‘The Da Vinci Code’: Fact or Fiction?

Experts weigh in on controversy, hype surrounding film adaptation of popular novel

By Rebecca Saunders
The Catholic Sun

At the entrance to nearly every bookstore in the country are tables overflowing with books spattered with pictures of Christ, Mary Magdalene and the artwork of Leonardo da Vinci.

This most recent pop-cultural movement, begotten by Dan Brown’s novel “The Da Vinci Code,” has rejuvenated the life of old religion books, created an entire genre of anti-“Da Vinci Code” books and most recently inspired film director Ron Howard to tell the conspiracy thriller on the silver screen.

“The Da Vinci Code” has been the source of many questions and controversy since its 2003 release and — with the impending premiere of “The Davinci Code” film May 19 — the hype doesn’t seem to be dying down anytime soon.

Amy Welborn has literally written a book on the subject. She penned “Decoding the Da Vinci Code” in response to questions she repeatedly received after reviewing the novel for Our Sunday Visitor, a national Catholic newspaper.

“What I have been doing is not in response to ‘The Da Vinci Code,’” said Welborn, a freelance writer from Indiana. She describes her writing as a response to the questions people have after reading the novel.

Brown’s novel presents a conspiracy theory that portrays the Church as the suppresser of the sacred feminine and the real Holy Grail, which, according to the novel, is the bloodline of Jesus Christ, created through His marriage to Mary Magdalene.

Welborn said people often believe “The Da Vinci Code” is completely factual.

“Part of it is because of the way it’s written,” she said. In “The Da Vinci Code” Brown “alludes to real books, he has a bibliography, he’s got a more extensive bibliography on his Web site,” she said.

Welborn also believes the authority with which Brown’s scholarly characters speak easily convinces a population that generally does not have a substantial knowledge of world history.

The other side

One of the authors Brown mentions in his novel and bibliography for “The Da Vinci Code” is Margaret Starbird, author of 13 books including “Woman with an Alabaster Jar.” In that book, published 10 years before Brown’s novel, Starbird argues that Jesus was married to Mary Magdalene.

“I only came to this because my prayer group years ago had been shown that there was something radically wrong in the heart of the Church that was causing all these problems,” the Seattle based author said.

“When we prayed about it we thought it had to do with the loss of the feminine, that the feminine had been denied,” Starbird said. “So we redoubled our efforts to pray to the Virgin Mary.”

Eventually Starbird began academic research on the subject and now argues that some of the information “The Da Vinci Code” presents is factual.

Starbird points to what she believes are prophetic references to the marital union of Jesus and Mary Magdalene in the Old Testament in her books and gives talks supporting the existence of the marriage.

In chapter four of the Book of Micah, Starbird believes the woman of “Magdel-eder” is actually Magdalene. “It talks about her going out into exile,” she said of the woman portrayed as mourning “like a woman in labor.

“And then it says nations will gather against you, they will call you unclean,” which Starbird believes is a reference to the commonly held belief that Mary Magdalene was a prostitute, an accusation many Biblical scholars believe is untrue.

‘A piece of fiction’

While the battle between the orthodox and unorthodox may continue to rage, it is clear that Brown did not develop the concepts presented in “The Da Vinci Code” himself. In fact, the theory that Jesus was married to Mary Magdalene is one that has been circulating for hundreds of years, according to Fr. Tim Davern, judicial vicar for the Phoenix Diocese. He is not especially concerned about the prominence the issue takes in “The Da Vinci Code.”

“It’s a piece of fiction,” he said. “If you go to the movie thinking it’s fiction and you enjoy it if it’s well made, fine. If you start to get your faith instructions from Hollywood, you might as well get it from Tom Cruise.”

Fr. Davern thinks readers of the novel are often times eager to believe what Brown presents as truth because of the “combination of the fact that it is well written, people love conspiracy theories, and you’ve got just enough tantalizing things that are real.”

Brown’s inaccuracies

Beyond the issue of Jesus’ alleged marriage, “The Da Vinci Code” also presents an inaccurate picture of the early Church, according to Amy Welborn.

“I think people are very confused about the nature of early Christianity,” Welborn said. Many people believe “there were many Christianities in this period and the ultimate outcome of orthodox Christianity was not a matter of truth or fidelity to the apostolic witness, but just either luck or politics.”

Among a collection of historical discrepancies used in the plotline of “The Da Vinci Code” is the secret society called the Priory of Sion, the group working to keep the Church’s secret of Mary Magdalene and Jesus’ marriage alive in Brown’s novel. While the book claims the group was founded in 1099, reliable sources say it began in France in 1956.

Even Brown’s interpretation of Leonardo da Vinci and his artwork in the novel is widely rejected by art historians.

Many of Brown’s plot points are historically inaccurate, which would not be a matter of tremendous contention if he had not included an introductory “fact” page purporting the truth of parts of the novel.

Starbird does not attest to the truth of the entire novel, but stands by Brown’s assertion that Mary Magdalene was married to Jesus and that the Church has suppressed that reality. Starbird shows images of ancient artwork that depict a pregnant Mary Magdalene at many of her talks to indicate that the belief of the marriage was, at least at one time, very common.

The controversy continues

In the end, Starbird believes the novel “opens a lot of questions that need to be examined in a logical and civil manner,” she said.

And that is one thing Starbird and Welborn agree on.

The positive byproduct of “The Da Vinci Code” is “people’s interest in Church history,” Welborn said. “If they follow through on the interest and go to the right kind of sources.”

Just as the tidal wave created by the novel may have started to calm, the impending release of the film version May 19 is breathing new energy into the controversy.

Although the film is sure to increase the popularity of her books, Welborn is very concerned about the new population that will be exposed to “The Da Vinci Code.”

Welborn has heard rumors that the historical discussions in the novel will be portrayed as flashbacks, which concerns her because “that gives an image of Jesus and Mary Magdalene being married, or Constantine burning books or something like that to sort of stick in peoples’ minds.”

While both Starbird and Welborn will see the film, Welborn does not want to go on opening weekend and possibly support ticket sales used for movie promotion.

Starbird will see the film even though she generally does not enjoy violent films.

The film will not be prescreened by critics and will premiere only two days before its national release at the Cannes Film Festival May 17.

Fr. Davern plans on waiting until the film’s premiere in the dollar theater to see it, but recognizes that with an all-star cast — Tom Hanks and Ian McKellen are just two on a long list of acclaimed actors and actresses in the film directed by popular director Ron Howard — it is certainly going to be a popular summer ticket.

“There’s just enough little elements of truth in there,” Fr. Davern said. “You know there’s an Opus Dei, there is a Vatican and a Vatican diplomatic core — they all exist. But they’re really probably a lot less exciting than people think.”