What do you say to a Da Vinci Code Believer? Continued
They say…oh, but the material on Leonardo da Vinci is very interesting.
You say…Perhaps, but it’s all wrong. The Da Vinci Code is wrong on every single point in makes about Leonardo: from his name, to his religious and philosophical beliefs, to every statement about every art work mentioned: the Mona Lisa, the Last Supper, the Madonna of the Rocks, and The Adoration of the Magi.
I once gave a talk at a university. At the end of my talk, an art historian stood up and addressed the group. She said, “So many people come up to me and gush about how much art history they’ve learned from The Da Vinci Code…I tell them they’ve learned nothing about art from the Da Vinci Code!”
Indeed, if you asserted to any art historian that what is really going on in the Last Supper is that Leonardo is revealing that Jesus and Mary Magdalene were married and she is the real Holy Grail…they would laugh. They would.
Besides, just keep repeating…There was no Priory of Sion. There was no Priory of Sion. How could Leonardo be working on behalf of a group that didn’t exist?
There are, of course, many more questions that you’ll be asked. But if you can stick to the basics and keep questioning the evidence, you’ll go a long way in undercutting the assumptions that are brought to the dialogue.
But what about that third group?
I’ve met them – they write to me all the time – and perhaps you have too. They’re all over Internet discussions of The Da Vinci Code as well.
These are the folks that aren’t as much interested in defending the particulars of The Da Vinci Code, but are committed to this premise: that the Catholic Church is the enemy of truth and has been largely engaged in a 2000-year political power play.
To be honest, there is not much that an intellectual discussion is going to do to change these people’s minds. They are truly True Believers, largely immune to reason. But there are a few things you can say.
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