4 Controversies From The Da Vinci Code That You Didn’t know Were Real

The Da Vinci Code is a novel by the American author Dan Brown that was published in 2003, and which gave rise to a film. It is the eleventh best-selling book in history, with 80 million copies sold, and the film (with Tom Hanks) was considered a true ‘blockbuster’.

The success of the work The Da Vinci Code is probably due to its controversial content. The story tells (citing details, works of art and historical sites) the race of the symbologist Robert Langdon against time to unravel a murder linked to the lineage of Jesus Christ, the Holy Grail, which was protected by the secret fraternity called The Priory of Zion. Still in the book are described events and secrets involving Christ, the Catholic Church and the Knights Templar.

The book shook the structures of Catholicism at the time it was released, being extremely attacked and boycotted for its controversial theories and intriguing descriptions. The church vehemently denied the information given by Dan Brown (although the majority is rooted in a historical context), but some points ecclesial institutions were unable to deny.

Find out here in this controversial article 5 of The Da Vinci Code that you didn’t know were real, and be surprised by the story behind the story…

1. Do the Gnostic gospels, quoted in The Da Vinci Code, exist?

In The Da Vinci Code, the theory is put on the table that Jesus would have had a loving relationship with Mary Magdalene, and that this fact is definitely proven in one of the gospels that were left out of the Bible, a Gnostic (or apocryphal) gospel . But do these gospels exist? Yes.

In the year 325 AD, the 1st Council of Nicaea took place in the city of Nice in Bitinia (Turkey), which brought together religious authorities of the time and was chaired by the Roman emperor Constantine I. The purpose of the council, in general, was to define what ‘ it would be Christianity ‘. The fixed date of Easter, the Christological question of the Holy Trinity, and the gospels that supposedly hurt the idea of ​​Christ as the son of God were defined, presenting him as a man. Several gospels that originally belonged to the Bible were then taken from it, such as the Gospels of Judas, Mary Magdalene, Thomas, Genesis II and Jesus Christ himself.

In one of these gospels, the alleged first woman of Adam (who preceded Eve), named Lilith, who, like Adam, was made of dust is described. According to this gospel, Lilith did not accept being submissive to man (Adam), and revolted, fleeing from Eden. In order not to leave Adam alone, God made another woman, this time from Adam’s own flesh, so that Lilith would not do the same.

2. Do Leonardo da Vinci’s works really hide secrets?

Yes it’s true. Leonardo Da Vinci, in addition to his multitalent for inventions, anatomy, arts (among others), was a man very linked to mysticism, leaving hidden points of his beliefs in several of his works.

The most famous, the Holy Supper and Madonna in the Rocks and La Gioconda generated a lot of controversy. Holy Communion represents Christ and the apostles in the famous scene of the last meal. In the picture, the apostle beside Jesus is considered by many scholars to be Mary Magdalene, for his delicate features. The position they are in would represent the symbol of the sacred feminine (which was formerly represented by an inverted triangle, and the masculine an upward triangle), as well as an “unowned” hand in the painting, holding a dagger. Besides, the picture would prove that the Grail is not a cup. The apostles are at a supper, and where is the Grail cup?

The painting Madonna on the Rocks shocked the church when it was originally painted. In the painting, the ‘Madonna’ would be holding an invisible head, as if she were preparing it to be cut by the angel at her feet (with her finger raised). Da Vinci had to paint another version, but the original was not destroyed.

3. Did the Priory of Sion exist?

Did the Priory of Sion exist? In terms. Some say that the Priory would have been a secret fraternity founded in 1099 with the aim of protecting the sacred lineage of Christ and Mary Magdalene (with whom Jesus would have had a loving involvement). But officially it was known through Pierre Plantard, in 1956.

In 1980 it was claimed by Plantard himself that the Priory was nothing more than a conspiracy with the aim of restoring the French monarchy, but many scholars persist in believing that there is a secret under the Holy Grail that involves the Priory, and that Pierre claimed “farce” to protect the secret they kept.

It is also said that the Priory was related to the Templars. According to Plantard, in 1188 the Priory of Sion would have separated from the Templars, operating on the sly (Plantard called this separation “elm court”), becoming an elite “secret society”, while the Templars they were violently attacked by the French king Philip IV and Pope Clement V. On October 13, 1307, Philip IV ordered the arrest of all the Knights Templar. This event gave rise to the superstition of bad luck on Fridays 13. One legend says that the night before the arrest, an unknown number of Knights would have left France with eighteen ships loaded with the Order’s legendary treasure. A portion of these ships would have docked in Scotland and the Templars would have merged into other movements, making their ideals survive over the following centuries.

4. Is Opus Dei real?

Opus Dei is described in The Da Vinci Code as a prelature to the Catholic church (a branched arm). Opus Dei was founded on October 2, 1928 by Saint Josemaría Escrivá, canonized Spanish priest in 2002. The Latin term “Opus Dei” means “Work of God”.

It aims to participate in the Church’s evangelizing mission. However, it is full of controversies. Self-flagellation would be something that had already been closely linked to the prelature. The use of the cilice, a wire with iron tips that press the meat, was actually used by members of Opus Dei.

There are those who also claim that Opus Dei is used to hide priests accused of pedophilia in the Catholic Church, keeping them away from the media and the popular.