Notes of Chapter 6: "Cracking Da Vinci's Code - You have read the fiction, now
read the facts"
by G&J
False statements of DB in the 'Da Vinci Code':
1. The Bible is a product of man .. (pg 241)
2. The New Testament is false testimony (pg 342)
3 The bible was compiled by men with a political agenda (pg 234)
4. The main player in compiling the bible was Emperor Constantine (pg 234)
The New testament was written within 50 years after Christ and was widely
circulated throughout the Christian communities in the 'known world'. As
Christianity was spreading so were false versions of the religion. The first
well-known individual to belong to this category was Marcion (90-160). He was
excommunicated for adultery by his bishop (his own father).
Marcion had his own selection of books that he called Canon. This canon
(selection of writings along with his own) was rejected by the church. Marcion
was practicing 'casuistry' where well-thought reasoning are used to justify
what the individual wants to do.
The Church in the second century, in response to Marcion and a few others,
started putting together the 27 original and authentic writings, of the early
church into an accepted collection - a book called the New Testament. Yet some
scholars believe that there was already an accepted collection of books before
Marcion based on the writings of Tertullian (160-255). He wrote, "The Pontic
mouse (the city where Marcion resided) nibbled away the Gospels ... abolished
marriages ..." The historians argue, one can only nibble away what already
exists. The Church did not create the New Testament. It is the New Testament
that created the Church.
The Bible is in its main is an "eye witness account" of Jesus. The writings of
the second generation of believers (post-apostles) around 100 already refer to
"the scripture". Just like today on this chat site, by the second century,
there were contrarians and those who give their "fictional version" of what
really happened, compared to what has already been written as an eye witness
account. Hence the New Testament was not written in 425 AD and was not
invented by Constantine.
Regards, GL
