Da Vinci Code

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The worldwide best selling book

The Da Vinci Code

by Dan Brown

Is it Fact o

r Fiction?

Is it Fact o

r Fiction?

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In the Da Vinci Code Robert Langdon and Sophie

Neveu are caught in a fast paced chase through

Paris, London and elsewhere upon uncovering

the secret of the Holy Grail—non other than the

‘royal’ bloodline of Jesus and Mary Magdalene—

of which Sophie is one of the few remaining

survivors. The Roman Catholic Church has

supposedly suppressed this amazing secret and

killed many belonging to the bloodline.

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“All descriptions of

artwork, architecture,

documents, and secret

rituals in this novel are

accurate.”

In the title page, the author, Dan Brown wrote:

This very statement supposedly caused

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• The Priory of Sion is a European secret society founded in 1099 by Godefroi to protect the

bloodline of Jesus and Mary (p.345).

The Da Vinci Code claimed:

Actual Historical Fact

• Pierre Plantard formed Priory of Sion in 1954 to help those in need of low-cost housing (group

dissolved in 1957).

•1960s and 70s Plantard created a series of forged documents on the existence of a bloodline

descending from Jesus and Mary through the kings of France to himself.

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This is Pierre Plantard

He and his associates called

themselves the Priory of Sion and deposited these documents in

libraries all over France, including the National Library.

1993 Plantard admitted, under an oath to a French judge, for this

fabrication. The judge issued him a severe warning and dismissed him as a harmless crank.

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In 1975 parchments known as Les Dossiers

Secrets were discovered identifying members of

Priori of Sion such as Sir Isaac Newton, Victor

Hugo and Leonardo Da Vinci. Leonardo Da Vinci,

Grandmaster of The Priory of Sion left cryptic

clues in his painting The Last Supper that the

person on Jesus’ right is not John the disciple,

but Mary Magdalene – supposed ‘evidence’ that

Jesus had a special relationship with her that

leads to marriage and a child: “The Last Supper

practically shouts at the viewer that Jesus and

Magdalene were a pair” (p.329).

The Da Vinci Code claimed:

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Actual Historical Fact

Leonardo Da Vinci was born in

1452. That would have made him

502 years old if he were to be

really a Grandmaster of the Priori

of Sion society! As for Sir Isaac

Newton (1642-1727), he was at

least 312 when he was a

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The Da Vinci Code claimed:

In Brown’s book, Pope Clement V suppressed the Knight Templars because they

blackmailed him with the secret of the Holy Grail. “And these four chests of documents were the treasure that the Knights Templar found under

Solomon’s Temple?” (p.344)

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Founded in 118, the Knights Templar is an order of soldiers who took a monastic vow to protect pilgrims on their journey to the Holy Land. They are a military religious order. It was King Philip who ordered the arrest of the Templar on Friday, 13 Oct 1307, not for any Holy Grail trail, but on the charge of heresy. This allowed Philip to seize their enormous wealth and assets, including the chalice supposedly used by Christ at the last supper.

Actual Historical Fact

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The Da Vinci Code claimed:

“The Vatican prelature

known as Opus Dei is a

deeply devout Catholic

sect that has been the

topic of recent controversy

due to reports of

brainwashing, coercion and

a dangerous practice

known as ‘corporal

mortification’. Opus Dei

has just completed

construction of a $47

million World Headquarters

at 243 Lexington Avenue in

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The real Opus Dei—“work of God”—is a Roman Catholic lay organization that empowers lay people to emphasize piety and good works, instead of focusing on the spirituality of clergy. Its founder San Josemaria Escriva was born in Babastros, Spain, in 1902. The portrayal in The Da Vinci Code as existing to suppress documents of the Priory of Sion is pure fabrication.

San Josemaria Escriva

Actual Historical Fact

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“The Bible, as we know it today, was collated by the pagan Roman emperor Constantine (p.231)….Because

Constantine upgraded Jesus’ status almost four centuries after Jesus’ death, thousands of documents

already existed chronicling His life as a mortal man….Constantine

commissioned and financed a new Bible, which omitted those gospels

that spoke of Christ’s human traits and embellished those gospels that made Him godlike. The earlier [Gnostic]

gospels were outlawed, gathered up,

The Da Vinci Code claimed:

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Constantine could not have collected and altered the combined evidence of history that preceded him because other ancient documents (beside the New Testament that we have—which Brown accused Constantine for

tampering them) do tell the stories of Christ and his sufferings, death and resurrection. And in history there is no evidence that Constantine

ordered the burning of any Gnostic gospels. What were burned were

Arian papers found by the Council of Nicaea to be heretical.

Actual Historical Fact

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Should The Da Vinci Code shaken your

Christian faith and belief? Absolutely not. Dan

Brown is a mere story writer by which he was

clever to deceive his readers into buying his

bestseller book because of the new

revelation that he claimed to have

discovered. Dan Brown is classified a

‘historical fiction’ writer—a genre of literature

writings in which imaginary characters live

within the realistic boundaries of known facts.

We can safely say that Dan Brown is also a

‘revisionist historian’—one who tampers and

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In an earlier interview when asked, “How much of this novel is true?” Dan Brown said,

“The Da Vinci Code is a novel and therefore a work of fiction…

Each individual reader must explore these characters’ viewpoints and come to his or

her own interpretations.”

Lately, Dan Brown no longer claims the Da Vinci Code to be fictional. Is it because money is pouring in from its

sales, attracting—or rather deceiving—thousand of readers into buying the book thinking that it carries some