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CIS Newsletter
N.34
June
2006
Jesus
Christ Our Saviour and Lord
In
the Wake of The
Da Vinci Code
The
novel The Da Vinci
Code by novelist Dan Brown and its rendition in motion
pictures is creating quite a stir to both Christians and
non-Christians.
In
our modern society controversial issues are exacerbated
especially when the media takes over.
And the media sometimes has its own hidden agenda.
The novel puts into question the divine origin of
Jesus Christ. As
such there is nothing new in this.
What is new is the hype that it is being generated
around the whole debate.
There is lack of sensitivity and discretion and
regrettably this will cause many hurts, disappointments and
anger.
Although
The Da Vinci Code
is nothing more than a
run of the mill thriller, and common sense says that it
should not be valued as anything else, yet some assertions
put forward are damaging to all the Churches that proclaim
their faith in Jesus Christ.
In
his fictitious novel Brown is not only shocking because of
his claim that Jesus was married to Mary Magdalene, but he
equally states that what the Fathers of the Church have
taught us about Christ is downright false.
Dan Brown does not believe in the divinity of Christ.
He claims that at the Ecumenical Council of Nicea,
the aim of the bishops gathered there was only to create a
powerful dominating Church.
The
claim that Jesus was not divine has existed from the
beginning of the Christian era.
Brown is adopting the theory of an Alexandrian
theologian named Arius who was of the school of thought
which emphasised that Jesus could not be God in flesh. For Brown, Jesus was nothing more than a mortal prophet, a
great man but a man nonetheless.
In
Theology the study about the personhood of Jesus is called
Christology. Its
basic concern is not the minor details of Jesus’ life. Christology
takes into consideration the nature and the major events of
Christ’s life. It
concentrates mostly on the Incarnation, birth, death,
Resurrection and salvific mission of Christ.
For believers these themes are referred to as the
mysteries of our salvation.
The
problem is that there has been, and still are, many variants
of Christology. Controversies
with regard to Nestorianism, Monyphysitism (and its
derivates Monothelitism and Monoenergism), Docetism,
Adoptionism, Psilanthropism and many other theories led the
Church to convene many Ecumenical Councils along the
centuries. Basically
these theories either emphasised his divine nature or
refuted his human nature or vice versa.
There were so many variations that one can understand
why the Church had to call these Councils.
Christological debates are endless and guidelines
were necessary to help the faithful understand and adhere to
the correct teaching. Council
teaching is imparted in decrees, canons and profession of
faith. Dubious
teachings always caused grave divisions and further
fragmentation in the unity of the Church.
This is what Jesus always feared would happen (refer
to the Gospel of John).
The
Fathers that met in the Council of Nicea in the year 325
wanted to affirm the historic and standard Christian
beliefs, and thus guide magisterially and authoritatively
against erroneous efforts to dilute Christ’s gift of
salvation. The
creed that we proclaim during Mass is the profession of
faith which the Fathers formulated in this Council.
The creed teaches that Christ possesses two
inseparable natures, divine and human, which are united in
the one person of Jesus Christ without either nature losing
any of its properties nor uniqueness but without any
separability. This
teaching is dogma of the Catholic and Eastern Orthodox
Churches. It is
also the view of the Anglican Church and many other
Protestant Churches.
Misguided
theories about our faith in Jesus Christ will never fade
away. They will reappear from time to time in different disguise.
Before The Da
Vinci Code we had The
Last Temptation of Christ.
Ultimately
it is a question of faith.
We will never understand totally the mystery of our
Salvation. And faith is not only a question of definitions.
Finally, every person has to look deep inside and ask
himself if having faith is meaningful or not.
To sustain our belief in Jesus we need to nourish our
personal relationship with him in prayer. It is equally important to be aware of those countless others
who along the centuries have given us a personal witness of
our faith… many with their lives.
The
storm that Brown’s novel and its interpretation in a
motion picture have created makes it difficult to resist our
curiosity to read or watch the film.
However, it may be equally important that afterwards
we take seriously the controversial questions that are being
raised in both the book and film.
A serious reflection is called for.
This may be done in a personal capacity by looking up
appropriate articles that explain clearly the subject
matter. The
Diocese, through the newly founded Pastoral
Formation Institute is issuing a booklet entitled Un-Coding Jesus Christ with information precisely with this purpose
in mind. Prayer or reflection groups may find it helpful to
dedicate some meetings reviewing our basic tenets of our
faith.
Fr
Vincent Magri SJ
Some
Questions for Reflection
-
What
does the Catholic Church teach about Jesus Christ?
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What
do we mean when we say that Jesus is Lord
and Saviour?
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What do the Gospels say about
Jesus?
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Who is Jesus for St. Paul?
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How is my personal
relationship with Jesus?
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