The claim that there are descendants of Jesus Christ today is one of the strongest themes of Dan Brown's The Da Vinci Code. Based on historical facts, this article attempts to figure out whether this is so.
Released in 2003, Dan Brown's novel "The Da Vinci Code" made the effect of a bomb. In his book, the author essentially accuses the Catholic Church of a grand conspiracy to distort the true teaching of Jesus Christ for its own political ends.
For this, the Vatican destroyed the versions of the Bible that he did not want, hid from the public the lifetime documents of Jesus and, most importantly, for centuries, persecuted the true followers of his teachings, led by the descendants of Christ.
The secret organization Opus Dei, which was once headed by Leonardo da Vinci, Isaac Newton and other great people, opposes the church in this unequal struggle. The book is written so vividly and figuratively that many took these statements as true.
The author himself, in an interview, vaguely hinted that the facts given in the novel were, of course, his invention, but he, allegedly, was based on only real sources known to him.
So, can the shocking statement that there were descendants of Jesus Christ be true? Or it should be put on a par with the aliens who made an emergency landing in New Mexico or the second sniper who shot at Kennedy.
According to Brown, Mary Magdalene secretly married Jesus and gave birth to a child from him. There seem to be unambiguous records about this in those versions of the Bible that are prohibited by the official church.
The secret organization "Opus Dei" has been protecting the descendants of Christ, as well as his personal records for centuries. And it was this knowledge that was called the "da Vinci code"
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Canonical Gospel
We'll figure out. Dan Brown argues that in the compilation of the New Testament, approved at the Council of Nicaea in 325 AD, Pope Constantine personally selected the Gospel of four authors who arranged it in all respects.
They were named canonical. Overboard, however, remained more than 50 other options, which did not fully or partially fit into the official policy of the church. Brown calls them "gnostic", that is, carrying secret knowledge.
And, as the author claims, many of them contain direct indications that Mary Magdalene was not just a companion and companion of Christ, but was his wife and, possibly, the mother of his child.
It is reliably known about the works of two heretics: Marcion and Valentine, who opposed themselves to the official church, which were written 200 years before the Nicene Council. They mention the "New Testament" and quotes from it, and only the canonical Gospel is mentioned. It is difficult to accuse the authors of pandering to church authorities, so it is natural to assume that the New Testament existed long before 325.
At present, in addition to the canonical Gospel, there are about fifty other works. Their numerous studies have been carried out, the language used, the facts and events mentioned, the characters are carefully analyzed.
And it has been unequivocally proven that only the works included in the "New Testament" can be attributed to the period of the life of Jesus Christ and the small interval after his death. All others were written much later.
The earliest of them saw the light of day 120 - 150 years after the crucifixion. They completely lack that clarity of presentation of facts and harmony of the narrative, which is inherent in canonical works.
But even in so many books, a hint, and very transparent, of the closeness of Christ and Mary is made only in the Gospel of Philip. But since it is known for certain that this creation was written 200 years after the events described, it does not cause much confidence.
Another argument made by Brown is that in first century Israel a man must be married and mentions Qumran manuscripts as proof.
However, the charter of the Qumran community allowed variety in the solution of the marriage issue: for some communities complete abstinence was offered, others were allowed to have a family.
Therefore, the celibacy of Christ could surprise contemporaries, but not be condemned by them. In addition, according to Brown's logic, the apostles should also be family people, but there is not a single mention of this in the canonical Gospel.
None of Dan Brown's arguments for the existence of descendants of Jesus Christ stand up to scrutiny. But it is so sweet to feel the touch of the secret, the involvement in the conspiracy, even if they have nothing to do with reality.