© Stuart Pattico 16 June 2006

1. False Claims of... © Stuart Pattico 16 June 2006 by Rev. Stuart Pattico, B.Sc (Hons), M.Div and Andrea Lawrence, B.A (Hons), M.Sc, MCIPD Stuart Pattico

2. False Claims of The Da Vinci Code... • This evening, we will explore; • The Da Vinci Code Claims • How did the New Testament come to us? • Did people believe Jesus was divine before 325AD? • What about the other ‘gospels’? • Who was Mary Magdalene? • Who is Jesus? • What have we learned? Stuart Pattico

3. False Claims of The Da Vinci Code... • QUESTION… • WHAT DO YOU ALREADY KNOW ABOUT • THE DA VINCI CODE??? Stuart Pattico

4. False Claims of The Da Vinci Code... • True facts about Christianity have been hidden by the Roman Catholic Church • Jesus was married to Mary Magdalene • Jesus and Mary had a child called Sarah and their descendants became Kings of France • The Holy Grail is Mary’s womb, not the cup used at the Last Supper • Jesus was just a moral prophet • Before 325AD, no one believed Jesus to be the Son of God • Jesus ‘became’ the Son of God following a narrow vote by the Council of Nicea in 325AD • The Bible as we know it was not inspired, but collated by Constantine • ‘Gospels’ have been omitted from our Bible – the gospels of Thomas, Phillip and Mary Stuart Pattico

5. False Claims of The Da Vinci Code... The ‘Holy Grail’… • According to some religious tradition, The Holy Grail is cup used by Jesus at the Last Supper, and is believed to posses miraculous powers. • Such myths have nothing to do with true Christian faith, which is solely based on the Word of God and not tradition. Therefore, whatever Dan Brown says about such myths does not concern us. • This presentation will focus on what the Da Vinci Code says about Jesus Stuart Pattico

6. False Claims of The Da Vinci Code... TEXTUAL ‘EVIDENCE’… The Da Vinci Code cites the following passages in order to prove its theory. N.B. These passages are not found in the Bible. Simon Peter said to them, “Let Mary leave us, for women are not worthy of life.” Jesus said, “I myself shall lead her in order to make her male, so that she too may become a living spirit resembling you males. For everyone who will make herself male will enter the kingdom of heaven.” (The ‘gospel’ of Thomas) And the companion of the… Mary Magdalene… loved her more than all the disciples and used to kiss her [often] on her… The rest of the disciples… They sad to him, “Why do you love her more than all of us?” (The ‘gospel’ of Philip) And Peter said, “Did the Saviour really speak with a woman without our knowledge? Are we to turn about and all listen to her? Did he prefer her to us?” And Levi answered, “Peter, you have always been hot tempered. Now I see you contending against the woman like an adversary. If the Saviour made her worthy, who are you indeed to reject her? Surely the Saviour knows her very well. That is why he loved her more than us” (The ‘gospel’ of Mary) Stuart Pattico

7. False Claims of The Da Vinci Code... HOW DID THE NEW TESTAMENT COME TO US?… • After Jesus ascended to heaven, the first Christians met together for worship, continued to read the OT and preach Jesus from it. The teachings of Jesus were also shared. • Written documents by church leaders such as Paul, John, Luke, Jude, and Mark were also circulated. They were read, copied, preserved and circulated to other churches nearby. Clear accounts of Jesus’ life and work were also written down. All these documents were written between 50AD and 90AD. There are over 5,500 copies of all or part of these writings in existence. • Some fictitious ‘gospels’ began to spread, some written by Gnostics, and some claiming to be written by apostles. There were rejected by the early church as false. Stuart Pattico

8. False Claims of The Da Vinci Code... HOW DID THE NEW TESTAMENT COME TO US?… • . • The 27 books of the NT we have today were confirmed as genuinely inspired and officially canonised through the following councils of Hippo 394AD, and Carthage 397AD. • All these 27 books were in use before the councils formally accepted them. • The other fictitious writings were rejected by the church long before the councils formally rejected them. The Da Vinci Code bases its claims on theories about these books! • The 27 books we have now been translated into many languages and are the part of the Bible known as the New Testament. Stuart Pattico

9. False Claims of The Da Vinci Code... DID PEOPLE BELIEVE THAT JESUS WAS DIVINE BEFORE 325AD?... • The OT, written long before the time of Christ, mentioned that the Messiah would be divine (e.g. Isaiah 9:6, Micah 5:2) • The NT, written between 50 – 90AD, is filled with passages that call Jesus ‘Lord’, ‘Son of God’ etc. • Even outside the Bible, historic documents prove that people believed that Jesus was divine: • Ignatius (50 – 117AD) “our God, Jesus Christ” • Justin Martyr (100 – 165AD) “He was God” • Melito of Sardis (died 190AD) “Being God and likewise perfect man” • Irenaueus (130 – 200AD) “He is the holy Lord, the Wonderful, the Counsellor…and the Mighty God” • Clement of Alexandria (150 – 215AD) “He alone is both God and man” • Tertullian (160 – 225AD) “for Christ is also God” Stuart Pattico

10. False Claims of The Da Vinci Code... WHAT ABOUT THE OTHER ‘GOSPELS’? • Dan Brown quotes from ‘the gospel of Thomas’, ‘the gospel of Philip’, and ‘the gospel of Mary’ to try and prove his theory. • These books were not really written by Thomas, Philip or Mary. When they were written, Thomas, Philip and Mary were already dead! • They were written by a group of people known as the Gnostics, which believed that anything physical was evil. Therefore, they believed that God could not possibly have become a man. • They therefore claimed that Jesus had a ‘phantom’ body, and not a real human one. • This claim was considered heresy by the early church (see 1 John 4:1-3) • Therefore, anything taken from these three ‘gospels’ cannot be taken to represent early Christian belief. Stuart Pattico

11. False Claims of The Da Vinci Code... WHO WAS MARY MAGDELENE?... • A woman from whom Jesus expelled seven demons (Mark 16:9; Luke 8:2) • She is one of the woman who accompanied Jesus in his ministry (Luke 8:2) • She was a witness of the crucifixion (Matthew 27:56; Mark 15:40; John 19:25) • She was present at the burial of Jesus (Matthew 27:61; Mark 15:47) • She was a witness of the empty tomb (Matthew 28:1-10; Mark 16:10-8; Luke 24:10) • After His resurrection, Jesus Christ appeared to her at the tomb (Mark 16:9; • John 20:1- 18) • None of the above remotely suggests or indicates that Mary was the wife of Jesus. Stuart Pattico

12. False Claims of The Da Vinci Code... WHO IS JESUS?... • Such a question will take an eternity to answer!  • Let’s look at John 1:1-3,14 • Jesus is 100% God and 100% Man • He did not marry any individual whilst on earth • He came to seek and to save all who were lost (Luke 19:10). • However, he did find Himself a bride – the Church! (Romans 7:4) Stuart Pattico

13. False Claims of The Da Vinci Code... WHAT HAVE WE LEARNED?... • The true facts about Christianity have not been hidden by the Roman Catholic Church; we still have the truth in our Bibles • The books of the NT were already in use by the church well before 325AD • The church believed that Jesus was divine well before 325AD and He is the Son of God • The gospel of Thomas, Mary and Philip are simply fictitious writings • Jesus was not married to Mary Magdalene and had no children Stuart Pattico

14. False Claims of The Da Vinci Code... FINAL CHALLENGE…. We must contend earnestly for the faith by diligent study of the Word of God (Jude v 3-4) God will ultimately use all things for His glory. The release of the Da Vinici Code can give us further opportunities to share our faith with others. (2 Corinthians 5:18) Stuart Pattico