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INTRODUCTION:

What’s the big deal about Dan Brown’s Book “The Da Vinci Code”? Why should we be concerned about the movie coming out on May 19 by the same title? Why should we spend several weeks in Church talking about it?

Another pastor shared with me an email from a young man who was defending why he cannot believe in the Christian Faith. Let me read a portion of it to you:

“…nobody has ever taken into account the other “gospels” that were found in the same site [with the Dead Sea Scrolls]. The problem a lot of church officials have… is with a book called the gospel of Mary. The book says that Jesus and Mary were married and that Jesus wanted Mary to continue his ministry not Peter… But the Catholic Church was run by Men who thought that women were inferior and so the…oppression of women was started by the church… so all of those books were considered contra-ban…I have a real hard time believing everything a book has to say when I have never been “allowed” to see the rest of the books that should have been put into the Bible…if you…persecute all those who oppose your religion, eventually enough people will be brought around to think like you want them to…History unfortunately is written by the victor not by both sides of the struggle.”

Where does a large portion of this young man’s theology come from? It comes from Dan Brown’s fictional book: “The Da Vinci Code.” What makes this young man’s theology even more alarming is that this preacher found out later that the young man had not even read the book.

That is the kind of influence that Dan Brown’s work has had on our cultural thinking! In reviewing the book, the Los Angeles Times had this to say, “[it] seriously challenges many traditional Christian beliefs, if not alters them.”

If the book has had this kind of influence, think about how much impact the movie will have when it is released here in a few weeks. That’s why we are taking this time before it is released to respond to Dan Brown’s false teachings.

In his book, Dan Brown claims: “All descriptions of artwork, architecture, documents, and secret rituals in this novel are accurate,” But this morning I want to begin a series answering the deception and lies that are causing doubt and confusion about Christianity as we know it. Today we are going to answer the question “What Is The Real Truth About Jesus’ Divinity.” Next week, I hope to look at “What Is The Real Truth About The Bible.”

In preparing for this particular message, I want you to know that have borrowed from the research of some folks who have a lot more knowledge in Bible History and Historical Theology than I do. One is Dr. Stan Reeder who pastors in Westminster, Colorado. He has not only read the book (which I have not) but he has also made a careful study of it. Dr. Reeder has a Bachelor of Arts with a double major in Religion and History and in getting his Master’s Degree he concentrated on Historical Theology. His area of expertise is the Second Century. In writing his thesis he read every piece of literature written in that time period that is still around– including the entire Nag Hammadi Library and the writings of the Apostolic Fathers. (i.e. everything that Dan Browns book is founded on.)

Another source that I used is a source that I frequently use when dealing in the area of apologetics (which deals with the defense of our faith) is Dr. Josh McDowell, a well noted speaker and author of the book “Evidence That Demands A Verdict” and “More Evidence That Demands A Verdict.”

Here is what the author of the “Da Vinci Code,” Dan Brown, says about the Divinity of Jesus–

I will directly quote his theory about Jesus’ Divinity from his book:

“More than eighty gospels were considered for the New Testament, and yet only a relative few were chosen for inclusion – Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John among them (231)…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…some of the gospels that Constantine attempted to eradicate managed to survive. The Dead Sea Scrolls were found in the 1950’s hidden in a cave near

Qumran in the Judean desert. And, of course, the Coptic Scrolls in 1945 at Nag Hammadi. In addition to telling the true Grail story, these documents speak of Christ’s ministry in very human terms. Of course, the Vatican, in keeping with their tradition of misinformation, tried very hard to suppress the release of these scrolls. And why wouldn’t they? The scrolls highlighted glaring historical discrepancies and fabrications, clearly confirming that the modern Bible was compiled and edited by men who possessed a political agenda – to promote the divinity of the man Jesus Christ and use His influence to solidify their own power base (234).”

So, Dan Brown calls into question the Divinity of the Lord Jesus Christ.

BUT WHAT IS THE REAL TRUTH ABOUT JESUS’ DIVINITY ACCORDING TO THE EVIDENCE?:

I.         THE REAL EVIDENCE OF THE SCRIPTURAL AUTHORS. (30-90 A.D.)

            To the skeptic, the evidence of Scripture may not be compelling, but it must be

            considered because it is the earliest record we have about Jesus.

Dan Brown refers to the earlier gospels; logically there can be no gospels written earlier than the ones that were written by the disciples of Jesus. Every serious scholar, sacred or secular, dates Matthew no later than the year 85. The Gospel of Luke is clearly written before the death of Paul and therefore, before the year 64. Since all scholars understand that Matthew and Luke were both familiar with the Gospel of Mark, Mark had to be written closer to the year 60. [“Matthew, Mark, Luke” Vol VI Beacon Bible Commentary (Kansas City, MI: Beacon Hill Press, 1964) 19-21, 264, 419-421.]

            Both Matthew and John were both members of the group of 12 apostles. Mark was

            Peter’s interpreter. Luke was Paul’s physician and companion. One must ask the

            reasonable question as to when would these earlier gospels have been written and who

            would have been more qualified to write them than this inner circle of witnesses?

            How do these earliest gospels refer to Jesus?

            A.        How Do They Portray Jesus’ Understanding Of Who He Is?

Did Jesus actually claim to be God?

Take just one example of Jesus walking on the water. Why walk? Why didn’t He just sprout wings and fly? Why get His feet wet? Here is the reason:

Job 9:8–(Speaking of God) “Which alone spreadeth out the heavens, and treadeth upon the waves of the sea.”

                        This Old Testament verse would have been commonly known in Jesus’ time –

they knew that God alone can walk on water. So when Jesus chooses to walk instead of fly, He was giving proof of His divinity.

Jesus gave sign after sign and statement after statement that He was God –

Look at John 14:6-9!

Throughout His ministry, Jesus’ enemies got the message that Jesus was claiming to be God and they wanted to stone Him for it:

John 10:33–“The Jews answered him, saying, For a good work we stone thee not; but for blasphemy; and because that thou, being a man, makest thyself God.”

Some might argue, “But maybe Jesus was deluded!” One of the best tests for delusional thoughts is whether or not other people see you the same way that you see yourself.

            B.        How Do The Gospels Portray Others’ Understanding Of Who Jesus Is?

Look at Colossians 1:15-16!

It is interesting that after the Roman Centurion witnessed Jesus’ death on the cross: Mark 15:39 records that he said “Truly this man was the Son of God.”

We won’t, but we could spend a lot of time looking at others who walked with Jesus and also testified that He was and is more than just a man.

As you read the Bible, it becomes clear that those who saw Jesus agreed with what He taught about Himself. He was Divine! He was the God-Man!

But Dan Brown and others might respond, “Well of course the Bible emphasizes Jesus’ Divinity, because ‘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.’”

Constantine’s days were in the early 300's. If what Dan Brown says was true–that Constantine was responsible for beginning to portray Jesus as divine–then we would expect to see a sudden turn in the way that the Christians described Jesus.

Before Constantine, Christ should have been consistently described as being just “human.” After Constantine’s “Edict of Milan” in 313 and the “Council of Nicea” in 325, Christ should have been described as “divine” in all subsequent writings. Let’s check the writings between the time of the Bible and the year 325:

II.       THE REAL EVIDENCE OF THE EARLY CHRISTIAN AUTHORS. (90-325 A.D.)

These quotes are in Chronological order from just after the New Testament in the 90’s until the Council of Nicea in 325 when, according to Brown, everything changed.

(All quotes and dates of early Christian Literature taken from: Kirsopp Lake, translator, “Apostolic Fathers”, Vol. 1, Loeb Classical Library, (Cambridge MA: Harvard University Press, 1978) and Henry Bettenson, editor Documents of the Christian Faith, 2nd edition, (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1963).

            “But of his son the Master said thus ‘Thou art my SON…sit thou on my right hand’”

            -I Clement XXXVI: 4-5 (c 90 AD)

            “Jesus Christ our GOD”-Ignatius to the Ephesians Introduction (c 100 AD)

            “Baptize in the Name of the Father, and of the SON and of the Holy Spirit.”

            -Dadache VII:1 (c 100-120 AD)

            “…the ‘eternal Priest’ himself, Jesus Christ, the Son of GOD, build you up in faith…”

            -Polycarp to the Philippians XII:2 (c 140-155 AD)

            “Brethren, we must think of Jesus Christ as of GOD, as of ‘the Judge of the living and the

            dead’” -II Clement I:1 (c 150-170 AD)

            “This Word…is called the son of God, and GOD, from unity of substance with God.”

            -Tertullian, Apol. XXI (c 190-220)

            “Thou didst send him from Heaven into the Virgin’s womb; he was conceived and was

            incarnate, and was shown to be thy SON, born of the Holy Spirit and the Virgin.”

            -Hippolytus, The Apostolic Tradition (c 220-240)

            “Christ Jesus our LORD and GOD”

            -Cyprian on the Eucharist Epistle LXIII:14 (c 240-260)

“We must believe in… Jesus Christ his Son and in the Holy Spirit, and hold that the Word is united to the God of the universe. For ‘I,’ says he, ‘and the Father are ONE,’ and ‘I in the Father and the Father in me.’”

            -Dionysius, Ap. Athanasius, De decretis, 26 (c 260-270)

“We believe…in one Lord Jesus Christ, the Word of God, GOD of God, Light of Light, Life of Life, Son only-begotten, Firstborn of all creation.”

-Eusebius, Epist, Euseb. Apud Sacrates, H.I. I:8 (c 300)

            I know this has been rather belabored, but from our study you can clearly see the teaching

            that Jesus is Divine stretched from the New Testament (90 AD) through to the time of

            Constantine (313 AD).

Brown might object that these were the thoughts of the powerful with those in charge forcing everyone to believe in Jesus’ divinity. But, nothing could be farther from the truth.

As late as March, 303, Diocletian gave an Imperial Edict published everywhere ordering that the churches be razed to the ground, that the Scriptures be destroyed by fire, that those holding office be deposed and they of the household be deprived of freedom, if they persisted in the profession of Christianity (Eusebius, H.E.IX.x.8).

These early Christians who wrote these things about Jesus’ divinity were slaughtered for their faith up until the time of Constantine’s 313 Edict of Milan that proclaimed that it was right that Christians and all others should have the freedom to follow the kind of religion they favored.

III.      THE REAL EVIDENCE OF THE GNOSTIC AUTHORS. (150-325 A.D.)

            Remember, Dan Brown talked about the eighty…earlier gospels. The Dead Sea Scrolls

            were found in the 1950’s hidden in a cave near Qumran in the Judean desert. And, of

            course, the Coptic Scrolls in 1945 at Nag Hammadi.

In addition to telling the true Grail story, these documents speak of Christ’s ministry in very human terms. Even though, Dan Brown claims: “All descriptions of artwork, architecture, documents, and secret rituals in this novel are accurate,” understand that he is not quite telling the truth.

Although he lumps “The Dead Sea Scrolls” – which were actually discovered in1947 by a Bedouin shepherd-boy, not in the 1950’s as he indicates – in with “The Nag Hammadi Library”, these were completely different in date, content, and place of origin.

Dr. Steven Reeder says, “If Dan had ever read “The Dead Sea Scrolls” he would know that there are no gospels of any kind included in them; he would know that they have nothing to do with Christianity; he would know that they were written100 years before Jesus’ ministry began!” If he read the ancient literature he would know that the Holy Grail is never mentioned. This misrepresentation of the facts on Dan’s part should be enough by itself to disregard anything that he has to say about history or theology.”

Also, I should add that although the Nag Hammadi Library does contain 5 purported gospels – a few short of Brown’s eighty – they were certainly not earlier than the four gospels of Scripture.

In fact the earliest - “The Gospel of Thomas” - was written in the year 150; “The Gospel of Philip” no earlier than the year 250; “The Gospel of Mary” on which Brown relies so heavily, the in the 300’s. They were written from 120 to 300 years after the facts, and they were written under fake names. Clearly no historical accuracy can be attributed to these works.

It would be the modern day equivalent of a guy claiming to be Abraham Lincoln, publishing a book in 2006 about the Civil War claiming to have the real record of what happened…because after-all he was there.

            We wouldn’t be forming new theories from a guy who claims to be Abraham Lincoln.

            We’d be suggesting that he go see a psychiatrist or go jump in Prairie Creek Reservoir.

.

I quote Dr. Reeder again, “Even though the Gnostic Literature has little if any historical accuracy, if Dan Brown had read them, he would know that the Gnostic literature did anything but paint Jesus, as Brown puts it, as: a great and powerful man, but a man nonetheless.”

            And then he gives these examples of what they do say about Jesus.

(All quotes and dates of Gnostic Literature taken from: James M. Robinson, General Editor, The Nag Hammadi Library (San Francisco: Harper & Row, 1981).

            “Father, GOD, the Savior, the Son of God” -The Sophia of Jesus Christ (100)

            “…the one…by the name exalted above every name, through Jesus Christ, the LORD of

            Lords, the king of the ages, the Son of Man, the Spirit, the Paraclete of truth.”

            -The Prayer of the Apostle Paul

            “The Son of GOD is the Lord of all and SAVIOR”-The Tripartite Tractate (121)

            “Christ has everything in himself, whether man or angel or mystery, and the

            FATHER…The Lord…MESSIAH…Christ…the redemption…the truth”

            -The Gospel of Philip (56, 62)

            “O Christ…the Great DIVINITY…King of life, King of ages and Great ONE of the

            heavens.”-The Teaching of Silvanus (111)

            “Our GOD Jesus”-The Letter of Peter to Philip (133)

Dr. Reeder also says, “What I find remarkable about the Gnostic understanding of Jesus is how similar their descriptions are to those of the New Testament and all the writings of the early Christians! Nowhere in the Gnostic Literature is Jesus ever referred to as being just human…nowhere! Contrary to his word that “all descriptions of…documents…are accurate,” Dan Brown has completely misrepresented the documents of “The Dead Sea Scrolls” and “The Nag Hammadi Library.”

Conclusion

So, the question is the same question I posed in my Easter message last Sunday.

“What Do You Believe?”

What you believe determines what you will do with Jesus. What you do with Jesus determines

your destiny!

Home Page   Contact Us    Service Times   Sermons   Are You Going To Heaven?

NOTICE:   THESE SERMONS ARE FREE TO BE USED BUT ARE NOT TO BE SOLD!