Further Study

Digging In

Teabing, a major character in the The Da Vinci Code, makes this claim about the origin of the Bible and Constantine: “The Bible, as we know it today, was collated by the pagan Roman emperor Constantine the Great. …He was a lifelong pagan who was baptized on his deathbed, too weak to protest” (p. 232).

Paul Maier, professor of ancient history, had this to say: “I’ve never seen a greater falsification of a historical figure in my life than what Dan Brown has done to the first Christian emperor, Constantine. He claims that Constantine was the editor who collated the books of the Bible. He is the one at the Council of Nicea who made Jesus God. …There are lies from beginning to end. The canon had been virtually in existence at least a century and a half before Constantine the Great ever climbed the throne. Constantine was not in the business of collating or editing any of the books in the Bible. He did not dismiss those books that referred only to the human life of Jesus as Dan Brown claims, nothing of the sort.”

Who is more qualified to speak on the historic activities of Constantine, Dan Brown or Paul Maier? Why?

Also in the video program, we learned that the Latin term canon came to refer to “the measuring rod” or standard by which certain writings were recognized as God’s Word. Those books that passed the test were accepted into the collection that now comprises our Bible.

Centuries before the life of Constantine, the New Testament books were selected by a specific criteria (i.e., apostolic authorship, universal church acceptance, and an inspired quality in the text).

How does this answer Dan Brown’s allegation that Emperor Constantine manipulated the choice of books?

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Going Further

Read: 2 Timothy 3:16–17.

We have seen how The Da Vinci Code portrays a picture of the Bible’s origin that does not fit recorded history. If this is the case, we need to assess what the Bible’s true source is. An important step is to discover what origins the Bible claims for itself.

A careful examination of this verse reveals the claim that the Bible has a divine author. “All Scripture” refers to every book contained in the Bible as “inspired” i.e., theopneustos—“literally breathed out by God.” This means the actual words the Bible writers wrote down were given their divine content while using the styles of the various writers.

Charles Ryrie, a great theologian, said of this process: “Inspiration is God’s superintending of human authors so that, using their own individual personalities, they composed and recorded without error in the words of the original autographs His revelation to man” (Ryrie Study Bible, p. 1756).

The Bible claims for itself that it is God’s inspired Word. Why is this significant? Do you agree with 2 Timothy 3:16-17? Explain your answer.

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Final Thoughts

An initial examination of The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown shows that some of his basic claims about the origin of the Bible are contradicted by both objective history and the claims the Bible makes for itself.

What weight do history and the Bible’s self-claims carry? What weight does The Da Vinci Code carry? How does this affect your view of the novel?

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