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What's New
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Notes:
Unto the Most High YHVH -- Blessed is He -- be all glory and honor.
Exposing the Da Vinci Code, A Messianic Prospective - Part 1
1. Was Messiah married?
2. Was the Gospel text suppressed or changed?
3. Did Constantine commission a ”new” Bible?
4. Did Yeshua (Jesus) have children?
5. Was Mary Magdalene the chief Talmid (disciple)?
6. Did Messiah really die on the cross?
7. Was He really resurrected physically?
8. Is Yeshua (Jesus) G-d?
9. Is Jehovah the name of G-d.
10. Is YHVH Yah & Havah
11. Is the Shekinah a female deity
12. Priory of Sion
13. Did the early believers smear women
14. Did the church kill 5million women in the middle ages?
15. Did the church demonize sex?
What scholars are saying -
Quote from Dr. James Garlow – “Dan Browns writing style mixes fact (very little of this) with fiction (much) in such a way that the uninitiated cannot distinguish the two. I call this style of writing fact-ion. After I was interviewed by Linda Vester on Foxs DaySide Show, the guest with an opposing view scoffed at the idea that people could not sort out fact from fiction. Linda Vester, wanting to see which one of us was right, turned to her studio audience and asked, how many of you have read The Da Vinci Code ? Many hands were raised. She looked at the woman near her and asked, could you tell the difference between fact and fiction when you read it? Absolutely not, the woman forcefully responded. My point exactly.”
“As you read The Da Vinci Code and as you watch the upcoming movie, remember, it is fiction. There is virtually no factual basis — at all. Don’t confuse fact with fiction.” As quoted by Dr. James Garlow
“I found the Da Vinci Code much more offensive as a scholar than as a believer” – Gary Byers Director of the Associates for Biblical Research.
“The writer gives the impression that He’s also a historian – which he is not. I don’t think he’s so much interested in the truth as in drama and Mystery” – Jack Wasserman, retired Art History Professor, and expert on Leonardo Da Vinci.
“Just about everything (Dan Brown) says about Da Vinci is wrong” – Jack Wasserman, see above.
“For storytelling I give it an A, knowledge of the history of theology and history of the church, C-minus, for systematic theology…an F” – James Halstead, Chairman of the Religious Studies dept at DePaul University.
#1 Q: Were Jesus and Mary married?
“Scripture says Mary was a devoted follower of Christ. She gave the rest of her life to serving him and his cause. She was present at his crucifixion and burial, and was the first person Jesus appeared to
following his resurrection. She was a remarkable woman, honored throughout Christian history.
Brown takes what the Bible says and adds to the tale significantly. A character states that Mary was married to Jesus and the marriage is a matter of historical record. That's simply not true. There is no accepted historical record whatsoever to that effect. His claims are based on his subject interpretation of 2 Gnostic books, written 100’s of years after Messiah, The Gospel of Mary Magdalene and Gospel of Philip. Neither of the books were writing by the Mary or Philip of scripture, as the names attempt to have us believe.” – James Garlow.
Brown states “companion” in the Gospel of Philip (written in late 3rd century and not by Philip) is an Aramaic word meaning wife. Brown clearly discredits himself totally here, the document in question is written in Coptic, not Aramaic. The word used translates to the Greek koinonos, a term never required sexual or marital relationship, and is in fact used 10 times in the New Testament with no hint of a sexual relationship (Matt 23:30, Luke 5:10, etc.).
In the notes another passage is shown where the Gospel of Philip claims Yeshua kissed Mary often on the mouth. While this is by no means proof, the word mouth is added. In the actual text, the word was lost, so it could ave said anything, cheek (common middle eastern greeting) or hand.
Claims that Yeshua had to be married because He was a Jew and a Rabbi are only made by those who are uneducated in Jewish Culture & History. Rabbi Akiva, one of the Sages, was not married until in his 40's. Yochanan the Immerser (John the Baptist) was never married.
#2 Q: Was the Gospel text suppressed or changed?
Brown claims the early church suppressed up to 80 alternate accounts of the life and teaching of Jesus and arbitrarily chose the four we have today in order to suppress accounts that elevated Mary.
“As a scholar in systematic theology, I can say that no biblical scholar I'm aware of has any knowledge of 80 alternate gospels floating around from the 1st century. The four Gospels we have are there because they were credible. These four were universally affirmed as being authentic, eyewitness accounts of Jesus”1.
What Brown wants to lift up are those documents that began to be circulated much later. Those include one that claimed to be the gospel of Mary Magdalene, in which the author writes that Mary was loved by Jesus above all women, that she was a leader among the apostles, that she had been given secret knowledge by Jesus, and that the other apostles, particularly Peter, were all threatened by her. No scholar of note buys that; neither does the textual historical evidence of their dating support that.
What was canonized was determined by 3 criteria:
1. Was it directly connected to an Emissary (written by an Emissary or friend of an Emissary - Luke & Mark are examples),
2. Writing had to be orthodox – it could not contradict Tanakh or Apostolic teachings,
3. The writings had to be accepted by assemblies throughout the known world (widely accepted).
#3 Q: Did Constantine commission a new bible?
“Brown stated that Constantine, through the Council of Nicea, commissioned and financed a "new" Bible in the 4th century. Believers will be forced to examine Dan Brown's claim that Constantine made a "quick switch" of sorts, taking out the "original" Gospels, replacing them with Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, all done for purely political purposes.” Dr James Garlow.
The Council of Nicea never dealt with the issue of what books should be should be in the New Testament.
By the end of the First century, 67-70 years after the crucifixion, all 27 books of the current scripture were agreed upon by the followers of Messiah. There were exceptions, namely the ebonite’s who did not accept Paul.
#4 Q: Did Yeshua (Jesus) have children?
While there are folktales out of France that Mary Magdalene went to southern France and had a daughter Sarah, there is no credible evidence that this in fact happened.
Continued in next weeks teaching
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