Hi John
    Thanks for this.
Vinny
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "John Schwery" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Tuesday, May 16, 2006 5:43 AM
Subject: Fwd: THE DA VINCI CODE MYTH


> Some of you were wondering about the Da Vinci Code.  This is a long read, 
> but if you want documentation and a read by somebody who does his 
> research, read this article by David Cloud.
>
> Text of forwarded message follows:
>
>>----- Original Message ----- From: "FBIS News Service" 
>><[log in to unmask]>
>>
>>THE DA VINCI CODE MYTH
>>
>>May 14, 2006 (David Cloud, Fundamental Baptist Information Service,
>>P.O. Box 610368, Port Huron, MI 48061, 866-295-4143,
>>[log in to unmask]; for instructions about subscribing and
>>unsubscribing or changing addresses, see the information paragraph at
>>the end of the article) -
>>
>>The Da Vinci Code, which is a bold attack upon the Christian faith,
>>has taken the world by storm. The book, first published in March
>>2003, has sold more than 40 million copies, and the Sony Pictures
>>movie starring Tom Hanks, scheduled for release on May 19, 2006, is
>>expected to be a blockbuster. The book has received rave reviews in
>>hundreds of newspapers and journals. It is so popular that Da Vinci
>>Code tours are now conducted to the various sites that are mentioned
>>in the book, such as the Louvre Museum and St. Sulpice Church in
>>Paris and Rosslyn Chapel in Scotland. I fly about 75,000 miles a year
>>these days and on practically every flight I take, I see someone
>>reading The Da Vinci Code.
>>
>>Woven integrally into the storyline of this fast-paced novel is a
>>wild-eyed theory that Jesus was a mere man who married Mary Magdalene
>>and had a child by her; she was not only his wife but the chief
>>apostle and the recipient of the "truth" about goddess religion and
>>the "sacred feminine." One of the main characters in the Da Vinci
>>Code says: "Jesus was the original feminist. He intended for the
>>future of His Church to be in the hands of Mary Magdalene" (p. 248).
>>After Jesus' death Mary Magdalene and the child fled to Europe and
>>married into a bloodline that still exists. Mary Magdalene and her
>>bloodline are presented as the very "Holy Grail" of ancient folk lore
>>(the quest for the Holy Grail first appeared in a 12th-century
>>novel). Brown's novel alleges that the Roman Catholic Church invented
>>the doctrine of Jesus Christ's deity in the fourth century,
>>suppressed the "truth" about Mary Magdalene, and has covered up this
>>truth throughout the centuries. The suppressed "truth" was maintained
>>from generation to generation by a secret society known as the Priory
>>of Sion that had some famous members, including Isaac Newton and
>>Leonardo Da Vinci. These people passed along the "truth" by means of
>>secret codes, the most famous of which is the alleged symbolism in Da
>>Vinci's painting The Last Supper. According to Brown, the disciple
>>sitting to the right of Jesus in this painting is not the apostle
>>John but Mary Magdalene.
>>
>>Though the Da Vinci Code is a novel, it purports to be based upon
>>historical facts. In an introductory note Brown writes that "all
>>descriptions of documents and secret rituals are accurate." On an ABC
>>News special Jesus, Mary, and Da Vinci (Nov. 3, 2003), Brown said
>>that he believes the book's thesis. In an interview on Good Morning
>>America that same day he said that if he were to write a nonfiction
>>piece on these things he would change nothing about what he claimed
>>in the novel (Darrell Bock, Breaking the Da Vinci Code, p. 3).
>>
>>Bible-believing Christians will not be deceived by The Da Vinci Code,
>>but it has created confusion in the minds of many. A pastor's wife
>>told me recently that a relative enthusiastically exclaimed to her
>>after reading the book, "Now I know for a fact that the Bible isn't
>>true." A survey taken in Canada in 2005 found that 32% of those who
>>had read the Da Vinci Code believed its story line ("Canadian Readers
>>Believe Da Vinci Code," The Ottawa Citizen, June 24, 2005).
>>
>>The Da Vinci Code is a unique opportunity to witness to people about
>>the Gospel of Jesus Christ. A Zogby International poll that was taken
>>in the first week of March 2006 found that after either reading or
>>hearing about the Da Vinci Code, 44% of those surveyed said they were
>>more likely to seek the truth by studying the Bible ("Most Americans
>>Believe Bible over 'Da Vinci' Polls Shows," Baptist Press, March 8,
>>2006).
>>
>>It is a good opportunity to explain to Da Vinci Code readers that
>>while the Roman Catholic Church has taught many false things, it did
>>not invent the New Testament account of Jesus Christ, and to
>>challenge them to study the New Testament for themselves and to
>>consider the claims of the Gospel.
>>
>>The following are some of the important questions that the Da Vinci
>>Code raises:
>>
>>WAS JESUS MARRIED TO MARY MAGDALENE AND DID THEY HAVE CHILDREN?
>>
>>The idea that Jesus was married to Mary Magdalene and had children is
>>not only contrary to the Bible but is contrary even to the testimony
>>of the gnostic gospels of the 2nd and 3rd centuries. There is not the
>>slightest evidence of such a thing.
>>
>>First let's consider what the Bible says about Mary Magdalene. She is
>>mentioned in nine passages, most of which are in reference to
>>Christ's death and resurrection. She was healed of demon possession
>>and was a part of the entourage of women that sometimes accompanied
>>Jesus (Luke 8:1-3). She was present at the cross (Mat. 27:55-56; Mark
>>15:40-41; John 19:25). She was at the tomb when Jesus was placed in
>>it (Mat. 27:61). She returned to the tomb after Jesus' resurrection
>>and was the first to see the resurrected Christ (Mat. 28:1; Mk.
>>16:1-10; Lk. 24:10; Jn. 20:1-18). In the Bible Mary Magdalene is
>>never mentioned as having any special relationship to Jesus other
>>than as a disciple.
>>
>>Even theological modernists today admit that the four Gospels were
>>written during the lifetime of the apostles. Paul was a former enemy
>>of the Christian faith and after his conversion he wrote epistles to
>>the young churches only two and three decades after the events
>>described in the Gospels, when many of the eyewitnesses of the
>>resurrection were still alive, and he supported their testimony with
>>his own. For example, he wrote the following in the first epistle to
>>Corinth:
>>
>>"Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached
>>unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand; by which
>>also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you,
>>unless ye have believed in vain. For I delivered unto you first of
>>all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins
>>according to the scriptures; and that he was buried, and that he rose
>>again the third day according to the scriptures: And that he was seen
>>of Cephas, then of the twelve: After that, he was seen of above five
>>hundred brethren at once; of whom the greater part remain unto this
>>present, but some are fallen asleep. After that, he was seen of
>>James; then of all the apostles. And last of all he was seen of me
>>also, as of one born out of due time" (1 Cor. 15:1-8).
>>
>>Paul's epistle to Corinth was written in the middle of the first
>>century, almost 300 years before Constantine and the Nicene Council.
>>
>>History tells us that the four Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and
>>John) were accepted as authentic right away by the churches. We have
>>a partial list of New Testament books that were accepted as
>>authoritative that dates to the second century and its lists the
>>traditional four Gospels. From the second century we also have
>>quotations from Irenaeus, Justin Martyr, and Tatian, proving that the
>>four Gospels were in existence and that most Christians accepted them
>>as authoritative. Irenaeus wrote against the false teachers of that
>>day and in his work Refutation of all Heresies he lists all four
>>Gospels and warned that heretics were trying to pervert the doctrine
>>of Jesus Christ.
>>
>>This is irrefutable historical evidence of the historicity of the
>>four Gospels. The Da Vinci Code claims that it was not until the
>>fourth century that Jesus was depicted as the divine, virgin born,
>>resurrected Christ, but this is pure nonsense. This testimony dates
>>to the very beginning of the churches in the first half of the first
>>century.
>>
>>The historicity and authority of the four Gospels is also evidenced
>>by the Old Testament, which was completed 400 years before Jesus was
>>born. The Old Testament writers delivered amazing prophesies that
>>described every aspect of Jesus' life long before He came into the
>>world. His birthplace was named in Micah 5:2. His virgin birth was
>>described in Isaiah 7:14. His sinless life, in Isaiah 53:9; His
>>miracles, in Isaiah 35:5; His wonderful speech, in Isaiah 50:4; His
>>rejection by the Jewish nation, in Isaiah 53:2; His crucifixion, in
>>Psalm 22:16; His burial in a rich man's tomb, in Isaiah 53:9; and His
>>resurrection on the third day, in Psalm 16.
>>
>>The historicity of the New Testament is unimpeachable. Its writers
>>suffered and died for their eyewitness testimony that Jesus was the
>>only Lord and Saviour and that He had risen from the dead, which
>>would have been a ridiculous thing to do had it been a fable.
>>
>>Not only do the New Testament Gospels and Epistles refute the idea
>>that Jesus was married, so do the gnostic gospels that Dan Brown
>>refers to in his novel. These alleged gospels were written in the
>>second to the fourth centuries and present a different gospel and a
>>different Christ than the New Testament writings, but even these
>>gnostic gospels do not depict Mary as the wife of Jesus. The very
>>best evidence of such a thing is found in the Gospel of Philip, which
>>dates to the third century, but it is flimsy to say the last. It says
>>Jesus "loved her [Mary] more than the disciples [and used to] kiss
>>her on her [the rest of this passage has not survived]." Even if we
>>were to accept the authority of this gnostic gospel (and we do not)
>>it says nothing about Jesus being married to Mary Magdalene and
>>bearing children by her. Authorities on gnostic gospels believe the
>>passage is referring to a spiritual relationship and not a physical
>>one. Even the liberal Harvard Professor Karen King does not believe
>>it refers to a physical relationship. Another gnostic gospel, the
>>Gospel of Mary Magdala, which dates to the second century, presents
>>Mary Magdalene as the recipient of divine revelation but it says
>>nothing about her being the wife of Jesus.
>>
>>There simply is no trace of evidence from the early centuries for
>>this wild-eyed theory. It is a figment of someone's overactive,
>>demon-inspired imagination.
>>
>>WAS JESUS FIRST DECLARED DIVINITY IN THE 4TH CENTURY IN THE DAYS OF
>>CONSTANTINE?
>>
>>According to the Da Vinci Code, Jesus was not proclaimed as Deity
>>until the Council of Nicea in 325 A.D., three hundred years after He
>>lived, but this theory is as ridiculous and non-historic as the one
>>that says Jesus was married.
>>
>>The Council of Nicea was called by the Emperor Constantine to settle
>>a doctrinal controversy that was raging. A church leader named Arius
>>from Alexandria, Egypt, was teaching that Jesus was not God, and this
>>doctrine had spread to many churches. Egypt was a hotbed of
>>theological heresies and the home of most of the gnostic gospels. The
>>Council voted to reject Arius' doctrine. The important point to
>>understand about this Council for our purposes is that it did not
>>invent doctrine; it merely affirmed the doctrine that had been held
>>as orthodox by most churches since Pentecost. Constantine, by the
>>way, was not a regenerate Christian; he worshipped the sun and was
>>only a Christian nominally.
>>
>>The fact is that Jesus was worshipped as God by Christians from the
>>very beginning. The four Gospels, which were written in the first
>>century, present Him as God. The Gospel of John, for example,
>>presents Him as the eternal Word. "In the beginning was the Word, and
>>the Word was with God, and the Word was God" (John 1:1). The Pauline
>>Epistles, written in the middle of the first century, also present
>>Jesus as God. For example, in Philippians 2:6 Paul writes of Jesus,
>>"Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal
>>with God."
>>
>>WHAT ABOUT THE OTHER SO-CALLED GOSPELS?
>>
>>According to the Da Vinci Code, the Gospels in our Bibles were only
>>four among 80 competing ones that circulated among the Christians and
>>that were considered for inclusion in the New Testament and they were
>>not proclaimed divinely inspired and canonized until the fourth
>>century in the days of Constantine (Da Vinci Code, p. 231).
>>
>>In fact, as we have already seen, the four Gospels were considered
>>authentic and apostolic from the very beginning of the churches. We
>>have second century quotations from church leaders who defended the
>>four Gospels against heretical writings. Irenaeus wrote, "It is not
>>possible that the Gospels can be either more or fewer in number than
>>they are" (Against Heresies, 3:11.8). He defended the four Gospels
>>because they were written either by the apostles (Matthew and John)
>>or by men directly associated with the apostles (Mark and Luke).
>>
>>As for the other "gospels," there were not many of them and they were
>>never given serious consideration for inclusion in the canon of the
>>New Testament Scripture. The Nag Hammadi Library, consisting of 45
>>early gnostic writings discovered in the Egyptian desert in 1945 and
>>published in English in 1977, contains only five works known as
>>gospels: the gospel of Truth, the gospel of Thomas, the gospel
>>according to Philip, the gospel of the Egyptians, and the gospel of
>>Mary Magdalene. We also know about the gospel of Nicodemus, the
>>gospel of Peter, and the gospel of Judas, which was recently
>>translated and published.
>>
>>The reason that these alleged gospels were rejected by the early
>>Christians was that they were not associated with the Lord's apostles
>>and they taught doctrine that was contrary to the teaching of the
>>apostles and that was even downright weird. The Gospel of Thomas
>>contains an account of alleged miracles performed by Jesus when he
>>was a child and depicts him as petulant and disobedient, so much so
>>that Mary and Joseph's neighbors beg them to take him away. According
>>to one gnostic gospel the child Jesus even kills a playmate and then
>>raises him from the dead to avoid punishment. The Gospel of Judas
>>presents Judas as the head disciple who received special revelation
>>and who betrayed Jesus only because Jesus asked him to do so.
>>According to Irenaeus, the Gospel of Judas was produced by the
>>Egyptian Cainite Gnostics who claimed that Cain, Esau, the Sodomites,
>>Korah, Judas, and other villains of biblical history were actually
>>the enlightened heroes who valiantly kept the truth in a dark world.
>>According to this cult, a god named Hystera created the world and
>>another deity called "Sophia" allegedly assisted the aforementioned
>>people (Refutation of All Heresies, book I, chapter 31,
>>http://www.ccel.org/fathers2/ANF-01/anf01-58.htm#P6155_1380364).
>>
>>The Gnostics denied the God of the Old Testament, replacing Him in
>>some cases with two gods: the Pleroma, who is an eternal, spiritual
>>god and has no connection with the material world, and the Demiurge,
>>who is an evil god that created the physical universe. According to
>>the Gnostics, the objective of salvation was to understand the
>>mystery about the universe and to be freed from the prison of
>>materiality. This required coming to the secret gnosis or knowledge,
>>and only some special members of the human race could ever expect to
>>arrive at this knowledge.
>>
>>The Gnostic gospels denied the Jesus' of the New Testament in a
>>variety of ways. Some divided the eternal Christ from the man Jesus.
>>When the man Jesus died on the cross the Christ spirit was separated
>>from him and was "glad and laughing above the cross" (Apocalypse of
>>Peter, 81:4-24; Second Treatise of Great Seth, 56:6-19). He was
>>allegedly laughing at the world's ignorance. Other Gnostics said
>>Jesus was a phantom or apparition. The Acts of John, for example,
>>claimed that Jesus did not leave footprints.
>>
>>It was not any sort of conspiracy that caused the Gnostic gospels to
>>be rejected by the vast majority of Christians for the past 2,000
>>years. It was the simple fact that when we leave the four Gospels and
>>enter the world of Gnosticism, we enter a world of make believe and
>>nonsense. The Gnostic gospels were mostly created in Egypt, where no
>>apostles ministered and where no part of the New Testament was
>>written. (For more about the Gnostic writings and the canonization of
>>Scripture see our book Faith vs. the Modern Versions, available from
>>Way of Life Literature.)
>>
>>COULD THE ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH SUPPRESS THE TRUTH FOR 2,000 YEARS?
>>
>>According to the Da Vinci Code, the Roman Catholic Church invented
>>the doctrine that Jesus is God and has foisted this doctrine upon the
>>world throughout church history. Is this possible?
>>
>>The Roman Catholic Church was most assuredly a powerful institution
>>during much of church history, and it did try to control people's
>>thinking and foist its dogmas upon all men; but there were always
>>large numbers of churches and individuals that did not bow to its
>>authority. We could mention the Albigenses, the Waldenses, the
>>Lollards, and the Anabaptists, for example. These were groups of
>>Christians living in Europe throughout the Dark Ages who opposed the
>>Roman Catholic Church and its doctrine. Multitudes of these
>>Christians were put to death by Rome; entire towns were destroyed in
>>an attempt to destroy them; but Rome was never able to silence them
>>entirely. It is ridiculous to believe that these churches, which
>>called Rome the Harlot of Revelation 17 and the Pope the Antichrist,
>>would accept any of Rome's lies even if it were true that Rome were
>>trying to hide the truth about Christ. In contrast to the Priory of
>>Sion and the Knights Templars of the Da Vinci Code, who kept their
>>alleged secrets alive through secret codes, the separatist Christians
>>published and distributed their writings and New Testament
>>translations, plainly stating their doctrine in the language of the
>>common man.
>>
>>In the 16th century the Protestant Reformation broke out in all of
>>its fury and Rome lost even more of its ability to control the
>>people's thinking. By the 17th century, Rome had lost much of its
>>former empire. Entire nations had thrown off the yoke, including
>>Germany and England, and America was on its way to becoming a bastion
>>of free thinking and complete religious liberty.
>>
>>Rome was never able to entirely dominate the world's thinking, but
>>none of the separatist Christians (and non-Christians) who resisted
>>Rome from the 4th to the 17th centuries held anything like the views
>>promoted in the Da Vinci Code. (For more about the separatist
>>Christians and the battle for truth during the Dark Ages see the
>>Advanced Bible Studies Series A History of the Churches from a
>>Baptist Perspective, available from Way of Life Literature.)
>>
>>WHAT ABOUT DA VINCI'S PAINTING?
>>
>>According to the Da Vinci Code, Leonardo Da Vinci's famous painting
>>The Last Supper contains a secret code promoting the supremacy of
>>Mary Magdalene. The novel gives two "evidences" for this view: First,
>>there is a V shape between Jesus and the figure to His right, and
>>this, we are told, is not merely because Da Vinci depicted Jesus and
>>the figure to His right leaning away from each other and thus
>>creating a natural and innocuous V shape but is a symbol for the
>>feminine. Second, the figure to Jesus' right has a feminine
>>appearance and must therefore be Mary and not John.
>>
>>In fact, no reputable art historian believes that these are secret
>>symbols or that Mary Magdalene is depicted in this painting.
>>
>>Da Vinci and other homosexual artists of that day, including
>>Michelangelo, often painted feminine men. Da Vinci's painting of John
>>the Baptist, for example, depicts a very feminine man with curly hair
>>befitting a woman and a strange sensual expression. It is commonly
>>believed that Da Vinci was a homosexual. He lived with a younger male
>>artist and surrounded himself with handsome young male models. His
>>biographer, Michael White, wrote: "He was a homosexual vegetarian
>>born out of wedlock who received very little formal education and was
>>excluded by birthright from almost all professions. ... It is
>>possible that up to this time [the time of his arrest] he had felt no
>>real guilt about his homosexuality, that it had either been natural
>>to him, or else he accepted it as part of his self-image; after all,
>>there were certainly plenty of role models [in other Florentine
>>painters] for him" (The First Scientist, 2000, pp. 7, 72).
>>
>>In fact, the Jesus depicted in Da Vinci's Last Supper is also feminine 
>>looking.
>>
>>WHAT ABOUT THE KNIGHTS TEMPLAR?
>>
>>According to the Da Vinci Code, the Knights Templar of the Dark Ages
>>was an organization that attempted to maintain the secret of Mary
>>Magdalene, but there is not a hint of evidence to support this. The
>>Knights Templar was a monastic order founded in 12th century to
>>protect Roman Catholic pilgrims on crusades to the Holy Land. The
>>Order was accused of heresy and dissolved in 1311, but the charges
>>were dropped in 1314 after no evidence of heresy was found. There is
>>not a shred of evidence to connect the Knights Templar to the Holy
>>Grail. Their wealth came from rich people they helped. They "invented
>>international banking," establishing an ingenious system whereby
>>someone could deposit money in one place and receive it another. King
>>Philip destroyed the Knights Templar for the simple reason that he
>>wanted their wealth.
>>
>>MANY OTHER MYTHS IN THE DA VINCI CODE
>>
>>The Discovery Channel special "The Real Da Vinci Code," August 13,
>>2005, exposed the error of all of the alleged facts upon which the
>>novel's theories are based. Tony Robinson, who hosted the special,
>>concludes: "The Da Vinci Code casts a spell that causes people to
>>fail to discern between fact and fiction."
>>
>>Following are some of the facts brought out in this documentary:
>>
>>The idea that the Holy Grail is a secret that Jesus was married and
>>left a bloodline first appeared in Holy Blood and the Holy Grail by
>>Michael Baigent, Henry Lincoln, Richard Leigh (1982).
>>
>>Holy Blood and Holy Grail claims that the Priory of Sion was an
>>organization that was founded in 1099 and that created the Knights
>>Templar to maintain the secret Mary doctrine. Historians, though,
>>have proven that this is a hoax and that the documents upon which it
>>was based, such as a list of Grand Masters that includes the name of
>>Leonardo Da Vinci, are forgeries. The Priory of Sion was actually a
>>minor political organization set up in France in 1956 by a man named
>>Plantard, who, in turn, denounced Holy Blood and Holy Grail's claim
>>that he was a descendant of Jesus.
>>
>>The Institute of Theological Research at King's College is not an
>>institute as such but a sort of theological "think tank" and a member
>>of the institute said, "We don't have a database of any kind
>>whatsoever."
>>
>>There is no evidence from the history of the Cathars that they held
>>any sort of Da Vinci Code doctrine.
>>
>>The Rosslyn Chapel in Scotland appears in the Da Vinci Code as a
>>place where the Knights Templar hid their secrets. Built by William
>>Sinclair in 1440, there is no evidence that it has ever been
>>associated with the Da Vinci Code myth. Historian Robert Cooper
>>testified, "As far as I am aware there is no connection between the
>>Knights Templar and Rosslyn Chapel." The embroidery there that
>>supposedly depicts Solomon's Temple actually depicts the Tabernacle
>>in the wilderness, as any Bible student will recognize, and since it
>>is based on the coat of arms depicted on the same embroidery it
>>cannot be older than the 17th century and thus does not date from the
>>time that the chapel was built and the time when the alleged secrets
>>were hidden in it.
>>
>>The Da Vinci Code's theory that Mary Magdalene went to France with
>>her child that was fathered by Jesus has no historic basis
>>whatsoever. Margaret Starbird, who authored The Woman with the
>>Alabaster Jar: Mary Magdalene and the Holy Grail, points to a legend
>>in southern France that is re-enacted each year of a boat arriving
>>with women and a girl. Starbird claims that the boat contained Mary
>>Magdalene and her daughter by Jesus named Sarah, but in fact the
>>locals claim that Sarah was the Egyptian servant of three Marys, Mary
>>Magdalene, Mary Salome and Mary Jacobi, and not Mary's child.
>>
>>One of the authors of Holy Blood and the Holy Grail was asked by on
>>the Discovery Channel documentary if he and his fellow authors had
>>found any evidence that Jesus had a child. He replied, "None
>>whatsoever. It was purely a hypothesis on our part."
>>
>>The things described in the Da Vinci Code in relation to St. Sulpice
>>Church in Paris are so grossly inaccurate that the church distributes
>>a paper listing them. For example, the candlesticks mentioned in the
>>novel weigh about 200 pounds each and could not have been used as a
>>weapon for one man to kill another.
>>
>>The same is true for the things mentioned in the Da Vinci Code in
>>reference to Westminster Abbey in London. The abbey, one of London's
>>top tourist attractions, has issued tour guides with information
>>sheets to correct the factual errors that are stated in the novel.
>>
>>WHAT IF THE DA VINCI CODE IS TRUE?
>>
>>If the premise of this novel is true the Bible is a lie and the four
>>Gospels are a myth; Jesus was not the virgin-born Son of God; He did
>>not rise from the dead and did not ascend back to heaven.
>>
>>If the premise of this novel is true there is no Gospel and no hope.
>>It would mean that Jesus Christ did not die and shed his blood on the
>>cross for man's sin and did not rise again for the justification of
>>those who believe.
>>
>>The reader has a clear choice between the Gospel of Jesus Christ as
>>it is found in the New Testament and the teaching of the Da Vinci
>>Code. If the Da Vinci Code is true, there is no gospel and no need of
>>a gospel and it really doesn't matter what one believes because there
>>is no lost condition and no Saviour. The Jesus of the Da Vinci Code
>>was a mere man who taught a message of peace and unity and feminism
>>and then died.
>>
>>On the other hand, if the Gospel of Jesus Christ is true, those who
>>die without faith in Christ spend eternity in Hell. This was the
>>testimony of the apostle John who sat at Jesus' right hand at the
>>Last Supper:
>>
>>"And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and
>>this life is in his Son. He that hath the Son hath life; and he that
>>hath not the Son of God hath not life. These things have I written
>>unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know
>>that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the
>>Son of God" (1 John 5:11-13).
>>
>>I thank God that The Da Vinci Code is fiction and that I can testify
>>with the apostle Paul:
>>
>>"For the which cause I also suffer these things: nevertheless I am
>>not ashamed: for I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that
>>he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that
>>day" (2 Timothy 1:12).
>>
>>"But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost: In whom
>>the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe
>>not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the
>>image of God, should shine unto them" (2 Corinthians 4:3-4).
> End of forwarded message text:
>
> John
>
>