Bill Sykes' Newsletter
from America.
(May 2005)
An ex-Brit gives his views - (without
fear or favor) - of the American Scene
The Da Vinci
Code:
 Now we come to the real controversial religious stuff - firstly I must
admit that I have not read the novel written by author Dan Brown which apparently
is a sequel to his year 2000 novel "Angels and Demons", which I also
have not had time to read either.
I have done some minor research - but certainly not enough for me to adequately
cover this very complex subject.
Even if I had read both books many times over I doubt that I could discus with
any degree of intelligence or clarity the accuracy of the contents of either
book. So, what am I to do, as I’m somewhat restricted by time and space
I have decided that I will try to give you the reader a very brief synopsis of
the main claims that the author makes with respect to the subject matter - so
bear with me, as even this brief synopsis will really be a major task just to
outline the salient points with any degree of clarity.
Of course to confuse things further there is the claim that "The Da Vinci
Code" is in part based upon a 1982 book "Holy Blood, Holy Grail" which
was itself based upon a series of short films broadcast on BBC TV in the late
1970's.
Many have viewed the book "The Da Vinci Code",
as a genuine exposé of orthodox Christianity,
whilst others claim that it is largely based upon information
taken from several books written in a similar vein. So
much for the preface - now let me try to get down
to the nitty gritty - but first let me state that as
this is a fictional novel which claims to contain elements
of historical truth I would suggest that the reader make
up his/her own mind as to the authenticity of some of
the claims made.
According to the novel the secrets of the Holy Grail, as kept by the Priory
of Zion, are as follows:
-
The painting of the "Last Supper" by
Leonardo da Vinci indicates that the apostle to the
right of Jesus is not the apostle John but Mary Magdalene
the wife of Jesus who is pregnant with child, and
the absence of a chalice in the painting indicates
that Mary Magdalene was actually the Holy Grail,
(The carrier of the bloodline of Jesus - and therefore
the Holy Grail was not a physical chalice at all).
-
Mary Magdalene was said to be of royal descent,
(through the Jewish House of Benjamin), and was the
wife of Jesus of the House of David and at the time
of crucifixion was pregnant. After the crucifixion
she fled to Gaul, where she was sheltered by the
Jews of Marseilles and gave birth to a daughter named
Sarah and the bloodline of Jesus became the Merovingian
dynasty of France, and the secrets of the bloodline
of Jesus has been suppressed by the church for over
2000 years.
The book apparently suggests that the
blood-line of Jesus of Nazareth was discovered by
the Crusaders, after they conquered Jerusalem in
1099 AD. At the time of the discovery it was said
the secret societies of "The
Priory of Zion" and "The Knights of the
Templar" were formed in order to retain the
secret of the discovery. It is stated that Leonardo
da Vinci was a member of "The Priory of Zion" and
knew the secrets of the Holy Grail, which he revealed
in his painting of "The Last Supper".
My comments:
I must apologise for only presenting a bare essentials
overview of some of the information provided in the
novel, "The Da Vinci Code", but as I
said in my introduction at the beginning of this paragraph the scope of discussing
the complex and secret inner working of religion and the Church is far beyond
my intelligence and capability, especially when it comes to discussing things
that are associated with religion and are supposed to have happened over 2000
years ago.
I must also ask forgiveness for not including the rebuttals that I came across
when researching the subject, as I didn’t have either time nor space to
cover these very important and critical facets of the discussion. Even so, if
only one of the so-called facts could be proven - which obviously it can’t
- then the indication is that Jesus was just a mortal man and not the supreme
being that the church has always portrayed him to be, and I’m sure that
any existing documents supporting such allegations are hidden in the inner sanctums
of the church and will never see the light of day.
I would suggest that if any
reader wishes to delve deeper into the subject, then I would recommend that he/she
obtain a copy of the book under discussion and also a copy of the 1982 book Holy
Blood, Holy Grail.
As I have said a number of times previously, every person has the right to believe
in what ever they wish to believe in and I will always defend the right of any
individual to do so.
We welcome feedback about any of the contents of these
newsletters. Please send all correspondence to bill_sykes@huddersfield1.co.uk
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