The Da Ceiving Code

Speaking of Dan Brown’s 2003 novel The Da Vinci Code, referred to in the last blog, I wrote the following in May, 2006 when the film adaptation starring Tom Hanks was released.

The Da Vinci franchise laughs all the way to the bank as it fans the fears of the fragile faithful. However, its claim to fame (and your dollar) must be restricted to its clever page-turner writing style. Everything else is suspect.

There is historical misinformation and terrible incongruities in the Da Vinci tale. For instance, Constantine did not deify Jesus and decide what would be included in the Bible. The fourth century emperor cum Christian is just one rather minor example of exploiting religion for political gain.

As for the nonsense about the “Sangreal” documents, any ancient codex wouldn’t last long in a tomb under a church in notoriously damp and fungus-ridden England.

Furthermore, no bombshell can remain unexploded. And most really aren’t bombshells at all. The Coptic codices unearthed at Nag Hammadi are a good example. The Gnostic Mary gospel in that group, in which Mary is designated chief disciple despite opposition amongst the others, once it was unearthed in Egypt, ricocheted around the antiquities marketplace until it landed in a safe deposit box in New York where it rotted until National Geographic purchased the rights to preserve and present its content.

Where’s the hue and cry of the Catholic Church, which finished arguing and condemning the Gnostic, Marcion, and other heresies centuries ago? Can a few variant manuscripts really break a world religion?

The Da Vinci story, after having the Maltese Falcon meet the Last Temptation of Christ, ends with an aphoristic whimper about unity in diversity. It is as of Yoko Ono, after leading you on a wild goose chase all over the gallery, leaves you at the top of a stepladder looking at a little framed glass picture on the ceiling in which is written the word, “YES.”