I saw a rerun of “The Da Vinci Code” the other night. Now, I wasn’t all that impressed with the movie – the book, as always, was so much better, and the movie just simplified things too much.
I know this is fiction. I also know that a lot of what transpires in the book is a rehash of various theories with regard to the origins of Christianity, mixed with facts about the Priory of Sion, the Templars and various other sources. That Jesus was married to Mary Magdalene is a theory that’s supported and written about by very serious scholars around the world. That this (if it’s true) is something that the Roman Church may have gone to great lengths to suppress over the years (in view of their adopted attitude towards women, carnal “sin” and celibacy in particular) is hardly unlikely.
I know my reading has been biased. I’ve read few Christian books on the subject. Mainly because their premise is wrong most of the time – they go about trying to prove something that they treat as proven fact from the beginning. That the Bible contains texts chosen by humans (mainly by a pagan Emperor who converted on his death bed, no less), written by humans, centuries after the historical events is of no consequence – the topic is off limits. “Pagan” literature doesn’t do that to the same extent. If the premise is to find the truth, or land as close to the truth as possible, it makes for so much more interesting reading.
If Jesus was married and had children, what bearing does that have on Faith? None. Why? Because Faith is, or should be, an entity proper to the individual. To the established Churches, however, it would be devastating. They’d have to renew themselves, they’d have to include women much more (Mary Magdalene, apparently, was a priestess. Now, that’s a new notion in Roman Catholic spheres…), and they’d have to review the basis of all their teachings. It’s happened before. Would it be such a bad thing if it happened again?
Stumble it!
