The Integrity of the Bible - Cracking the DaVinci Code Part 1

Well you know there's an old saying that goes like this. It says Alai traveled halfway around the world while the truth is still getting her boots on and over the past three years we have seen a sterling example of this.

When it comes to a book by Dan Brown entitled the da Vinci code.

Since being published in 2003, the da Vinci code is actually sold over 60 million copies. It's been published in 44 languages around the world and as a matter of fact it came out in paperback two months ago and it only 60 days sold over 3 million copies in paperback. Now of course the blockbuster movie is out, directed by Ron Howard, starring Tom Hanks, generating a whopping $30 million on the very first day that it was open and this movie. Of course, has sparked a rash of protests around the world.

Catholics around the world are boycotting it the nation of India refused to release it in that country. So you might ask the question what is all the hubbub about well if you read the book like I have many of you here read the book. Well, you know, if you read the book what all the hubbub is about. But if you have not read the book, please allow me to tell you what the hubbub is all about Dan Brown's book claims that there was a marriage between Jesus Christ and Mary Magdalena produced a daughter, Dan Brown's book says that Jesus intended. Mary and her daughter to be the leaders of the early Christian faith. But according to Dan Brown in a cheap power grab the male leadership of the early church branded Mary Magdalene number one is a prostitute covered up all marriage of Mary DeJesus number two and number three distorted the New Testament to high their dishonesty is that while I wait a minute, there's a lot more Dan Brown claims that everything the New Testament says about Jesus Christ is distorted and falls. He says that the New Testament was formulated and twisted by Emperor Constantine and by the male bishops at the Council of Nicaea in 325 A.D. he says that there were many secret books New Testament books that contradict everything the Bible says about Jesus Christ and that these books were deliberately omitted from the New Testament by the people of this council. Dan Brown says that the early framers of Christianity were a bunch of devious, corrupt and power-hungry hypocrites. And finally, he says that the Christianity that we know of today is the product of a bunch of male chauvinism bishops who twisted Christianity and made it into a religion that subjugates and represses women now friends Dan Brown's book is a novel, it's fiction, but lots of people have read his book as though it were nonfiction as though it were truth and this has shaken lots of people's faith. This has undermined out lots of people's confidence in the Bible. This has deepened lots of people skepticism about Jesus Christ and the Christian faith, and therefore I say it's time for the truth to get her boots on here at McLean Bible church and that's why were starting a new series 3 parts entitled crafting the da Vinci code. When I was talking to my youngest son John about this and I told him we were going to do this series of months ago. He said to me, will dad what exactly are going to talk about. If you only have three messages. What are you going to talk about and I said to him you know John, I'm not sure because there is so much error in this book. I don't even know, I know where to start but I went through and I boiled it down to the three most important issues. Most coaching issues that this book touches on and they are number one the formation and the makeup of the New Testament. Number two the true nature of Jesus Christ and number three the esteem given to women by Christianity and those of the three topics that were going to talk about going start today with the first one of these that is were going to talk about the integrity of the Bible. Now let's ask as we begin what's the real issue well. The real issue is that the Bible claims to be the inspired in errant word of God to mankind and in this book. Dan Brown takes issue with this. He has one of the character say and I quote the Bible did not arrive by fax from heaven.

The Bible is a product of man, my dear, not of God but Brown's book never really gets into a serious discussion of the historical accuracy and reliability of the Bible and so therefore we are not going to get into a serious discussion of that.

However, let me say that if you're here today and you like some more information about the historical accuracy and reliability of the Bible. If you would like to know more about whether the Bible's claim to be the inspired and inerrant word of God can stand the test of an honest intellectual examination than right after were done go out in our lobby and purchase a copy of the CD that we have out there were two messages for me where we talk about that exact subject and I believe that'll help you. Now the real focus, however, of Dan Brown's attack on the Bible deals with the formation and the makeup of the New Testament. In particular, Dan Brown focuses on the Roman Emperor Constantine and on the church council that he convened a at Nicaea in 325 A.D. and so this is where I want us to focus our attention for the rest of this morning.

Here's what Dan Brown says first and I quote the Bible as we know it today was collated by the pagan Roman Emperor Constantine. He was a lifelong pagan who was baptized on his deathbed to week to protest Constantine was a very good businessman. He could see the Christianity was on the rise, and he simply backed the winning horse." Now is this true was Constantine merely a cheap opportunist who use Christianity to enhance and expand his own personal power will the answer is no, absolutely not. Let me tell you the real true in 312 A.D. Constantine was away with the Roman army in Gaul. Modern-day France when a fellow named Accenture's usurped the throne back in Rome. Constantine had to march his army back and fight this usurper in the night before the battle, Constantine was really worried he was going to lose and he was up late at night praying to his pagan gods when suddenly he saw in the heavens across appear and he heard a voice say to him in Latin hawk being K, which means literally. By this, that is the cross conquer. Later that night, Jesus appeared to him in a dream and directed him to have a cross placed on a pole and then to march in the battle.

The next morning under the sign of this cross. Now this account is given to us by Eusebius.

The church historian who says that Emperor Constantine told him this story personally. The story is also recorded by two non-Christian Roman historians, and if you really care about the name. Come see me after the service. I'll give you the name you don't care, but trust me, non-Christian historians record the same story. Well, Constantine did all of this and he won the battle against overwhelming odds, and as soon as this was done, he immediately declared himself a follower of Jesus Christ. He immediately changed the symbol of the Roman Empire from an eagle to across erected a statue of himself in Rome holding the cross up high with the inscription under the statue by this sign, meaning the cross I delivered this city and friends.

The date of this was 312 A.D. Constantine was not on his deathbed to week to protest like Dan Brown says as a matter of fact he ruled the Roman Empire for another 25 years after this victory in 312. Constantine became a pro active champion of Christianity. He ended all persecution of Christians in the Roman Empire. He became a friend of all the Christian bishops and would often call them together for church councils, which he himself attended.

He erased all the pagan symbols from the city of Rome. Zeus and Apollo. All those people he paid for church is to be built all through the Roman Empire.

He declared Sunday to be a day of worship throughout the Roman Empire.

He attended church in Rome. Every single Sunday and would stand during the entire service out of humility for what God had done for him.

He let a Bible study weekly in the palace with his palace guard. He was the teacher. He gave his sons, a Christian education and his mother a lady named Helena who was actually a follower of Jesus before him, and no doubt prayed him into the kingdom of God, Queen Alayna asked her son in 325, right after the Council of Nicaea she could go on a pilgrimage to the holy land and see all these great sites and she'd been reading about in the Bible and me when you get to do. You can tell your mom and no, I mean, you know, so he said okay mom, you can go but he said I'm a little worried about your safety and so I'm gonna send along the whole tense Roman legion with you and so this woman march to the holy land was 6000 soldiers with her and everywhere she went. She asked where did this happen, where did that happen.

Where did Jesus do this, and wherever the locals pointed out to her.

She left a contingent of the Roman army there and said go to church here, go to church here, go to church there. If you ever go to Israel with me.

I'm in a tell you that all the great places that were able to go see that have historical reliability back to the days of Christ there all their because of this woman going through town in the fourth century if she hadn't done this, they'd all be Jiffy Lube's today you understand what I'm saying we owe this woman a great debt of gratitude friends. My point is that Constantine embrace Christianity.

Not because of political expedience.

He embraced it because he had had a true spiritual encounter with the living Christ and his actions prove it. Dr. Paul Meyer, Prof. of history at Western Michigan University said and I quote historians all agree that Constantine certainly rejected paganism and became a genuine Christian convert in 312 A.D. well based on his completely erroneous understanding of Constantine's faith. Dan Brown goes on in his book to propose a scenario of phantasmagoric co-proportion. I needed a word that big took to describe this of phantasmagoric co-proportions about the formation of the New Testament. Listen to what he says and I quote from Dan Brown. Constantine needed to strengthen the new Christian tradition that he had made up according to Brown, and so we held a famous ecumenical gathering known as the Council of Nicaea. The da Vinci code continues until that moment in history.

Jesus was viewed by his followers as a mortal prophet, Jesus is establishment as the son of God was officially proposed and voted on by the Council of Nicaea that is a complete lie. I'll talk to you more about that next week. It was all about power in an underhanded political maneuver. Constantine took advantage of Christ's substantial influence and importance to expand his own power. The early church literally stole Jesus from his original followers number to talk more about that next week about the true nature of Christ, but Brown goes on to expand his theory of how Constantine's plan influence the formation of the New Testament. Listen to what he says.

He says because Constantine upgraded Jesus's status to divine almost 4 centuries after Jesus's death. Thousands of documents already existed chronicling Jesus's life as a mere mortal. That's an absolute law. So, Constantine commissioned and financed the new Bible which omitted those Gospels that spoke of Christ's human traits and embellish those Gospels that made Jesus will God like these earlier Gospels were outlawed, gathered up and burned our modern Bible. Brown says was compiled and edited by men who possess a political agenda, namely to promote the divinity of the man Jesus Christ and to use his influence to solidify their own power base, Constantine's Bible has been the church is true for ages so almost everything our fathers taught us about Christ is false." Now what evidence does Dan Brown give to support this claim about the formation of the New Testament well quoting one more time. Fortunately, some of these Gospels that Constantine tried to eradicate managed to survive. They were found in 1945 and not commodity.

Egypt, these documents speak of Christ's ministry in very human terms. Of course the Vatican tried hard to suppress the release of the scrolls. And why wouldn't it.

The scrolls highlight glaring discrepancies and fabrications in the Bible's presentation of Jesus Christ. The folks here are the questions. Therefore, we have to answer today as we draw to a close number one did the Council of Nicaea in 325 A.D. decide the makeup of the New Testament or the contents of the New Testament settled long before them. Question number two. Do these scrolls found it not commodity commonly called the Gnostic Gospels. Do they represent a truer account of who Jesus really is and why were they omitted from the New Testament, and finally number three on what basis did the early church decide which books went into the New Testament in which books to question number one.

Here we go. Did the Council of Nicaea really decide what the contents of the New Testament are what the answer is no, no, most emphatically, no. The formation of the New Testament had taken place long before centuries before the Council of Nicaea in 325 A.D. ever met. Here is the evidence Peter writing and 65 A.D. second Peter chapter 3 verse 16 already in 65 A.D. is referring to Paul's letters as quote Scripture teaching us that even in the first century A.D. the early church already had an understanding of what books qualified as inspired by God and were therefore Scripture and meant to be part of the New Testament. Then we move on to the years 100 to 250 A.D. this is as you know, to centuries or so before the Council of Nicaea and we find the writings of the early church fathers, men like Polycarp Tapia's Ira Naess, Tertullian, Eusebius, and we find lists and every one of their writings of the books that were considered to be in the New Testament in the first the second century. The third century, and these lists are identical to the New Testament that you and I have in our Bible today in 200 A.D. we found an official copy from 200 A.D. we found it an official copy of the apostle Paul's letters all bound together in a book form that was obviously circulated among the churches there referred to as the Chester Beatty papyri and what this tells us is that in 200 A.D. the apostle Paul's letters were considered to be Scripture authoritative and they were circulated among the churches as such, and finally the most important piece of evidence is the mirror Torian Canon. This is a list of all the books that were recognized to be in the New Testament it's from 170 A.D. that's 150 years before Constantine ever convened the Council of Nicaea, and in this list we find an identical listing to the books of the New Testament with only a little bit of difference in the order in which the books are written are Laird Harris, in his classic work, the inspiration and canonicity of the Bible says and I quote in the mirror Torian Canon we have a history of the New Testament books as an authoritative collection almost exactly like our New Testament from someone who wrote less than 70 years after the death of the last apostle and who may well have talked with many people who knew the apostles so let's summarize Emperor Constantine did not commission and finance a new Bible at the Council of Nicaea like Dan Brown says.

On the contrary, by the time the Council Nicaea rolled around in 325 A.D. friends. The makeup of the New Testament was a long-established conclusion. At that point, and besides, we know from history that the Council of Nicaea never even discussed the makeup of the New Testament. It was never even on their agenda and they never even talked about it at this Council I'll talk to you more about that next week. Now that leads us to question number two and that is do these scrolls found that not commodity Egypt. Do they represent a truer account of who Jesus really is and why were they omitted from the New Testament.

Well, these scrolls, commonly called the Gnostic Gospels were discovered and not commodity Egypt in 1946. Actually, and the reason they are called Gnostic scrolls is because they were written by a group of heretics, a sect of heretics called the Gnostics, the name for this sect comes from the Greek word for knowledge, gnosis, beginning with the G. These were a highly secretive sector. People like the Masons who believe that they have been entrusted secret knowledge from Jesus that nobody else had these guys have some pretty wacky beliefs is a matter of fact, they believed that the true God of the universe created two angels who had sex and had a child and this child became the God of the Old Testament.

This was an evil child and the purpose of this evil God of the Old Testament was to make sure people never got to have and so Jesus had to come and give us the secret knowledge so that the people who were initiated in the Gnostic sect could get to heaven. Now these Gnostic believers are these Gnostic people whatever they were. They also wrote some accounts of Jesus's life Gospels if you will and in his book Dan Brown claims that there were A.D. of these Gnostic Gospels that were rejected by the New Testament. Actually, we've only ever found five not 80. We found five the Gospel of Thomas, the Gospel of Mary, the Gospel of Judas, you may have heard about that if you been reading the paper much the National Geographic Association is making a fortune on the Gospel of Judas. They were all found here in these Gnostic Gospels have Jesus saying and doing some of the most far-fetched and crazy stuff you've ever heard of in your life. These are the books the Dan Brown says the true story of Jesus to come from the put the problem with this theory is that the early church leaders knew all about the Gnostic Gospels, long before the Council of Nicaea and they have rejected them long before Constantine ever live as heresy, to give you some evidence hundred 80 A.D. Ira Naess in his famous treatise against heresies outline the teaching of the Gnostics, in his treatise and he said and I quote. Such are the falsehoods that deluded people have invented in 200 A.D. hundred and 25 years before the Council of Nicaea, Tertullian speaks of the Gnostics, and says that the entire church had rejected both them and the their writings, so let me summarize the reason these Gnostic Gospels were omitted from the New Testament is simply that the early church considered them to be heretical and to be wrong and this happens centuries before the Council of Nicaea New Testament scholar Dr. Norman Geisler says and I quote, it was not Constantine who branded Gnostic beliefs as a radical. It was the apostles themselves." And that leads us to question number three which is well then how did they decide way back then what got into the New Testament and what did not mean they obviously decided that these Gnostic Gospels didn't. But how do they decide what data requested the answer are Laird Harris. Once again the inspiration and canonicity of the Bible and I quote he said the New Testament writings were not distinguished from others based on intuition stop there for second guessing what he saying he sang the early church leaders do not all get around the table one day and sit there with all these books spread in front of him on the table and then raise their hands close their eyes and go dude in blue out and inhabited okay.

How did they do it well. Look, he says to the contrary. In John chapter 14, Jesus promised a special work of revelation to the apostles whom he had ordained to be the teachers and founders of his church, the apostles became the spirit ordained and recognized spokesman of God and the teaching of an apostle was received by the early church and given immediate authority simply because he, the author was an apostle, commissioned of Christ. Harris continues this fully explains he says the sudden rise of the New Testament as an authoritative corpus of undoubted authority. Another words, this is why didn't take centuries for people to decide what went in the New Testament and what didn't. Writings of the apostles were received at once and granted absolute immediate spiritual authority so that to answer our question the bases used by the early church to decide which books went into the New Testament was apostolic authorship, pure and simple.

Did an apostle right, this did an apostle dictate this was an apostle associated with the person who wrote this. That's how they decided, and if an apostle was and remember there were no provisions made by Jesus to pass on the office of apostleship.

Paul says he was the last one to be the last apostle. One of the requirements of being an apostle was you had to see with your eyes the risen Lord Jesus and Paul says in first Corinthians 15 he was the last person to ever do that here on earth. There were only the apostles of Jesus ordain ending with Paul and that was it and if they wrote something or they dictated something the church granted immediate authority and anything else written that had nothing to do with them. The church rejected from the New Testament. I love what are Laird Harris says Dr. Harris says the Lord Jesus did not give us a list of the 27 New Testament books. He did however give us a list of the inspired authors Matthew, John Paul, Peter, James, etc. and friends. This is exactly why the five so-called Gnostic Gospels founded Naga body did not get into the New Testament. It was not because they presented a non-divine picture of Jesus that threatens some kind of unscrupulous power grab by Emperor Constantine they didn't get into the New Testament because they were fraudulent documents written in the second century after the apostles at all died and they were not written by one of the true apostles Dr. Norman Geisler says the Gnostic writings were not written by apostles but by men in the second century, pretending to use apostolic authority to advance their own teachings today. We call this fraud and forgery" and again Dr. Harris. He said we have no evidence whatever that there were any true writings of the true apostles that the early church ever refused rejected or lost.

They all got into the New Testament. So let's summarize how you doing all right out there with you. If you look glazed over. Y'all all right out there. Okay, let's summarize this conclude we've examined Dan Brown's theories about the formation and the integrity of the New Testament, we found that every single one of them are wrong.

Emperor Constantine nor the bishops at Nicaea rewrote the Bible for their own personal and political gain. Nicaea had nothing to do with choosing the books of the Bible. Furthermore, the bishops who came to the Council of Nicaea. My friends, these were not unscrupulous cheap political hucksters like a Dan Brown present some these were godly men. These were men with suffered for their faith in Christ. These were men who would seen their friends, their loved ones, family members put to death for their faith in Christ. These were men who could pull up many of them, their shirts and show you the scars on their backs because of their faith in Christ and they came to the Council of Nicaea as godly men for a godly reason that had nothing to do with the makeup of the Bible.

I'll tell you what that reason was next week. Finally, the Naga Hammadi these Gnostic gospels that were found were not omitted from the New Testament because they were true they were omitted from the New Testament because they were forgeries they were fraudulent and they were all Dr. Darrell Bock research Prof. of New Testament Dallas theological seminary, and I quote he said we have examined Dan Brown's claims about the New Testament and found them wanting at every point the gods do not connect historically in his book fiction is fiction, and readers should appreciate fiction as such." As a matter fact, if you want a really good treatment of the da Vinci code from a biblical point of view. We have Dr. box book available for purchase in the lobby go out there and get yourself a copy and I promise you you'll help you to really work your way through it. It's a wonderfully done book with great scholarship in now.

Please allow me in closing to remind you what Jesus said. Jesus said Matthew 24 heaven and earth will pass away. The da Vinci code will pass away, but my words Jesus said will never pass away, and friends.

I want to urge you not to let in any way the lives of Dan Brown's book shake your confidence in the integrity and the veracity and the trustworthiness of the Bible.

I want to urge you to place your full and utter trust in the written word of God to base your eternal destiny on the written word of God to build your earthly life on the teachings of the written word of God because let me tell you what Jesus said about people who do this, he said.

Matthew chapter 7 that a person will do this is like a wise man who built his house upon the rock and the rains came down and the floods came up and the winds beat against that house, but it did not fall, because it had as its foundation on the rock worded and built.

That's where its foundation was and that's why the house stood. This is the Ghana house. My friends, God wants you and me to build. He wants us to build a house that will withstand the storms of this life and will withstand the storms of eternity and you build that, life on the BIBLE wise man built his house upon the rock and that's what we should do to present Micah Adana make up a new song but that's what we should do to and so I want to encourage you today. If you read that book don't you let anything and that will cause you to question the truthfulness of God's word as you heard Dr. box say the books docs do not connect historically, it's all wrong and good scholarship improvement if you're here today and you've never read the book.

Well, I'm not encouraging you to read it.

I'm just here to tell you. Don't you let anything anybody tells you about that book shake your faith in the word of God to get the CDs from the series and you handed to your friends and say you know what, I don't think you got anything to teach me pal, I think we got some petite you are right yeah we okay alright let's pray together. We should pray together, heavenly father, thanks for teaching this truth today. And Lord, we we know that the da Vinci code is just another one of Satan's lies. He has many of that he's tried to use to undermine God's word and undermine the truth of the Bible and get people to doubt the trustworthiness of the written word of God and I pray today that we as believers in Jesus here in Washington DC that we would hold up the truth of the word of God to the people in this town more than we would not allow the lives of Dan Brown's book. Historically, that we would not allow them to undermine our confidence in the word of God or our willingness to build our lives upon its teaching God encourage our faith today and encourage our confidence in the veracity of the word of God change our lives because we were here and we pray this in Jesus name. And God's people said amen