The Gospel Code: Novel Claims About Jesus, Mary Magdalene and Da Vinci (Paperback)

~ Ben Witherington III (Author) "On the surface of things, all seems well..." (more)
Key Phrases: canonizing process, father language, ancient biographies, New Testament, Mary Magdalene, Gospel of Thomas (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

The popularity of Dan Brown's novel The Da Vinci Code has caused Christian apologists to address what they consider to be its heresies and historical errors. Witherington, a New Testament scholar at Asbury Theological Seminary, intends in this volume to add his voice to the growing criticism of Brown's novel. Each chapter treats an issue—the formation of the canon, the "married Jesus" theory, etc.—and then offers a wealth of background material to support an evangelical Christian viewpoint. Drawing on his background in Christian theology and church history, Witherington explains his position in a lucid and sometimes whimsical style. He is particularly strong when exploring and explaining the processes of textual criticism and redaction, and in helping readers understand the flow of Christian history and the development of doctrine. The influence of Gnosticism, ancient and modern, likewise receives extensive treatment. The book closes with an appeal for a more rational, and less speculative, consideration of the Jesus story. Quite apart from its treatment of Brown's novel, this book is a fine exposition of mainstream evangelical teaching and merits wide readership.
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Review

"In these few pages, an eminent New Testament scholar not only explodes the follies of the Da Vinci Code but also dissects the claims of certain scholars to find in the Gnostic gospels a historically authentic Jesus and an alternative Christianity. Timely and compelling." -- William Lane Craig, coauthor of "Will the Real Jesus Please Stand Up?" --This text refers to the Audio CD edition.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 208 pages
• Publisher: InterVarsity Press; First Edition 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 edition (June 4, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 083083267X
• ISBN-13: 978-0830832675
• Product Dimensions: 8.1 x 5.5 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.9 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (19 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #590,709 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

18 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Easily the best Evangelical expose of the Da Vinci Code, March 6, 2005

By	C. Catherwood "writer" (Cambridge UK and Richmond VA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

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])

21 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Aliens are Coming!, April 12, 2005

By	Timothy N. Linnet "Tim" (CA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

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.

35 of 43 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Conclusive rejection of the Da Vinci fallacy, August 8, 2004

By	Albert Cerussi (Lake Forest, CA United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

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.