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              The basic premise of the “conspiracy” is this: that Jesus was a mortal man who was married to Mary Magdalene; they had a child, and His bloodline exists to this day.  The book states that a secret society, the Priory of Sion, founded in 1099, is dedicated to protecting the secret of Mary Magdalene and her role in reinstituting goddess-worship. Supposedly, Roman Emperor Constantine decided that Christianity would be the official religion of the Roman Empire in 325 A.D., merging Christian beliefs with that of sun-worship. That same year, according to the book, at the famous Council of Nicaea, the Church voted on the idea of Jesus’ divinity. The Church, in the centuries to follow, supposedly covered up all documents that made Jesus out to be nothing more than a ‘good teacher’, and suppressed the role of women through the now-famous witch hunts of the Middle Ages.

              Supposedly, the art of the Renaissance period, especially the work of Leonardo DaVinci, tell the story through pagan symbolism and hidden messages. According to Dan Brown, the Church is still covering up the evidence to this day, and the Holy Grail is actually Mary Magdalene’s sarcophagus along with documents proving her story, including the “fact” that Jesus handed the Church over to her, not Peter. Page 235 summarizes the book’s view of Christianity: “Almost everything our fathers taught us about Christ is false.”

              Before any more is said, the following notation must be made: the book is a work of fiction. That being said, there is no excuse for any book, fiction or non, to make the claims made by The DaVinci Code. The core of the problem is this: Dan Brown mixes enough well-known facts in his fiction to make the average reader believe his fiction as well. Studies have shown that 30% of the estimated 100 million people (that’s not a misprint) that have read the book believe its claims are factual. They are, in fact, anything but.

             Let’s review some of the fact vs. fiction in The DaVinci Code… for starters, the very first sentence of the preface is the following: “Fact: The Priory of Sion – a European secret society founded in 1099 – is a real organization.” Actually, it’s not. It was ‘founded’ in 1956. As a hoax. That’s right, the Priory of Sion doesn’t exist. And the Council of Nicaea? Yes, it happened in 325 A.D., but it was in response to growing belief that Jesus was only semi-divine, and not the same as  God. The Council firmly decided several aspects of Church philosophy, but the divinity of Jesus was never in question.

             On to another big question: did Leonardo paint Mary Magdalene at Jesus’ side in The Last Supper? All art historians are in agreement… the person on Jesus’ right is the apostle John, who was often painted as a feminine figure by several artists. Even if Leonardo did include Mary, he would not have eliminated one of the twelve disciples; and there are thirteen people in the painting, not fourteen.

             Dan Brown even got the little details wrong (if you want to nitpick), such as the number of  blocks in the glass pyramid outside the entrance to the Louvre. (there’s 687, not 666); five million women were not burned at the stake during the witch hunts. (More like 50 thousand, and 20 percent of those ‘witches’ were men.) One could go on and on. Some have said the only thing the author got right is the fact that Paris is in France.

             These inaccuracies, however, are not easily picked up on by someone without a degree in Art History or Religious Symbolism. One need only read the Bible, however, to get the true story. Despite The DaVinci Code’s attacks on the Bible’s authenticity,

             “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness.”  (2 Timothy 3:16)

             The widespread popularity of a book that makes such blatant attacks on our Lord and Savior, and Christianity in general, says volumes about the spiritual condition of the world. They seem all too eager to believe the claims of Dan Brown, who seems determined to have people to disbelieve the truth of the Bible and doubt the claims of Jesus as the divine Son of God. “Above all, you must understand that no prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet’s own interpretation.  For prophecy never had its origin in the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.” (2 Peter 1:20-21)

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