By RL Forrest
“Neither give heed to fables and endless genealogies, which minister questions,
rather than godly edifying which is in faith: so do.” 1 Timothy 1:4
The Da Vinci Code is a modern story, based on the age-old heresy of Gnosticism. The author, Dan Brown, uses mystery as a tool to entice his audience. He then uses deception to indoctrinate his audience into Gnosticism, the faith of the New Age. Gnostics believe that the divine spark lies within each of us, waiting to be recognized and cultivated. Mankind will enter a New Age when it becomes fully enlightened. This is a message that appeals to the modern audience. By crafting a present-day mystery story, Brown carefully presents this old Gnostic fable dressed in contemporary clothes for his modern audience. As with all Gnostics, Brown seeks to muddy the waters of the Christian faith by surrounding the events of the New Testament and the early church with mystery. By beguiling his audience in such a way, Brown hopes to leave his audience standing precariously on shifting sand, looking for some solid ground. Then Brown supplies a new footing built upon the old Gnostic gospels and endless fabricated genealogies of Christ. By the end of the story the deception is complete.
“But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtlety, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.” 2 Corinthians 11:3
In The DaVinci Code, Dan Brown mystifies the events of the New Testament by presenting them as mysteries that have yet to be solved. Should we trust the early church fathers that carefully assembled the books of the New Testament? Who are the true apostles of Christ? Can we trust the witnesses in the Gospels? Can we trust Matthew, Mark, Luke and John? Should we trust the Gospel of Luke, or the Gnostic Gospel of Thomas? Questions like these permeate Brown’s story. Why is this so important?
The Gospels and the New Testament tell us who Jesus Christ really is. To the Christian, Jesus Christ is fully God and fully man, the Savior whose coming was prophesied throughout the Old Testament, and fulfilled in the New Testament and in the future to come. To the Gnostic, Jesus Christ was a spiritually enlightened man who was showing people the way to their own personal divinity. The Gnostic Jesus has been stripped of his deity. This is not the Jesus we find in the Bible. The Biblical record and the Gnostic texts are diametrically opposed.
“Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit,
after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ.
For in Him dwelt all the fulness of the Godhead bodily.” Colossians 2:8-9
The Bible tells of man’s bondage to sin, his death penalty, and his need for a savior. To the Gnostic, man has a divine nature and has no need of a savior, because he can save himself. This is the same lie that Satan used to deceive Eve into rebellion.
“And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die:
For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened,
and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.” Genesis 3:4-5
The Old Testament documents many human acts of rebellion against God. We see Adam and Eve’s fall from grace in the Garden. We see their first offspring, the murderous Cain. We see human rebellion in full bloom in Noah’s day with judgement following as a flood. As soon as man flourished on the earth again, he created Babel, and God responded by confusing the languages and dispersing the people. Judgement befell the inhabitants of Sodom and Gomorrah in the form of fire and brimstone, while Lot’s wife was turned into a pillar of salt. Even heroes like Moses, Samson, King David, and Solomon fell short. We all do. Sin resides in the human heart and we are powerless to overcome it without a Savior. Jesus does not merely show us the way, He is the way.
“Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth and the life:
no man cometh unto the father, but by me.” Matthew 14:6
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