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The Gospel Code: Novel Claims About Jesus, Mary Magdalene, and Da Vinci - MP3

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Of the countless rebuttals of the Da Vinci Code, this is by far the best one for a Christian audience. (For medievalists and later, Sharan Newman's is the best, but unlike this book, her grasp of theology is a little shaky...) It is written in a measured tone - no wild denunciations here - and shows conclusively that Brown's understanding of the early Christian church, and of theology, are pure rubbish. But as well as telling us the truth about Gnosticism, Mary Magdalene and other key things, Witherington shows us the deep theological agenda behind not just the Da Vinci Code itself, but all the other works in that genre. It is therefore a challenging book for any Christian to read, one that makes us think about our own world view and why we believe what we do. Make sure you read this book, and that everyone in your Sunday School class does too - it will be essential reading for when the Da Vinci movie comes out, and a first class apologetics/evangelistic tool for your non-Christian friends who will be flocking to see it. Make sure you and your pastor know Witherington's book. Christopher Catherwood, Cambridge UK and Richmond VA historian (author of CHRISTIANS MUSLIMS AND ISLAMIC RAGE [Zondervan, 2003] and CHURCHILL'S FOLLY: HOW WINSTON CHURCHILL CREATED MODERN IRAQ [Carroll and Graf: hardcover 2004 and paperback 2005])

In a culture that is swarmed with media it becoming increasingly hard for people to discern fact from fiction. A couple decades ago the War of the Worlds aired over the radio. This little flick was an hour long narrative of aliens conquering the world. Soon enough people all over the US tuned in to the story after the "this is a fiction" disclaimer. Hundreds of 911 calls were made during the War of the Worlds broadcast because many civilians actually thought that aliens were taking over the world. Although, it is not always to this extreme, fact and fiction are becoming meshed together into one big boiling pot of mass media. The Da Vinci Code written by Dan Brown is a historical fiction for the current popular audience. As expected there are many people that ignored the "historical fiction" disclaimer and began to believe all of the parts of the novel. Ben Witherington III composed The Gospel Code in response to the Da Vinci Code.
An entire History Channel special was dedicated to proving the facts behind the Da Vinci Code. During this broadcast the only source and reference used was Browns book. Browns book gained believers just like any other top selling story with media coverage. Witherington responds to Browns novel with a scientific but dummed down examination of Brown's "truths." Witherington targets the same audience as Brown with an aggressive style. Brown alludes to Timothy 4:3-4 when he says that people are believing things when they are "beyond belief." On page 12 he clearly states the book's agenda as "a wake up call to those who have not been noticing the sign of the times." He is extremely credible and informative as he reasons his way through the fallacies in Brown's novel. As the professor in my speech class would say Witherington uses "inductive" or sign "reasoning" for many points throughout the book. An example of this reasoning is when Witherington challenges the validity of Thomas's work as a Gospel. Witherington shows that Thomas doesn't have any eyewitness events on Jesus' life. He also says that Thomas writes in a non-Jewish style which brings him further away from a gospel. Thomas also says that you can find God from within relying on your own experiences, while Jesus wants us to learn on revelation rather than experience. Other than the persuasive style, Witherington uses emotional appeal to convince the audience. On page 81 Witherington tells the reader that part of the Nag Hammadi documents were thrown into the fire by the discoverer's mother! Most males can identify with the fear of loosing their baseball card, marble, or collection of treasures to the wrath of their mother.
Another way Witherington increased my liking for this book was through the intro and first chapter. He was very straightforward and blunt with his main points. He states seven basic errors that Brown makes in his novel. The seven errors are: the cannons were not the earliest gospels; Jesus was not proclaimed divine until the Councel at Nicacea; Emperor Constantine forced the cannons in and Gnostic gospels out of the church; Jesus was married to Mary Magdalene; the Dead Sea scrolls and Nag Hammadi documents are the earliest Christian documents; Jesus had offspring and this would defile the beliefs of the church. He lists all seven of them right away and then analyzes them in the proceeding chapters. As a biblical scholar and historian he has a knowledge of the issues that are brought up in the Da Vinci Code. Every main point that he had was sufficiently supported with concrete evidence. This book could have been a long and boring scientific novel but as he stated at the bottom of page 12; he wanted to avoid cluttering the book with text numbers so it would be easier to understand by the reader.
I feel that I have been completely informed on the Gnostic gospels, the issue of Christ's relationship, and the churches view on Christ and marriage. Although the chance will not arise every day I feel that I am well equipped to explain to a Brown believer that Witherington's points are correct. Those who read the Da Vinci Code should be exposed to Witherington's The Gospel Code because he puts Browns novel in its place... the fiction section.

Seldom has a book had as much impact on society, particularly a fiction one, as the Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown. In the year and a half since it burst onto the bestseller lists, people who never thought much about Jesus have begun talking about Him and some who have thought about Him have changed their views. Those who remain faithful are often challenged at the water cooler to explain where in the Bible the Mrs. Jesus section is, or some such thing, and need something more than being able to say that is untrue because it's what they believe. To fill this gap, a host of books debunking the "Magdalene Files" have emerged, but this one stands ahead of the others.

**** While most are thin volumes that address superficial difficulties, The Gospel Code digs in deeper, exploring the root of the problem that has more branches than just Da Vinci. After reading this, you will know about the gnostic heresies, the alleged "lost books of the Bible," and have a good grounding in early church history. For that alone, even if you never read Holy Blood, Holy Grail, or DaVinci Code, etc., this is a time worthy book. ****

Reviewed by Amanda Killgore for Huntress Reviews.

In a short word, if you are wondering how accurate the "facts" of the Da Vinci code are look no further than this book. Dr. Witherington destroys with relative ease the arguments used by the Da Vinci and similar desparate attempts to perverse Christianity with Gnostic thought.

The book is generally readable, but there are a few technical discussions (such as a detailed history of the theology on the divinity of Jesus). I was especially impressed with the author's use of the documents in question, the gnostic literature. He goes to great length to demonstrate why the Bible and history eaily label the Mr. Brown (the author of the Da Vinci Code) as a liar or a careless historian (your choice). The author even points out how ignorant Mr. Brown is of history since Mr. Brown does not even seem to know the language of the Nag Hammadi books (shame on you Mr. Brown!).

The Gospel Code lists seven lapses in reason displayed by the "experts" in the Da Vinci Code fable. Dr. Witherington demonstrates conclusively that the Gnostic ideas involved in literature such as the "Gospel of Thomas" and the "Gospel of Mary" and so on are in complete contradiction with the literature found in the New Testament. He proves convincingly that historically these gnostic documents are dated much later than the New Testament documents, and far less reliable too (ie, copy errors, omissions, etc). Thus not only are "missing" these documents unreliable, but they were never considered as part of the cannon because they appeared after the Scriptures were being assembled. In addition, he refutes the arguments of the Da Vinci code using the documents themselves, and thus his use of logic is justified.

And before you try to label the author as a "hater of women," I suggest you read the book to see his view of women in ministry. The author also has a nice discussion as to why Jesus was not married, and then explains why it would not be a problem even if He were.

Interestingly, the author also shows that these gnostic documents are very anti-Jewish, making it impossible to believe that the early chruch (composed mostly of Jews) would believe them to be inspired texts. Amazing what a little knowledge of history can do ...

He also recounts the theories of people who feel that the gnostic gospels were "unfairly' rejected from the cannon. But what is amazing is that from their own writings Dr. Witherington reveals the true reason these "scholars" want to add gnostic thought to the Bible (read the book to find out why!).

In conclusion, this is a very readable, scholarly work that will answer conclusively the false claims of Mr. Browns Da Vinci Code. To anyone who loves the Scriptures, or who seriously want to know if the claims of the Da Vinci Code are true, I suggest you read this book.

I have several Christian critiques of DVC and this ranks as one of the best. I liked how Ben Witherington pointed out at the outset the 7 errors made by the Da Vinci Code (henceforth referred to as DVC) and then in subsequent chapters goes on to deal in detail each of these errors, namely, 1) DVC claims that the Gnostic gospels, which the church suppressed, are earlier than the 4 biblical gospels; 2) Jesus was a great man or prophet but was later proclaimed as divine in the Council of Nicea; 3) Constantine suppressed the earliest "Gnostic" Gospels and imposed the canonical Gospels and the deity of Christ on the church; 4) Jesus was married to Mary Magdalene; 5) Jesus must have been married since he was an early Jew; 6) The Dead Sea Scrolls, along with the Nag Hammadi documents, are the earliest Christian records; 7) The theological and philosophical underpinnings of the book. Witherington's scholarship is impeccable, his presentation of his arguments are lucid and easy to follow. He also includes a helpful glossary of terms and bibliography in the end. I'm thankful to God for Ben Witherington's critique -- it is must reading for any person who seeks a balanced and scholarly critique of the DVC and also a solid foundation for defending the orthodox Christian faith as supported by canonical Scripture. It is must reading, especially for those deceived by the false claims and attacks of the DVC.

Witherington is not some "arm chair scholar" who cuts and pastes articles from "google" to make his book. Patron obviously did not engage thoroughly or even at all in Witherington's work. Also if he would have looked at the bio on Witherington he would have seen that this man is a scholar to the max! Stick Witherington's name in the Amazon search database and you can see the numerous books that he has written on New Testament topics. If anyone is qualified to critically examine the claims made by Brown than it is Witherington. Witherington is a great author and is apt at bringing his scholarly work into the hands of the layperson.

The negative reviews show only one thing. There are some Dan Brown fans very frustrated, that scholars show the truth. Da Vinci Code is full of errors! If you have read Brown's Bestseller you should read this book from a scholar of the New Testament. He shows how trustfull the Gospels are beside all the claim from "Experts" like Dan Brown. If you can read German you also should pay attention to this webside: www.sakrileg-betrug.de
If you want fairytales read Da Vinci Code - if you want something trustfull -please read this book!
Alexander Schick, Germany, Qumran- & Bibleexhibition

Unlike many of the books that critize "The Da Vinci Code" Witherington is very ballanced. He does a fairly good job of explaining the history of the NT Canon and the issue of Mary Magdalene and other issues brought out in Dan Brown's book. One of the biggest problem with Brown's book is that not only at the beginning of the book and on television he has claimed that his book is based upon historical fact. The problem is that he makes ameture mistakes in regard to the history and development of Christianity. As an MDiv student who has both studied and written on the topic of the canon process of the NT, Brown's so called historical research used in his novel is sloppy at best. Witherington does a good job of showing why. While many point out that Brown's book is just fiction and a novel, the problem is that is not what Brown claims. Also many people have come to accept his notions as solid historical fact about the history of Christianity.

The biggest problem with Gnosticism which the previous reviewer did not understand was that the Gnostics were just as dogmatic as anyone else. In fact mainline Christianity teaches that salvation and a relationship with God is available to all, the Gnostics taught that only a few people were able to obtain salvation. Gnosticism is not really a compelling alternative. According to "Thomas" I would also have to became a male to be saved. No, thanks, I am not interested. Also there is no evidence that the "Gosepl of Thomas" was actually written by the aposlte Thomas. We only have evidience of the gospel from that latter half of the 2nd Century. Since by that time the real Thomas would have been long dead, it is highly unlikely that it was written by Thomas. Witherington makes the point that "Thomas" relies on the four canonical Gospels to write so this was certianly written after. John was not written till the last decade of the 1st century, so "Thomas" is so far removed from the time of Jesus. And most historians agree that of the twelve disciples of Jesus, John was the last to die. So the real Thomas would have been dead before the Gospel of John was written. Since it quotes from it that would have to indicate that it was written after John.

Witherington also does a great job showing why the Gnostic writings don't really flatter women the way "The Da Vinci Code" claims. While some might believe that Bible teaches the suppression of women that is untrue. The two verses in the writings of Paul often used to claim women cannot preach are not even talking about women's role in a church. As Witherington points out that there are numerious places where women have leadership roles in the early church.

The passages often quoted against women in ministry are often taken out of context, in 1 Corinthians you had women who were interupting the service. In some churches the women and men didn't always sit together so imagine if you are sitting in one place and then you ask someone five rows ahead or behind you to explain something, not only could it get caotic, but it would be hard for the teacher, who may have been a women to teach. In Paul's Letters to Timothy you have two things going on. One there were a group of women going around and teaching false concepts, and were also trying to dominate the men. In the Bible men and women are not supposed to dominate eachother. Ephesians 5:21 says both men and women are to submit to eachother (in other words both are called to look out for the best interests of thier partner). So the women in Timothy were trying to control the entire church. Paul says in Galatians "There is niether Jew nor Greek, Male nor Female, Slave nor Free, all are one in Christ". This is unlike the Gnostic writings which claim that women are evil and must become men.

Well my review is pretty long so I will end it now. I would recommend this book. He does an excellent job in dealing with the issues. If people just read "The Da Vinci Code" as a fun read that would be one thing. But when they mistake it for reliable truth, that is a big problem. Because there are eternal issues at stake.

This book covers the differences between the New Testament documents and the Gnostic documents, between heresy and orthodox doctrines, and how we know what we know about the New Testament. The book is a thoughtful response to the assertions in the "Da Vinci Code." It covers how the books in the New Testament became canonized. The book is not intended to cover all the misinformation in "The Da Vinci Code." The author stays pretty close to his expertise and does a good job of explaining his points. The book is a little dry in the middle, but overall it was a good presentation of conservative/evangelical views of who Jesus is and why an accurate historical view of Jesus and Mary Magdalene is important.

"We are facing a serious revolution regarding some of the long-held truths about Jesus, early Christianity and the Bible." (11) This understatement sets the framework for Ben Witherington III's book, The Gospel Code. Thus, the book is divided into three parts focusing on Jesus in Part One, Mary and Gnosticism in Part Two, and the canon of scripture in Part Three.


Dr. Witherington recognizes that cultural context in which these ideas are being challenged, and reflects on them in light of it: "What counts in a postmodern culture is the power of rhetoric, not the accuracy of reporting or analysis." (21) In each of the areas he covers, Dr. Witherington explains the current debates and interacts with the work of well-known proponents of opposing views; such as Elaine Pagels and Marcus Borg. At the end of the book is a glossary and subject and Scripture indexes.

I was pleasantly surprised with how good this book was. While there were a couple of points I disagreed with, for the most part Dr. Witherington takes sophisticated scholarly debates, makes them accessible to a lay audience, and convincingly defends the historic Christian position. He provides a quality analysis of Gnosticism and "the sacred feminine." Overall, The Gospel Code is one of the better books that offer a serious response to The Da Vinci Code and recent critical scholarship.