0 pages • 0 minutes read
Dan BrownA modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
In the world of The Da Vinci Code, the Catholic Church is an institution mired in the past yet blind to its own history. It is a male-centered hierarchy which ignores the teachings—and life—of its own prophet, Jesus Christ. The difference between religion and spirituality is appropriate for this context. “Religion” is the structural, brick-and-mortar organization dominated by tiers of men—priests, bishops, cardinals, archbishops, etc.—who decide rules, rituals, and codes of ethics.
According to the novel, the Church’s rules were set primarily in the third century during the Council of Nicaea convened by the Roman Emperor Constantine. The New Testament was propagandized for nearly two millennia as the literal word of God and was in fact a political compromise to maintain the unity of the Roman Empire. Many accounts of Jesus’s life were omitted in favor of the ones that conformed to the agreed upon orthodoxy: namely, that Jesus was a divine entity, the son of God, born of a virgin, and sent to Earth as a martyr to redeem the sins of humankind. For centuries, this narrative was easy for the Church to propagate. Most of the Church’s followers were illiterate, new information was difficult to disseminate, and the Church controlled its flock through fear and the promise of a divine afterlife.
By Dan Brown
Action & Adventure
View Collection
Art
View Collection
Challenging Authority
View Collection
Good & Evil
View Collection
Historical Fiction
View Collection
Horror, Thrillers, & Suspense
View Collection
Mystery & Crime
View Collection
Power
View Collection
Religion & Spirituality
View Collection
Safety & Danger
View Collection
Trust & Doubt
View Collection
Truth & Lies
View Collection