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The Da Vinci Code and Jesus

Several authors had been writing about the bloodline of Jesus Christ, but it was Dan Brown's book The Da Vinci Code that brought these conspiracy theories out and made them hugely popular.  Whilst the work was fictional, it drew upon many theories that had been lurking on the internet and mystery files for a while.

Many authors have seriously researched history surrounding the life of Jesus, 2,000 years ago.  Christianity is fundamental to many western countries, with an estimated 1.8 to 2 billion Christians worldwide.  The discovered of the Dead Sea Scrolls and other early texts in the latter half of the 20th century shed new light on historical events.  There are many good books and web sites debating various issues, which I am not going to repeat here.  I will list some of the main references I have found useful, and in the table below summarise my conclusions thus far based on my reading of the research of others, tackling the difficult questions that are taboo at many dinner parties.

The Last Supper

Much has been written on whether Mary Magdalene appears in the famous Da Vinci painting The Last Supper.  Some suggest that the original painting has been altered so that the long haired person now looks like more like a man, and the official view is that the figure is St John the Evangelist who (for some reason) is depicted as a feminine person.  I'm not going to debate the Da Vinci painting further, but certainly other people from the era believed that Mary Magdalene was one of the disciples, and other paintins of The Last Supper by less famous artists do indeed show a female at the table.  I show one such painting below which I photographed in a church in Arhus, Denmark.  I cannot confirm that is Mary, but it is evidence in support of the Da Vinci code theory - there are 12 disciples, and the 8th from the left is most definitely a woman (check out the hair, lips, absence of beard).

The Last Supper

Books

In the table below I have referenced all my sources and backed up my conclusions with volumes of discussion.  Do your own research on Wikipedia, Google, and the texts above to confirm or deny my statements.

Question My conclusion based on the scholarly research of others
Did Jesus exist? Yes, he was a real historical person.
Did Jesus have brothers and sisters? Yes, there are historical records supporting this.
Did Jesus marry? Almost certainly, yes.  A person of his standing would have been expected to marry at that time.
Was Jesus married to Mary Magdalene? Scholars are not in agreement on this.  The consensus seems to be that they may have had a relationship or engaged in pagan ceremonies involving sex, and probably had offspring, but they may not have been married.  (A person of Jesus' standing may have had several wives).
Did Jesus have children? Yes, there are historical records supporting this.
Where are the descendants of Jesus? Many of the ruling families in Europe claim to be descendants from the bloodline of Jesus and Mary Magdalene.  After 2,000 years the bloodline will be considerably diluted.  Just who is the most pure or most direct descendant (and thus the rightful King of Jerusalem?) is probably impossible to say.  If this information is known, the descendants would keep this secret if they valued their lives - there would be people out to kill them.
Was Mary, Mother of Jesus, a virgin? No, Mary and Joseph engaged in sexual intercourse just like the birds and the bees and other human couples.  The story about virgin birth is ancient and Krishna, Buddha, Zoroaster, Quetzalcoatl, etc. all had virgin births.
Was Mary Magdalene a prostitute? No, she was an important temple priestess with status at least equal to Jesus.
Did Jesus die on the cross? No.  A crucifixion certainly took place.  Whether it was another person, or Jesus was taken down before he died, or countless other theories, it seems he survived but was forced out of Jerusalem in exile.
Was Jesus king of the Jews? Yes, the bible states quite clearly he was king by birth.  He was deposed and exiled by the invading Romans, in the same way that the Dalai Lama was forced out of Tibet and replaced by China's choice of leader.
Did Jesus voyage to other countries? Yes, there are historical records supporting this.
What did the Knights Templars find under the old temple in Jerusalem? Unknown.  It seems that whatever they found enabled them to blackmail the Pope and gain considerable influence throughout Europe. 
What is the Holy Grail? This is a direct reference to the bloodline (the descendants) of Jesus and Mary Magdalene.
Did the Priory of Sion exist? This was a hoax created by Pierre Plantard in 1956.  However, the Knights Templar were real, being formed about 1129 AD.
Is the Mona Lisa a self-portrait of Leonardo dressed as a woman? The evidence is very interesting, but it seems that likeness of facial features to Leonardo is accidental. I have seen the picture myself and found it very disappointing - I don't know what the fuss is about.
Is it Mary Magdalene at the right of Jesus in Leonardo's painting The Last Supper? Most scholars think not, but the evidence is very interesting.  If a lady does not appear in Leonardo's painting, a lady certainly does in other last supper paintings created by other artists of the era.  I have photographed several such church paintings from the era in Scandinavia, which clearly show a woman amongst the twelve apostles - I cannot confirm that the woman is Mary Magdalene, if not who is she?
Was reincarnation part of early Christian teachings? Yes, this is a fact.  It was removed at the First Council of Nicaea.
Did other gospels exist, such as the Gospel of Mary Magdalene and Gospel of Philip? Yes, there were many competing gospels during the first few hundred years after the death of Jesus.  It was Emperor Constantine that founded Christianity at the First Council of Nicaea, where the gospels that form the "official" bible where selected.  Other gospels continued through other traditions, including Gnosticism.
Is symbolism used in artwork and religious texts to convey hidden messages? Absolutely.  However, symbolism is open to interpretation, and sometimes grandiose explanations arise when the truth is much simpler.  The hard part is determining which is true, and which is imagination.
Does Opus Dei have a sinister agenda? Like all religious and political organisations, the majority of the members are fine citizens and from time to time nasty elements appear.  Their mission is to encourage people to follow Christian values.  How far can they go before interfering with the rights of others?  There have been bad political leaders, bad Popes, bad Muslims, bad Archbishops, and activists from all religions.  I'm far less concerned with Opus Dei than I am about Destiny Church or the Exclusive Brethren.
Is there anything concealed within Rosslyn chapel in Scotland? Rosslyn is a fine example of a church built with symbology and beliefs of the Masons and Templars.  The roots of their beliefs is more ancient than that of Christianity and well worth investigating.  It is unknown whether there is any treasure, maps, relics of the Ark of the Covenant or bones of Mary Magdalene there, but if there is I'm sure someone is trying to find it and will let us know if they do.

 

Star Wars and the history of Gnosticism

I'm not the only person to note the similarity between the Star Wars story of the Jedi Knights (Gnostic followers and Knights Templars) and their beliefs versus the Galactic Empire (Christianity) under the control of the Dark Lord (Pope).  The writers of films get their inspiration from somewhere (see Joseph Campbell), very little truly original thought or imagination ever takes place.  As a positive, we should note that Star Wars ends (episode 6) with reconciliation between the Empire and the Jedis.  I believe this has also happenned through the ages.  The "mystical" arts of the Gnostics have been revealed and have manifested in advances in science, and it is also recognised that uniting people with common beliefs (rather than multitudes of sects each with the individual practices and little gems of knowledge they keep to themselves) is good for the advancement of humankind on the planet.  The war isn't quite over yet, reconciliation with Al-Qaeda is still required and both sides must work to achieve this - obliterating one party from the face of the earth hasn't worked in the past.  The Da Vinci code brought to the surface the struggle that has been going on for 2,000 years between different points of view - a dominant power seeking by violence to quash anyone who doesn't agree, and an undercover movement passing on their teachings through secret societies and entwining their beliefs wherever possible into great works of art, music and literature.  This process is not over.  Why can't we just all hug and get along?

© In the Light, 17 September, 2009 , Disclaimer, Son of Suckerfish drop-downs from HTML dog