The Duh Vinci Code

I read The Da Vinci Code today. I guess Dan Brown did a pretty good job - for a hit piece. Once you realize what a huge ax he has to grind you can sit back and say, "O. K., let's see where he is going with it." But, like all conspiracy theorists, if you know anything at all about the subject, you come to realize he has let his agenda ruin his effort.

The principal mistake he made was in confusing his multiple premises. He asserts that Jesus was not only not divine but that the church never even considered Him divine until the mid 300's AD. The second main premise he has is that the Catholic Church is corrupt and has their own non-spiritual agenda. I believe him to be wrong on the first one and right on the second one.

I have been a student of theology for over thirty years, now. I have studied the theology of Catholicism, the Reformation, Presbyterian and Reformed Presbyterian, Baptist, Pentecostal and most other Christian sects as well as most of the other major religions of the world. I taught myself attic Greek so I could study the New testament writings in their original language and am a student of the early church as well as contemporary history of the period. I understand the genesis of the church and Apostolic times and have studied the higher and lower criticisms of the Biblical books.

Dan Brown could not have gotten it more wrong.

Yes, the Catholic Church resulted from a blending of early Christian teachings and, mostly Roman, pagan religious beliefs. The many gods of the Romans eventually blended into a lot of the Catholic saints. This served the purpose of allowing the people to continue to pray to many religious entities for specific needs. So there continued to be a god/saint for travel, and good crops, and weather, etc.

They also inserted priests between man and God, usurping the role of Jesus as sole mediator and removing man's direct access for prayer and forgiveness. They declared the Pope infallible and the living representative of Christ on earth. And they established a theocracy in Rome. Theocracies always lead to trouble for their people and their neighbors because of the absolute power syndrome.

Many cruel and un-Christian things were done in the name of the Church. Many people died as a result. And the people were kept purposely ignorant so they would need the Church. And the Catholic Church was involved in many conspiracies and cover-ups.

However, There is no doubt that Christ's contemporaries and the very early Christian Church considered Jesus divine. Paul the Apostle is the prime example. Unlike Mr. Brown's assertion that nobody even considered Christ's deity until the Nicean Council. And, yes, other gospels and letters were considered for the Canon of Scriptures but were rejected because of their inconsistencies or the histories of their authors.

His biggest mistake is in thinking that the beliefs of the Early Church (which re-emerged during the Reformation) and the Catholic Church have anything to do with each other. Christianity survived the ordeal of the Catholic Church.

So maybe Dan Brown has been able to uncover some dirt on the Catholic Church but none of it dis-proves the deity of Christ. Conspiracy theories, slander, over-stating some premises while glossing over the inconvenient ones are not proof. Shady histories of Church affiliated groups, such as the Knight Templars and the Masons for example, do not prove his point either.

All he has left are some supposed quirks in Da Vinci's art and writings and a handful of clues of his own devising. And a mediocre adventure story.

Unfortunately, most of the people reading this drivel are pre-disposed to this kind of hit piece and should really consider studying the true facts of history for themselves. But, then again, they are probably used to being told what to think.