The Da Vinci Code or Da Vinci Con

According to Dan Brown , author of The DaVinci Code, a great con has been perpetrated on the people of the world, notably Catholics. I agree a con has been perpetrated but I think Dan Brown is the con man.

Although he has written a piece of fiction he claims the documents he mentions are true. Also that the art work mentioned is authentic. So he is claiming truth is on his side. Therefore an examination of his historical fiction is in order. Who is conning who?

Has the Church been hiding documents that show Jesus was not God but just another man, a man who married and had a child? Have we been decieved by church leaders intent on promoting a new religion built on edited texts?

Is Dan Brown speaking through his character, Leigh Teabing, when he says everything we were taught about Jesus is wrong? If so, what can we see to the Leigh Teabings we meet?

First, my impression is that many people really hope Leigh Teabing is right. If everything we know about Jesus is wrong then the movement claiming him as its leader can be discredited. If Jesus was turned into God by his followers then Christianity is just another movement, another attempt to gain power, etc. And Christians can be dismissed as fools.

I think many people hope Leigh Teabing is right because Christians have not been the most gracious, loving people on the planet. Christians, in fact, have been mean spirited and judgmental--Damn them all. They are deluded and can be dismissed.

But what if, in spite of themselves, they are right? What if Jesus is God in the flesh, come to walk the earth with us. What if that is the claim Jesus himself made?

The fact of the matter is that since the beginning of the church (about 33AD) Jesus was presented as God. His deity was not approved by simple majority. The words of Jesus recorded in what are called the Canonical Gospels clearly announce his self perception as God.

Dan Brown writes that divinity was a concoction of the Council of Nicea in 325AD but there are manuscripts of the Gospels that date from 125AD and the record of the Gospels is clear. Jesus claimed to be God. In the Gospel of John (written by the Apostle who apparently missed the Last Supper) Jesus announces seven times I AM.... an expression not lost on the Jewish listeners who knew that I AM was a formula for God.

Was Jesus wrong? That is a another question. But if he was wrong can we continue to call him a great teacher and leader? What if he came to your house today and said he was God? Would you show him the door or follow him?

I for one believe Jesus was right and Dan Brown is wrong. And by the way, no where in the Bible is Mary Magadelene called a prostitute. That is another DaVinci Con.