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Copyright 2006 Rev. Amy B. Freedman The Da Vinci Code- Revealing Secrets Rev.
Amy B. Freedman Opening Thoughts: This work of fiction has caused a real stir! Whenever I turn on the television there seems to be another program exploring "The Da Vinci Code". Tours are now available to the locations in London, Paris, Rome and Scotland where the story unfolds. Theologians and scholars are publishing articles and books critiquing the various claims of the novel. Prayer vigils have been held outside of movie theaters by Christians and particularly Catholics who feel "The Da Vinci Code" is blasphemous. In response to protests, there has been a hold on the movie's release in India, South Korea, Thailand, and Greece. Some evangelical Christians have talked about the opening of the movie as a "spiritual tsunami" that would cause many people to question their faith. Like preparing for an impending storm, study guides and websites have been created in response. Today I join with many other clergy who feel this cultural phenomenon is an opportunity to examine issues of faith and church history. How many people here have read "The Da Vinci Code"? (Show of hands) How many have seen the movie? How many plan to read the book or see the movie? First and foremost, the book is a great read! Dan Brown has written a
thriller with suspense, cryptic clues, secret societies, romantic locations,
danger, chase scenes, and conspiracies that make it a real page turner.
The claim that the Priory of Sion is a real organization founded in 1099
is false. It is true that parchments known as Les Dossiers Secrets were
discovered in the French National Library. These parchments named such
renowned historical figures as Sir Isaac Newton, Botticelli, Victor Hugo,
and Leonardo da Vinci as members of the Priory of Sion. However, it has
been proved that those documents were fraudulent. The story that the Priory
of Sion was guarding a secret bloodline was part of an elaborate scheme
by Pierre Plantard, a man known for fraud and embezzlement. Quite simply
no group named the Priory of Sion existed at the time of Leonardo da Vinci.
Despite the misrepresentations and inaccuracies of the book, I believe that "The Da Vinci Code" has raised some important questions worth examining closely. Who was Jesus? How do we uncover the truth? What is our source of authority? How did the Bible, church, and doctrine develop over time? What was the role of women in the early church? How does our understanding of religion and the nature of the Divine relate to our lives and our religion? These are big questions-questions that cannot be answered in one or even two services. We are part of a living tradition that calls on us to engage with the issues of our times. As the fourth principle of Unitarian Universalism states, "We affirm and promote a free and responsible search for truth and meaning." As religious liberals, we do not have a creed that we hold in common. What we hold in common is a commitment to use not only our emotions and intuition when it comes to matters of faith but to engage our powers of reason. Our minds enable us to grapple with ideas and listen to the perspectives of other people even if they might challenge our own beliefs. In this way, our liberal religious faith encourages a lifelong religious quest. The Da Vinci Code- Revealing Secrets: On the cover of your order of service is a copy of Leonardo da Vinci's painting "The Last Supper". In the novel and film, this painting is used as one of the keys that helps unlock the mystery of the Holy Grail. Just the very words "Holy Grail" conjure up dramatic images from legends about the quest for the cup that Jesus used to initiate the ritual of the Eucharist or Holy Communion with his disciples. One of the reasons that the story of "The Da Vinci Code" is
so captivating is that Dan Brown reveals secrets through symbols and clues.
Sir Leigh Teabing who is brilliantly portrayed by Ian McKellan in the
movie, uses "The Last Supper" painting as an illustration that
the Holy Grail was not a cup, but a person. He points to the figure to
the left of Jesus and claims that given the feminine features (and a hint
of bosom) it is not John the Apostle but Mary Magdalene. He also points
to the V-shape created in the space between Jesus and that figure as the
symbol of the sacred feminine, reminiscent of the womb or creative female
power. In the book and movie, this is the ultimate secret that the Priory
of Sion guarded for over 2000 years and that the Catholic Church allegedly
will keep hidden at any cost: Jesus and Mary Magdalene were married and
had a child together. Sir Teabing asserts that the grail is not a cup
but a woman, Mary Magdalene, who was the bearer of the holy bloodline.
As if that was not controversy enough, the book also claims that Mary
Magdalene not Peter was commissioned by Jesus to be the founder of the
church. Leonardo da Vinci painted this work of art in the Dominican convent of Santa Maria delle Grazie in Italy. It actually was a source of controversy at the time it was painted but not because there was a woman sitting next to Jesus. Da Vinci was commissioned to paint "The Last Supper" in 1495 but took four years to complete it. The patrons were furious that the artist took so long and they were not happy with the results. One reason the painting took so long to complete was that Leonardo did not paint onto wet plaster, a technique which creates a true fresco instead he used tempura paint on dry plaster which gave a greater variety of colors but began flaking off almost immediately. This painting has undergone extensive restoration over the years. There is a question about how accurate some of the details are to the original work. One of the most remarkable features of the painting of which there is only a smaller section on your order of service is that it was painted in perspective on the wall of a dining hall so that the religious order would actually feel as if they were dining with Jesus and his apostles. There is no question that the figure of John the Apostle is effeminate. However, it was a common practice to depict John with flowing long hair and beardless as he was the youngest of the twelve and known as the "beloved disciple". If Mary Magdalene was in the painting, John would have been depicted elsewhere and not replaced entirely. Beside the fact that the artist took four years and the paint was flaking off the wall, there was another reason why this artwork was controversial. This was not the first painting of the Last Supper. Other artists had depicted the scene where Jesus sits down for his final meal with his followers. However, those paintings were serene with Jesus in the center, blessing the bread and wine with his disciples on both sides and Judas off sulking in a corner. The Dominicans were not pleased by Leonardo da Vinci's very human portrayal of the disciples. The painting depicts not the moment when Jesus blesses the bread and wine but instead the reaction of the disciples to Jesus' statement that one of them will betray him before sunrise. The apostles show very human emotions of shock, anger, and confusion. One of the things that this painting and "The Da Vinci Code"
calls into question is the idea that we have a clear picture of Jesus,
the early church, and a unified view of Christianity. Just like the disciples
looking in a variety of directions and having very human and individual
reactions, there is mounting evidence that a variety of beliefs from different
sources were woven into a more common understanding. Many conservative
Christians defend the idea that the church has a clear apostolic succession
that goes all the way back to Jesus. Christians often use the New Testament
as evidence that Jesus is Lord and the one true path to salvation. When discussing the authority of scripture, some conservative Christians
today still assert that the Gospels are based on eye-witness accounts
by the Apostles who walked and talked with Jesus. Unlike what some may
be taught in Sunday School, biblical scholars agree that the Gospels were
not written by Mark, Matthew, Luke, and John. The Gospels are neither
biographies nor histories but are accounts of the "Good News"
of the Christian faith. As it is written in the Gospel of John, when Jesus appeared to his disciples after the crucifixion, the disciple Thomas missed it! When his friends told him what had happened, he did not believe it. He said to them, "Unless I see the mark of his nails in his hands, and put my finger in the mark of the nails and my hand in his side, I will not believe." A week later Jesus reappears and Thomas falls on his knees before him. Jesus says, "Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe." The conclusion of the chapter is that through belief in Jesus as Messiah, one is saved. The Gospel of John declares that Jesus is the one true light and the only way to God is through belief in Jesus. According to Dr. Elaine Pagels, the reason the Gospel of John goes out of its way to disparage the disciple Thomas may be because the Gospel of Thomas presents a very different theological perspective on what it means to be saved. The Gospel of Thomas is a collection of Jesus' sayings, many of which are echoed in Mark, Matthew and Luke. Saying 70 is "If you bring forth what is within you, what you bring forth will save you. If you do not bring forth what is within you, what is within you will destroy you." This saying is part of the Gnostic Gospels, which emphasize "secret teachings or knowledge" as a religious path. Some Gnostics, who lived at the same time as the establishment of the orthodox church criticized common beliefs like the virgin birth and bodily resurrection as naïve. Instead of paying homage to the "dead Christ" they focused on the 'Living Jesus" as his spirit moved through their lives. The Gnostics believed that just as Jesus saw himself as a Son of God, through enlightenment each person could recognize their own divine nature and personal connection to God. Instead of creating a hierarchy of leadership, there was a rotation of people leading meetings and prayers which demonstrated their conviction that each person had direct access to the sacred, not an elect few. As Unitarian Universalists, we believe in direct experience of the sacred and the inherent worth of each person. Although I am called as your minister, my role is not to shepherd you in one path or demand that you submit to a creed or doctrine that does not hold true for you. Joining this congregation as a member means that you have found a community that will help support you on a lifelong spiritual journey that honors all of who you are mind, body and spirit while at the same time being in relationship with other people who may share or challenge your perspective. Channing Memorial Church is the "epitome of liberal theology and
church practice". That is not my quote. Our church was recently featured
on a live radio show broadcast coast-to-coast. Dr. Albert Mohler, the
President of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary and a leader among
American evangelicals used the article about our church found in Newport
This Week as a spring board for his evangelical Christian talk show. I
was surprised to discover Dr. Mohler's commentary online and through his
website was able to listen to the entire program. I would like to play
a snippet for you. How is it that Channing Memorial Church was featured on this evangelical
Christian radio show? As Dr. Mohler says we represent "the epitome
of liberal theology and church practice" in direct contrast to the
conservative Christian faith. The radio show goes on to explore what should
be required for church membership. For Christians that is a belief in
Jesus as Lord and Savior and that the Bible is the word of God. Unfortunately, many people do not realize that a church such as ours exists even though we can trace our roots as a liberal religious movement all the way back to the Council of Nicea. Through out history we have emphasized the humanity of Jesus and the divine found within each person. This means that the ultimate authority in religion, the ultimate authority in your life is not external but internal. Your own conscience, your higher nature, that still small voice within is your guide. As it is written in the Gospel of Thomas, "If you bring forth what is within you, what you bring forth will save you." The sacred is found within you. Jesus was a great spiritual teacher who taught a path of love and inclusion that challenged the established order of his times. May each one of us be bold in facing the injustices of our times and proclaiming a message of love and acceptance. In doing so, we may be revealing the best-kept secret of all. For Further Reading: Jesus - A Revolutionary Biography, John Dominic Crossan The Gnostic Gospels, Elaine Pagels To read or listen to the April 28th radio show, visit www.AlbertMohler.com |