Do u think that the DA VINCI CODE is really a fiction?

Question

No disrespect to Christ but I think that the facts in the book are too true that the book doesn't seem to be a fiction. Dan Brown may have called it a fiction owing to external pressure or for his own safety.

Answer 1

Yes it is all fiction.

Since Dan Brown's novel, The Da Vinci Code, exploded on the scene, I have been asked numerous times to provide answers to the claims about Christianity in the book. I have generally responded to such requests via individual letters or emails. I had not originally intended to write a formal response to the book. However, the requests continue to come in. I have therefore written this brief report to provide an answer to the more glaring errors in The Da Vinci Code.

This special report is arranged in a question–answer format. There are plenty of quotes from Dan Brown's book (the hardback edition), so you will be clear where he stands on each issue. It will be demonstrated that when all the facts are considered, Brown's Da Vinci Code poses no threat to historic Christianity.

Is Dan Brown's Da Vinci Theory Based On Fact Or Fiction?

Dan Brown's Position (Based on an NBC Today Show Interview):

Matt Lauer: How much is this based on reality in terms of things that actually occurred?
Dan Brown: Absolutely all of it. Obviously, Robert Langdon is fictional, but all of the art, architecture, secret rituals, secret societies—all of that is historical fact.1

The Truth Of The Matter:

Brown can be challenged in at least two areas: (1) There are things he claims to be historical which, in fact, are not historical at all; and (2) he completely misrepresents biblical history. Let us briefly consider these two points:

(1) There are things Brown claims to be historical which, in fact, are not historical at all. A primary case in point is the Priory of Sion, an organization that is at the very heart of Brown's story, and which, if proven to be based on bogus history, undermines the entire infrastructure of Brown's theory. This organization is said to guard the secret of Jesus' marriage to Mary Magdalene. It is claimed to have been founded in Jerusalem in 1099 by a French King. The organization is believed to be watching over Jesus and Mary's descendants, and waiting for the perfect time to reveal its secret to the world. Because of constant threat of danger from the Roman Catholic Church, the organization has allegedly hidden its message in literature, paintings, and even architecture such that only learned people can decipher the meanings.

Brown makes the following assertion regarding this organization on page one of The Da Vinci Code: "The Priory of Sion—a European secret society founded in 1099—is a real organization. In 1975 Paris's Bibliotheque Nationale discovered parchments known as Les Dossiers Secrets, identifying numerous members of the Priory of Sion, including Sir Isaac Newton, Botticelli, Victor Hugo, and Leonardo da Vinci." The question is: Are these parchments reliable?

As a backdrop to answering this question, allow me to point out that Brown obtained much of his information on the Priory of Sion from a book entitled Holy Blood, Holy Grail, by Michael Baigent, Richard Leigh, and Henry Lincoln. In this book we find a dependency on the above–mentioned parchments which allegedly prove that Jesus married Mary Magdalene, had a baby named Sarah, and, following Jesus' death on the cross, Mary relocated to a Jewish community in France. Their descendents were French allegedly royalty.

Now, here is the big problem with all this. These parchments are completely bogus. Historically, in 1953, a Frenchman named Pierre Plantard spent time in jail for fraud. In 1954 he founded a small social club named the Priory of Sion. The purpose of the club was to call for low–income housing in France. The organization dissolved in 1957, but Plantard held on to the name. Throughout the 1960s and 1970s, Plantard put together a number of bogus documents which "proved" the Jesus–Mary Magdalene theory, with French royalty being their descendants. Plantard claimed that he himself was one of the descendents of this couple.

Some time later, a friend of the French president found himself in legal trouble and Plantard ended up being called to testify in the case. While under oath, the judge asked him about these documents about Jesus and Mary Magdalene, and he admitted he made the whole thing up. An associate of Plantard's also conceded that Plantard made the whole thing up. All this has been thoroughly documented by several French books and a BBC special.2

What all this means for The Da Vinci Code is that the Priory of Sion—and the accompanying Jesus–Mary Magdalene theory—is based on bogus information with a capital "B." Hence, Dan Brown's claim that his book is based on historical secret societies is flat wrong.

(2) Dan Brown also completely misrepresents biblical history. He tries to argue that "history is always written by the winners. When two cultures clash, the loser is obliterated, and the winner writes the history books—books which glorify their own cause and disparage the conquered foe" (page 256).

In this line of thought, the true version of Christianity was Gnostic Christianity, but orthodox Christianity became more powerful and won out over the Gnostics. Because the orthodox Christians won over the Gnostics, they wrote history in a way favorable to their version of Christianity.

Such a claim is preposterous. To begin, anyone who knows anything about Christian history knows that the early Christians were anything but "winners." The early Christians were fiercely persecuted by the Roman authorities (as well as by Jewish authorities). Christianity itself was outlawed by the Romans in the second century, and in the third and early fourth centuries, there was widespread persecution and murder of Christians. Some Christians were thrown into the arena to be eaten by lions, to the entertainment of Roman citizens who were watching. Other Christians were tied up on poles, drenched with fuel, and lit as streetlamps at night.

At the end of his life, Peter was crucified upside–down in Rome during Emperor Nero's persecution in A.D. 64. Previous to this, Peter had written two epistles to help other Christians being persecuted. Peter probably wrote from Rome at the outbreak of Nero's persecution. Having already endured beating at Herod's hands, Peter wrote his brethren in Asia probably to encourage and strengthen them in facing the Neronian persecution. It may well be that Peter recalled his Lord's injunctions: "Strengthen your brothers" (Luke 22:32), and "Feed my sheep" (John 21:15-17). Paul, too, suffered persecution and was beheaded during the Neronian persecution in A.D. 64. The fact that New Testament writers gave their lives in defense of their writings says something. No one chooses to die for something that was made up out of thin air!

One of the purposes of the book of Revelation was to comfort Christians suffering persecution. The author is the apostle John, who himself had been imprisoned on the isle of Patmos (in the Aegean Sea) for the crime of sharing Jesus Christ with everyone he came into contact with (Revelation 1:9). The recipients of the book of Revelation were undergoing such severe persecution that some of them were being killed (see Revelation 2:13). Things were about to get even worse. John wrote this book to give his readers a strong hope that would help them patiently endure in the midst of suffering.

Despite all this heavy persecution, the church survived and spread around the world. Christianity grew not because the Christians were "winners" and wrote a "winner's history," but rather Christianity grew despite being big losers under Roman persecution.

Aside from all this, I must emphasize that Christianity is a religion in and of history. We find powerful substantiation for the true history of Christianity in archeology. The Bible's accuracy and reliability have been proved and verified over and over again by archeological finds produced by both Christian and non–Christian scholars and scientists. This includes verification for numerous customs, places, names, and events mentioned in the Bible. To date, over 25,000 sites in biblical lands have been discovered, dating back to Old Testament times, which have established the accuracy of innumerable details in the Bible.

In view of such discoveries, we can conclude that archeology is a true friend of the Bible. In no case has an archeological discovery controverted a biblical fact, but rather always serves to support the veracity of the Bible.

It is highly revealing that William Ramsey, a well–known historian and archeologist, set out to prove that Luke was not a reliable historian. He set out to show that both the Gospel of Luke and the book of Acts (which Luke also wrote) were both unreliable in terms of chronology, places, names, and events. After a lifetime of study, he came to the conclusion that he had been utterly mistaken. He found Luke to be a first–rate historian whose work was flawless. (See his book, The Bearing of Recent Discovery on the Trustworthiness of the New Testament, page 81.)

This is not surprising, since Luke—a medical doctor committed to accuracy—speaks of his methodology right at the start of his gospel: "Many have undertaken to draw up an account of the things that have been fulfilled among us, just as they were handed down to us by those who from the first were eyewitnesses and servants of the word. Therefore, since I myself have carefully investigated everything from the beginning, it seemed good also to me to write an orderly account for you, most excellent Theophilus, so that you may know the certainty of the things you have been taught."

There is so much more that could be said. The above is sufficient, however, to demonstrate that while Dan Brown's theory is based on bogus evidence, Christianity and the Bible are backed by true historical evidence

Please go to this site and read more about it.

Answer 2

The book is a fictional story based on SOME historical fact, SOME accurate geography and geographical descriptions and a large amount of hypothesis.

The main problem with the Central hypothesis is that there is a lack of actual evidence ON BOTH SIDES.

I enjoyed the book and was intrigued by it ... I am aware enough to know there was poetic licence but also that the hypothesis was based on research (having already read HBHG). While some of the 'evidence' is pretty poor (the post medieval Priory for one) you only have to look around Rosslyn chapel or in fact any number of public buildings, castles etc to see that hidden symbolism and secret societies have (and may still) exist. This may be a difficult concept for some folks in America to grasp as the have a fairly young culture (excluding the natives obviously). The masonic/Illuminati(?) symbolism on the dollar is another example of the sort of things that have gone on.

I still can't see why the hypothesis causes such angst amongst Christians or why they feel is challenges their beliefs ... should fathers be less respected?

Peace out

ADDITIONAL

For the folks that knee jerk that "it is all fiction" ... so the places mentioned don't exist? Temple, Rosslyn ... the societies didn't exist? Freemasons, Templars, Prior of Scion (the medieval one). Criticise specifics by all means but a generalised dismissive doesn't mean anything other than you probably haven't read it and have simply been told the opinion you are supposed to have.

Answer 3

They say all fiction is based on some fact. Now Dan Brown did extensive research before writting the book. There is alot of fact, but also alot or fiction. The tricky part of this book, or movie, is deciphering the fact from the fiction. The Templar Knights have been confirmed, and evidence or a Priory of Scion is starting to surface as well. They have evidence that more gospels were written, and rejected at the Council of Nisia, one of which refers to Mary Magdelene as "The Saviour's companion". These were rejected, in my opinion, only because they refer to Jesus Christ as a man, instead of a divine being as in Mathew, Mark, Luke and John.

Answer 4

early Christianity was much much more diverse than what we have today. Most of these early Christians are now referred to as Gnostic Christians or "heretics". But there are a few still practicing the ancient traditions in Iran and Egypt. And there are Pagan Christians in the west reclaiming early Christian ideas from the Gnostic Gospels into esoteric and mystical Christianity akin to New Age or even Hinduism and Buddhism. One strain of early Christianity that has survived into modern times is the myth of the Black Madonna or Mary Magdalene as a sacred Esoteric/Metaphysical Christian Symbol. Though the Da Vinci Code is highly fictionalized there are and have been Christians througout time that believed basically that Christ did not ascend to heaven, but either escaped from Jerusalem before being caught, or was resurrected and then left and lived out his life with Mary Magdalene and their child. Others believe that Christ did die, and or was resurrected and ascended and Mary Magdalene was left pregnant with their child to hide in secrecy and raise on her own. These ideas and beliefs are actually just a very small strain within Esoteric Christianity and early Christian beliefs made radically popular by the book the Davinci Code.

Answer 5

I think that The Davinci Code is NOT A FICTION, you can search the net and in big world libraries and you will find that whatever is said in the Movie or in the book is based on real and trusted references. Dan Brown has exposed a reallity by the name of fiction so everyone will know.

Answer 6

I think that this all religon thing is someones idea but The Davinci Code is a very poorly written book that just got lucky.If you take into account everything in the movie and in the book and do some elementary research it all comes out to be so fictional.You can say that Dan brown made money of the stupidity of us all nothing more nothing less.A religious XFILES

Answer 7

NO it is not. The reason it is called 'fiction' is to get prevented from criticism. If it was not announced as a fictional book, Dan Brown would probably be in big trouble. So it is just a strategy to to be safer. The answer to your question is a big NO.

Answer 8

It is completely fictional. I might as well ask "Is Harry Potter really a fiction?"
The facts that appear solid are fictional. They appear real because the book is good. The author is good. A good author can always make the reader believe.

Answer 9

well, its speculation.
some events in history are very strange. like the whole knights templar story. they were real, they did dig around in jerusalem a LOT, they did suddenly become very rich and got carte blanche from the church, and they were eradicated on one cold october night. now, there are rational theories as to why this happened, money, trade, greed, you know, the usual suspects. but no one's 100% sure. so you can say that there was another motive.

or why da vinci was such a wierdo.

or why the church actively killed women who knew a lot about medicine (as it was back then), lived alone, and were friendly with animals. i hardly think it was because the church thought they worshipped satan. but again, power rears its ugly head.

the book exploits things in history that people aren't too sure about; it gives them a reason in a nicely formulated plot. it ties all these seemingly unrelated events together.

but i assure you, this tie is fictional. at best, its speculation.

Answer 10

I think that I would love to gain access to the Vatican's vaults!!! A lot of the book is speculation, but the author does point out some interesting facts along the way. The Freemasons and the Knights Templar were and are (the masons, anyway) a real sect with their own agenda. Makes you wonder who really pulled their strings, doesn't it?

Answer 11

DA Vinci Code Movie/novel plot is fiction. The facts behind it may not be - however there is something which amuses me.

Why does the Sarcophagus have to be so hidden. they say if found a DNA test will reveal the blood line.

My question - who has Jesus's DNA sample to check the authenticity ?

I mean the church would care a hoot about it been revealed !!