. Who can say for sure?

The Da Vinci Code is a terrific mystery tale, but nothing more. No proof of any coverup by the church. I, however, found it inspiring and went out today to purchase additional materials about the books chosen to make the modern Bible and why several were discared. I also purchased a novel about the Knights Templar and the Crusades. I'm sure I will be making more posts about the Bible and religion in the future since my interest has been piqued.

In closing, whether you believe Christ was immortal, born of the virgin Mary and the Son of God, or merely a prophet, we should agree that His teachings are a blessing and the world would be a better place if everyone lived by them.