A Whole New Take on the Tale of The Holy Grail

I am not a religious man; truth be told I am an agnostic, a man of logic, reason, and a tad too many questions about the whole God thing for most religious folk to answer. Organized religion is not for me, there has been and continues to be far to much suffering in the name of God, and far too much hypocrisy at the hands of those we should trust to live virtuous lives. That I view religious institutions as those set up to control the masses. But at the same time I am not ready to give up on the idea that there is a higher being responsible for all that we see, and all that we are under the stars.

The being said, the search for the mythical Holy Grail, that cup of life Jesus Christ and his followers are said to have drunk from at the last supper, has intrigued me for a very long time from a purely historical standpoint. “According to tradition, Joseph of Arimathea kept the Grail after the Last Supper and collected Jesus’ blood in it when Jesus was crucified. After being conveyed to Britain, the vessel was passed down from generation to generation in Joseph's family. The Grail supposedly possessed many miraculous properties. It could furnish food for those without sin, and it could blind the impure of heart and strike mute the irreverent who came into its presence”…Microsoft Encarta Reference Library 2005.

The Holy Grail has been the subject of legend since the crucifixion of Jesus Christ some 2005 years ago. For the faithful it holds enormous meaning, but for those of us on the edge of belief, it is more of a curiosity then anything else. Legend tells of course that the Holy Grail is a chalice, but in his controversial new book The Da Vinci Code, author Dan Brown explores another meaning; that the Holy Grail is actually a collection of writings (Gospels) that prove Jesus Christ was a mere mortal, a child of God like the rest of us as opposed to the Son of God’s flesh as the world was always led to believe. Not only that, but Mary Magdalene far from being a prostitute was the chosen companion (wife) of Jesus Christ and that the two had a child together. He also asserts that Jesus’ bloodline survives to this day, a living, breathing testament to Herald’s mortality.

But wait, there is more: Brown avows The New Testament of the Holy Bible is a re-telling of Christian history commissioned by the Roman Emperor Constantine (the first Roman ruler to covert to the new religion) when he presided over the first ecumenical council of the church at Nicaea in 325. The purpose of the New Testament was to elevate Jesus from mere mortal to the Son of God in an effort to unite the Empire under one spiritual conviction, and in the process fuse Pagan symbols with Christian faith, creating one Catholic faith for all to follow. The Holy Grail as Dan Brown tells it in The Da Vinci Code, is a collection of religious writing about the life of Jesus that were left out of the New Testament; again proving that Jesus, though a righteous man, was just a man, nothing more.

It is a historical fact that there were as many as 50 Gospels in circulation at the time the New Testament was written and that only 27 made it into the New Testament of the Holy Bible. What happened the other 23 and what did they have to say about the life and times of Jesus?

Of course The Da Vinci Code is a novel, a work of fiction, but with a lot of facts woven into the tightly written text for effect. Enough factual material is contained in the book to earn the ire of the Catholic Church and the Catholic organization, know as Opus Dei, both of which are portrayed as less than pious with the book.

The Plot

The renowned curator of the famed Louvre Art Museum in Paris France, Jacques Sauniere is dead, slain by a single assassins bullet to the stomach. But before he died, he left a number of intriguing clues to a closely guarded secret he and four other men (also slain the same night) were the guardians of. The clues can only be deciphered by his Grand daughter, Sophie Neveu a cryptologist with the French Judicial Police, and a renowned professor of Religious Symbology Robert Langdon, who teaches at Harvard University and in Paris to give a lecture and slide show “about pagan symbolism hidden in the stones of Chartres Cathedral…”

Book Excerpt

“Jacques Sauniere was the only remaining link, the sole guardian of one of the most powerful secrets ever kept. Shivering, he pulled himself to his feet. ‘I must find a way…’ he was trapped inside the Grand Gallery, and there existed only one person on earth to whom he could pass the torch. Sauniere gazed up at the walls of his opulent prison. A collection of the world’s most famous paintings seems to smile down on him like old friends. Wincing in pain, he summoned all of his faculties and strength. The desperate task before him, he knew, would require every remaining second of his life”

After Jacques Sauniere’s is found dead a captain of the France’s Direction Centrale Police Judiciaire, one Bezu Fache, is called in to investigate. He sends his able right hand Lieutenant Jerome Collet over to the Ritz Hotel in the middle of the night to collect Langdon to help explain the clues Jacques Sauniere has left, or so he says.

Sophie Neveu, understands some clues in the from of codes, puzzle boxes, and poems her Grand-pere (Grandfather) has left behind, and together with Langdon, who lends his knowledge to her own, she traverses Paris, London and finally Glasgow in a search for the Holy Grail’s final resting place. Along the way we are treated to quite a history lesson. We learn for instance that Sauniere was the Grand Master of an ages old secret religious society that was formed to protect the Holy Grail and the heirs of Jesus from the Church since the 12th century. The secret society called the Priory of Sion, which Sir Isaac Newton and Leonardo Da Vinci were members, is a real organization. As are the places Langdon and Sophie visit in search of clues to the Holy Grail’s location.

Perhaps the most intriguing aspect of The Da Vinci Code is not the search for the Holy Grail, but the fascinating, and oft eye-opening journey into human history I was treated to along the way. In writing the The Da Vinci Code Dan Brown did a fair amount of detailed research and it shows in the pages of his book. The book is rich in historical and artistic detail; his descriptions of the churches and other places Langdon and Sophie visited left me wanting for more; so much so, that I was compelled to do my own research into people, places, and things mentioned in the book, in order to satisfy my own need to know.

In the end, The Da Vinci Code became an obsession, a book I couldn’t put down because it intrigued me so. It is a brain teaser, a book that engages the mind in a quest to figure out the codes before the characters do, and it fueled my hunger to know more about the often shrouded past of the Catholic Church, and ultimately the Holy Grail itself. Is it just a mere chalice or is it more? Anyone with an interest in religious history should enjoy this book, as well as those who enjoy a challenge for their brain.

While the holy and otherwise devote may find the contents of The Da Vinci Code disturbing, one should bear in mind that it is a novel and should be read and digested in that light. There are plans underway to make The Da Vinci Code into a movie; Ron Howard is directing and Tom Hanks has singed on as Langdon. I happen to think Jennifer Connelly would make an excellent Sophie; she does after all speak French, but the part seems to have gone to French actress Audrey Tautou.