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Jesus Was Only A Man. The most significant error that The Da Vinci Code makes is to assert that Jesus was made a god at the Council of Nicaea in A.D. 325. The author claims that Jesus was only a man.
“Jesus’ establishment as ‘the Son of God’ was officially proposed and voted on by the Council of Nicaea” “Hold on. “You’re saying Jesus’ divinity was the result of a close vote?” “A relatively close vote at that,” Teabing added. . . . Many scholars claim that the early Church literally stole Jesus from His original followers, hijacking His human message, shrouding it in an impenetrable cloak of divinity, and using it to expand their own power . . . The vast majority of educated Christians know the history of their faith. Jesus was indeed a great and powerful man. Constantine’s underhanded political maneuvers don’t diminish the majesty of Christ’s life. (DVC p. 233-234) Historical evidence disagrees with Mr. Brown. One of the major authors who lived at the time of Jesus was a man named Josephus. He was a Jew and a historian for the Roman Empire. In one of his works, the Antiquities of the Jews 18.3.3, Josephus says that Jesus performed miracles, died, and returned to life. Why would a Jew writing for Rome say this if it wasn’t true?
Secular writers such as Emperor Trajan (AD 53 - 117) in a letter to Pliny clearly indicate that Christians were worshipping Jesus as a god (Pliny Letters X, 97). Gaius Plinius Caecilius Secundus (AD 61-112) indicates in Epistles X96 that Christians worshipped Jesus as a god. Lucian of Samosata indicated that Christians worshipped Jesus (The Passing Peregrinus).
Early Christians also called Jesus our God. One such writer was Irenaeus (A.D. 185). He wrote that Jesus was “our Lord, and God, and Savior, and King” (Against Heresies, 1.10). Ignatius (A.D. 30-107) wrote “For our God, Jesus Christ, now that He is with the Father, is all the more revealed [in His glory].” (The Epistle of Ignatius to the Romans, Chap 3).
The Council of Nicea did not make Jesus God by a vote. The early Christians already considered Jesus to be God and they worshipped Him as God. That is the factual evidence. In A.D. 325, the council only formally confirmed what the early Christians already believed.
It is also not true that the Council of Nicea decided to make Jesus God by a close vote. Historical documents tell us that almost 300 leaders from eastern and western churches met in order to discuss the false teaching of a North African pastor named Arius. This was the largest meeting in the history of the church at that point in time. Arius was teaching that Jesus was only a created being and was not God. The council affirmed the historic view of the church that Jesus was God by a vote of 318 to 2. The vote was not close. (Bruce, F.F. The Spreading Flame. Eerdmans Publishing. Grand Rapids. 1958. p. 304-306)
The Evolving Bible. On page 231 Mr. Brown claims,
The Bible did not arrive by fax from heaven . . . it has evolved through countless translations, additions, and revisions. There has never been a definitive version of the book . . . The fundamental irony of Christianity! The Bible, as we know it today, was collated by the pagan Roman emperor Constantine the Great. (DVC p. 231) These statements ignore the facts of history and a document called the “Muratorian Fragment.”
First, Constantine (A.D. 274-337) was not a pagan,. He became a Christian. This is a widely recognized conclusion by both Christian and non-Christian scholars. Mr. Brown is wrong.
Second, the Bible is composed of the Old Testament and the New Testament. The Old Testament scriptures were read and studied during the time of Jesus Christ. The accuracy and the number of books contained in the Old Testament scriptures has been verified by the Dead Sea Scrolls which were discovered in 1948. The Dead Sea Scrolls contain all of the books in the Old Testament. Since the Dead Sea Scrolls are recognized as having been written 100 years before Jesus was born, there is not a reason to suspect that Constantine “collated” or collected these books and called them the Old Testament. They already existed as the Hebrew scriptures prior to Constantine. |
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