More than 3 million copies (ed: now over 40 million) are in print. The Da Vinci Code presents the albino monk Silas as the group's killer, but Opus Dei does not have monks.The Da Vinci Code is a novel by Dan Brown that has held one of the top two or three places on best-seller lists since early summer. Opus Dei, a conservative Catholic organisation with around 85,000 members worldwide, has a reputation for seeking links to powerful leaders but denies it is seeking to hide any secrets about Jesus.
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In the novel, Opus Dei is characterised as a murderous and power-seeking movement that is the latest in a series of secretive groups working to obscure truths about Jesus. The figure is usually identified as Saint John, often depicted in the Renaissance period as a beardless youth. Since there were 12 disciples, one would have to be missing for Mary to be present. Art historians dispute the contention that Mary Magdelene is depicted next to Jesus in the painting. The absence of a chalice in the painting indicates that Leonardo knew Mary Magdalene was actually the Holy Grail, or the bearer of Jesus' blood. Teabing says the figure at the right hand of Jesus in Leonardo da Vinci's painting "The Last Supper" is not the Apostle John, but Mary Magdalene. The writings Teabing refers to are non-canonical gospels written later - sometimes much later - than the first four and condemned as heretical by the Church. They show both his human and divine sides. The final form of the New Testament was not agreed on until decades after the Council of Nicaea, but the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John were established as authoritative texts around two centuries earlier.
He calls this rewriting "the most profound moment in Christian history." Teabing says Constantine ordered a new Bible with Gospels that stressed Christ's divinity and all had earlier scriptures, stressing his humanity, banned and burned.
The Arian heresy denounced by a nearly unanimous vote at the Nicaean council denied his divinity while several others denied his humanity. Jesus is called "God" and "Lord" in the divine sense several times in the New Testament. Most Christians believed Jesus was both divine and human - the Son of God made man - long before Constantine. He says the Council decided this by a close vote, implying there was doubt. Teabing argues that in the novel early Christians saw Jesus as a mortal prophet and that the Roman Emperor Constantine had him declared divine at the Council of Nicaea in 325 to curry favour with followers of the fast-spreading faith. John's Gospel says she was the first to see the resurrected Christ. Mary Magdalene was present at Jesus's crucifixion and at his empty tomb on Easter morning. No Gospel identifies her as a prostitute, a legend apparently based on confusion with another Mary in Scriptures. Mary Magdalene is a leading figure among his women disciples. The Bible never mentions Jesus having a wife, as it does for several of his disciples. The Catholic Church later branded her a prostitute to cover up this story. Teabing says Jesus married his female disciple Mary Magdalene and they had a child.
Here are some facts about the plot and the controversial points concerning Christianity:
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Now a film starring Tom Hanks (Robert Langdon) and Audrey Tautou (Sophie Neveu) based on the novel is set for worldwide release on May 19 the controversy centres mainly on statements by Leigh Teabing (Ian McKellen), the fictional historian who explains how to decypher the Da Vinci code. Dan Brown's "The Da Vinci Code," which has sold more than 40 million copies, has stirred debate among Christians and art historians who say the novel is riddled with errors that distort church history.
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