A critique of dan brown
THE BLASPHEMY AND DECEPTION
OF THE DA VINCI
CODE
by Jeffrey Khoo and Suan-Yew Quek
Caveat
Satan is a liar and a deceiver (John 8:44, Rev 12:9). Dan Brown’s
bestselling novel—The Da Vinci Code(Bantam Press, 2003;
593 pages)—is the latest Satanic attack against our Lord Jesus
Christ and His inerrant Word. Brown seductively weaves a highly
imaginative story in a vain attempt to prove that the Jesus
believed by Christians today is not the same Jesus who lived in the
first century. According to The Da Vinci Code, the
true historical Jesus was only an ordinary man and not God at
all.
The book is a most seductive and deceptive novel replete with
hidden codes, murder, sex and intrigue. It seeks to debunk the
common notion that the Holy Grail is the Cup of the Last Supper of
Christ. The author asserts that the painting by Leonardo Da Vinci
of the Last Supper reveals that the Holy Grail refers actually to
Mary Magdalene who he says is the wife of Jesus Christ. Mary
Magdalene is said to be pregnant when she was with Christ at His
resurrection. Not only that, this lineage of Christ and Mary
Magdalene continues to this very day. This is blasphemy in the
highest degree.
Brown’s attacks on Jesus Christ and the Holy Scriptures are not
new. His blasphemous and deceptive views have been propounded for
decades within the four walls of modernistic universities and
liberal seminaries. Brown distills the academic jargon and weaves
the views of liberalism into a mystery novel for the general
audience, and for the money no less.
The Blasphemy
of The Da Vinci Code
In his book, Brown attacks the inspiration, preservation, and
canonicity of the Scriptures. The Bible he says, “is a product
of man, … 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. History has never had a
definitive version of the book. … [T]housands of documents already
existed chronicling His life as a mortal man. To rewrite the
history books, … Constantine commissioned and financed a new Bible,
which omitted those gospels that spoke of
Christ’s human traits and embellished those
gospels that made him godlike. The earlier gospels were outlawed,
gathered up, and burned.”
As far as Brown is concerned, the historical and factual gospels
have been destroyed in the 4th century. What
remains today are the spurious and fictitious Gospels of Matthew,
Mark, Luke and John that promote a mythical, godlike Jesus. So, all
this while, Christians have been reading the wrong Gospels and
believing in a false Jesus!
Truth of God’s Perfection
Does Brown’s unbelief make the faith of God without effect? “God
forbid; yea, let God be true, but every man a liar” (Rom 3:4).
How do we know that the Bible today is truly the Word of God,
perfect and without mistakes? Simply because God says so! The
declaration, “Thus saith the LORD,” or “Hear the Word of the LORD,”
or “The LORD spake … saying,” appears over 3,000 times in the
Bible. Be not deceived, the Bible is altogether God’s Word, not
man’s word. “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God
(theopneustos, literally, “God-breathed”) and is
profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for
instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect,
throughly furnished unto all good works” (2 Tim 3:16-17). The Bible
was written over a span of 1,500 years by more than 40 different
writers, and despite all its diversity, its miraculous unity is
obvious. It goes without saying that though the Bible has many
writers, it has but one Author—God Himself. That every one of the
OT prophecies concerning Christ’s first coming has been fulfilled
precisely proves the Bible’s authenticity (eg, Isa 7:14 cf Matt
1:22-23).
How do we know that the Scriptures that we have today are the true
ones, and not those that have been lost for over a thousand years?
We know this because God promised to preserve His words perfectly
and perpetually. Psalm 12:6-7 says, “The words of the LORD are pure
words: as silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times.
Thou shalt keep them, O LORD, thou shalt preserve them from this
generation for ever.” Jesus Himself promised, “For verily I say
unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one title shall in
no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled” (Matt 5:18).
“Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass
away” (Matt 24:35, Mark 13:31, Luke 21:33). “The Scripture cannot
be broken” (John 10:35).
The true Bible can be easily identified. It is the one that has an
unbroken lineage, fully and continuously preserved by God down
through the ages, and always in the possession of His people. Thus,
the perfect and true Scriptures are not in the lately found
Alexandrian manuscripts underlying the modern corrupt versions
(which incidentally present a less than divine Jesus preferred by
Brown), nor are they in the newly discovered Dead Sea Scrolls and
Nag Hammadi codices (Gnostic manuscripts from Egypt) as mentioned
by Brown, but in the long-existing, time-tested and
Christ-honouring Hebrew and Greek Scriptures underlying the good
old Authorised Version.
Certainty of Christian Conviction
How can we be absolutely sure that the Scriptures we hold in our
hands today are truly the infallible and inerrant Word of God?
Faith is the answer! “But without faith it is impossible to please
him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he
is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him” (Heb 11:6). The
logic of faith is the key to certainty. God says it, that settles
it, we believe it! We do not see to believe; we believe in order to
see.
The Apostle Peter told the Church to trust in “a more sure word of
prophecy”—the Holy Scriptures—as written by eyewitnesses: “Knowing
this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private
interpretation. For the prophecy came not in old time by the will
of man (and certainly not by the will of Constantine): but holy men
of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost” (2 Pet
1:20-21).
If we are truly born again and the Spirit of God dwells within us,
we cannot but know and believe the Truth of God’s Word. The Holy
Spirit is “the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive,
because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for
he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you” (John 14:17). “Howbeit
when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all
truth … He shall glorify me: for he shall receive of mine, and
shall shew it unto you” (John 16:13-14). “But the anointing which
ye have received of him abideth in you, and ye need not that any
man teach you: but as the same anointing teacheth you of all
things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it hath taught
you, ye shall abide in him” (1 John 2:27).
Historical and scientific evidences that prove the Scriptures may
be helpful, but ultimately, the only basis of our faith and
practice must be the Scriptures and the Scriptures alone. The
Perfect Bible (and we have it today and know where it is) is our
supreme final authority. Sola Scriptura!
In The Da Vinci Code, it is Satan’s voice one hears.
True Christians will not follow. Jesus said, “My sheep hear my
voice, and I know them, and they shall follow me: and I give unto
them eternal life” (John 10:27-28).
We have experienced the good news and resurrection power of Christ
in our life, and we cannot deny that our Lord and Saviour is indeed
100% God and 100% Man, and that His Word is 100% inspired and 100%
preserved.
It goes without saying that The Da Vinci Code is
truly Fiction. The Bible, on the other hand, is purely Fact. We
have a Perfect Canon and a Perfect Text. May we never add to it,
nor subtract from it (Rev 22:18-19), but love it and obey it (1
John 2:3-6)! “If the foundations be destroyed, what can the
righteous do?” (Ps 11:3).1
The Deception
of The Da Vinci Code
The Da Vinci Code is a Satanic masterpiece. It is
utterly deceptive, and particularly so in Chapter 55. In this
chapter, one finds the two talking snakes, Teabing and Langdon,
seducing Sophie with their sophistry. Alas, the helpless lass is
mesmerised, and the serpentine duo go for the jugular with their
venom of lies.
Deception #1: Da Vinci’s Fresco Tells the
Truth, Not the Bible
The Da Vinci Code assumes that Leonardo was telling
the truth concerning who Jesus was and what happened in His life.
Teabing pontificates, “In fact, Da Vinci painted the true Grail.”
At the end of the chapter, Teabing again presses the point that Da
Vinci’s fresco is truthful and not the Bible, “You will be shocked
to learn what anomalies Da Vinci included here that most scholars
either do not see or simply choose to ignore. This fresco [of the
Last Supper], in fact, is the entire key to the Holy Grail
mystery.”
Refutation #1
It must be said that Da Vinci, born in 1452 and died in 1519, was
not an eyewitness to the Last Supper. How can his painting then be
regarded as an authoritative depiction of that event? We should
rather trust in eyewitness accounts. Matthew and John who were
there recorded what happened during the Last Supper in their
respective Gospels. The truth is not in the painting of Da Vinci,
but in the testimonies of Matthew and John, and of Peter and Paul
as found in Mark and Luke, who wrote under divine inspiration (2
Tim 3:16, 2 Pet 1:20-21).
One proof that Da Vinci’s fresco is historically unreliable is that
he painted Jesus and His disciples dining at a long and high table
with some sitting down and others standing up. The people in those
days did not have their meals in such a way. In those days, they
had their meals in a reclining posture. This fact is accurately
reported in the Four Gospels where we find Jesus and His disciples
reclining on mattresses around a low table during the Last Supper
(cf John 13:23, 25).
Deception #2: If You Believe in the Bible, You
Must be Stupid
In order to cause Sophie to doubt, Teabing made her read a couple
of Da Vinci’s sayings that demean believers of the supernatural and
miraculous. Quotation of Da Vinci #1 reads, “Many have made a trade
of delusions and false miracles, deceiving the stupid multitude.”
In other words, Sophie is made to think that anyone who believes
that the Bible is a supernatural God-given Book, and that the
miracles recorded therein are true, must be simple-minded and
stupid.
Refutation #2
People ought to realise that Da Vinci is but a creature, and not
the Creator. Da Vinci is dead, but Jesus is alive (1 Cor 15:1-20).
As such, it is not what Da Vinci says in his paintings that we
should worry about, but what Jesus the risen Lord says in His
Word.
Who are the fools in God’s eyes? They are those who deny His
existence and His miracles. Twice in the Psalms, God says, “The
fool hath said in his heart, There is no God” (Pss 14:1, 53:1). The
judgement of such fools as spoken of in Romans 1:18-22 applies to
Teabing, Langdon, and not forgetting the author Brown himself, “For
the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness
and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness;
Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God
hath shewed it unto them. For the invisible things of him from the
creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the
things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that
they are without excuse: Because that, when they knew God, they
glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in
their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened.
Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools.” The truly
blind are they who deny the miracle of creation, even the Creator
God—the Lord Jesus Christ—Himself (John 1:3, Col 1:16).
Deception #3: If You Believe in the Bible, You
Must be Blind
Quotation of Da Vinci #2 states, “Blinding ignorance does mislead
us. O! Wretched mortals, open your eyes!” Teabing could be quoting
Da Vinci out of context. Whatever the case may be, Teabing is
trying to tell Sophie, “Don’t be blind! Don’t be misled! Stop
believing in the Bible! Stop following Christ!”
Refutation #3
Da Vinci says “Blinding ignorance does mislead us,” and so it does.
Jesus speaks against “blinding ignorance” as well, and calls on all
to seek and know the truth. “Seek ye the LORD while he may be
found, call ye upon him while he is near: Let the wicked forsake
his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return
unto the LORD, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for
he will abundantly pardon. For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD. For as the heavens
are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways,
and my thoughts than your thoughts” (Isa 55:6-9).
From where do we seek the Lord? “Seek ye out of the book of the
LORD, and read: no one of these shall fail” (Isa 34:16). Why the
book of the Lord? Because “The law of the LORD is perfect,
converting the soul: the testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise
the simple. The statutes of the LORD are right, rejoicing the
heart: the commandment of the LORD is pure, enlightening the eyes”
(Ps 19:7-8).
How should we seek the Lord? We should seek Him by faith, “But
without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to
God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that
diligently seek him” (Heb 11:6). We do not see in order to believe,
we believe in order to see. “And ye shall know the truth, and the
truth shall make you free” (John 8:32). We should seek Him with
great reverence, “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of
knowledge” (Prov 1:7). “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of
wisdom: and the knowledge of the holy is understanding” (Prov
9:10).
Deception #4: The Bible is a Product of Man,
Not of God
Teabing tells Sophie, “The Bible is a 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.
History has never had a definitive version of the book. … More
than eightygospels were considered for the New
Testament, and yet only a relative few were chosen for
inclusion—Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John among them.” Teabing lies
to Sophie, “The Bible, as we know it today, was collated by the
pagan Roman emperor Constantine the Great. … Constantine
commissioned and financed a new Bible, which omitted those gospels
that spoke of Christ’s human traits and
embellished those gospels that made Him godlike. The earlier
gospels were outlawed, gathered up, and burned.”
Refutation #4
It is not true that the Four Gospels—Matthew, Mark, Luke, and
John—were 4th century inventions of Constantine and
the Nicaean Council. The Four Gospels were written in AD 40-50
shortly after Christ rose from the dead and ascended to heaven. The
Early Church Fathers—Papias (in AD 110) and Irenaeus (in AD
180)—mentioned them by name and affirmed their Apostolic origins.
It is thus not the over 80 gospels that Teabing mentioned that were
the early and authentic Gospels but the Four that we have in the
Canonical Scriptures today, totally inspired and entirely preserved
to this day.
It must be pointed out that the over 80 gospels that Teabing
regards as authentic do not paint Jesus as a mere mortal at all,
but super-divine in a fairy-tale manner that can only come from the
corrupt imaginations of unregenerate men. As a matter of fact,
these false gospels deify Mary more than they do Jesus which
eventually led to the Mary-worship that we see in the Roman
Catholic Church today. It is no wonder that God’s people have
always rejected those 80 gospels as spurious. A born-again,
Spirit-indwelt Christian (John 14:16-17, 1 John 2:27) when reading
about the boyhood of Jesus in these false gospels can easily tell
that they are myths and not truth (read The Lost Books of
the Bible, especially 1 Infancy 14-15, about Jesus being
bitten by a mad and demonised Judas, and Jesus being a proud and
boastful show-off).
Teabing’s claims that Constantine (1) was “a lifelong pagan who was
baptized on his deathbed,” and that he (2) financed a new Bible in
AD 327 to consolidate his power as emperor, are lies. The truth is:
(1) Constantine lived from AD 285-337, and became a Christian in AD
312—i.e. 25 years before his death! (2) The NT Canon as we know it
today existed since the first century. By God’s special providence,
it was the Council of Carthage of AD 397 and not the Council of
Nicaea AD 327 that settled the NT Canon; this happened 60 years
after Constantine’s death!
Brown says that the New Testament Canon is a human fabrication and
thus should be dismissed or replaced. This attack must be refuted.
It is vital that Biblical Christianity holds fast to the ancient
Biblical Canon without change. The word “canon” refers to a
measuring rod by which things are kept straight. It is used
metaphorically in 2 Corinthians 10:12-18 to designate God’s rule
over our lives. The Apostle Paul in 2 Corinthians 10:12-18 wrote,
“For we dare not make ourselves of the number, or compare ourselves
with some that commend themselves: but they measuring themselves by
themselves, and comparing themselves among themselves, are not
wise. But we will not boast of things without our measure, but
according to the measure of the
rule(canon) which God hath distributed to us,
a measure to reach even unto you. For we stretch not ourselves
beyond our measure, as though we reached not unto you: for we are
come as far as to you also in preaching the gospel of Christ: Not
boasting of things without our measure, that is, of other men’s
labours; but having hope, when your faith is increased, that we
shall be enlarged by you according to our rule abundantly, To
preach the gospel in the regions beyond you, and not to boast in
another man’s line (canon) of things
made ready to our hand. But he that glorieth, let him glory in the
Lord. For not he that commendeth himself is approved, but whom the
Lord commendeth.” The canonicity of the Bible is thus “the quality
or character of the Scriptures by which they are our rule of faith
and life, as the infallible Word of God. As such, the Biblical
Canon constitutes the divine authority of the Holy Scriptures.
The Church did not make the words of man to become the words of God
as Brown asserts. The Word of God stands on its own, and declares
itself to be the Word of God. The Bible is its own infallible
authority. There is no higher authority than the Word of God
itself. This is an acceptable tautological argument. In defense of
this truth, J O Buswell correctly observed that “all factual
existential statements may be regarded as circular. Why is a fact a
fact, and why is it regarded as a fact? The only answer is, because
it is a fact.”2 The Westminster Confession of Faith
likewise states, “The authority of the Holy Scripture, for which it
ought to be believed and obeyed, dependeth not upon the testimony
of any man or church, but wholly upon God (who is truth itself),
the author thereof; and therefore it is to be received, because it
is the Word of God.”3
The Word of God was canonised the moment it was written. The
canonicity of Scripture finds its basis in the inspiration of
Scripture. 2 Timothy 3:16-17 says, “All scripture is given by
inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof,
for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of
God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works.” The
Church at that time received the canonical words of the Apostles as
the very words of God and not the words of man. 1 Thessalonians
2:13 states, “For this cause also thank we God without ceasing,
because, when ye received the word of God which ye heard of us, ye
received it not as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the word
of God, which effectually worketh also in you that believe.” When
heresies like Marcionism and Montanism arose, the pastors of the
early church realised the need to identify the Canon so that their
parishioners may know for sure the names and the number of the
divinely inspired books. The Council of Laodicea (AD 363) listed
the present number of 27 New Testament books. Athanasius also
mentioned 27 in his Easter letter of AD 367 and these were
recognised as the Canon at the Council of Hippo (AD 393) and the
Third Synod of Carthage (AD 397). Since then, the New Testament
Canon of 27 books was confirmed and fixed. The New Testament
pseudepigrapha were all rejected as spurious and not as Holy
Scripture. The identification of the Canon is the result of the
special providential work of God through His Spirit-guided Church
(John 16:13-14).
But Teabing says that the Scriptures “evolved,” and there is no
such thing as a definitive version of the book. This is nonsense.
The biblical doctrine of the Verbal Plenary Inspiration (VPI) and
Verbal Plenary Preservation (VPP) of the Scriptures tells us that
we have an absolutely perfect and definitive Bible today as found
in the infallible and inerrant Hebrew and Greek Scriptures
underlying the Authorised King James Version. E F Hills rightly
said that the logic of faith is the key to such a certainty, “You
must begin with Christ and the Gospel and proceed according to the
logic of faith. This will lead you to the Traditional text, the
Textus Receptus and the King James Version.”4
Deception #5: Jesus was Only a Man, and Not
God at All
Teabing says, “Jesus Christ was a historical figure … a great and
powerful man, but a man nonetheless. A mortal. … Jesus’
establishment as ‘the Son of God’ was officially proposed and voted
on by the Council of Nicaea. … A relatively close vote at that. …
Many scholars claim that the early Church
literally stole Jesus from His original
followers, hijacking His human message, shrouding it in an
impenetrable cloak of divinity, and using it to expand their own
power.”
Refutation #5
The Council of Nicaea was convened to hear the case of Arius, a
priest from Alexandria, who taught that Jesus was only half God and
not fully God. Arius said that Jesus (1) was a creature and thus
not the Creator, (2) had a beginning and thus not eternal, (3) was
different from and not the same as God Himself. But God raised up a
defender of the faith in Athanasius. In the Council of Nicaea,
Athanasius argued from the Scriptures that the Lord Jesus Christ
was fully God and fully Man (John 1:1, 14; Col 2:9; 1 Tim 3:16),
eternally begotten of the Father, not created (John 1:3, 3:16, 18,
10:30; 1 John 4:9). Arius was declared a heretic. The vote was
hardly close—315 for Athanasius and only 3 for Arius. Arius was
defrocked and excommunicated.
Furthermore, Teabing’s claim that the deity of Christ was a New
Testament invention is not true at all! It was not the New
Testament that first spoke of the deity of Christ but the Old
Testament. “We have also a more sure word of prophecy” (2 Pet
1:19). The Old Testament prophetic Scripture had already made
mention of a coming Messiah who would be none other than God
Himself. Isaiah 7:14 was one such prophecy, “Therefore the Lord
himself shall give you a sign; Behold a virgin shall conceive, and
bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.” Jesus Himself
fulfilled this prophecy in 5 BC as announced by the angel Gabriel.
Jesus was Immanuel, “God with us” (Matt 1:22-23). It
is significant to note that Isaiah’s prophecy of the virgin-born
Son of God was given 750 years before Jesus came. It goes without
saying that the lie that Jesus was never God but made God by the
Council of Nicaea in AD 325 was not Constantine’s invention, but
Teabing’s.
Today, Arius’ teaching is found in a cult called the Jehovah’s
Witnesses, and in the corrupt modern versions of the Bible (like
the NIV) that are based on the Alexandrian text. It would be no
surprise if Arius and his followers had altered the inspired text
to create their own text to undermine the deity of Christ. It is
indeed troubling to note that in the NIV, 1 Timothy 3:16 should
read falsely, “He appeared in a body,” which undermines His deity
and humanity. The true reading is, “God was manifest in the flesh”
(as accurately and faithfully translated from the original by the
KJV) which tells us that Christ is Theanthropos—100%
God and 100% Man. Deception abounds today not only in the cults
that claim to be “Christian,” but also in the modern versions that
claim to be “Holy Bible.”
Warning
“Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times, some
shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and
doctrines of devils; Speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their
conscience seared with a hot iron” (1 Tim 4:1-2). In the face of
such dangers, what must Christians do? The Apostle Paul exhorts,
“Take heed unto thyself, and unto the doctrine; continue in them:
for in doing this thou shalt both save thyself, and them that hear
thee” (1 Tim 4:16).
May the Lord protect His Church from falling into Satan’s trap of
deception.