Posted on 05/16/2006 8:12:33 AM PDT by Esther Ruth
The DaVinci Delusion That Cannot Be Ignored--May 16 --> Posted to Jans_eUpdates for May, 2006
May 16 - The DaVinci Delusion That Cannot Be Ignored
I had hoped I could ignore this social and spiritual tsunami but I cannot. When "The DaVinci Code" has sold 45 million copies and millions more are eagerly going to enter theatres this summer for the film, cautions must be sounded as many are doing.
There is no name on earth that evokes such instant and blinding hatred than does the Name of Jesus Christ to all enemies of the gospel. And though the book has done its damage, in the coming days, one of the biggest hate crimes against true Christianity is about to open on film with tens of millions more eagerly standing in line.
Author Dan Brown says, "My sincere hope is that 'The DaVinci Code', in addition to entertaining people, will serve as an open door to begin their own exploration." Exploration of what?? The total debunking of all that the Bible has to say, including the death, burial, and resurrection of our Lord. As Erwin Lutzer of Moody Memorial Church says, "Dan Brown's agenda is not thinly veiled: This book is a direct attack against Christ, the church, and those of us who are followers and call Him Savior."
Hear my radio interview/discussion on this with discernment Pastor Gary Gilley from last weekend here: http://www.olivetreeviews.org/radio/mp3/ It is an hour full of pertinent information.
Brown has the audacity to state right up front that all facts in the book are TRUE when, in fact, they are irrational lies. He has introduced to the unsuspecting an alternative form of Christianity debunking the sacrifice Jesus made for us on the cross. While dozens of films and books have done this over the years, none have been quite this salacious, filled with lies and distortions, about the One who took our sins upon Him. One should only waste money on the Hollywood Christian haters if you have a genuinely seeking friend or relative who wants the facts to be unraveled so they can hopefully embrace truth. And no previous Bible/Jesus-bashing book has sold 45 million copies so this has reached the state where the culture must be engaged in a reasonable way.
Brown tries to wipe away doubt in the opening segments of the film. What he's done is exercise his imagination, strung together rumor, myth, and legend. He has introduced to the unsuspecting an alternative form of Christianity. Any doubt these are the "last days" of deception predicted by Jesus Himself in Matthew 24?
The plot includes Jesus NOT dying on the cross, marrying Mary Magdalene, and having a child whose descendents are still alive. A secret society guards this "truth." Yet not a single credible, ancient source substantiates this.
Skeptics, seekers, new Christians, and unstable Christians could end up believing that the Christian faith is founded on a myth, for Brown cleverly mixes some truth with a lot of fiction, something that always confuses and leads people away from truth. And most today do not have the time or will not take the time to really study and find the real truth.
Campus Crusade for Christ says they have gotten notes saying some of the following:
"I read 'The DaVinci Code' and no longer know what I believe." (A missionary in Europe)
"Two close friends of mine in the church lost their faith over 'The DaVinci Code.' "
"I lost my son to 'The DaVinci Code.' "
This apostasy has gotten some fuel from Emergent Church leader Brian McClaren. In an interview in "Sojourner's Magazine," very much to the left but calling itself evangelical, McLaren suggests it is popular because "it is an experience in shared frustration with status-quo, male-dominated, power-oriented, cover-up-prone, organized religion (which is why he created a new, more trendy one called "Emergent.") McLaren suggests that the standard vision of Jesus is not sufficient to most. "I don't think 'DaVinci Code' has more harmful ideas in it than the 'Left Behind' novels, as they twist Scripture toward a theological and political bend." This leaves me speechless and in more serious doubt and concern for those filtering into McLaren's movement called the Emergent Church.
On the positive side, the book and movie open up a tremendous opportunity to talk about Jesus while He's on the minds of millions. It's an opportunity to engage the culture.
For more on the topic beyond last weekend's radio program, visit the link "Spiritual Deception" at my Web site, http://www.olivetreeviews.org/topics/spiritual_deception.shtml This CBN link also has a good analysis, also under "Spiritual Deception" on my site: http://www.cbn.com/special/DaVinciCode/
So rescue the perishing while there is still time, won't you?
Awaiting His return, Jan Markell
Anybody else listen to The Jesus Christ Show last Sunday?
It was amazing the way Jesus blew the DaVinci Code to smithereens !!!
http://www.kfi640.com/pages/streaming.html at 8 to 11 AMCT
The part that says "FACT".
Right after his opening acknowledgments, this is what Dan Brown wrote:
FACT:
The Priory of Sion — a European secret society founded in 1099 — is a real organization.
In 1975 Paris’s Bibliothèque Nationale discovered parchments known as Les Dossiers Secrets, identifying numerous members of the Priory of Sion, including Sir Isaac Newton, Botticelli, Victor Hugo and Leonardo da Vinci.
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 New York City.
All descriptions of artwork, architecture, documents and secret rituals in this novel are accurate.
But these "facts" are, in fact, lies, as a previous post demonstrates. The book's intent is clearly defamatory, especially of Opus Dei.
Nor am I. But, Catholics do treat their leaders and saints as well, saints or godly.
Because it's a theory dressed up as a novel. There are plenty of works of fiction which are based on real events which are considered historically significant. That's how historical fiction works. This book has a series of fictional events which take place around a setting of "facts." In that way it's misleading because most of the "facts" are untrue.
Mainstream churches do more damange to Christianity than this book and movie ever could.
If the main enemies of Jesus Christ were the religious leaders of His time, what makes anyone think things have changed?
If false worship enslaved the children of Isreal in the OT, what makes us think that religion isn't the greatest impediment to a relationship whith God and Christ that there could be?
Harry Potter cast a spell of ignorance on some folks
and it makes 'em think fiction is real. He's the devil, that Potter boy.
I am Catholic and there isn't much to disagree with in your post. The Pope, the bishops, the cardinals, the priests and the saints were and are all human beings. Just like you, each has been given a specific calling and either lived up to their office or did not. We venerate those who have given everything for the Gospel.
We do believe that the office of the Pope is special and has been tasked with holding the Church firm to the true teachings of Christ. Peter was the first rock as assigned by Jesus, and others have followed in his footsteps, taking on the keys of the kingdom as Christ's Vicar and Prime Minister of the Davidic Kingdom.
What I did find objectionable in your post was the suggestion that we see the saints as "deities". No, they are humans like us who, having walked closely with Jesus on Earth, have continued this walk in their heavenly reward. Beatification is an identification for the Church to know that these people are examples of Christian living worthy of emulation and respect. We pray to them to intercede on our behalf in exactly the same way we ask our family, friends and prayer chains to pray for us. They are alive in Christ and part of the same Church to which we all belong as the Body of Christ.
"I read 'The DaVinci Code' and no longer know what I believe." (A missionary in Europe)
"Two close friends of mine in the church lost their faith over 'The DaVinci Code.' "
"I lost my son to 'The DaVinci Code.' "
1 John 2:19 - "They went out from us, but they did not really belong to us. For if they had belonged to us, they would have remained with us; but their going showed that none of them belonged to us."
Well, I haven't read the book and don't plan to and I won't be seeing the movie.
Yeah, that whole reformation thingy messed up the church's corner on the market, so to speak.
I agree. Propaganda has been used, historically, because it works.
I think I would be endangering my health and well-being if I ignored the potential for propaganda to sway me.
BTW, who authorized any body of human judges to decide who is a "saint" on the basis of humanly devised criteria of eligibility? The Holy Scriptures of Christianity provide no basis whatsoever for any such institutionalized procedure for conferring "sainthood." The saints of God are those who, by His grace, have been granted the gift of faith in Jesus Christ and His sacrificial atonement for the sins of the world. Thus, by the grace of God I am a Christian saint, even as I am yet a sinner, as the Bible attests, and the Roman Curia had nothing at all to do with it. Period. SDG
You mean like archeological findings, Roman records, Arab records, secular histories and eye witness accounts? Sure would be nice if we Christians could just find anything to corroborate our story...
Reread my post, please. If the only saints were those "selected" by the Church, there would be no point to our even trying. That isn't the case. The Church identifies "well-known" individuals who have had a significant impact on the faith to hold up as an example for the rest of us. It strengthens and encourages us in our journey.
We are all called to sainthood. There are only a few, however, that we all know by name and in whom can find common understanding.
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