From: "Collegevue Church of Christ" Subject: The Beacon - Electronic Edition - 6/13/06 Date: Tuesday, June 13, 2006 11:34 AM Please join us for "The Virtual Bible Study" on Thursday evening at 9pm Eastern / 8pm Central time. Go to www.TheVirtualBibleStudy.com and follow the link to hear the live broadcast. You can also check out archives of past programs and information about podcasting. _____________________________________________________________ THE BEACON - Electronic Edition - 6/13/06 Why The DaVinci Code Is Broken No doubt you have heard of it, or you will. It is a fictional novel and also a movie. The author, Dan Brown, claims that his novel, though fiction, is based on reality. He claims the historical events really happened. The book is titled, "The DaVinci Code". A Serious Divine Warning of Things to Come The early church was warned that there would arise false teachers even from among themselves (Acts 20:28-30). Some of them would come to deny the truth about Jesus (2 Peter 2:1) The remedy - return to the teachings given by Jesus and His apostles from the beginning of the gospel (2 Peter 3:1-2). Do not accept later gospels with different messages about Jesus. Toward the end of the first century, doctrines denying the nature and role of Jesus in God's plan of eternal salvation began to make some inroads at some places. The apostle John was yet alive and dealt with this near the end of his life (1 John 1:1-5; 2:18-19; 22; 4:1-3; 4-6; 5:20-21). These false teachers made disciples, who in turn made others, and began a movement that became known as "Gnosticism". They taught that people were not saved by faith, but rather by mystical knowledge concerning the nature of God, the human spirit and the flesh. This movement lasted for several centuries before dying out, but some of their writings have endured time. While the gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John date from the first century, the Gnostic gospels date from no earlier than mid-second century. To get people to more widely accept them, they assigned names to them such as "The Gospel of Peter" or "The Gospel of Truth" or "The Gospel of Judas" (which Irenaeus in 180 AD refers to as a "fabrication"). Note that these gospels were not really written by those whose names they bear. They were forgeries. What is the "DaVinci Code"? The DaVinci Code denies that Jesus is the Son of God; denies His death, burial and resurrection and denies that eternal salvation from sin depends on Him. The story borrows from and depends on ancient philosophies, propaganda, forgeries such as the Gnostic gospels and historical inaccuracies to formulate the fiction, much of which can be disproved. The fiction of the book claims to be based upon the following alleged "facts": 1. Up until 325 A.D., disciples of Jesus held Him to be a great Rabbi and teacher, and that is all He was, and all He had ever claimed. He did not die on a cross. He married Mary Magdalene and they had children. He was a great teacher, but that is all. He was not the Son of God. Note that it is not suggested that there were debates about this. "The DaVinci Code" suggests no one had even thought of Jesus as Lord before Constantine. 2. Mary Magdalene has a much more prominent role among Jesus' disciples, becoming "an apostle to the apostles". There is a rivalry between her and Peter. She is actually "the holy grail" (because Jesus' bloodline was passed on through His and her children) and identified as "the sacred feminine" (This also was a part of Gnostic teaching). 3. There circulated stories about Him describing His life in this manner. However, in 325 AD, Emperor Constantine called together a council of church leaders at Nicea and from there changed the doctrine about Jesus. In order to cement his political power, Jesus was changed from a great teacher into the Son of God and it began to be taught that you could be saved from sins and go to heaven through accepting His Lordship. 4. A secret society, called "The Priori of Sion" continued to know the truth about all this through time. DaVinci was associated with this group and wove into some of his work hints and codes. 5. The book and movie are fictionalized accounts of how the Romans Catholic church resorted to murder and mayhem to keep it all a secret. In What Ways is the Code Inaccurate? The idea that Constantine and the Nicean council elevated the status of Jesus is disproved by the many, many documents preserved from times before 325 AD which clearly show they believed that Jesus was the Divine and only begotten Son of God. When we consider the place of Jesus in the early church and consult the writings of early Christians, such as Clement of Rome (95 AD); Hermas of Rome (100); Ignatius of Antioch (110); Polycarp of Smyrna (117-118), we find that they did, in fact, hold Jesus to be the Son of God and Lord. In their writings they quote the Scriptures as authoritative because it came down from the Apostles. Contrary to the fiction of the DaVinci Code, they did refer to Jesus as "Lord" before 325 AD. Furthermore, they did teach the literal death, burial and resurrection of Jesus before 325 AD. Concerning the Gnostic Gospels, including The Gospel of Judas, we know that the reason they (the so-called "lost gospels") lost out is because they were fabricated. Early disciples do not quote from the "lost gospels" before mid- second century (because those forgeries did not exist yet). They did not appear at the right time at the right place, they were not written by the men they claimed to have been written by and contradict those writings of the eyewitnesses to these events which were actually there! - by Jon W. Quinn, via Expository Files (edited for length) ___________________________________________ "He's Too Religious" We know some Christians who were criticized recently for leaving a family gathering early in order to attend a worship service. They were accused of being "too religious". Someone said they were "overly zealous". One relative urged them to realize that "sometimes family considerations have to come first". We wonder what these folks would have said to the apostle Paul. When faced with imprisonment and death he said, "None of these things move me, neither count I my life dear unto myself, so that I might ... testify the gospel" (Acts 20: 24). They likely would have said, "Paul, you're just too religious!" And, what about Peter and the other apostles? The rulers of the Jews threatened them, beat them, threw them in jail, and "commanded that they should not speak in the name of Jesus". But they "departed from the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for his name. And daily in the temple, and in every house, they ceased not to teach and preach Jesus Christ" (Acts 5:40-42). Would they be described as "overly zealous"? As for the matter of putting "family considerations" first, remember that Jesus said, "He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me" (Matt. 10:37). The apostles and early Christians would be regarded as complete fanatics in our day. Yet, Paul said, "Be ye followers of me, even as I also am of Christ" (1 Cor. 11:1). You don't need to worry about being too religious! - by Greg Gwin ____________________________________________ Trends . . . Megachurches with a weekly attendance of at least 2,000 have doubled in five years to 1,210, according to a study from Leadership Network, a church-growth consulting firm in Dallas. - via The Associated Press, 6/2/06 Luke 6:26 "Woe unto you, when all men shall speak well of you! for so did their fathers to the false prophets." ______________________________________________ Some quotes worth pondering . . . "Anger is an acid that can do more harm to the vessel in which it is stored than to anything on which it is poured." "Holding on to anger is like grasping a hot coal with the intent of throwing it at someone else; you are the one who gets burned." "Children have never been very good at listening to their elders, but they have never failed to imitate them." "Whatever words we utter should be chosen with care for people will hear them and be influenced by them for good or ill." "An error does not become truth by reason of multiplied propagation, nor does truth become error because nobody sees it." ______________________________________________ News from Collegevue . . . June 11, 2006 Good morning, and welcome. We're very thankful for your participation in these important spiritual activities. We pray that God will be glorified and that we will all be edified by the things done here today. A special greeting goes out to all of our visitors. Thanks for coming, and come again soon! Continue to pray for those who are sick, including Pearl Kincaid, Warren Cook, Buddy Hood, Jane Collins, Alvin Lunn, Tina Overton, Hubert Morrow, Kim Futrell, Kris Johnson's mother, and others. Also remember Jennifer Ring's brother in the army in Iraq. As was reported last week, his unit has been in some very dangerous situations recently. Our Vacation Bible School is drawing closer. The dates are July 10-14. We'll have classes for the kids, and Nick Law will join us to teach the adults. Plan to be here, and invite others. We need your help to spread the news about "The Virtual Bible Study." Tell others about the Internet program at 8 on Thursday nights at www.TheVirtualBibleStudy.com Our Thursday morning class continues at 10am with studies of various New Testament characters. Join us for this enjoyable study. There are gospel meetings this week at Berea in Marshall County, and at Bell Road in Nashville. Check the bulletin board for details. Figures for the week of 6/4/06: Sunday, Bstudy, 130; AM, 142; PM, 136; Wed., 106; Contrib., $3985 ______________________________________________ "The Beacon - Electronic Edition" is sent out weekly from Columbia, TN, and contains articles and information taken from the most recent "paper" bulletin of the Collegevue Church of Christ. We hope you will use this material in any way you can that will glorify our Father. Please give proper credit to the respective authors. ______________________________________________ Visit our website at: www.Collegevue.com email us at: collegevuecoc@bellsouth.net contact the editor (Greg Gwin) at: greggwin@bellsouth.net