2006. 4. 23 김영봉 목사

Third of Four Series Sermon: 'A Proper Perspective on Da Vinci Code' (1)
"For Truth and By Truth"

--John 8:31-38

1.

Let me first clarify one thing as I begin my four part series of sermons dealing with a novel written by Dan Brown, namely Da Vinci Code. During the four weeks, I will deliver sermons based upon the Bible but not the novel, Da Vinci Code. If my sermons were limited to discussing Da Vinci Code, they would not be sermons, but instead be mere seminars. I would not waste these holy and precious hours of sermons in telling about a tale fabricated by a writer. However, the novel and its upcoming movie have become such a social phenomenon that they cannot be overlooked. And the novel raised serious questions about the truth of Christianity. I felt compelled to respond to some of these questions from the biblical perspective. As such, the title of this four part series is called, “Correct Understanding of the Christian Truth” instead of “Correct Understanding the Da Vinci Code.” Thus, the four sermons will not deviate from the fundamental characteristics of a sermon; however I will reference Da Vinci Code throughout these sermons.

For those who have not read this novel, you may ask why it has become so controversial. This novel is more than a novel. It is the best seller unprecedented in recent history. The movie that is scheduled to open on May 19 is likely to become a Block Buster setting new sales records. Moreover, the plot of this novel is a mystery story that pursues a fact which the Church had been covering up as a secret for past 2000 years. Here is the synopsis of the novel:

A world famous religious symbologist of Harvard University, Robert Langdon, is inadvertently involved in an incident while visiting Paris. After a bizarre death of Jacques Sauniere, a famous curator of Louvre Museum, a memo was found to read “Meet Langdon.” Langdon finds himself getting deeply involved in the mystery surrounding Sauniere’s death. He learns that the death was part of a struggle relating to Church’s 2000 year conspiracy to keep secret the truth about ‘the holy grail’. At first, he thought ‘the holy grail’ referred to the wine cup used by Jesus during his last supper with his disciples. However, while investigating the story of the Priory of Sion which has kept the secret, he discovered ‘the holy grail’ was really a woman who held the divine blood of Jesus, not a wine cup.

After various ups and downs, Robert Langdon discovered the secret story. The secret story goes as follows: Before He died, Jesus married Mary Magdalene and a seed of Jesus was growing in her womb when He died. After Jesus died, people were concerned about her safety and secretly had her escape to a village in southern France. In time, Mary delivered a daughter named Sarah. Sarah, the daughter of Jesus, afterwards became the ancestor of the French Merovingian dynasty. However, the Catholic Church completely covered up and suppressed this secret from the very beginning. Thus, they destroyed all evidences of the Jesus’ marriage to Mary Magdalene, and relegated her to a prostitute.

However, Jesus’ descendants still live today and the secret has been kept by a secret society named ‘the Priory of Sion’. The secret has not yet completely been exposed, however during the past several centuries it has continuously been intimated and implicated through various artworks, literature and music. Leonardo Da Vinci was the prime example. He was one of the leaders of ‘the Priory of Sion’, and drew various symbols in his painting named “The Last Supper” to reveal the secret. The man sitting to the right of Jesus, considered John under tradition of Church, was in fact Mary Magdalene. She was the most beloved disciple, sweetheart and wife of Jesus. The hero Robert Langdon discovers the secret after numerous ups and downs, and confirmed this fact.

2.

As anyone who reads this novel will know, the story develops so interestingly that it is difficult to stop reading before the end. Because I am not a literary critic, I will refrain from any literary criticism. If I tell you my impression as an ordinary reader, I came to realize for the first time the English expression as a page-turner really means for a very absorbing book. But, the real problem was in the premise upon which the so-called ‘Secret Truth of Christianity’ this novel is based on. In addition to the Marriage of Jesus theory, this novel raises various accusations against Christianity. Let me introduce some parts in this novel related to Christianity as below:

The Bible, as we know it today, was collated by the pagan Roman emperor Constantine the Great.” (page 231)

“Nothing in Christianity is original. … … Even Christianity’s weekly holy day was stolen from the pagans.” (page 232)

“Until that moment in history, Jesus was viewed by His followers as a mortal prophet… … a great and powerful man, but a man nonetheless. A mortal… … Jesus’ establishment as ‘the Son of God’ was officially proposed and voted on by the Council of Nicaea… … A relatively close vote at that,” (page 233)

“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 gospels were outlawed, gathered up, and burned.” (page 234)

“What I mean is that almost everything our fathers taught us about Christ is false.” (page 235)

“Behold, the greatest cover-up in human history. Not only was Jesus Christ married, but He was a father.” (page 249)

“According to these unaltered gospels, it was not Peter to whom Christ gave directions with which to establish the Christian Church. It was Mary Magdalene.” (page 248)

Now, what do you think? If we take all these utterances as true, the conventional Christianity should collapse immediately. The Bible as the foundation of Christianity would be nothing but a lie. All the theology and tradition Christianity had taught seemed to be made up of the borrowings from other religions. Christian beliefs related to Jesus appear to be all lies. As such, those who bore antipathy against Christianity must have been ecstatic when reading this book. Those with little Christian faith must have been very embarrassed. Actually, I have met many who had read this book and told me as if it hit them like an earthquake, “What are all these about? How should I react to the novel’s premise?”

None of the utterances cited above is truth. As I will introduce to you gradually, I am familiar with the truth of history after my long years of study in the origin of the Bible and Christianity. Without even a basic study of the origin of the Bible and Christianity, the writer gathered unsubstantiated rumors, pieced them together and states them as if they were historical facts. Knowing the true facts made me feel uneasy when reading this novel. Moreover, those cited above were all mentioned by Leigh Teabing, one of the characters, who was introduced as a member of the British Royal Historian. It gives an impression that his historical references were all true. Consequently, the readers, who have no idea how baseless his statements are, cannot but feel his statements are all true and are deeply shocked.

3.

The problem of this novel lies right here. The problem is in the power of the novel that deceives the readers to feel as if the stated utterances were accurate truth of history. It will gain more power when it is made into movies. That is not an accidental happening. That was what the writer planned meticulously. When I first read this novel two years ago, I could let it go. However, while studying for this sermon I gradually became to suspect the honesty of the writer, Dan Brown. Even though he introduces himself as an honest seeker, mobilizing every possible word on his homepage, I think he is nothing but a writer contaminated with commercialism and sensationalism.

Let me introduce an example. At the beginning of the novel under the title ‘facts’, he introduces ‘The Priory of Sion’ and ‘Opus Dei’ and adds a statement in the end, “All descriptions of artwork, architecture, documents, and secret rituals in this novel are accurate.” This sentence was prepared to mislead the readers from the very beginning. This sentence and the organizing characteristics of this novel are their ability to make the readers to fall into illusion that even the novel’s characters are real persons. It misleads you to think that the historian Leigh Teabing actually exists, he is one of the few authorities who can witness historical truths, and all his statements about Christianity are truths.

A quick reflection would reveal how much this last sentence deceives the readers. The intent of the writer here is “All the artwork, architecture, documents, and secret rituals introduced in this novel exist in real world.” However, the last sentence gives an impression that their interpretations are also accurate. The writer may simply answer “I did not intend that.” It is not surprising then that he defends to the criticisms that the contents of his novel are different from the facts on his official homepage as follows:

The questioner asks. “How much of this novel is true?”

Dan Brown answers. “The Da Vinci Code is a novel and therefore a work of fiction. While the book's characters and their actions are obviously not real, the artwork, architecture, documents, and secret rituals depicted in this novel all exist (for example, Leonardo Da Vinci's paintings, the Gnostic Gospels, Hieros Gamos, etc.). These real elements are interpreted and debated by fictional characters. While it is my belief that some of the theories discussed by these characters may have merit, each individual reader must explore these characters' viewpoints and come to his or her own interpretations. My hope in writing this novel was that the story would serve as a catalyst and a springboard for people to discuss the important topics of faith, religion, and history.”

The questioner continues. “But doesn’t the novel’s ‘fact’ page claim that every single word in this novel is historical fact?”

Dan Brown answers. “If you read the "FACT" page, you will see it clearly states that the documents, rituals, organization, artwork, and architecture in the novel all exist. The "FACT" page makes no statement whatsoever about any of the ancient theories discussed by fictional characters. Interpreting those ideas is left to the reader.”

Here I remember a story of a pastor I knew. Now being at an age of retirement, he is revered by junior pastors as a man of noble character and a philosopher. However, when he was young, he could not solve his problem with wine and tobacco. He did not quit these even when he was receiving the pastoral ordination. He was expected to take an interview before being ordained and sat before the senior pastors. An interviewer asked the pastor, “Well, do you drink and smoke, or not?” The pastor answered, “I am not doing them right now.” He passed the interview with the answer. He jokes that when he thinks about it now how unbelievable his answer was. His answer “I am not doing them right now” could be interpreted as “I am not doing them right at the time of interview.” The interviewers understood that although he indulged in them he quit them now. It was a very sly answer.

This is what Dan Brown is attempting to accomplish through this novel. He does not seem to have any intent to harm Christianity. He merely sought to have his novel capture more people’s attention. He has succeeded in making his story very exciting, and in raising many readers’ curiosity. And he would become a man of huge wealth by the success of the novel and the movies. I wonder what kind of conspiracy theory he would use to sustain his success in the future. Islam may be the next interesting subject. However, then he will have to remember the case of Rushdie Salman. The Muslim extremists authorized his assassination anywhere in the world because he had criticized Islam in his book, “Satanic Verses”, and he has been living in hiding until now.

4.

Up to this point, we saw an example of a writer driven by the commercialism and primacy of success does not hesitate to insult mercilessly what others consider most precious. If the contents of the story Dan Brown has suggested through the hypothetical characters about Christianity, the Bible and Jesus are indeed true, then they must be confirmed and publicized. The assertion that the Church has hidden, fabricated and suppressed anything which was fact and truth is an extremely serious accusation. It is because if it were true, then the foundation of all our faith would collapse.

Therefore, he cannot just say “I did not mean it,” after intimating through the characters of the novel that Christian faith was all fake. I think he should have pursued the truth as a literary man rather as a commercial success-driven writer. Then he would have studied more thoroughly the origins of Christianity and avoided spreading false information like this. If he thought he had found the historical facts Christianity has hidden, he must have clarified them through historical research rather than through a novel. This is my complaint and regret on this novel.

The image of Christianity this novel casts into readers’ mind is that it is an organization which is willing to use any kinds of conspiracy, scheme or method to keep the vested interests. Of course, it is an undeniable truth that Christianity from time to time has committed many wrongdoings during past 2000 years. Especially such wrongdoings became quite prevalent from the middle of 300 A.D. when Christianity became the national religion of the Roman Empire. Thus historians tell us that the turning point toward corruption was when Christianity became Roman national religion through Constantine. As Christian church held money, power and might, the Christian spirit became corrupted. Yes, it is true. As the Church or Christians rely on properties, power and violence, they lost the essence of Christianity. Therefore, Jesus so frequently warned against money, power and honor. Christianity and Christians have committed so many wrongdoings.

During the past Passion Week, I visited Isemal city in Yukatan Peninsula as a part of Mexican mission places. This entire town was a temple town. All the houses were compactly connected to a Catholic Church named Templo Franciscano at the center and the whole town was painted in yellow. It was the third colonial city established by the Spanish in South America. I was overwhelmed by the scale of the Church. Perhaps the bishop of the church would not have envied the heavenly kingdom. Looking around the town, I thought, “I see. With this kind of power the church could have wielded violence at will to exploit and harass powerless people.”

However, we cannot conclude that ‘all’ churches ‘always’ have done wrong. We should not conclude that Christians ‘always’ and ‘all’ were so vulnerable to privileges. The essence of Christianity is not in the pursuit of privileges, but, as Jesus tells us in today’s scripture, in the pursuit of the truth. Even though the Church frequently committed wrongdoings during the past 2000 years, within the Church, there have always been brave believers to seek the truth and to sacrifice their own lives for the truth. The Church was able to inherit today’s image by the blood and tears of such prophets. There are still gospel merchants. There are still false teachers. However, God kept sending us the prophets who pursued the truth with clear consciousness and sacrificed their own lives for the truth. They did not care for any privileges or honor. They only sought the truth.

Let us remember the Catholic monk, Martin Luther who examined one by one all of the improper dogma of the then corrupted and decayed Catholic Church, and advanced 95 items of reformation in 1517. Afterwards, he received serious threats from the Church authority which wanted to preserve its privileges. He trembled often from the threats. However, he did not back down. He was determined that he would not turn away from the truth even if he was deprived of his position, or his own life. He prayed on his way to Worms Congress where he was to receive the final judgment:

Oh Almighty and Everlasting God. How strange is this fight of mine? … This world only seeks the bright, strong, big and high things. If I turned my eyes on those, I would fail. Oh God, Oh my God, Oh my God. Stand by my side against all the wisdom and theories of this world. I need you to do that for me. In fact, this fight is not mine. It is yours. If I were to care about only myself, I would not have any reasons to confront the authorities in the world. I want to live a quiet and comfortable life too. This is your fight, the fight for the righteousness and eternity. Therefore, please stand by my side. Lord, where are you? Come to me, come to me. I am ready to sacrifice my life for this righteous cause like a sacrificial lamb. This fight is for your righteous will. I will never leave from your side. Even if more devils come to face me, even if this body of mine that you have granted gets destroyed, allow me in your name never to be able to commit any act that goes against my heart. (Prayer Elections, pp. 463-4)

5.

In fact, Christianity did not inherit its current image by the violence of the privileged as Dan Brown says, but by the people like Martin Luther King, Jr. who risked his life for what is right. Such people continuously emerged throughout the Christian history. Some of them left their names, and others perished without their names. However, because they knew the truth, they did not care about leaving their names behind. The only thing that mattered to them was leaving their names to God. A life following the truth, living according to the truth, is the way to leave one’s name to the Lord.

Believing in Jesus means the following and living by the truth. It means to become a believer of the truth, and to become one to live for the truth, but not for any interests. In today’s scripture verse 31, Jesus says that you are my true disciples if you remain in my words.

The first qualification of a disciple of Jesus is ‘remaining’ in His words. The word “remain” implies the idea of continuity. It means that we should always be learning and meditating upon the words of Jesus so that they may be incorporated into our lives. Then we become qualified as the disciples of Jesus. What happens next if we become the disciples of the Lord? Do we financially prosper? Do all our problems go away? Do we pass the exams we have not really prepared for? The Lord says in verse 32, “And you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” To be the disciples of the Lord means to know that truth and once you know the truth, you will obtain the true freedom that is not bound by anything. That is the essence of our faith.

In a certain sense, the novel has taught us paradoxically a lesson on the true faith. It helped us define clearly the purpose of our faith. Truth, truth and truth! The novel has given us an opportunity to confirm our identity as a seeker of the truth. A true Christian is someone who lives his life for the truth, according to the truth and by the ways of the truth. Therefore, a true Christian is the one who is willing to abandon his faith if the faith turns out to be not the truth. As long as his faith is based on the truth, a true Christian is willing to make any sacrifices.

I am confident to say that although many people worry about the negative effects of the “Da Vinci Code syndrome”, this will also become a forgettable happening, once passed. It is because the truth remains forever, while the stories that merely excite our curiosities do not last long. In facing the novel’s challenge, we must arm ourselves not with logical explanations, but with the truth. We may have to argue over the detail facts in the novel but more importantly, we should become the believers in truth and live according to the truth by remaining in the word of Jesus Christ. Truth cannot be proven by arguments. Truth becomes apparent when it is demonstrated through our lives and no logical arguments can prevail over such truth.

That is why this is the time where we have to stay in His words even more. We have to try harder to become His true follower. It is the time when we must take a look at ourselves. The fact that this novel even challenges the Church and Christian means we are being seen by non-Christians as inconsequential and ludicrous. It is because the church has not presented the image as a community of truth. And we Christians have shown many failings in our life as the people of the truth. It is my problem and our problem, not their problem. Our Lord through this novel awakens us today. He awaken us that there would be a greater challenge if we do not realize why and what we believe and live according to the faith. Who is indeed prepared to humbly kneel down and wake up upon this realization?

Lord of Truth,

Deliver us from fruitless curiosities.

Deliver us from sinful habit of enjoying purposeless arguments.

Help us hold only to the words of the Lord

Help us know the truth and live by the truth.

Help us stand firmly while walking the road of the truth.

The spirit of the truth! Hold firmly the spirit of this age.

Have mercy on those who find pleasure and profits in ridiculing the holiness.

Help us know the joy of upholding the holy.