Term Paper on "Dan Brown Da Vinci Code"

Term Paper 5 pages (1994 words) Sources: 7

[EXCERPT] . . . .

DAN BROWN SAYS ABOUT the CHURCH in the DA VINCI CODE? DOES it QUESTION the CHRISTIAN FAITH?

The objective of the following work in writing is to examine Dan Brown's book entitled "The Da Vinci Code" and determine if this work of Brown's challenges the Christian faith. This work written by Dan Brown is one that does not result in passive reactions and whether the individual reacts positively or negatively it cannot be said that passivity results from any view expressed as this work will demonstrate.

CHRISTIAN SECRET STOLEN by the ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH

It is pointed out in Drew Totter, in the work entitled: "The Da Vinci Code Phenomenon" that accusations against the Roman Catholic Church "of conspiring to keep secret some vital piece of information which debunks the foundations of Christian faith are nothing new." (2005) Trotter holds that the reason that the Da Vinci Code has turned out to be such a phenomenon is."..lack of biblical literacy in this country today." (2005) James Patrick Holding, in the work entitled: "Not Indavincible: A Review and Critique of the Da Vinci Code" states of Brown's work that it is much akin to the proverb concerning eating Chinese food only to be hungry again later. The tale is one that fails to satisfy the reader according to the critique of Holding (2003). Holding states that the search for Mary Magdalene's tomb is the Da Vinci Code's "quest for the Holy Grail" and secret documents have been hidden within the tomb, which is the 'true' gospel and is one, which has its foundation in the "feminized divine known in goddess worship."

In what Holding refers to as "another cheap trick" of Brown's is that the novel closes with the location of the tomb of Mary being found by the lead character who decides to keep it hidden and thereby "perpetuating the 'false' truths of Christianity and keeping secret the 'real' truths of the goddess that have been hidden for generations." (Holding, 2003) Holding does point out one very important fact as he notes that statement in Chapter 55: "The Bible did not arrive by fax from heaven...The Bible is the product of man, my dear. Not of God. The Bible did not fall magically from the clouds. Man created it as a historical record of tumultuous times, and it has evolved through countless translations, additions and revisions." (2003) While to an extent this might be true as stated by Holding: "The implied view being addressed - that "the Bible arrived by fax from heaven" or "dropped out of the clouds" - is a tendentious straw man. Biblical scholars and informed Christian believers do not believe that this is how God transferred the Bible to us. The inspiration of the Holy Spirit is key to the transmission of the gospel to humans. No one claims it was dropped out of the clouds, but rather it is held that God chose specific instruments from men and that the Spirit guided them." (2003) it is clearly seen that the responses to Brown's work is never passive and appears to shake people up enough to at least attempt to analyze the meanings within this work in writing.

II. FACT or FICTION

According to the experts, and even admittedly on the part of Brown, this work in writing is a fiction but Brown holds that certain facts contained within his work are the absolute truth even though these things defy all convention and all historical record relating to these supposed 'facts' presented by Brown. The work entitled: "The Da Vinci Crock" states that Brown states the belief that Jesus was married to Mary Magdalene and that they had children. While this sounds quite surreal to the dogmatic Christian one must stop and contemplate how this might be true and not that this is true necessarily, but how this could very well have been the case. Jesus was born to a Jewish family and in the Jewish faith young men, at the age Jesus was when he was baptized by John the Baptist and the Holy Spirit descended upon Jesus and he 'became the Christ' were generally married and had a family. Since Jesus did not in actuality and fullness 'take on' or 'become' the Christ until the time of his baptism, at which time God identified Jesus as his son with whom he was 'well pleased', then why is it so fantastic to believe that a young Jewish man, a carpenter by trade, would be married and have children. Furthermore, many Christians cite Jesus as being without sin and hold that therefore he could not have been married. However, why not? If Jesus were married and had children what sin would be present? According to both Jewish and Christian faith this would not have caused Jesus to be in a state of sin. Perhaps Jesus was married to Mary Magdalene, and perhaps they did have a child, or even children. Mary was one of the first to follow Jesus, was one of his most faithful, and furthermore, was the first to whom he appeared when he had arisen from the dead and been set free of the grave. According to the Christian faith, Jesus came to earth to live as a man. All historical record as well as common-sense reasoning would indicate that Jesus would have, as any other man, having been born of a woman in the same way that human men are born, would likely grow up as any other child and historical record indicates the same. Why then is it so critically important to the Christian faith to believe that Jesus did not marry and have children? One may read the scriptures written by Paul and sense a jealousy, a bitterness, and a certain level of intimidation that Paul felt by women present in the Church and heaven forbid that one should attempt to exert an opinion. Why is this? Many questions still exist. Jesus tells Peter that upon him, Peter 'the rock' would Jesus establish his church and yet the Roman Catholic Church does not derive of the leadership of Peter but instead of the leadership of Paul. Indeed, the Roman Catholic Church, seems to be a likely suspect for having removed women from leading roles in the life of the Church and perhaps it could be conceived that the Roman Catholic Church removed from the right hand of Christ, his partner, wife, and spiritual other half, the persona of Mary Magdalene and replaced her instead with a new form of goddess worship in Mary, the mother of Christ. There is no indication in the Christian Bible that one should pray to Mary and in fact Jesus has informed his followers that he is 'the only way' to God and that only through Him, the Christ, can man hope to know the Father or God.

III. WHEN the TWO SHALL BECOME as ONE

Jesus spoke of man and wife as being 'one' and that once the individual had married then the man would cleave to his wife and vice versa and that they would become 'as one'. Therefore, it is clear that historians, Christians, and others should be particularly careful when boldly declaring to know the heart and mind of Jesus Christ and particularly in disdainfully brushing aside the persona of Mary Magdalene because what if indeed, she were the wife of Jesus Christ? Then according to Christ, Mary Magdalene, as his wife, would have been part of Christ himself and ultimately part of God. The work of Rich Deem entitled: "Jesus Christ as God and the Trinity Was Not Invented Until the Fourth Century" states that the "earliest Aramaic-speaking Christians refer to Jesus as "Lord' in the earliest extra-canonical Christian book, the 'Diadach' written in the late 100s." (2006) the work entitled: "Jesus and Mary Magdalene: Did They Have a Secret Marriage?" asks whether history has been mistaken for 2,000 years. This work states that the Discovery Channel's Television documentary 'The Jesus Family Tomb' relates that evidence exists that Mary Magdalene and Jesus were indeed married and had a son whom they named 'Judah'. While Mary has been historically named to be a prostitute that Jesus cast demons out of at the same time Mary is presented in the gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John as a "follower of Jesus who listened to his teaching, provided for his financial needs, witnessed his crucifixion, and three days later was the first to see him alive." (Y-Jesus, 2007) the work entitled: "The Jesus Family Tomb: Fact or Fiction" states that in 1980 "ten limestone boxes (ossuaries) dated to the first century were discovered in an excavated tomb in the Jerusalem suburb of Talpiot." (Y-Jesus, 2007) Additionally, "six inscriptions were discovered with names similar to or the same as some of Jesus Christ's family and disciples" including: (1) Jesua, son of Joseph; (2) Mary; (3) Marianne e Mara; (4) Matthew; (5) Jofa; and (6) Judah, son of Jesua. These names are… READ MORE

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