Responding To The Challenges Of The DaVinci Code Rev. Dave Geisler Meekness and Truth

1. http://www.davincicode.org.sg Responding To The Challenges Of The DaVinci Code Rev. Dave Geisler Meekness and Truth Ministrieswww.meeknessandtruth.org 40 million copies sold, translated into 44 languages

2. Introducing The Da Vinci Code Why has this novel caused so much controversy? • Jesus never claimed to be God. • Jesus and Mary Magdalene were married and had a child. • The New Testament was a product of man to achieve one’s political agenda. • Almost everything we have been taught about Jesus is a lie.

3. Why be concerned with a novel? 1. First word: “FACT” • “All descriptions of artwork, architecture, documents, and secret rituals in this novel are accurate” (Dan Brown). 2. Many people are taking what he says as fact.

4. Introduction to:The Da Vinci Code • Story begins with a murder in the Louvre. • The Priory of Sion guards an ancient secret that could discredit biblical Christianity. • The location and identity of the Holy Grail.

5. Responding To the Challenges of the DaVinci Code! Dan Brown has given us a greate opportunity! He’s raised questions that each person must deal with in their own spiritual journey.

6. Three ways Dan Brown has given us a great opportunity! He’s raised the issue of what is true faith. He’s raised the issue of whether we can trust the Bible to give us a true picture of Jesus. He’s raised the issue of who Jesus really claimed to be and proved to be.

7. Have you ever wondered why so many Christians are questioning their faith as it relates to The DaVinci Code? 1. Many Christians no longer understand what is involved in Biblical Faith!

8. A Misunderstanding of Faith’s Relationship to Reason “About one out of four (26%) born again Christians believe that it doesn’t matter what faith you follow because they all teach the same lessons.” Born Again Christians, 2000, George Barna, Barna Web-site

9. A Misunderstanding Of What Is Involved In Biblical FaithExample: The DaVinci Code “But you told me the New Testament is based on fabrication. Langdon smiled. ‘Sophie, every faith in the world is based on fabrication. That is the definition of faith—acceptance of that which we imagine to be true, that which we cannot prove.” Dan Brown, The DaVinci Code, p. 341

10. Christianity is Based on a Historical Event “And if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith.” I Corinthians 15:14 (NIV) * Our faith is only as valid as the object in which it is placed.

11. Have you ever wondered why so many Christians are questioning their faith as it relates to The DaVinci Code? 2. If you tell a story that is mostly conjuncture yet you hold it together with a thread of truth, many will have difficulty sorting out what is true and what is error. 1. Many Christians no longer understand what is involved in Biblical Faith! 3. Sometimes merely the sheer number of accusations may cause some to question whether Dan Brown may be on to something.

12. "I have here in my hand a list of 57 people that were known to the Secretary of State as being members of the Communist Party, and who, nevertheless, are still working and shaping the policy of the State Department.“ (9th, February1950 See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_McCarthy On February 20, he claimed 81. When Soviet archives were opened, they only found five people on his list. Joseph McCarthy

13. How should we respond to the DaVinci Code? “Then You shall know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” (Jn. 8:32 N.I.V.) 1. We should not be afraid of the truth. 2. We should use the questions that Dan Brown raises to help us evaluate the strength of our beliefs. • We should use interest in Jesus’ life as an opportunity to plants seeds of the gospel (1 Cor. 3:6).

14. Major Claim # 1 • The Bible as we know it today, was collated by the Roman Emperor Constantine. “More than Eighty gospels were considered for the New Testament, and yet only a relatively few were chosen for inclusion – Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John among them….The Bible as we know it today, was collated by the pagan Roman emperor Constantine the Great (D.C. p. 231)…(who) omitted those gospels that spoke of Christ’s human traits and embellished those gospels that made Him godlike. The earlier gospels were outlawed, gathered up, and burned. (D.C. p. 234)

15. Fact Check Response: • Actually there are a little more than 50 Pseudepigraphal gospels Books rejected by virtually all) See General Introduction to the Bible by Geisler and Nix, p. 302 (listed on p. 309-311) • Yet “many are known only by name and others by a few scattered citations in the church fathers.” General Intro. p. 302 • There were onlytwelve other gospels in circulation during this general time, and these clearly not ‘inspired Scripture. (See Ron Rhodes, p. 13 “Crash Goes The Da Vinci Code.” http://www.ronrhodes.org/DaVinci.html for more details on this point)

16. Major Claim # 1 • Response: There is no evidence that any of these “gospels” were written in the 1st Century during the period that nearly all New Testament scholars say the New Testament was written. • Irenaeus Bishop of Lyons (2nd century) - who sat under the teachings of Polycarp, who was a disciple of John the Apostle) said, “Matthew published his Gospel among the Hebrews (i.e., Jews) in their own tongue, when Peter and Paul were preaching the gospel in Roman and founding the church there. (Irenaeus, Against Heresies, in The Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol. 1, eds. James Donaldson and Alexander Roberts (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1993), 3.1.1. • Historians believe that Paul was in Rome between 60-64 A.D.

17. Major Claim # 1 Question: Are these “gospels” earlier then the four New Testament Gospels? • Response: There is no evidence that any of these “gospels” were written in the 1st Century during the period that nearly all New Testament scholars say the New Testament was written. • Most liberal as well as conservative biblical scholars accept that the whole New Testament was written in the first century.

18. Major Claim # 1 • The Bible as we know it today, was collated by the Roman Emperor Constantine. Question: Are these “gospels” earlier then the four New Testament Gospels? • The Earliest of these is the Gospels of Thomas but most scholars date no sooner then the early second century.

19. Major Claim # 1 Question: Are these gospels earlier then the four New Testament Gospels? Response: • Not even liberal theologians believe that The Gospel of Thomas was written by the biblical Thomas, and that The Gospel of Philip was written by the biblical Phillip. • The Gnostic Gospels cannot really be called Gospels. “Neither The Gospel of Truth nor The Gospel of Philip, as case examples, contain an orderly account of the birth, life, deeds, and resurrection of Christ.” Ron Rhodes, “Crash Goes The Da Vinci Code.” p. 20 http://www.ronrhodes.org/DaVinci.html

20. Major Claim # 1 Was the Bible as we know it today, collated by the pagan Roman emperor Constantine? • The O.T. cannon was already accepted • The Greek translation of the Hebrew Old Testament was created between 250 and 150 B.C. (See N. Geisler and W. Nix, General Introduction the Bible, p. 24) • In A.D. 90 Jewish Scholars meet in Jamnia to affirm the 39 Old Testament books (None of the Apocrypha was accepted)

21. Major Claim # 1 Was the Bible as we know it today, collated by the pagan Roman emperor Constantine? • By 200 A.D. the majority of the New Testament Books had already been accepted by Western Christendom. • The list of 27 New Testament books was not officially accepted in the West until the council called The Synod of Hippo in A.D. 393.

22. Major Claim # 1 Question: • How did the books of the New Testament become one volume and why were certain books and letters left out?

23. Jesus Determines Which Books To Accept As Part of Sacred Scripture Jesus confirmed the Old Testament • Jesus defended himself from Satan’s attacks three times with the phrase, “It is Written” (referring to the Old Testament, Matt. 4:4ff). 2. Jesus said “it is easier for heaven and earth to pass away than for one stroke of the letter of the Law to fail.” (Luke 16:17)

24. Jesus Promised the New Testament 1. Jesus promised the Holy Spirit would teach the apostles “all things” and lead them into “all truth.” But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you (Jn. 14:26). However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come (Jn. 16:13).

25. The Holy Spirit will guide… “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 2. Jesus promised the Apostles that the Holy Spirit would guide what they wrote. Note: The Greek word for “carried along” is used in Acts 27:15-17 to suggest that the ship was “carried along by the wind.

26. Jesus Promised the New Testament 3. The Apostles claimed to continue in Christ’s teaching, being directed by the Holy Spirit. 4. The qualification for being a member of the twelve apostles was that they must be an eyewitness of the ministry and resurrection of Christ (Acts 1:21-22) 5. The New Testament church itself is said to be “built upon the foundation of the apostles and New Testament prophets.” (Eph. 2:20; cf. 3:5). 6. The Apostle’s claimed the divine authority for their words (JN. 20:31; I JN. 1:1; 4:1, 5-6).

27. Jesus Promised the New Testament 7. Peter acknowledged all Paul’s writings as “scriptures” (2 Peter 3:15-16). 8. Apostle Paul says in 1 Thes. 2:4 that "we" are entrusted with the gospel. 9. Apostle Paul quoted from the Gospel of Luke (Luke 10:7) and refers to it as scripture. (1 Tim. 5:18) 10. Luke claims to give an accurate account of what “Jesus began to do and teach.” (Luke 1:3-4) 11. Therefore only books and letters that were associated with an apostle or associate were considered acceptable into the New Testament Cannon.

28. The Apostolic Father’s recognized these writing as coming from the Apostles Question: But how do we know we have the correct books? • Between 70 – 150 is the period called the Apostolic Fathers • Some of the Apostolic Fathers knew some of the apostles • Clement is understood to be a Disciple of Peter. • Polycarp was known to be a disciple of John. • The Apostolic Fathers specifically quoted from at least 17 books and letters in the New Testament. • A.D. 125 Polycarp quotes Ephesians twice and refers to it as “Sacred Scripture.”

29. We have lists of Authoritative Works that confirm some of the accepted writings A.D. 140 Marcion compiled a canon that included one Gospel (a large portion of Luke that had been altered and 10 of Paul’s letters. * He did not believe in the supernatural. A.D. 180 Muratorian Canon Fragment (23 books) A.D. 185 Irenaeus recognized 22 books and letters A.D. 200 Tertullian recognized 22 books and letters A.D. 225 Hippolytus recognized 22 books and letters A.D. 230 Origen recognized 24 books A.D. Eusebius lists 22 books

30. List of Authoritative Works A.D. 367 Athanasius, bishop of Alexandria, lists the 27 books and letters of the N.T. we now have today. A.D. 380 Amphilocius of Iconium lists 22 books and letters A.D. 382 Synodin in Rome Pope Damascus lists 27 A.D. 397 3rd Council of Carthage, lists 27 books A.D. 1442 Council of Florence lists 27 books A.D. Council of Trent lists 27 books

31. Common agreements from all lists • All lists accepted the 4 New Testament Gospels as the true Gospels (except Marcion) • All accepted Paul’s letters as authoritative • Remember Dan Brown said these issues were decided in 325 at the Council of Nicaea.

32. The Four New Testament Gospels Were Considered As Authoritative By the Early Church Justin Martyr (A.D. 150) 15 times referred to the Gospels as the “memoirs” of the Apostles. (Justin, Dialogue with Trypho, chapters 100-107) ) He cites stories or quotes found in these four gospels. When referring to these “memoirs” he never cites a story that is found in the “other N.T. gospels.” Irenanus (A.D. 185) Gospel is “quadriform” (Four Forms) See Against Heresies 3.11

33. Even Those Considered “Heretics” Used The Four Gospels • Ebionites used a shorten form of Matthew (2nd Cent) (They denied the Divinity and the virginal birth of Christ; they clung to the observance of the Jewish Law) • Marcion used Luke (A.D. 140) (They believed that the god of the Old Testament was not the true God , a secondary deity, a demiurgus, who was god, in a sense, but not the supreme God) • Valentinus (Gnostic) used John (A.D. 110) • Titian (Gnostic) combined Matthew, Mark, Luke, John into the Diatessaron. (A.D. 172) (This was the first attempt to combine the four into one continuous Gospel. Yet none of the other so called “Gospels” were included) • H left out the parts that show Jesus' humanity. • He did not add anything we do not have today, he only left out parts. • He still quoted verbatim about 79% of the gospels. * Why didn’t these Gnostics use other Gnostic Gospels?

34. Certain Gospels Were Rejected By The Church Prior to Nicaea (325 A.D.) Origen (A.D. 185-254) wrote: “I know a certain gospel which is called the Gospel according to Thomas and a Gospel according to Matthias, and many others have we read…never the less among all these we have approved solely what the church has recognized, which is that only the four gospels should be accepted.” Cited from Darrell Bock's book Breaking The Da Vinci Code (p. 119) where he quotes from Origin's "first homily on Luke 1:1, according to the Latin translation of Jerome. 

35. How do we know the books we have are the correct ones? • The four New Testament Gospels were written early and any factual inaccuracies would have been spotted New Testament scholar Craig Blomberg points out, the standard dating accepted by liberal scholars sets “Mark in the 70s, Matthew and Luke in the 80s, and John in the 90s.” Blomberg, says these dates are well within the lifetimes of “eyewitnesses of the life of Jesus, including hostile eyewitnesses who would have served as a corrective if false teachings about Jesus were going around.” Craig Blomberg in Lee Strobel, The Case for Christ (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1998), 33.

36. New Testament books were recognized early on! In I Tim. 5:18 the Apostle Paul cites an Old Testament reference and a New Testament reference and calls both of them “Scripture.” (Deut. 25:4 and Luke 10:7) The Apostle Paul’s writings were regarded as “Scripture” by Apostle Peter (2 Pet. 3:16).

37. Every single New Testament book was referred to prior to 150 A.D., with the possible exception of Philemon and 3 John. (General Intro. 423-425) • Irenaeus (170-202 A.D.) made about 1,800 quotations and references from the New Testament, (except possibly Philemon and 3 John) and his writings show the books in his New Testament were the same as ours today. • Clement of Alexandria (wrote 193-217/220 A.D.) made about 2,400 quotations and references of every New Testament book except Philemon, James, 2 Peter, and possibly 3 John. • Cyprian (200-258 A.D.) made about 1,030 quotations and references from the New Testament. His quotes include every book except Philemon and 2 John, and possibly 3 John, which are the three shortest books in the New Testament. For the preceding, see General Introduction to the Bible p.425-427 for more info.

38. What do we do with Dan Brown’s claim (in the mouth of Teabing) that the Nag Hammadi texts are “the earliest Christian records” (245). • Remember that every book in the NT is earlier. • What are the Nag Hammadi text and when were they written?

39. What are the Nag Hammadi texts? • Discovered at Nag Hammadi in Egypt in 1945. • They were an important archaeological find. • Yielded 52 Coptic works; only five however were called “gospels.” • Gospel of: Truth, Thomas, Egyptians, Philip, and Mary. • A few of the texts are cited in The Da Vinci Code to prove that Jesus was married to Mary Magdalene. • Gospel of Mary (2nd C.) • Gospel of Philip (3rd C.)

40. When were the Nag Hammadi texts written? • The Nag Hammadi texts were written “no earlier than A.D. 400.” ( See Craig Blomberg, “Where Do We Start Studying Jesus” in Jesus Under Fire, p. 23) • Many are Gnostic. • The earliest fragments of the Gospel of Philip are dated by most scholars as no earlier than 180-200 AD. (See Philip Jenkins, Hidden Gospels (Oxford Press, 2002), p. 139. • This means that the Nag Hammadi texts do not meet the criteria of being ancient or apostolic. • Furthermore the Gospel of Philip is a Gnostic text, and Gnostic thought would have no place in first century Palestinian Judaism.

41. Who were the Gnostics? • In a nutshell, Gnostics were people who believed that every Christian was a “christ” and therefore every Christian was “divine.” • Jesus was thus christ and divine only in this sense, not in any unique sense. • The Gnostic Jesus was believed to not free us of our sins, but to free us from our ignorance because we don’t realize who we really are—we are divine! • Brown believes the Gnostics were the original disciples who came before those we now consider to be Jesus’ disciples, such as Peter, James, and John and etc.

42. The Gospel of Thomas 114: “Simon Peter said to them (the disciples), ‘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 every woman who will make herself male will enter the Kingdom of Heaven.” (cited in Darrell Bock, Breaking The Da Vinci Code, p. 75

43. Question:What Should We Conclude About The “Other” Books That Were Not Included? The Gospel of Thomas The Gospel of Peter Apocalypse of Peter The Gospel of Hebrews The Gospel of Barnabas The Gospel of Phillip The Gospel of Mary And many others…

44. What Should We Conclude About The “Other” Books That Were Not Included? • These gospels were written neither by apostles, nor by companions of the apostles. All of these people were dead by the time these documents were written. 2. They were written in the second and third centuries and therefore did not exist when the gospels were written in the first century. • The only book thought to exist prior to the middle of the 2nd century is the Gospel of Thomas. • The earliest fragments of the Gospel of Philip are dated by most scholars as no earlier than 180-200 AD. (See Philip Jenkins, Hidden Gospels (Oxford Press, 2002), p. 139.

45. What Should We Conclude About The “Other” Books That Were Not Included? 3. Their teachings differ from the four gospels (Not Orthodox). • They teach a different view of God, Christ, man, salvation, and what happens to a person after death. These gospels are not consistent with the original teachings of Jesus and His earliest followers. “Simon Peter said the them: Let Mary go forth from among us, for women are not worthy of the life. Jesus said: Behold, I shall lead her, that I may make her male, in order that she also may become a living spirit like you males. For every woman who makes herself male shall enter into the kingdom of heaven.” The Gospel of Thomas, p.114

46. What Should We Conclude About The “Other” Books That Were Not Included? • Unlike the four canonical gospels, these gospels were never widely accepted or recognized as authentic and inspired by the early Christian church. • They were never read in Christian assemblies. • They were not included in the list of accepted books and letters. • They are not the subject of commentaries. 8. Some were specifically rejected by the church from being in the New Testament Canon.

47. What Should We Conclude About The “Other” Books That Were Not Included? 9. Even the non-canonical gospels cited by Brown, when examined very carefully, are seen NOT to support his theories. 10. Nowhere do these gospels actually teach that Jesus was married to Mary Magdalene; that he fathered a child by her; that Jesus intended Mary to lead the church after his death.

48. Why aren’t these books in the Bible? • This naturally raises questions about the nature of the New Testament canon. • What is the “canon”? “The cannon is the list of those writings which were acknowledged by the church as documents of the divine revelation.” F.F. Bruce • What sort of criteria did the early church fathers apply as helpful aids in recognizing those writings which were truly inspired by God?

49. Principles for Discovering Canonicity • Canonicity is determined by God and discovered by man Criteria: • Is the book authoritative - does it claim to be of God? • Is it prophetic- was it written by a servant of God? (2 Pet. 1:20-21; Heb. 1:1) • Is it authentic-does it tell the truth about God, man, etc.? (Acts 17:11) • Is the book dynamic-does it possess the life-transforming power of God? (Heb. 4:12; 2 Tim. 3:16-17) • Is this book received or accepted by the people of God for whom it was originally written - is it recognized as being from God? Principles taken from Norman Geisler, FromGod to Us, p.67-71

50. Principles for Discovering Canonicity • Canonicity is determined by God and discovered by man (Principles taken from Norman Geisler, FromGod to Us, p.67-71) Criteria: • Is the book authoritative - does it claim to be of God? • Does it say “Thus says the Lord • Unless they were convinced of Divine authorship, the book was rejected