Dan Brown does have a “FACT” page at the beginning of his novel where he makes statements regarding the “Priory of Sion,” the “Lex Dossiers Secrets,” and the Roman Catholic lay organization “Opus Dei.” He ends this page with the statement: “All descriptions of artwork, architecture, documents, and secret rituals in this novel are accurate.” In an interview on his website he states: “While the book's characters and their actions are obviously not real, the artwork, architecture, documents, and secret rituals depicted in this novel all exist.”# There is a difference between “exists” and “are accurate.”# Mr. Brown does distance himself from the ancient theories claimed by the characters, saying that he leaves the interpretation of these to the reader. # Nevertheless, these “theories” are stated by the characters as historical fact that supposedly is well documented.

The careful reader should therefore be aware that while there are historical items mentioned in this novel, the “accuracy” of these items is frequently questionable and is challenged by professional historians. Mr. Brown claims to have spent up to a year in research for this book, and credits some of the sources or places of his research in the “Acknowledgments” page at the very beginning. No doubt he did do research for this book. However, again we must note that the accuracy of many of his facts are in question. This is NOT AN HISTORCIALLY ACCURATE BOOK. It is fiction, pure and simple, especially in regards to the person and history of Jesus Christ. These facts he misrepresents in the worst way. Unfortunately, for a work that supposedly uses history in a f ictional context such as many historical novels are known to do, it fails here on many points.

2.) What, specifically, are some of the historical and biblical facts that Dan Brown misrepresents or gets wrong?

--The origin and modern version of the Priory of Sion
--The origin of the Knights Templar
--The Holy Grail as Mary Magdalene
--That the church worships on Sunday because Constantine shifted the day from Saturday to coincide with pagan’s veneration of the sun
--The documents known as ‘Les dossiers Secrets’ and their forged claims
--That Constantine was a lifelong pagan who was instrumental in putting the New Testament together; that he commissioned and financed a “new Bible”
--That the early Christians thought Jesus was only a man until the Council of Nicea made him into a “god”; that his divinity was the result of a vote
--That Mary Magdalene married Jesus and together they had a child
That the line of Merovingian kings in France is directly descended from Jesus and Mary
--That early Jewish tradition involved ritualistic sex, and in the Temple, no less
--That the divine name of God - Yahweh - is derived from Jehovah, which is “an androgynous physical union between the masculine Jah and the pre-Hebraic name for Eve, Havah
--That Leonardo Da Vinchi was a goddess-worshiper
--That the figure next to Jesus in the “Last Supper” by Da Vinci is Mary Magdalene and not John
--That Jesus entrusted the leadership of the church to Mary Magdalene
--That the Dead Sea Scrolls contain a gospel or anything in reference to Jesus
--That the Dead Sea Scrolls were discovered in the 1950’s
--That more than 80 gospels were considered for the New Testament
--That during three hundred years of “witch hunts” (1400-1800) the church burned at the state five million women
--That the world was once dominated by goddess-based worship

3.) If this is simply a work of fiction, why are Christians so ‘up in arms’ about it? What’s the big deal?

The Da Vinci Code has proven to be a multi-million copy blockbuster in sales. 40 million copies were sold before it even went into paperback. And now, with it going into the cinema as a major movie with household name stars, millions more will absorb the story, including those who will have never read the book. An obscure lie is one thing, but a widely-published one is another. Unfortunately the church has faced two problems because of this: 1.) The misinformation that discredits the church in the minds of unbelievers and potential inquirers, and 2.) Confusion among the faithful as they read claims that are completely counter to what they have heard and learned their whole life.

As Dr. Paul Maier said: “What about seekers, non-Christians, and even Christians with little knowledge of history? Some are believing the Code’s falsehoods and therefore disbelieving Christianity. That’s the danger and the tragedy.”#

In the dialogue of the characters not only is Christ’s divinity denied, but the truthfulness and divine authorship of the Bible as well. These are foundational for Christianity, and for the salvation of those who believe in Christ.

4.) The novel brings up the issue of the many other “gospels” that were ultimately rejected by the church, yet supposedly contain information about Jesus. Why is this?

The so-called other gospels to which the novel refers# are later works far removed from the time of the events of Jesus’ life. Yes, the church was aware of them. And yes, they rejected them. But as an attempt to cover up embarrassing information that called into question the truth of the Gospels we know in the Bible? Not at all. The church was aware of the honored antiquity of the original four gospels we now have in the Bible. These were used and known by many in the Christian community during the lifetime of those who were eye witnesses of the events of Jesus’ life. That cannot be claimed for the other so-called gospels, which were penned hundreds of years after the events occurred.

Alex McFarland wrote: “The "gospels" to which Brown refers are the Gnostic gospels. They were written from about 250-350 A.D., several hundred years after Christ lived. They were written to reinterpret the life of Christ and His teachings, based upon Gnostic philosophy. There were never as many as 80, and they were never considered for inclusion in the New Testament.
Matthew, Mark, Luke and John were accepted in the 1st century based upon their authorship and their use in the early Christian centers of Jerusalem, Antioch, Alexandria and Rome. The Gnostic gospels appeared after most of the New Testament was already in use and accepted by the Church. Eusebius, the first church historian, affirms that the early church rejected these gospels as soon as they appeared. #

5.) What, exactly, is the “Da Vinci CODE”?

The “code” is the elaborate system used to protect the so-called truth that Mary Magdalene was the wife of Jesus, who together formed a bloodline of ancestors which are with us today still today. Part of the “code” involves the claim that the figure to the left of Jesus in Leonardo Da Vinci’s famous painting of the Last Supper is Mary Magdalene, here pictured prominently next to Jesus as the designated leader of the Church after Jesus left.

Supposedly the truth of this marriage and bloodline was carefully guarded by a group called the Priory of Sion whose vow was to protect it from the Church’s concerted effort to silence the truth and eradicate any evidence of it. They perpetuated the story and passed it on to future generations through symbols in art and music and literature in a way that could be known, yet was discretely hidden from the critical gaze of the Church.

The story line of the book unfolds the efforts of an English historian who, in his attempt to find the so-called Sangreal documents that offer proof of Mary Magdalene as the wife of Jesus and the bearer of his child, uses intrigue and even murder to reach his goal. An American historian and French cryptographer become entangled in the story as they slowly discover the real truth of what is happening, but must remain on the run for their lives, freedom and safety. In the end the cryptographer, whose name is Sophie (from the word for “wisdom”), discovers that she is indeed a descendant of Jesus and Mary.

NOTE: The claim that Jesus married Mary Magdalene and fathered a child is completely FALSE and has no real basis in the Biblical record or in history.

6.) What motivated Dan Brown to write a book that is seemingly so anti-church and anti-Christian?

Mr. Brown does not consider his novel to be anti-Christian. He himself said:
I wrote this story in an effort to explore certain aspects of Christian history that interest me. The vast majority of devout Christians understand this fact and consider The Da Vinci Code an entertaining story that promotes spiritual discussion and debate.#

It is debatable that “the vast majority of devout Christians” understand, or rather sympathize with his real intent. In fact, it would appear that many of these “devout Christians” are reacting quite differently.

Mr. Brown obviously does not accept the beliefs of traditional Christianity and chooses instead to prefer a view that is more in tune with the pagan. He spends a great deal of time exploring the idea of the “sacred feminine” and how this must have been more in tune with early Christianity than what we have long believed. Conspiracy buffs who believe that the Church, especially the Roman Catholic Church, is controlling and manipulating, are quick to believe that the real truth of Jesus and early Christianity is probably more in line with what the church rejected long ago. The idea was that they felt threatened by these facts and attempted to cover them up in self-preservation.

Mr. Brown obviously believes that the real history of the Church and Christ is much different than what has officially come down to us. His novel appears to be an attempt to lend visibility and credibility to the other side of the story. The so-called “debate” which he is trying to foster is as old as history itself, and has had many proponents both within and outside of the church. What is unique about Brown’s approach is that he has come upon a highly effective means to spreading this “debate” to the common populace by using the vehicle of the popular suspense novel, which was also effectively employed by LaHaye with the Left Behind series.

To his credit, though, Brown does attempt, in some way, to exonerate the church and place more blame on the central villain of the story. Of Sir Teabing, whose claims in the book are admittedly the most outlandish and negative regarding Christ and the Church, he says:
“He had exploited both the Vatican and Opus Dei, two groups that turned out to be completely innocent.”#

Nevertheless, both the Roman Catholic Council of Bishops and Opus Dei have responded to Brown’s novel, refuting the many mistruths in the book that frequently place the church in a rather negative light.

This novel will undoubtedly cause more than just a debate and discussion. It will cause some to question the foundations of their faith. Whether Dan Brown intended to shake the faith of the faithful is unknown. But now that Pandora’s Box is open, there is no turning back...

Pastor Don Engebretson
The Sixth Sunday of Easter, 2006

***This text is still in the editing phase. Therefore the footnotes and have to be added.....