DA VINCI CODE and Cults

You may be wondering why we’re writing something about The Da Vinci Code given that there are a number of videos and books outlining the many holes and fallacies in The Da Vinci Code and its erroneous theories. What we would like to do is to speak a bit about The Da Vinci Code; but further, we would like to examine some striking similarities between The Da Vinci Code’s method of theological analysis and that of some cults.

A bit about the book The Da Vinci Code:
Our understanding is that the book claims to present a fictional story. However, the book makes the claim that - All descriptions of artwork, architecture, documents, and secret rituals in the novel are accurate.

The book represents itself as using real architecture, artwork, documents and etc. while presenting some of the most bizarre and offensive claims, such as the theory that Jesus Christ is not divine and was married to Mary Magdalene. The shame is that the arguments put forth by the book to try and prove bizarre and offensive theories are so full of holes that it is amazing that people would contribute to the author's success by giving their money to buy such a book. Then again, some people are willing to buy dog dung by the bucket full if it is considered fashionable to do so and everyone else is buying it.

Do not buy The Da Vinci Code, nor see the movie if you are the type of person who does not like to support efforts which oppose the Holy Bible's validity.

If you somehow unknowingly bought this book - Well, I would return it and get my money back if I were you.

What is a Cult?
Of course all, or at least most of you, know what a cult is:

Many cults that have appeared throughout history actually claim to be Christian. However, we have seen that cults, even those that claim to be Christian, are generally religious groups that deny all, or at least part, of essential Christian teachings.

One of the foundational truths of Christianity is that Jesus Christ is divine. Now The Da Vinci Code does not deny that Christ ever existed, however this book appears to deny the divinity of Jesus Christ the Son of God. The divinity of Christ is an essential truth that is accepted by all who acknowledge the authority of the Holy Bible.

John 1:1-3 says:
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.”

Who is this “Word?”

The “Word” is none other than Jesus Christ the only begotten son of God the Father.

John 1:14 says:
“And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.”

There are other scriptures as well that require Christians to believe that the only begotten son is truly divine.

John 20:24-29 says:
24 But Thomas, one of the twelve, called Didymus, was not with them when Jesus came.
25 The other disciples therefore said unto him, We have seen the Lord. But he said unto them, Except I shall see in his hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and thrust my hand into his side, I will not believe.
26 And after eight days again his disciples were within, and Thomas with them: then came Jesus, the doors being shut, and stood in the midst, and said, Peace be unto you.
27 Then saith he to Thomas, Reach hither thy finger, and behold my hands; and reach hither thy hand, and thrust it into my side: and be not faithless, but believing.
28 And Thomas answered and said unto him, My Lord and my God.
29 Jesus saith unto him, Thomas, because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed: blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed.


Even the disciple who we Christians have nicknamed “Doubting Thomas” had the good sense to acknowledge Christ as not only man, but God when confronted with the evidence of his resurrection.

To deny the divinity of Christ is not a new heresy. There is an organization that is quite well known here in the USA for knocking on doors and passing out heretical literature at public transportation stations and local stores for many, many years, in attempt to convince unsuspecting victims to join their cult. They claim to believe the Bible, yet they don’t believe what it says about Christ. They deny the divinity of Christ and when shown John 1:1 they say that the verse is mistranslated in other Bibles and will point you to their own “doctored” (improperly altered) translation. Their doctored translation that helps them deny the divinity of Jesus is, according to them, based on Greek manuscripts of the Gospel of Saint John.

Funny thing is, one of the Holiness.com representatives showed his Greek Bible to representatives from this cult (a Greek Bible copied from manuscripts that in no way supports the false claim that Christ is not God in the flesh). When questioned directly, none of the representatives from this cult could say that they had ever seen the Greek manuscripts (or copies thereof) which supports their denial of Jesus’ divinity. Further, when pressed by Holiness.com, the senior teacher from this cult admitted that he could not even tell where one could obtain these supposed Greek manuscripts (or copies) that deny the divinity of Jesus. The Holiness.com representative then provided his contact information to the cult representative and requested that the cult representative get back to him with information on the location of these supposed manuscripts that would refute all the scholarly accurate translations that Christians have been using for centuries in accepting the divinity of Christ.

Need I say that the cult never came up with any manuscripts (or copies, or even where to find copies) to prove their doctrine, yet they believe that the only allowable interpretations of scripture come from their Bible and Tract Society.

You may be wondering what this all has to do with The Da Vinci Code. Well, The Da Vinci Code, like the cult discussed above, tries to cast doubt on the validity of the four books of the New Testament which we call the Gospels (i.e. Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John). Page 231 of the edition of The Da Vinci Code that I examined tried to put forth other gospels, besides the four mentioned above. The author says that there were more than eighty Gospels.

The seemingly dishonest thing the author doesn’t seem to make clear is the fact that what some are including as Gospels are books that have never been accepted as legitimate scripture by the Christian church from earliest times. Further, it appears that The Da Vinci Code would have us reject the Gospels written by disciples of Christ who lived during the events described in the Gospels, and rather accept the writings (called gospels) of some heretical sect that were penned a couple centuries later, writings that were never proven through objective analysis to hold the authenticity, merit, and theological consistency that the Bible does.

Are we surprised that people would try to come up with their own fake books of the Bible (e.g. fake Gospels)? We are only surprised if we are biblically ignorant, since the Apostle Paul wrote in the epistle (letter) to the Thessalonians warning against people who would fabricate letters claiming they were from the Apostle Paul:

II Thessalonians 2:1-3
2:1 Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto him,

2 That ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand.

3 Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition;

One of the confusing things about The Da Vinci Code is its reference to the Dead Sea Scrolls. The author of The Da Vinci Code seems to make an attempt to say that they are part of his proof of why the four Gospels should not be fully accepted. The extremely confusing thing is that the Dead Sea scrolls don’t contain any Gospels. The Dead Sea scrolls do not contain any books about the life of Christ. Is the author of The Da Vinci Code counting on the average book buyer to be unaware of this fact? Is this the reason he plays so fast and loose with mentioning the Dead Sea Scrolls? We here at Holiness.com have actually visited displays of Dead Sea Scrolls when they were on tour here in the USA. And, the founder of Holiness.com has actually visited the building complex in Jerusalem where Dead Sea Scrolls are housed.

For your information, there are copies of a number of Old Testament books (copied some two thousand years ago) among the Dead Sea Scrolls. However, comparison of these manuscripts to translations of the Bible such as the King James Version, only serves to show the miraculous fidelity and accuracy of the English Bible translations we have, even this far after God inspired the Old Testament to be written.

If one is going to swallow the supposed “facts” in The Da Vinci Code, I guess one would then be required to believe that Mary Magdalene is divine? Although Mary Magdalene was a follower of Christ, she is in no way to be elevated to the level of divinity, despite the reverence given to her in The Da Vinci Code.

We are to no more revere and worship the bones of Mary Magdalene than we would bow down and worship the bones of fresh road kill on a country highway.

If the author of The Da Vinci Code wants to discredit the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, he’ll also need to hack up the rest of the Bible. For Example, the book of Revelation also shows us Christ’s divinity:

Revelation 1:5-17

5 And from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, and the first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth. Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood,
6 And hath made us kings and priests unto God and his Father; to him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.
7 Behold, he cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see him, and they also which pierced him: and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him. Even so, Amen.
8 I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty.
9 I John, who also am your brother, and companion in tribulation, and in the kingdom and patience of Jesus Christ, was in the isle that is called Patmos, for the word of God, and for the testimony of Jesus Christ.
10 I was in the Spirit on the Lord's day, and heard behind me a great voice, as of a trumpet,
11 Saying, I am Alpha and Omega, the first and the last: and, What thou seest, write in a book, and send it unto the seven churches which are in Asia; unto Ephesus, and unto Smyrna, and unto Pergamos, and unto Thyatira, and unto Sardis, and unto Philadelphia, and unto Laodicea.
12 And I turned to see the voice that spake with me. And being turned, I saw seven golden candlesticks;
13 And in the midst of the seven candlesticks one like unto the Son of man, clothed with a garment down to the foot, and girt about the paps with a golden girdle.
14 His head and his hairs were white like wool, as white as snow; and his eyes were as a flame of fire;
15 And his feet like unto fine brass, as if they burned in a furnace; and his voice as the sound of many waters.
16 And he had in his right hand seven stars: and out of his mouth went a sharp twoedged sword: and his countenance was as the sun shineth in his strength.
17 And when I saw him, I fell at his feet as dead. And he laid his right hand upon me, saying unto me, Fear not; I am the first and the last:
18 I am he that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell and of death.


See the descriptions of Christ in this passage; how he “washed us from our sins in his own blood...” Also, Observe in verse eight that Christ is called the Almighty. Christ must be accepted as divine to wear this title.

So, if you believe the Bible and what it says about Christ, you cannot accept the diabolical fairytales those would sell you who believe that Christ is not divine. To try and hold on to the Bible, while clutching diabolical fairytales is nothing new. There is a certain cult with strong financial backing who claim they believe the Bible and even call themselves saints, yet they have created three additional books that they also give the reverence of scripture. This same cult which erroneously believes the Son of God came from a heavenly Father and Mother, also believe that God the Father was begotten by an earlier heavenly Father and Mother. Don’t be fooled, the representatives of this cult are very clean cut, intelligent and speak very kindly, but when they knock on neighborhood doors to share their “gospel,” they are really pushing a message that is opposed to the real gospel. They are so tricky that they have even duped people of color into following them, while the cult has historically been racist: (in this cult’s theology was the teaching that people of dark skin came from supposed spirit beings who were not as valiant as the spirit beings from whom they say light skinned individuals are supposed to have come from). And there are many other such fairytale theologies that they believe.

In the same manner, if one accepts the Jesus of The Da Vinci Code, a person is rejecting the real Jesus of the Bible. A person who rejects the real Jesus for a phony one, no more has a real Salvation than adherents to the cult mentioned above who have placed their own books on par with the Holy Bible and have concocted a phony Jesus.

We should not be impressed by a book just because it mentions the name of Jesus. Otherwise, we would become like “Christians” who I have met who actually go around encouraging people to read the “holy” book of a certain religion that speaks of Jesus as a prophet but does not accept that he is divine. This certain religion actually wishes to annihilate Christians, yet some supposed “Christians” are so befuddled as to go around promoting a religion that proposes a god who is not the God of the Bible.

Now, let’s talk about the title “The Da Vinci Code.” I must confess that I am not an expert on the life of Leonardo da Vinci. However, I do find it absurd that a person would be so silly as to develop a theory that Jesus Christ was married to Mary Magdalene using Leonardo’s painting of the Last Supper. There are several reasons why I find this so silly:

1) Leonardo was born in the mid 1400’s. I believe he painted the Last Supper somewhere around the late 1400’s. Within decades of his completing the Last Supper painting, dampness in the wall begins to disintegrate the oil based paint of the painting. I would love someone to tell me how many times restorations have been performed on this painting that is more than 500 years old. What I am saying is that to look at painting of this age that isn’t actually the untouched original, and then to perform a positive identification of the person sitting next to Jesus as Mary Magdalene goes beyond silly. Even if the painting itself were untouched, I don’t think there is any one on earth who could positively pick out Mary Magdalene if we could somehow bring her back and put her in a police lineup of 10 women.

2) The second thing to remember is that Leonardo decided to render various disciples in his painting with long hair. Please recall that John is believed to be a very young man and seated near to Christ at the Last Supper. So, of course, a young man with long hair and no beard in a very old painting that has been retouched (who knows how many times) might be mistaken for a woman. (I guess this is just one more reason why men should not have long hair).

3) I doubt very much that the real Leonardo da Vinci would believe much of the bogus theology in The Da Vinci Code. But, for sake of argument, let’s hypothesize that he did believe this phony theology. Whose account of Jesus should we believe as more accurate? Persons like the Apostle John who personally knew Jesus closely, even leaned on him as he taught; who witnessed him being arrested; who watched him dying on the cross; who personally saw Christ Jesus after he rose from the dead; who was willing to give his life, even be exiled rather than renounce what he personally saw. Or, would we (supposing for just a moment that Leonardo believed the Da Vinci Code) take Leonardo’s painting to contain secret information about Christ’s life that none of the Gospels reveal; a painting that was painted some one thousand and four hundred years after the events contained in the Gospels. I choose to believe the four Gospels which, by the way, were written relatively soon after the events they describe.

4) Also, of interest is the fact that The Da Vinci Code’s claims about the Last Supper don’t seem to be substantiated by the real Leonardo da Vinci. I have yet to hear of any of the writings or notes or anything from Leonardo supporting the claim of The Da Vinci Code regarding The Last Supper painting.

5) Regardless of what you believe about Leonardo, one should understand that the Last Supper painting is artwork from the 15th century; it is not an historical artifact from the time of the actual Last Supper. If we take Leonardo’s artistic rendition of the Last Supper as 100% historically accurate we run into conflict:

John 13:21-28

21 When Jesus had thus said, he was troubled in spirit, and testified, and said, Verily, verily, I say unto you, that one of you shall betray me.
22 Then the disciples looked one on another, doubting of whom he spake.
23 Now there was leaning on Jesus' bosom one of his disciples, whom Jesus loved.
24 Simon Peter therefore beckoned to him, that he should ask who it should be of whom he spake.
25 He then lying on Jesus' breast saith unto him, Lord, who is it?
26 Jesus answered, He it is, to whom I shall give a sop, when I have dipped it. And when he had dipped the sop, he gave it to Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon.
27 And after the sop Satan entered into him. Then said Jesus unto him, That thou doest, do quickly.
28 Now no man at the table knew for what intent he spake this unto him.

Leonardo depicts the disciples seated at a more European table setting. I was taught in the culture of the times, the Last Supper actually took place at a low more Eastern style table with Jesus and the disciples reclining(e.g. on pillows or cushioning of some sort). This would make much more sense if we observe the disciple in verses 23 and 25 who was actually leaning on Jesus’ chest. And let’s not get started on the many variations of paintings, sculptures, even movies that other artists have made of Jesus – should we presume that all of these are historically accurate? If we start chasing after artists’ renditions of Bible scenes as our source of revelation (instead of the Bible), we’ll end up as bad as the person who paid thousands of dollars at auction to purchase an old crusty grilled cheese sandwich because it appeared to have a faint image of Mary the mother of Jesus.

This is good reason why the Bible, God’s Holy Word, as we have had it throughout the centuries, is considered the arbiter as to whether some teaching is correct or not.

Otherwise, we end up no better than one of the infamous cults in recent California history which believed that there was a spaceship waiting behind a comet preparing to beam the cult devotees up. This is not a joke, nor representative of what most Californians believe. Well, the cult ended up killing all the devotees.

I do warn any of you who are trying to achieve some spiritually transcendent experience through chasing after grails, mystical stones, magic bones of dead folks, space aliens, or even by searching for a new messiah; we already have the answer to being united with the greatest power that ever has been and ever will be, inside and beyond the known universe: It is through accepting Jesus Christ called the Almighty in Revelation 1:8. And, there is another passage (besides Revelation 1:8) that the Holy Spirit caused the Apostle John to write, where we see that Christ is the person who is the way for us to spiritually transcend (i.e. break free from the bondage of a sinful life):

The First Epistle of John (1st John) 1:1-9

1:1 That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, of the Word of life;
2(For the life was manifested, and we have seen it, and bear witness, and shew unto you that eternal life, which was with the Father, and was manifested unto us;)
3 That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you, that ye also may have fellowship with us: and truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ.
4 And these things write we unto you, that your joy may be full.
5 This then is the message which we have heard of him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.
6 If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth:
7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.
8 If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.
9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

There is no other way of deliverance and salvation apart from Christ:

Acts 4:10-12
10 Be it known unto you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom ye crucified, whom God raised from the dead, even by him doth this man stand here before you whole.
11 This is the stone which was set at nought of you builders, which is become the head of the corner.
12 Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.


Again, if you accept the validity of The Da Vinci Code, there is a whole lot of Bible you will have to reject and deny.

Some of you possibly revere the Bible, even claim to accept God the Father, but do not accept the Messiah who has already come (Jesus Christ who died for our sins, then rose from the dead); those of you in this state should consider the following verse:

John 14:6 - Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.

Consider also the many religious leaders and scholars of Jesus’ day who accepted the Old Testament prophets as writing under the inspiration of God, yet crucified Christ, whom the prophets testified of.

Isaiah 53:1 - Who hath believed our report? and to whom is the arm of the LORD revealed?
2 For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground: he hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him.
3 He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not.
4 Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.
5 But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.
6 All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.


And, there are some today, even over in the “Holy Land,” who still look for a messiah after their own fancy, when the true Messiah has already come. So, don’t be surprised when people rise up and call themselves the messiah, or concoct false characterizations of who Jesus is.

Jesus Christ said to those leaders of his day who claimed to know God the Father:

John 5:37 - And the Father himself, which hath sent me, hath borne witness of me. Ye have neither heard his voice at any time, nor seen his shape.
38 And ye have not his word abiding in you: for whom he hath sent, him ye believe not.
39 Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me.
40 And ye will not come to me, that ye might have life.
41 I receive not honour from men.
42 But I know you, that ye have not the love of God in you.
43 I am come in my Father's name, and ye receive me not: if another shall come in his own name, him ye will receive.

The comment is sometimes made by misguided individuals that it’s okay for one to believe what he or she wants to about Jesus as long as one is sincere.

Yes, those who are still looking for a different messiah than He who is described in the gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John are indeed sincere; these sincere individuals are sincerely blind.

And being sincerely spiritually blind leads to all sorts of evil.

Observe the sincerity of many of the Apostle Peter’s countrymen; according to Peter, they wanted Jesus to be killed, despite the objection of the roman official in charge. Adding insult to injury, they desired that a murderer be granted release from his sentence instead of Jesus who was innocent of any wrong:

Acts 3:11 And as the lame man which was healed held Peter and John, all the people ran together unto them in the porch that is called Solomon's, greatly wondering.
12 And when Peter saw it, he answered unto the people, Ye men of Israel, why marvel ye at this? or why look ye so earnestly on us, as though by our own power or holiness we had made this man to walk?
13 The God of Abraham, and of Isaac, and of Jacob, the God of our fathers, hath glorified his Son Jesus; whom ye delivered up, and denied him in the presence of Pilate, when he was determined to let him go.
14 But ye denied the Holy One and the Just, and desired a murderer to be granted unto you;
15 And killed the Prince of life, whom God hath raised from the dead; whereof we are witnesses.
16 And his name through faith in his name hath made this man strong, whom ye see and know: yea, the faith which is by him hath given him this perfect soundness in the presence of you all.
17 And now, brethren, I wot that through ignorance ye did it, as did also your rulers.
18 But those things, which God before had shewed by the mouth of all his prophets, that Christ should suffer, he hath so fulfilled.
19 Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out...

You see, the four Gospels as well as other books in the Holy Bible speak of Christ and his exalted position. Would the author of The Da Vinci Code have us reject the entire Bible – that really is the only way one could swallow his teachings about Christ. The Bible from start to finish is full of evidences that point to Christ and his supremacy and exalted nature.

It is not enough to be sincere, but we must accept God’s truth as revealed by the Bible concerning Christ, or remain sincerely blind and sincerely doomed to eternal punishment.

Face the truth of the Bible and accept the real Jesus, the Jesus of the Bible, who is both God and man, whose blood was shed in payment for all our wrong.

Accept the real Jesus by:

Asking Jesus to forgive you for your sins, making the choice to turn your back on (reject) your sinful life, asking Christ to come into your heart and mind and lead and empower you to live according to holiness as defined in the scriptures of the Holy Bible. Choosing to follow the Christ of scripture is of the utmost importance. The choice you make will determine where you spend eternity. I recommend you study the Bible and base your faith on what God says in it, not on phony heretical scripture books created or dug up by dishonest authors.