What's the big deal about the da Vinci Code?

Question

Leonardo da Vinci was a very smart person, but he didn't know Jesus or anyone who knew him, and he lived more than 14 centuries after Jesus' time, so why does it matter that Leonardo had an alternate theory on Jesus and Christianity when there's no evidence that Leonardo had any more information than anyone else. Please explain this to me.

Answer 1

Although a work of fiction, the book claims to be meticulously researched, and it goes to great lengths to convey the impression that it is based on fact. It even has a "fact" page at the front of the book underscoring the claim of factuality for particular ideas within the book. As a result, many readers-both Catholic and non-Catholic-are taking the book's ideas seriously.
The problem is that many of the ideas that the book promotes are anything but fact, and they go directly to the heart of the Christian faith. For example, the book promotes these ideas:
-Jesus is not God; he was only a man.
-Jesus was married to Mary Magdalene.
-She is to be worshiped as a goddess.
-Jesus got her pregnant, and the two had a daughter.
-That daughter gave rise to a prominent family line that is still present in Europe today.
-The Bible was put together by a pagan Roman emperor.
-Jesus was viewed as a man and not as God until the fourth century, when he was deified by the emperor Constantine.
-The Gospels have been edited to support the claims of later Christians.
-In the original Gospels, Mary Magdalene rather than Peter was directed to establish the Church.
-There is a secret society known as the Priory of Sion that still worships Mary Magdalene as a goddess and is trying to keep the truth alive.
-The Catholic Church is aware of all this and has been fighting for centuries to keep it suppressed. It often has committed murder to do so.
-The Catholic Church is willing to and often has assassinated the descendents of Christ to keep his bloodline from growing.
Catholics should be concerned about the book because it not only misrepresents their Church as a murderous institution but also implies that the Christian faith itself is utterly false.

Answer 2

Well, personally, I don't get what's so revolting about a painting someone drew a while ago... But I guess some just don't like getting even the slightest opposition against their beliefs. I mean, if we look at paintings of guys from before, many look more 'girl-like' than they were. It was just the style, kind of.

Here's a piece of info from another site(see the source for more info);
~~~~Brown is fond of saying that we see only what we want to see. Take care to note that Leonardo portrayed other masculine biblical characters with a feminine appearance - in his work Saint John the Baptist (c. 1413-1416)4, St. John the Baptist - a very ruddy character according to biblical records - is depicted as a feminine character with long flowing hair and delicate hands. Is it any surprise that John the Apostle might be depicted in a similar fashion? And if one inspects "The Last Supper" carefully, there is in fact is no hint of a bosom - unless one wants to see that in the painting. ~~~~

Answer 3

He didn't. Leonardo da Vinci was a brilliant artist and inventor. He painted a masterpiece that to this day defines the last supper for too many. But he never suggested any theory.

Every generation has its theory proponents (In ours, its the Kennedy Assasination and the Moon Walk). Those who propose these theories claim to have found a hidden code in da Vinci's work. It is all nonsense.

Pastor John

Answer 4

First Leonardo DaVinci did not write the book called "The DaVinci Code".

There is no evidence he had an alternate theory.

Dan Brown writes his book from the mistaken point of view that Leonardo's paintings were actually photographs. They weren't.

And let's remember the "Leonardo" was his name.

They didn't use last names or surnames then like we do today. "DaVinci" is Italian for, "from the town of Vinci".

Pastor Art

PS: I have read the book and seen the movie.

Answer 5

"the biggest cover up in human history"... kind of a big deal!

We all know that Leonardo Da Vinci was a very intelligent man, and in the Da Vinci code is shown to be the Grand Master of the Priory of Sion, meaning that the secrets would have been passed on to him and he might have depicted some of those in his paintings.

Answer 6

Perhaps he understood the deeper meaning of Jesus and Christianity! Perhaps he was open minded enough to question on his own. And how do you know he didn't have any more information than anyone else????
Many of you say 'there is no evidence', 'no facts', etc.. Did YOU do any investigating yourself? Or did you arrive at this opinion through your stubborness to open your mind? Many intelligent people have and are going through investigation of these ideas presented in the book to find the truths in it. Some are even religious, imagine that? Where is your proof that none of this is true? Where is your evidence? Or are you going to show me YOUR book and expect me to take it on as fact? No wonder you all get bashed!!!!

Answer 7

Dan Brown's theory (that the Jesus character produced kids) flies in the face of orthodox teaching . . . that this 'real' person lived a celibate life . . . and did not create little gods running around on the planet . . .

Answer 8

The Da Vinci Code is a work of fiction.The author has never claimed that it is anything else.

Answer 9

According to the Code, Jesus was just a man, and his consort was Mary Magdalene. Christians say this is impossible, absurd, and complete fiction (that Jesus was a man and loved a woman).

Answer 10

Once you believe fictional mythology books like the bible are literally true, you might as well think that fictional books partially based on these doctrines are true. That's why they get confused about it. It's the same for Harry Potter, but then because it's about fictional "black magic" or something like that.