Is “The DaVinci Code” Blasphemous?

A few days back I mentioned the book and film “The DaVinci Code”. This book and film aroused controversy by portraying a conspiracy theory which states that Jesus was married and had a child or children. After Jesus' crucifixion his wife, Mary Magdalene, fled with their offspring to what is now France. There, as the theory has it, the rightful heirs of Jesus have lived since that time.

Author Dan Brown did not concoct this conspiracy theory for “The DaVinci Code”, it has been around for many years, perhaps hundreds of years. The first I ever read of it was in the late '70s in a book entitled “Holy Blood, Holy Grail”. When I first read this idea that Jesus had married and had children, I called one of my mentors in Christian Science to tell him about it. He said that the Bible said nothing about it, so he didn't believe it. But, I told him, the book pointed out that Jesus was called rabbi by his contemporaries, and a rabbi must be married.

My mentor thought for a moment and said, “Okay, assuming Jesus was married and had children. So what?” I was somewhat taken aback by this response. But he went on to say that in the Bible we have the record of Jesus' teachings, and the record of his healings which proved his teachings. Those, he pointed out, were all we needed to know about Jesus. Whatever he did in his personal life didn't alter his teachings or his works. What a wonderful perspective!

Many years later, in the '90s, I was in Sedona, Arizona. As you may know, Sedona is virtually an oriental bazaar of metaphysical seminars and teachers. I wasn't there seeking enlightenment however. I was visiting friends who lived in the area.

One afternoon I was sitting on a rock under an overhang alongside a trail beside a mesa. The locals will tell you that this mesa was considered by the American Indians of the region to be a “spiritual vortex”. So of course there were a lot of seekers hiking in the area.

A young woman passed by on the trail in front of me. She paused to ask if I'd seen her friend, who she described to me. I said a lady of that description had passed by earlier. She said she had to find her friend, because they didn't want to be late for their seminar.

I asked what their seminar was about, and she responded with some long title which ended in “...Blood of Christ and the Holy Grail”. I asked if it was about the heirs of Christ as discussed in “Holy Blood, Holy Grail”. She assured me that there was much more information available on the topic at that time than when “Holy Blood, Holy Grail” had been written, and she was going to this seminar to find her place in the lineage of Jesus.

She was in a hurry to find her friend, so I knew I didn't have time to tell her the story of my old mentor's response. But I felt the need to say something to her on the subject. So I asked, “Father, what do you want me to tell her?” And the answer came to me.

“These experts,” I said, “all maintain that the heirs of Jesus are rightfully the true monarchy of the world, don't they?” She agreed that they did. I then told her that all of them ignore Jesus' own most important saying on the subject.

Her eyes narrowed and she said with a tone of cynicism, “Which is?”

“My kingdom is not of this world.” I replied.

This dear lady gasped audibly as her eyes flew open wide. I don't recall the last thing she said to me. But she kissed me on the cheek before she went on her way to find her friend.

So, is the DaVinci Code blasphemous? Depends on your definition of blasphemy I guess. I don't particularly care to take the time to argue the question. I've got better things to do. I'm much more interested in deepening my understanding of Jesus teachings which lead to the Christ consciousness. Because Paul wrote, “Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus.” And that's where healing is found.