Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me". John 14:6




Resources:Jesus is Lord, How to Accept Jesus
Jesus is Lord, Home Comforts
BibleGateway.com
Contender Ministries
Got Questions?org
Rapture Ready
American Family Association
Focus on the Family
CrossDaily.com
Net Ministries
CrossSearch
Bible.org
Blue Letter Bible
Christianity Today
ProlifePages
LifeSite
The Voice of the Martyrs
Liberty Council
Family Research Council
Alliance Defense Fund
Blogs:Jesus is Lord, A Worshipping Christian's Blog
The Scriptorium
Through the veil-an attempt to understand life through the eyes of a Christian
Carpe Diem
Commentators:David Limbaugh
Hal Lindsey-Oracle
Joyce Meyer Ministries
Michelle Malkin
Rapture Alert
Rapture Ready-Nearing Midnight
Townhall
Victor Davis Hanson
News:AgapePress -- Reliable News from a Christian Source !
Crosswalk.com
Daystar
The Jerusalem Post
Rapture Ready News
SRN News
WorldNetDaily

A Christian Friendly Site
A Christian Friendly Site

An Israel Friendly Site
An Israel Friendly Site


View or Sign Our Guest Book
View Guestbook
Sign Guestbook

Email Us Here

Christians and "The Da Vinci Code", Part 2

In part 2 of "Christians and "The Da Vinci Code", we are going to take a look at the Gnostic writings from which Dan Brown claims to have taken most of the premises used in his story.


What are the "Gnostic Gospels"?

The term "Gnostic" was derived from the Greek word "gnosis," which is translated as "knowledge". Gnostics believe that they possess "secret knowledge" and "wisdom" about divine matters. Knowing this "secret knowledge" gives them salvation from death. Where Gnosticism and Brown's "The Da Vinci Code" meet is through the "Gnostic Gospels". These so-called "Gospels" contain what the Gnostics claim are the "lost" or "forgotten" words of Jesus Christ.

Reading Gnostic texts, such as "The Book of Thomas the Contender", "The Gospel of Mary", "The Gospel of Philip" and "The Acts of Peter", to name a few, one finds that instead of a narrative of the activities of Jesus, during his time here on earth, these "gospels" are instead a loose collection of sayings purported to be from Jesus. In these sayings, Jesus shares with the author, the "secret" way to salvation, something He apparently failed to share with everyone else, through the canonized gospels of the Bible. When the Gnostic Gospels did give a description of Jesus' activities, they often were just embellishments of the Biblical Gospels. These embellishments show that the Gnostic Gospels were very dependent on the four Biblical Gospels for their background.

Another trait of the Gnostic Gospels is called Docetism. This is the idea that Jesus was divine but not human. For instance, a passage from the Gnostic Gospel of "The Acts of John" (passage 93), it says, "Sometimes when I would lay hold on him, I met with a material and solid body, and at other times, again, when I felt him, the substance was immaterial and as if it existed not at all."
In direct contrast to what we find in the Biblical Gospels, where Jesus is Both fully human and spiritial in nature, in Gnosticism, Jesus is portrayed as a "spiritual" being, not completely human, if even human at all.


One question concerning Gnostic texts is "when were they written"?

Most historians and scholars place the age of the Gnostic Gospels between 250 and 350 AD. The oldest known manuscripts of the New Testament were written between 50 and 75 AD.(1)
Looking at these dates, it would have been impossible for the Gnostic Gospels manuscripts to be written by the apostles (or close associates) as they claim. As shown above, since the Gnostic Gospels drew heavily on the Biblical Gospels, in regards to activities of Jesus, the Biblical Gospels clearly were in place and well known by the time the Gnostic Gospels were written. One author points out:

"The canonical Gospels were all anonymous works to begin with. But many of the apocryphal (Gnostic) gospels claim apostolic authorship. This marked difference suggests that they were trying to get on the fast track to acceptance by the church. Since they were not first-century documents, something had to be done to give them an edge. Claiming to be written by an apostle was just the ticket."(2)


In the next part of "Christians and 'The Da Vinci Code'" we'll look at some of the fallacies of Brown's research and how he even incorrectly quoted the very documents (https://florafox.com/ca/hamilton-15858) that we call into question above.
-Steve
Jesus is Lord, A Worshipping Christian Family

References:
1. 'Is the Bible True?' copyright 2006 Jesus is Lord, A Worshipping Christian Family Web Site
2. 'Reinventing Jesus: What The Da Vinci Code and Other Novel Speculations Don't Tell You' by J. Ed Komoszewski and James M. Sawyer, (Kregel, copyright 2006)

Jesus is Lord, A Worshipping Christian Family Home


Come Visit the Jesus is Lord, Home Comforts Page!


If your church is looking for a unique way to bring the Word of God to it's children and young people, take a look at Doug Westbrook's Bible Story Murals. Each mural is based on the hand painted originals Mr. Westbrook painted at Central Baptist Church in Houston, Texas and represents a different well known Bible story.
They are available on durable vinyl wallpaper for easy installation.
Click on the link to find out more.



Christian Web Sites


Christian Banner Exchange
The Gospel Banner Exchange




CrossDaily.com
CrossDaily.com
Web
Search
Click Here
Vote For
This Site




In regards to Google Ads, we are not able to filter the content of the ads. In most cases the ads will be appropriate for a Christian based site, but in some cases, ads not of a Christian nature may be displayed. We aoplogize if you find an ad to be offensive or inappropriate.


If this web site has been useful to you and you feel led by the Spirit, please consider making a donation in order to help us to continue to build our web ministry. Thank you and God Bless You!

copyright © 2006 Jesus is Lord, A Worshipping Christian Family, All Rights Reserved