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The Da Vinci Code is a bestselling novel by author [[Dan Brown]].  It has sold over 40 million copies worldwide, and has been translated into over 40 languages. (ParisInfo.com)  It has been on the top of the NY Times Bestseller List since its release in 2003, often holding the coveted #1 spot for weeks on end. (Catholic.com)  The book’s exciting storyline and interesting characters have contributed to its record sales—as has its highly controversial content.  

The Da Vinci Code is a bestselling novel by author [[Dan Brown]].  It has sold over 40 million copies worldwide, and has been translated into over 40 languages. (ParisInfo.com)  It has been on the top of the NY Times Bestseller List since its release in 2003, often holding the coveted #1 spot for weeks on end. (Catholic.com)  The book’s exciting storyline and interesting characters have contributed to its record sales—as has its highly controversial content.  

   

 

[[Image: davincicode.jpg|thumb|right|100px|''The Da Vinci Code'' book cover (UK 1st edition)]]  

 

The Da Vinci Code makes some astounding assertions about Christianity that, if true, would uproot everything traditional Biblical Christianity stands for, and could potentially destroy the faith of millions.  Although only a novel, Dan Brown creates the impression throughout The Da Vinci Code of having meticulously researched, even including a “fact page” in the beginning of the book and making references to numerous subsidizing “historical” sources, historians and scholars throughout.   

The Da Vinci Code makes some astounding assertions about Christianity that, if true, would uproot everything traditional Biblical Christianity stands for, and could potentially destroy the faith of millions.  Although only a novel, Dan Brown creates the impression throughout The Da Vinci Code of having meticulously researched, even including a “fact page” in the beginning of the book and making references to numerous subsidizing “historical” sources, historians and scholars throughout.   

Mary Magdalene is a good place to start, because she and her supposed marriage to Jesus are the cornerstones upon which Brown’s claims rest.  In The Da Vinci Code, Brown states that Mary Magdalene is a “royal” Jewish woman from the tribe of Benjamin and Jesus’ single most important disciple.  She is not a prostitute—in fact this was a lie invented by the Catholic Church to demonize her.  She is also his lover, wife, and the mother of their daughter, Sarah.  She was supposed to be the leader of the church after Jesus’ death, but was forced by “Peter’s Party” aka “the winners” to escape to Provence, France with her daughter.  Her womb is the “Holy Grail”, her bones are buried under the glass pyramid at the Louvre, the Priory of Scion and Knight’s Templar were dedicated to preserving her story and worshipped her as a goddess, she was the “Divine Mother” and represented the real purpose of Jesus’ life and teaching—to reintegrate the “Sacred Feminine” into society.  However, Mary Magdalene is mentioned only a few times in the gospels—and never once is a single one of Brown’s claims about Mary supported by the Biblical record.  (Welborn 63)   

Mary Magdalene is a good place to start, because she and her supposed marriage to Jesus are the cornerstones upon which Brown’s claims rest.  In The Da Vinci Code, Brown states that Mary Magdalene is a “royal” Jewish woman from the tribe of Benjamin and Jesus’ single most important disciple.  She is not a prostitute—in fact this was a lie invented by the Catholic Church to demonize her.  She is also his lover, wife, and the mother of their daughter, Sarah.  She was supposed to be the leader of the church after Jesus’ death, but was forced by “Peter’s Party” aka “the winners” to escape to Provence, France with her daughter.  Her womb is the “Holy Grail”, her bones are buried under the glass pyramid at the Louvre, the Priory of Scion and Knight’s Templar were dedicated to preserving her story and worshipped her as a goddess, she was the “Divine Mother” and represented the real purpose of Jesus’ life and teaching—to reintegrate the “Sacred Feminine” into society.  However, Mary Magdalene is mentioned only a few times in the gospels—and never once is a single one of Brown’s claims about Mary supported by the Biblical record.  (Welborn 63)   

Where did all of these ideas come from?  According to The Da Vinci Code’s resident scholar, Teabing, “the royal bloodline has been chronicled in exhaustive detail by scores of historians,” citing The Templar Revelation and Holy Blood, Holy Grail as sources.  Interestingly, these books (which are also found in Dan Brown’s official bibliography) are dismissed by all serious historians, and described as being “schlock pseudo-history and conspiracy-theory.” (Welborn 63) Teabing also mentions The Woman with the Alabaster Jar and The Goddess in the Gospels, both by Margaret Starbird, who uses, among other things, numerology(the sum of the numbers in her name), to conclude that Mary Magdalene was worshipped as a goddess.  Additional sources for Brown’s claims lie in the Gnostic gospels (which will be discussed in further detail in the next section).  (Welborn 63)  

Where did all of these ideas come from?  According to The Da Vinci Code’s resident scholar, Teabing, “the royal bloodline has been chronicled in exhaustive detail by scores of historians,” citing The Templar Revelation and Holy Blood, Holy Grail as sources.  Interestingly, these books (which are also found in Dan Brown’s official bibliography) are dismissed by all serious historians, and described as being “schlock pseudo-history and conspiracy-theory.” (Welborn 63) Teabing also mentions The Woman with the Alabaster Jar and The Goddess in the Gospels, both by Margaret Starbird, who uses, among other things, numerology(the sum of the numbers in her name), to conclude that Mary Magdalene was worshipped as a goddess.  Additional sources for Brown’s claims lie in the Gnostic gospels (which will be discussed in further detail in the next section).  (Welborn 63)

Even with these incredulous sources to occasionally back him up, most of Brown’s claims about Mary Magdalene have no historical evidence behind them whatsoever.  There is no record anywhere to even suggest that Mary Magdalene was of the tribe of Benjamin—and this would not have made her “royal”.  (Ehrman 160)  It is true that in the gospels there is no mention of Mary Magdalene as having been a prostitute.  This idea first came into existence 500 years after the gospels were written, and became popular in the Middle Ages and Renaissance.  In 1969, the Catholic Church issued a formal statement clearing Mary’s reputation, and separating her from Mary from Bethany, the “sinful woman.”  (Van Biema)

Even with these incredulous sources to occasionally back him up, most of Brown’s claims about Mary Magdalene have no historical evidence behind them whatsoever.  There is no record anywhere to even suggest that Mary Magdalene was of the tribe of Benjamin—and this would not have made her “royal”.  (Ehrman 160)  It is true that in the gospels there is no mention of Mary Magdalene as having been a prostitute.  This idea first came into existence 500 years after the gospels were written, and became popular in the Middle Ages and Renaissance.  In 1969, the Catholic Church issued a formal statement clearing Mary’s reputation, and separating her from Mary from Bethany, the “sinful woman.”  (Van Biema)