Da Vinci Code Review: Jesus! God, Human or Both?
published: Saturday | July 8, 2006

By Michael Elliott

When Jesus asked his disciples, "Who do people say that I am?" he got several different answers: John the Baptist, Elijah, one of the prophets (Matt. 18, Mark 8, Luke 9). Peter then identified Jesus correctly as the Messiah and Jesus went on to establish His Messiahship in terms of His passion, death and resurrection.

As a movie purely for entertainment the Da Vinci Code makes for intrigue and mystery with an interesting story line. It flows like a Robert Ludlum novel with unpredictable twists and turns. An excellent and entertaining movie to watch - if that were all it is. The Code is, unfortunately, much more than just an entertaining movie.

The male lead Robert Langdon, a Harvard professor of symbology, is drawn into the investigation surrounding the murder of a Museum curator. As the investigation deepens, Langdon encounters strange and inexplicable symbols, secret, mysterious organizations like The Opus Dei and the Priory of Sion; discusses so called coded messages in Leonardo da Vinci's art - The Last Supper and the Mona Lisa. In so doing the movie suggests the probability that Jesus Christ was a mere mortal who married Mary Magdalene and fathered a child; and reveals the Holy Grail as a person, not the missing chalice as is usually thought. Consequently the DaVinci Code presents opportunistic though controversial challenges for the Church and Christianity.

At the root of the movie are the heretical questions concerning the divinity of Jesus Christ as the unmarried, sinless, holy and divine Son of God. The movie thus has the potential to cause persons to question what they actually believe about scripture and Jesus, and places doubt in the foundations of the faith of the Church/Christianity, a faith founded upon the incarnation of God as the Saviour of humanity. The movie is a loaded with deceptions, mis-information and erroneous historical research, all of which contribute to a potentially dangerous and heretical movie encounter. The value of the life of Mary Magdalene is painfully distorted and Jesus is reduced to a mere human being who lived His life as any other - having a family, wife, child. Totally destroying claims of His divinity.

Contrary to what the movie declares and alludes to, Jesus Christ is the incarnated Son of God who, in response to God's love for humanity, gave His life on the cross for the redemption of humanity from sin and evil. He consequently reconciles the world to God through His sacrifice. He is unmarried, never fathered a child and is without sin! Consequently the movie's insinuations and theological allusions must be rejected as being false, inaccurate, deceptively evil and misleading, especially to the uninformed and those whose faith in God may be marginal or questioning. Our young people, many of whom seek direction, purpose for their lives and a faith in which to believe in and hold on to, are potentially at risk of being mislead and misinformed.

The movie further raises the question of whether or not Christianity got it wrong or incomplete about Jesus' divinity? Nothing is wrong with raising the question(s) about Jesus. Nothing is wrong with examining the foundations of the Christian faith and the history of the Church. However if this is being done it must be done with integrity, accurate research and openness.

The movie hinges its falsification/distortion of the truth of who Jesus is, NOT upon the fact of the canon of scripture rather upon distorted and incomplete bits and pieces of church history including with the role of Emperor Constantine and the Council of Nicaea in 325 - the Christian council that also tackled the question of Jesus' divinity brought into question by Arianism; the hypothetical interpretations of the paintings of Leonardo da Vinci, questionable usage of the ancient science of numerology and the bringing into disrepute the authenticity of the canon of scripture in particular the four gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. Additionally the movie seeks to reposition one's faith away from God and the Gospel (Good News - Jesus incarnate coming to save humanity from humanity's sin - separation from God) toward personal humanist salvation - grounded in self and human strength - Enlightenment philosophy which is contrary.

Concerning the misuse/misinterpretation of scripture - All of the NT gospels date from the last half of the first century up to and around 100 AD, whereas the two texts The Da Vinci Code rely on most, the gospel of Philip and the gospel of Mary Magdalene (which are Gnostic scriptures), are from the second and fourth century AD. Additionally the movie's reference to an intimate relationship between Jesus and Mary Magdalene is based upon passages in the gospel of Philip, which refers to Mary as the "companion" of Jesus. The passage is cited as powerful evidence of Mary's marriage to Jesus, because, as Teabing (a movie character) notes, in Aramaic, "companion" actually meant "spouse." The problem with this is that the Gospel of Philip (and the other Gnostic gospels) were not written in Aramaic, but in Coptic language. In Coptic, "companion" meant "friend." and I am told that there is no word in Aramaic where companion means spouse.

Further refutations concerning the movie are available through books, the internet and the Holy Scriptures, and persons are also encouraged to research the historical records for themselves.

An interesting observation I made during the movie was not found on the screen rather among the audience. I do not know what the make up of the audience (seemed to be mostly young adults 18+ yrs) that evening was. However my interpretation of their reaction to aspects of the movie reaffirmed my faith in our Jamaican people's sense of Godliness and strong religious awareness. There were moments during the movie wherein Jesus' divinity, Christian understanding and belief in the scriptures was questioned - the audience was heard to heckle and verbally repudiate the nonsense depicted in the movie e.g. Jesus' possible marriage to Mary Magdalene, Jesus amd Mary Magdalene producing a child and Sophie (the female lead) being the last living descendant of Jesus. Such response points to auspicious successes of the Jamaican Church in keeping the fundamentals of Christianity at the forefront of the nation's religious awareness and sensitivity especially among our youth and young adults.

As Joseph said to his brothers following his revealing of himself to them in Egypt and their understandable fear of him as the governor of Egypt - Gen 50:19-20
'But Joseph said to them, "Don't be afraid. Am I in the place of God? 20 You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives.' NIV. The Da Vinci Code is an opportunity for the church to witness to the divinity and relevance of Jesus Christ especially to the unchurched and all who question the place of Christianity in Jamaica today. It is also an opportunity for the church to build up the faith of its members as The Da Vinci Code has brought the history of Christianity and the church to the forefront of the minds of numerous moviegoers, and perhaps in a way the Church would not have been able to do on its own. The Christian community must make use of this opportunity to heighten the awareness of our people about the church, Christianity and most importantly to the vast expanse of God's love for all humanity. The Da Vinci Code and any other story like it CANNOT change nor alter the truth - Jesus Christ is the Incarnate Son of God, Saviour of the world!

Michael Elliott, an Anglican, is a 2006 graduate of the United Theological College of the West Indies. His views expressed do not necessarily express the thinking of the Anglican Church. Research was done via the Internet and 'A History of the Christian Church' by Williston Walker et al; 4th edition. Macmillan Publishers. 1985.