DaVinci Code as Mythology

[ArtH]

Having studied a lot of mythology and seen how facts are corrupted to fit the intended outcome the writer wants, and read both Holy Blood, Holy Grail and its sequel, which are cited as sources for the DaVinci Code, it seems to me that this whole hoohah, as well as the Priory/Abbey of Sion rubbish, could be boiled down to possibly this minimal data:

1. Lazarus might have been the person to whom Jesus said, “Behold your mother.” If that were so, that might be taken as indicating that Lazarus was now to be seen as at least the head of the House of David (the line of Jesus’ descent) or even the whole of Judaism. Considering that Jesus, as the son of God, would probably count as the head of every earthly family, he need not even have been the official head of the House of David for him to make this statement. For various reasons, including not wishing to necessarily want to honk off the Roman government in any probably fatal way, the writers of the gospel might have been a bit circumspect in indicating exactly who was being spoken to here.
2. History and tradition indicate that Lazarus left Israel and became the first bishop of Marseilles (I think, somewhere in France anyway). History does not, to my knowledge, indicate that he had any children.
3. If neither Jesus nor Lazarus had any heirs, any children of Mary or Martha, Lazarus’s siblings (who also apparently moved to France with him), might then be counted as the heirs of the House of David. If Mary married in France, any children she might have might qualify.
4. In the sequel to Holy Blood, Holy Grail, whatever it’s title was, the Planchard fellow who said he was involved in the Priory of Sion said they claimed descent from the House of David, but not Jesus.
5. If the heirs of Mary or Martha used this descent as the basis for a claim to the monarchy, as was evidently the case with the Merovingians (a group mentioned in HBHG and its sequel) and, for whatever reason, lost their crown, they could very easily start “enhancing” (falsifying) their claims to a throne, including whatever factual distortions might come to mind.
6. Considering this area of France is near the location of the Albigensian crusade, who discounted the possibility of the god of heaven incarnating in any way, these so-called heirs may have over time decided that the god from whom they were descended was not Jesus, but Mary Magdalene.

If the above would be even remotely true, the theological significance of any of the ideas proposed above would be nonexistent.

Please understand that I am in no way proposing that these ideas above are taken as true by me, or that they should be believed. However, it is submitted as a very roughly formed idea for any possible future consideration.

 

[FightingFat]

I think one of the major problems I’ve found in debating this sort of thing is that ‘Holy Blood, Holy Grail’ is basically about how the Church has corrupted facts. The only way to combat this sort of journalism is to offer hard facts in response.

In Karl Keatings article here on The DaVinci code speaks of some of the ideas in the book that are well researched by people interested in Gnosticism and ancient civilisations. There is a lot of veracity in these statements which are corroborated by gnostic texts and pre orthodoxy texts that predate the Church.

I would like to better understand how we justify inclusion and rejection of these texts by someone who understands the subject!

 

[Annunciata]

ArtH:

…Please understand that I am in no way proposing that these ideas above are taken as true by me, or that they should be believed. However, it is submitted as a very roughly formed idea for any possible future consideration.

… I’m sorry… but why even suggest such a thing??? This is nonsense in my opinion!
Annunciata

 

[space_ghost]

ArtH:

Please understand that I am in no way proposing that these ideas above are taken as true by me, or that they should be believed. However, it is submitted as a very roughly formed idea for any possible future consideration.

what are you looking for, credibility in a book of fiction…? maybe i’m missing your point

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[Tom_of_Assisi]

space ghost:

what are you looking for, credibility in a book of fiction…? maybe i’m missing your point

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Yes liberals often miss important points. A book which newly popularizes some old anti-Christian myths and directly attacks the Church on every page is not harmless just because the author says it’s a fictional novel only based on the facts.

A German playwright in 1960 wrote a play about how the Pope and Hitler were buddies working toward the killing of the Jews. Before this fictional play was written nobody thought that. Now you hear scholars all the time making the same assertion.

 

[ArtH]

I am in no way lookiing for credibility in the DaVinci Code per se. I acknowledge that it is a work of fiction. I am rather referring to the alleged sources Brown used as the basis for his trash novel. The alleged sources indicated in those books may have some basis in reality (most such cases do have some minimal basis) and am in fact trying to use the standard practices of mythic deconstruction to determine what they might be.