From there, Attridge dismissed the novel’s assertion that the Christian Church developed the idea of Jesus’ divinity in the fourth century at the urging of the Roman Emperor Constantine. In addition, contrary to Brown’s account, goddesses in the ancient tradition were not simply beneficent but were also warlike and judging gods. The majority of Jews and Christians, he argued, criticized such practices as heretical in light of their monotheistic beliefs. Next, Attridge exposed Brown’s oversimplification of goddess worship among Jews and early Christians. Attridge explained that such feminine depictions of males in the Renaissance were quite common, and he showed works by Da Vinci and other painters of the period to demonstrate his point. Brown’s book exploits the fact that the Last Supper painting includes a figure at Jesus’ right who appears more feminine than masculine, thus supporting the claim that Mary Magdalene was romantically attached to Jesus. Attridge began by contextualizing the art of Leonardo Da Vinci. After briefly interrogating Brown’s sources, including Holy Blood, Holy Grail (1982) which was based on false documents deposited in the Bibliotheque Nationale in Paris in the 1950s, Attridge launched into an investigation of four of the novel’s claims: the art of Da Vinci as a secret code the worship of goddesses in antiquity the formation of belief in Christ as divine and the interpretation of Mary Magdalene as a romantic companion of Jesus. Attridge noted that there are facts in the book, but that the facts are taken out of historical context and spun wildly to fit the conspiratorial theme of the novel. Attridge, an alumnus of Boston College (A&S ‘67), has become an expert in unveiling the problems with Brown’s imaginative tale. Attridge delivered his lecture, “Truth and Fiction in The Da Vinci Code,” to a full house in the Fulton auditorium, with late arrivals standing in the aisles.

Attridge, Dean of Yale Divinity School and Lillian Claus Professor of New Testament, to assess the novel and its many claims about Christian history. Accordingly, the Boisi Center invited Harold W. The novel’s discussion of a Catholic conspiracy to cover up such issues as the marriage of Jesus have delighted some, appalled others, and raised questions for still others. The novel has blurred the line between fact and fiction for many of its readers. Its influence reaches beyond sales, however. With forty million copies sold, it is one of the most widely read novels in history.

Attridge, Yale School Divinity Schoolĭan Brown’s The Da Vinci Code is nothing short of a cultural phenomenon. Truth and Fiction in the Da Vinci Code or the Enduring Appeal of Conspiracy Theories

The da vinci code novel