On The Da Vinci Code

Last Sunday, I got to watch the movie, Da Vinci Code, which is based on a best selling novel by Dan Brown of the same title. My conclusion after watching the movie is that the movie and hence, the novel is purely fiction. There is no truth to the author’s claim. I’m no believer and I’m writing to defend the faith rather that my interest with the subject matter is merely philosophical. Actually, I don’t find the idea of Jesus Christ having a descendant preposterous rather I find the “proof” put forward by the author flimsy. My reason? In the latter end of the movie, the movie revealed that the heroine is the descendant of Christ since her surname is St. Claire, which traces it lineages back to the Merovingian line and this is where the problem lies. The Merovingians are the first dynasty of kings that rule Gaul, the modern day France after the fall of the Roman Empire during the 5th century. The progenitor of the Merovingian fortune is Clovis, a grandson of Merovech, from which the name Merovingian was derived. Clovis is the king of a confederation of barbarians that invaded the Roman empire known as the Franks from which France derives it’s name. Like all ancient rulers, the Franks sought to legitimize their rule by claiming divine association. The Franks like all German barbarians at that time are Arians, a Christian sect that believed that there could be only one God and Christ is different from God the father and therefore, human albeit divine. They didn’t believe in the holy trinity. Clovis capitalizes on that prevailing belief to proclaim himself as the descendant of Christ, a very visible manifestation of the divine rights of kings. Since time immemorial, rulers tend to manipulate religion in order to garner the support and loyalty of a god – fearing and religious people. As an example, the Chinese call their emperors, the Son of Heaven, believing that the emperor alone possesses the mandate from heaven to rule the entire humanity. Roman emperors after Constantine the Great uses Christianity to legitimize their rule claiming that the Roman world is the mirror image of paradise and that since there is one God in paradise so there should be one Emperor as God’s vicar on earth, a designation contested by the Pope. Egyptian pharaohs believed that they are the son of Osiris, a god and this in fact induces, Alexander the Great to think himself as a son of God, specifically, Zeus. As late as the 19th century, religion still provided the necessary legitimacy needed by would be rulers. A case in point, Hong Xiu Chuan, who claimed that he is God’s second son and Christ’s younger brother, led a rebellion against Machu rule in China. The rebellion is known in history as the Taiping rebellion. In modern times, the Japanese emperor still claims descent from the Shinto goddess, Ameratsu. My point? Religion and divinity is always a potent and common tool used by kings to generate support, the Merovingians are no exception. To use the Merovingian genealogy as the basis of claim as Christ’s descendant is pretty weak. However, the idea put forward by the movie is quite compelling. What if Jesus Christ is not what we think he is? What if he is human and not at all divine? Intriguing, because the root word Christianity is derived from Christ. Would Christianity survive without Christ? The answer is simple, it won’t but I do wonder, why not? Why can’t it survive at all? Gautama Buddha is not at all divine but simply human. He never claims divinity and yet, the religion he founded to reform Hinduism survives up to this day. Mohammed the prophet wasn’t divine either but claims to be the messenger of Allah. Again like Buddhism, Islam is still going strong up till this day. My point? A religion survives not because of the person who founded it but rather on the basic tenets it profess whether such tenets are divinely inspired or self – meditated like Buddha because such tenets appeal to the common people. Christianity isn’t about the resurrection and the miracles of Christ rather it is about the idea of a loving (without discrimination and prejudice), forgiving (in spite of all the sins committed by Man), and compassionate God as opposed to the previous belief of an unforgiving and jealous God. God is not in the disease, the calamities, or the unfortunate mishap but is in every human soul that has compassion for others. Christianity may not be the same without the divine Christ but can’t Christianity be about the belief as expounded by Christ?