A CHRISTIAN RESPONSE TOTHE DA VINCI CODE :A CHRISTIAN RESPONSE TOTHE DA VINCI CODE “BIBLICAL CLAIMS” Dr. Tim Johnson NASHOTAH HOUSE THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY


INTRODUCTIONS :INTRODUCTIONS THOSE NOT IN ATTENDANCE LAST WEEK --NAME --OCCUPATION --HOW DID YOU FIND OUT ABOUT THE COURSE?


CHRISTIAN ATTITUDE :CHRISTIAN ATTITUDE 1 PETER 3:15-17 “BUT IN YOUR HEARTS REGARD CHRIST THE LORD AS HOLY, ALWAYS BEING PREPARED TO MAKE A DEFENSE TO ANYONE WHO ASKS YOU FOR A REASON FOR THE HOPE THAT IS IN YOU; YET DO IT WITH GENTLENESS AND RESPECT, HAVING A GOOD CONSCIENCE, SO THAT, WHEN YOU ARE SLANDERED, THOSE WHO REVILE YOUR GOOD BEHAVIOR IN CHRIST MAY BE PUT TO SHAME.” --ESV


CHRISTIAN ATTITUDE :CHRISTIAN ATTITUDE KEY PRINCIPLES BE PREPARED… CHRISTIANITY OFFERS HOPE HOW WE PROCLAIM IT IS IMPORTANT --WITH GENTLENESS --WITH RESPECT --SERVES AS A WITNESS


AUTHORITY OF SCRIPTURE :AUTHORITY OF SCRIPTURE Da Vinci Code: “The Bible is a product of man, my dear. Not of God.” --Da Vinci Code, 231 “…the New Testament is false testimony…every faith in the world is based on fabrication.” --Da Vinci Code, 341


AUTHORITY OF SCRIPTURE :AUTHORITY OF SCRIPTURE Christian Response: 2 TIMOTHY 3:16 “ALL SCRIPTURE IS BREATHED OUT BY GOD AND PROFITABLE FOR TEACHING FOR REPROOF, FOR CORRECTION, AND FOR TRAINING IN RIGHTEOUSNESS” --ESV


AUTHORITY OF SCRIPTURE :AUTHORITY OF SCRIPTURE Christian Response: 2 PETER 1:21 “FOR NO PROPHECY WAS EVER PRODUCED BY THE WILL OF MAN, BUT MEN SPOKE FROM GOD AS THEY WERE CARRIED ALONG BY THE HOLY SPIRIT.” --ESV


AUTHORITY OF SCRIPTURE :AUTHORITY OF SCRIPTURE ANGLICAN CATECHISM Q: Why do we call the Holy Scriptures the Word of God? A: We call them the word of God because God inspired their human authors and because God still speaks to us through the Bible.


AUTHORITY OF SCRIPTURE :AUTHORITY OF SCRIPTURE ANGLICAN ARTICLES OF RELIGION ARTICLE VI. OF THE SUFFICIENCY OF THE HOLY SCRIPTURES FOR SALVATION: “Holy Scripture containeth all things necessary to salvation…”


AUTHORITY OF SCRIPTURE :AUTHORITY OF SCRIPTURE Orthodox Principles God-breathed, not a human invention. Useful for: --Teaching --REPROOF --CORRECTION --Training in righteousness Sufficient for Salvation.


AUTHORITY OF SCRIPTURE :AUTHORITY OF SCRIPTURE Da Vinci Code: “History has never had a definitive version of the book.” --Da Vinci Code, 231


AUTHORITY OF SCRIPTURE :AUTHORITY OF SCRIPTURE Christian Response: No book has been copied more carefully over the millennia than the Bible. Some 24,000 MSS, part or whole, exist today and testify to its importance. Isaiah Scroll at Qumran (Dead Sea Scrolls) The ½ truth….


SPEAKING OF QUMRAN :SPEAKING OF QUMRAN Da Vinci Code: “The Dead Sea Scrolls were found in the 1950s hidden in a cave near Qumran in the Judean desert.” --Da Vinci Code, 234 “There are photocopies of the Nag Hamadi and Dead Sea Scrolls…The earliest Christian records.” --Da Vinci Code, 245


SPEAKING OF QUMRAN :SPEAKING OF QUMRAN Christian Response: The Dead Sea Scrolls were found in either the Winter of 1946 or the Spring of 1947. The Community was an apocalyptic Jewish group, perhaps “monastic” in nature. The scrolls date from 250 BC to 70 AD. No New Testament or Christian MSS found. See Geza Vermes, “The Complete Dead Sea Scrolls in English.”


DON’T FORGET…. :DON’T FORGET…. Da Vinci Code: “All descriptions of artwork, architecture, documents, and secret rituals in this novel are accurate.” --Da Vinci Code, “Fact Page”


QUMRAN MOVIE :QUMRAN MOVIE 30-MINUTE MOVIE ON THE DEAD SEA SCROLLS


BREAK :BREAK PLEASE TAKE A 20-MINUTE BREAK HELP YOURSELF TO SNACKS AND BEVERAGES UPSTAIRS


ORIGINAL SIN :ORIGINAL SIN Da Vinci Code: “It was man, not God, who created the concept of ‘original sin,’ whereby Eve tasted of the apple and caused the downfall of the human race.” --Da Vinci Code, 238


ORIGINAL SIN :ORIGINAL SIN Christian Response: Apple? The Hebrew reads “fruit” of the tree. Two ½ truths: --Original Sin is not a biblical term… --Genesis 3:12…”the woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me fruit of the tree, and I ate.”


ORIGINAL SIN :ORIGINAL SIN ANGLICAN CATECHISM Q: What is sin? A: Sin is the seeking of our own will instead of the will of God, thus distorting our relationship with God, with other people, and with all creation.


ORIGINAL SIN :ORIGINAL SIN Christian Response: Theologically speaking, humanity is responsible for and participates in original sin, but humans did not “create the concept” for political or ecclesiastical purposes as intimated in The Da Vinci Code.


HOUSE OF BENJAMIN :HOUSE OF BENJAMIN Da Vinci Code: “Mary Magdalene…was of the House of Benjamin…of royal descent,” who was, “recast as a whore in order to erase evidence of her powerful family ties.” Da Vinci Code, 248-249


HOUSE OF BENJAMIN :HOUSE OF BENJAMIN Christian Response: Benjamin was the youngest of Jacob’s 12 sons The name of one of the 12 regions in ancient Israel located north of Jerusalem, see map.


HOUSE OF BENJAMIN :HOUSE OF BENJAMIN Christian Response: Israel’s first king, Saul, was a Benjaminite (1 Samuel 9:21). Many associate this tribe with the Northern tribes. Northern Kingdom falls in 722 BC


HOUSE OF BENJAMIN :HOUSE OF BENJAMIN Christian Response: Northern Kingdom is never restored. Benjamin actually sided with Judah during the Division (1 Kings 12:21). The Apostle Paul was from Benjamin, never claimed “royal descent” (Romans 11:1). Complete fabrication…


“Q” :“Q” Da Vinci Code: “Also rumored to be part of the treasure is the legendary ‘Q’ Document—a manuscript that even the Vatican admits they believe exists. Allegedly, it is a book of Jesus’ teachings, possibly written in His own hand.” --Da Vinci Code, 256


“Q” :“Q” Christian Response: “Q” is a hypothetical document that scholars think Matthew and Luke used to write their gospels. Seeks to solve “The Synoptic Problem.” Most scholars, including Roman Catholic scholars, acknowledge it could have existed, but no physical evidence exists.


“Q” :“Q” Christian Response: No reputable scholar believes Jesus “penned” this; not even on the internet! Evidence from Church Fathers supports a different theory to explain the “problem.” See Raymond Brown, “An Introduction to the New Testament,” 116-122, for a balanced overview of the issue.


SEX IN THE TEMPLE :SEX IN THE TEMPLE Da Vinci Code: “Langdon’s Jewish students always looked flabbergasted when he first told them that the early Jewish tradition involved ritualistic sex. In the Temple, no less.” --Da Vinci Code, 309


SEX IN THE TEMPLE :SEX IN THE TEMPLE Christian Response: No American novel is complete without some sex…. If Langdon were a real person, he might have been “stoned to death” for suggesting something so sacrilegious!


SEX IN THE TEMPLE :SEX IN THE TEMPLE Christian Response: No evidence for such a claim, not even in 1 or 2 Maccabees during the “abomination of desolation.” (175 BC - 143 BC)


MORE SEX IN THE TEMPLE :MORE SEX IN THE TEMPLE Da Vinci Code: “ Early Jews believed that the Holy of Holies in Solomon’s Temple housed not only God but also his powerful female equal, Shekinah. Men seeking spiritual wholeness came to the Temple to visit priestesses—or hierodules—with whom they made love and experienced the divine through physical union.” --Da Vinci Code, 309


MORE SEX IN THE TEMPLE :MORE SEX IN THE TEMPLE Christian Response: Where do I start….? The Holy of Holies was the innermost room of the Tabernacle and both of the Temples (960 BC and 516 BC). Only the High Priest entered but once a year during Yom Kippur.


MORE SEX IN THE TEMPLE :MORE SEX IN THE TEMPLE Solomon’s Temple – A Rendering


MORE SEX IN THE TEMPLE :MORE SEX IN THE TEMPLE Christian Response: Shekinah is a Hebrew noun derived from the verb, shakan (Nk#$), which means “to dwell.” The word “shekinah” is not found in either the OT or the NT and connotes dwelling. It is of post-biblical origin having been used in the Targums and Rabbinic literature and means “that which dwells.”


MORE SEX IN THE TEMPLE :MORE SEX IN THE TEMPLE Christian Response: The concept of Shekinah is prevalent in the Bible, however (1 Kings 8:10). All known noun forms have grammatical gender of masculine.


EVEN MORE SEX IN THE TEMPLE! :EVEN MORE SEX IN THE TEMPLE! Da Vinci Code: “The Jewish tetragrammaton YHWH— the sacred name of God—in fact derived from Jehovah, an androgynous physical union between the masculine Jah and the pre-Hebraic name for Eve, Havah.” --Da Vinci Code, 309


EVEN MORE SEX IN THE TEMPLE! :EVEN MORE SEX IN THE TEMPLE! Christian Response: Oh my… The four consonants together, YHWH is called the tetragrammaton, see Exodus 3:14 regarding the burning bush. “Jehovah” is derived from YHWH, sort of, not the reverse.


EVEN MORE SEX IN THE TEMPLE! :EVEN MORE SEX IN THE TEMPLE! Christian Response: Jehovah is an artificial name made up of the tetragrammaton, YHWH, and the vowels in Adonai. YaHoWaiH = Jahovaih = Jehovah This word represents a hypothetical way of pronouncing the tetragrammaton There is no fusion of two words.


EVEN MORE SEX IN THE TEMPLE! :EVEN MORE SEX IN THE TEMPLE! Christian Response: The etymology of YHWH is based on the Hebrew word, hyh (Haya), which means “being, or existence.” YHWH connotes, “the one who is.” His name is ontologically-based, not sexually contrived.


NEXT WEEK :NEXT WEEK Dr. Donald Rappe Mount Mary College “Who Was Mary Magdalene” Offers a biblical and extra-biblical portrait of Mary of Magdala