'Da Vinci Code' and Truth

Paper Summary:

In this article, the writer notes that the author of 'Truth or Fiction in 'The Da Vinci Code': A Historian Reveals What We Really Know about Jesus, Mary Magdalene, and Constantine' is a scholar of early Christianity who enjoyed Dan Brown's book 'The Da Vinci Code', and the film based upon the wildly popular work of fiction. The writer discusses that Bart Ehrman stresses that Brown's work is imaginative, not factual, despite Brown's claims in the introduction to his novel. The writer notes that the novel tells the tale of a longstanding 'cover-up' by the Vatican of the fact that Jesus Christ married Mary Magdalene, had a child by her, and thus has mortal descendants. The writer concludes that in detailing Brown's inaccuracies, Ehrman presents a compelling and readable account of how what we think of as modern, institutionalized Christianity came into being.

From the Paper:

"Contrary to Brown's assertion, the Emperor Constantine did not control the creation of the Christian canon, much less try to cover up Christ's humanity as expressed in the currently canonized gospels. The process of canonizing the books of the Christian Bible was a long one, and involved much discussion and debate between many competing sects. Many of these sects were later deemed heretical. But the majority of the heretical gospels excluded by the church patriarchs at the council of Nicaea did not conceptualize Jesus as a more sexual and human being. These gospels saw Jesus as even more divine and ethereal, as entirely removed from the realities of the world, in contrast to the more human, suffering Jesus of the gospels of Mark, Matthew, Luke, and John."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Ehrman, Bart D. Truth or Fiction in the Da Vinci Code: A Historian Reveals What We Really Know about Jesus, Mary Magdalene, and Constantine. New York: Oxford University Press, 2006.

More papers on 'Da Vinci Code' and Truth:

• Book Review # 112072 : "Dan Brown's "The Da Vinci Code"
• Book Review # 148448 : "The Da Vinci Code" by Dan Brown"

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