Well, we saw the Da Vinci Code last night. Because of reviews I was prepared for it to be less good than it was. I'd rate it 4 stars.
Of couse the story line is baloney. But I thoroughly enjoyed it. About 15 years ago, I read Holy Blood, Holy Grail; the book from which Brown got many of his ideas. Those guys evidently really believed what they wrote. If not, I don't know how they could sleep at night. There are so many holes in their arguments, it is amazing anyone could be taken in by it. They pile on subjunctive phrase after subjunctive phrase. If such and such happened then we might assume whatnot and therefore it could be possible that blah blah blah. Given this then perhaps ....
Let us suppose that Mary Magdalene really did bear Jesus' child and that the line continued. Why keep it a secret for so long? I can see maybe for a generation or two. Hegissipus talks about two of Jesus' kinsman who were known during the reign of Domitian. (As everyone knows, Jesus had a brother named Judas. They were his grandsons. Domitian questioned these two grandnephews of Jesus but decided they were no threat to him. See Peter Kirby's fine website on Early Christian Writings for more information about these relatives of the Lord.)
What secret would we like to make up and send to our descendants in 4000 AD? Its hard to get excited about anything like that. Give me a reason I should dedicate my life to such.
I read a book about 20 years ago called the Mountain of Names. The author claims that any person of English descent has a 95% chance of being descended from Alfred the Great. I believe he was a 9th century king. More recently, in a newspaper article, it was stated that virtually all Europeans can claim they are descended from Mohammad. He married off one of his daughters to some fella in Spain. A mathematical statistical model predicts our relationship. I don't have a problem with that. Though Jesus didn't have any children, his brothers likely had several. If they and a sufficient number of their descendants got out of Jerusalem in time before its decimation in about AD 70, then it is likely their line continued and that nearly all Caucasians and many Asians and Africans are descended from them. If that isn't the case then we can move it back a generation or two to Jesus uncles and aunts. For sure, virtually all of us descend from David, King of Israel.
2 comments:
Steve,
I enjoyed the pictures from Berlin. I've never been to Europe.
About the Da Vinci Code. I personally liked the book (and, having never been to Europe, liked seeing the places in the movie) simply because the plot was more intellectual than most thrillers. The thing I keep wondering about is if Dan Brown believes his book. As far as I know he has been quiet for years, not granting interviews, about both the book and the movie. Are you aware about if he has ever spoken out? I'd be curious to hear what he has to say.
BTW, this September at the ACU lectureship, Dr. Jeff Childers, an expert in early church history, is doing two classes on the book and movie. Should be pretty interesting.
Best,
Richard
Richard,
I seem to recall that Dan Brown now says he believes that Jesus and Mary M had a child. I don't know if he is sincere or if he's doing it for the money.
What I liked about the book and movie the bringing up of issues relating to the origins of our version of christianity. At least people are now interested.
Thanks for the comment about the Europe pictures. I will therefore post a few more and tell you about how my few trips to Europe (I was 19 and on a mission trip) have affected my life.
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