The Da Vinci Code Review - The Last Supper

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Interesting set of questions! Let's take a closer through discussion, movie reviews and examples, which you can draw on for your final copy.

RESPONSE:

1. What is the historical context?

The historical context is the Holy Grail, which is writings and documents of the Gnostic's (e.g., Gnosticism) (see http://www.oceanru.com/magdalene/The_Gnostic_Church_of_Mary_Magdalene.htm), but even then, reviewers suggest that Brown did not get his facts straight about early Gnosticism (e.g. the marriage of Jesus and Mary Magdalene)

In fact, Biblically, Paul's writings in the New Testament warn early Christians about false beliefs, such as those presented by the Gnostic's(e.g., refuted Jesus' deity, etc.) and others that were spreading false beliefs about the Good News of the Kingdom of God (e.g., Jesus' divinity, born of Virgin, came to save all humankind from their sins through the cross, by dieing on the cross and then by God raising Jesus from the dead meaning that He had victory over sin, and those that "confess with their mouths that Jesus is Lord and believe in their heart that God raised him from dead, you will be saved" (Romans, Bible). This is from an early Christian perspective as written in the Bible and other supporting historical facts.

All other beliefs challenge the foundations of Christianity and the authenticity of Scripture and the main historical figures (e.g., Jesus, Mary, his mother, etc.), including the movie.

b. The last supper painting and its implications.

There is not consensus about this, but the main historical question was why was the Holy Grail (as important as was made out to be to Christianity) was not found in the painting of the last supper. According to a cryptic Welsh poem, the Grail was a "magic cauldron" that King Arthur and his men searched for. Later, the story became identified with the SILVER CHALICE that Christ used at the Last Supper (ourworld.cs.com/_ht_a/duanekmccullough/glossary.htm). In the mainstream, this is the cup Jesus used at the Last Supper. In post-Biblical traditions, Joseph of Arimathea is said to have taken the cup and collected some of the blood of Jesus from the cross, (a tradition happily omitted by Mel Gibson in his movie The Passion). In this tradition Joseph then brought the cup with him to Briton. Esoterics believe the Holy Grail means "royal blood" and refers to the descendants of Jesus and Mary Magdalene (www.partialobserver.com/davinci/Glossary.cfm).

The controversy of the Last Supper painting is mainly to do with the reason why the chalice of Christ (e.g., Hole Grail) is not in the painting. Does it challenge the accuracy of the truth as depicted in the Bible? All kinds of questions have arose.

Some argue that the Holy Grail can indeed be found in Da Vinci's painting of the Last Supper (see DaVinciGrail.com, which most argue is a hoax). "For centuries people have wondered why Leonardo Da Vinci omitted the grail from his painting, given that the grail is one of the central elements of the Last Supper story. Its absence ...