Indifference to Deception
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A CURIOUS SIMILARITY BETWEEN THE MOVIES
THE SON OF GOD AND THE DA VINCI CODE
From time to time, the title of the
book and movie, The Da Vinci Code comes
up. Last night, I decided to watch it. Several times, I was at the point of
shutting it off, but, hoping that perhaps the theme would change, I managed to
watch it to the bitter end. I am not totally sorry that I did so, because it
brought to mind a movie, The Son of God, which
some “evangelicals” highly recommended three or four years ago. I’ll get back
to that a little later.
For those, who have not seen The Da Vinci Code, written by Dan Brown,
I am certainly not recommending that you do so. Moody Church pastor, Erwin
Lutzer, said that it was the worst attack on historic Christianity that he has
seen in his 30 years of ministry. He wrote a book to refute it, entitled The Da Vinci Deception, and a number of
other well-known evangelicals have also written against this devastating lie.
I will not get into many of the
details of Brown’s book/movie, except to say that it attempts to debunk the
divinity of Jesus. Brown also attempts to convince his readers that the book is
based on facts and legitimate documents. The fact is that it is wholly
fictional and Brown has only done enough research to make him dangerous. His
arguments are easily refuted by any student of church history. His main subject
is Leonard Da Vinci’s painting on the last supper, in which, Brown claims, Mary
Magdalene is painted just to the right of Christ, instead of the disciple,
John. John is beardless, but Da Vinci himself explains that he took other
drawings of John from different sources, and because he was a young man, he was
often depicted beardless. The Last Supper depicts the scene, where Jesus announces the betrayal and Peter is asking John to question Jesus, as to who is the betrayer.
Dan Brown gets some of his main
material from the Gnostic Gospels, which have long been rejected by the church
as spurious. The utter blasphemy of The Da
Vinci Code is in the supposition that Mary Magdalene was the wife of Jesus
and bore a daughter, after His death. It is sickening to me, even to repeat
such garbage and I don’t want to continue with other details.
Besides, my reason for writing this
short article is not to major on The Da
Vinci Code, which should be easily discerned as false, by all, but the most
gullible Christians. However, it brought back to my memory, an article that I
wrote on this blogspot, March 3, 2014, about the movie, The Son of God. This movie gained far more acceptance among
evangelical Christians.
Some claimed that it was an
evangelistic tool, although the gospel was never clearly presented in the film.
What I find to be curious and similar in both films is the importance given to
Mary Magdalene. We know the positive position that is given to this woman in
the Gospels and we certainly honor what we read there, concerning her life and
devotion to Christ.
However, in The Son of God, she is given a prominent role and constantly
appears with the twelve disciples, far beyond her appearances in the four
Gospels, almost giving the idea that she was a 13th disciple. The
film had her in the boat, when the apostles were in danger of shipwreck and
Jesus came to them walking on the water. She enters the empty tomb with Peter
and John! She is given superiority, actually, to the twelve, because she
rebukes them for their lack of faith. She also heroically defends Christ at the
cross. I have to question, what the writers had in mind, in giving her that
prominence. It seems to lead in the same direction as Dan Brown’s creation of
Mary Magdalene as a goddess in The Da
Vinci Code.
The title itself of The Son of God is misleading in the film,
because Jesus’ divine attributes are sometimes doubtful. It comes to Him as a
surprise, when he realizes at the last supper that Judas is going to betray
Him. The film veers away from biblical fact frequently, putting Jesus with
Martha inside the tomb of Lazarus, quietly bringing him back to life. The
Bible, of course, shows him outside the tomb, shouting, “Lazarus, come forth!”
That such a film should have become
popular leads me to one of two conclusions. Either 1) Christians are woefully
ignorant of the content of the New Testament or 2) they just don’t care about
biblical accuracy and the importance of literal exposition of the Word of God.
They don’t take seriously the command given three times in Scripture that
nothing is to be added or taken away from the written record. Perhaps both conclusions
are right. Hopefully, many of you are aware of the near-apostate state of
evangelicalism in this 21st Century. If you disagree with these
observations, please don’t bother to try to get me into an argument. I can only
feel sorry for you and wonder about the genuineness of your faith.
These are days of deception, in which
it is imperative that the believer develops a solid and thorough theology. I
want to challenge every reader to a New Year’s resolution. Resolve to read
through the entire Bible at least once in 2018. There are plenty of plans to
help you do that.
Also, I have been impressed during
the last year that young people in high school, college or university, need to
spend hours, offsetting the secular humanism that they are exposed to, by a
serious study of the truth of God. After all, the highest forms of education on
this planet and all the secular books to be found in libraries, cannot get you finally
past a cemetery. No matter how smart we have become or how many possessions we
have acquired, that’s where we are all going. Does anyone care to argue the
point? Only the Bible can get you beyond that destination and take you into
unspeakable glory that endures forever and ever!
Here is some good advice from the
Apostle Paul to add to your New Year’s resolution: “Seek those things which are
above, where Christ sits on the right hand of God. Set your affection on things
above, not on things of the earth. For you are dead and your life is hid with
Christ in God. When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall we also
appear with Him in glory. Mortify therefore your members which are upon the
earth; fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence,
covetousness, which is idolatry: For which things sake the wrath of God comes
on the children of disobedience."
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