How Does Mary Magdalene Play In The Da Vinci Code

The Christological controversies of the fourth and fifth centuries were debates regarding the nature of Christ, and in particular the issue of his humanity versus his divinity. Docetism is a position which undermines the integrity of the humanity of Jesus because it claims that Jesus is fully divine but not truly human, because he is God merely adopting the appearance of being human. Arianism is the belief that Jesus is superior to the rest of creation but not equal to God because Jesus was created by God and thus is not eternal unlike God. The Council of Nicaea in 325 was called to fight against Arianism. The Council

By claiming that God ordained him a bishop, he hoped that the people of Rome would view him and Christianity in a greater light. To help legitimize himself as a divine being even more, Constantine took another page out of Augustus’s book and claimed he was “Son of a God” (Hercules) just as Augustus claimed relation to defy Caesar (Lecture

The Council of Nicaea, however, rejected Arianism and affirmed that Jesus was not created like all other things were. They said that Jesus and God share the same divine substance, which means that Jesus is one with God the Father. Essentially, Jesus is God. Saint Athanasius, who was a bishop of Alexandria at the time of the Nicene council, shared a similar theology to that set out in the council. Athanasius

In 325, the Council of Nicea set out to formally characterize the relationship of the Son to the Father, in light of the dubious lessons of Arius. Driven by Bishop Athanasius, the gathering confirmed the precept of the Trinity as conventionality and censured Arius ' showing that Christ was the first making of God. The ideology received by the committee depicted Christ as "God of God, Light of Light, very God of very God, begotten, not made, being of one substance (homoousios) with the Father."

The council of Nicaea occurred in the year 325 AD, by order of the Roman Emperor Caesar Flavius Constantine. Constantine wanted to convert to Christianity,and felt that a meeting of bishops should be held in order to resolve the controversy of the nature of God;and confusion as to whether God and Jesus are “two separate substance” or “of one substance.” At this time the failing Roman Empire was under his rule, and could not undergo division due to doctrinal differences. Too Constantine this was a threat to Christianity, he urged church officials to put their differences aside and to be “Christlike” agents. The main theological differences that arose were “Who is the Christ?

He gives a good history of the development of the Trinity Doctrine and shows that the Emperors of Rome force Nicene Creed and the others Creeds related to the Trinity Doctrine on the Church. Thus, the Creed of the Trinity Doctrine was more political than theological. Moreover, the ante-Nicene Fathers were not trinitarians in the sense of the Trinity Doctrine; they were unitarians.

To those who support the theory these gnostics are proof of the marriage of Jesus and Mary Magdalene. They say Mary was loved by Jesus above everyone else and that she was his companion that he kissed. This also backs the idea that the church was trying to hide the truth behind Mary Magdalene. In the canonization of the Bible these scriptures were purposefully left out. Church leaders labeled texts not included in the newly canonized Bible as heresy and proclaimed that they were to be destroyed. This leads theorists to suggest that the destruction of these scriptures was planned by the church to rid the world of the truth behind Mary Magdalene.

In the 4th century there are different schools of thought that were developed in Antioch, were they try to literarily interpret the Scriptures with a great deal of emphasis on the historical context of Trinity. Arius who is also known as Nicene, came up with the Nicene Creed by arguing the fact that Jesus was not God, and the Father by itself is true God. Base on the fact that God created Jesus, Arius was able to support his argument with the books of (Proverbs 8:22 and John 14:28) “the Father is greater than I” as a proof.

Even during numerous exiles, Athanasius continued to be a vigorous defender of Nicene Christianity against Arianism. Athanasius then famously said "Athanasius against the world". The Cappadocian Fathers also took up the torch; their Trinitarian discourse was influential in the council at Constantinople.Up until about 360, theological debates mainly dealt with the Divinity of Jesus, the 2nd person of the Trinity. However, because the Council of Nicaea had not clarified the divinity of the Holy Spirit, the 3rd person of the Trinity, it became a topic of debate.

While members of the church have dismissed The Da Vinci Code as fiction and lies, Dan Brown claims otherwise. In defense of his novel, Brown starts out the book by stating, “All descriptions of artwork, architecture, documents, and secret rituals in this novel are accurate” (Brown 3). By making this statement in the beginning of his book, Brown is setting himself up to be questioned by skeptics. Many critics of the novel are quick to point out every flaw they can find in the novel and quote it as misinformation. The article, “Masterplots II: Christian Literature” by Suzanne Araas Vesely, explains, “It is important to be aware that The Da Vinci Code is literary fiction; the appearance of historical accuracy is only superficial. Brown’s book is a minefield of disinformation for the unwary reader.” Vesely doubts the accuracy in The Da Vinci Code and depicts the readers who take it as fact as ignorant, ill-informed people. While Vesely points out the disinformation given by Brown, in

On the other hand, Athanasius, the leader of the bishops in the west, claimed that the Father and Son were equal and of the same substance. In 325, as a mediator, Constantine called together a council of bishops at Nicaea in Asia Minor. While condemning Arius and his teachings, the council declared the complete equality of God the Father and the Son. The teaching that Father and Son were made up "of one substance" became part of the Nicene Creed, the statement that helped to unite Christianity. The council addressed other issues as well, including the method for consecrating bishops.

It can be argued that the similarities and differences of the Gospels of Matthew and Luke can cause the reader to either see both of these accounts to complement one another with their different perspectives or that they contradict one another by certain events being mentioned in one birth narrative but not the other. Different aspects of both of these birth narratives such as the way Matthew and Luke treat Mary, the extent to which they use the Old Testament and the audience to whom they are writing to reveals the authors’ agenda as they allow their culture and own personal beliefs to influence what they write. These factors could be argued to have an effect on the historical authenticity of these texts as it could be possible that they could have caused the authors to twist the truth to fit in with their own beliefs.

The Patristic Era saw various controversies arising over the nature of Jesus Christ, which consequently lead to the establishment of the creed as an attempt to reject the heretical views held by proponents. An example of a heretical advocate is Arius, who suggested Christ was inferior to God, but still above other creatures (McGrath, 2001, p.358). However, early orthodox theologians disputed this idea due to the soteriological complications that accompanied it (Young, 2010, p.55). The central advocator of this dispute was Athanasius, who questioned how Arius’ belief allowed for salvation through Jesus Christ, which is a key orthodox belief identified

Dan Brown’s The Da Vinci Code is one of the most successful and controversial novels of our time. Other authors have jumped on the bandwagon writing novels on Christian topics or treasure hunts or simply discussing The Da Vinci Code. Even the film industry has profited by using Brown’s strategies (and topics) in the successful movie National Treasure and by taking advantage of the Grail publicity in TV productions like The Blood of the (Knights) Templar. But which strategies does Brown use to make the reader enjoy reading The Da Vinci Code? In my essay, I would like to focus on his use of narrative techniques.

One of the most important events in church history includes the Council of Nicea. The First Council of Nicea happened in 325 and involved the first gathering of Christian bishops and the Roman Empire not as enemies but as allies. The bishops wanted to solve the dispute over Arianism. Arianism is the belief that Christ was more than human but something less than God. Arianism taught the people that Jesus