BREAKING

the

Da Vinci

code

ANSWERS to the QUESTIONS
Everyone’s Asking

Darrell L. Bock, ph.d.

Nelson Books

A division of Thomas Nelson Publishers

Since 1798

www.thomasnelson.com

Copyright © 2004 by Darrell L. Bock

All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means—electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, scanning, or other—except for brief quotations in critical reviews or articles, without the prior written permission of the publisher.

Published in Nashville, Tennessee, by Thomas Nelson, Inc.

Scripture taken from the New King James Version. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations noted niv are from the HOLY BIBLE: NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations noted rsv are from the REVISED STANDARD VERSION of the Bible. Copyright © 1946, 1952, 1971, 1973 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the U.S.A. Used by permission.

Scripture quotations marked net are taken from New English Translation [computer file]: NET Bible.—electronic edition.—Dallas, TX: Biblical Studies Press, 1998. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Bock, Darrell L.

Breaking the da Vinci code : answers to the questions everybody’s asking / Darrell L. Bock.

p. cm.

Includes bibliographical references.

ISBN 0-7852-6046-3 (hardcover)

ISBN 0-7852-8014-6 (tradepaper)

1. Brown, Dan, 1964– Da Vinci code. 2. Mary Magdalene, Saint—In literature. 3. Christian saints in literature. 4. Jesus Christ—In literature. 5. Christianity in literature. I. Title.

PS3552.R685434D3 2004

813’.54—dc22          2004002522

■     ■     ■

To my wife, Sally Bock, and her two sisters,
Martha Sheeder and Elizabeth Volmert,
who encouraged me to write this book and asked
many of the good questions it answers.

Contents

Foreword

Introduction

Code 1. Who Was Mary Magdalene?

Code 2. Was Jesus Married?

Code 3. Would Being Single Make Jesus Un-Jewish?

Code 4. Do the So-Called Secret, Gnostic Gospels Help Us Understand Jesus?

Code 5. How Were the New Testament Gospels Assembled?

Code 6. Does Mary’s Honored Role As Apostle Match the Claims of the New School?

Code 7. What Is the Remaining Relevance of The Da Vinci Code?

Code 8. The Real Jesus Code

Appendix: Leonardo’s Last Supper

Selected Bibliography

Glossary

Foreword

Millions of people who subscribe to the Judeo-Christian faith tradition believe that there is only one God, Creator of the universe (Gen. 1:1–2:24). They further believe that the women and men of what the New Testament calls “the world” turned away from their Creator. In this way sin entered the world (Gen. 3:1–11:32; Rom. 5:12). God, however, so loved the world that He sent His only Son (John 3:16). This preexistent ...