The Da Vinci Code, Mary Magdalene and Europeans...

So I finally got around to seeing the Da Vinci Code movie a couple of nights ago... It was a good movie, but I think I would've found it far more thrilling if I hadn't read the book first- knowing all the characters and what was going to happen next took the edge away (understandably)... Contrary to what Vahdat thought about the role of Robert Langdon, I thought that Tom Hanks was quite the Robert Langdon!

Meanwhile, there was quite an emphasis on Mary Magdalene, and I really didnt know much about her at all, so rather than think that this fictional story was telling the truth I went to the writings of Abdul-Baha to find out more about Mary.

"After the martyrdom of Christ, to Whom be glory, the disciples were greatly disturbed and disheartened. Even Peter had denied Christ and tried to shun Him. It was a woman, Mary Magdalene, who confirmed the wavering disciples in their faith, saying, 'Was it the body of Christ or the reality of Christ that ye have seen crucified? Surely it was His body. His reality is everlasting and eternal; it hath neither beginning nor ending. Therefore, why are ye perplexed and discouraged? Christ always spoke of His being crucified.' Mary Magdalene was a mere villager, a peasant woman; yet she became the means of consolation and confirmation to the disciples of Christ." ('Abdu'l-Baha', The Promulgation of Universal Peace, p. 282)

Sweet lady, that Mary Magdalene!

"Mary Magdalen was a peasant woman. She was without any name and fame or consequence. But her candle is, in the assemblage of the world, lighted till eternity." (Abdu'l-Baha,Baha'i World Faith - Abdu'l-Baha Section, p. 385)

"My hope is that each one of you may become as Mary Magdalen - for this woman was superior to all the men of her time and her reality is ever shining from the horizon of Christ.('Abdu'l-Baha', Divine Philosophy, p. 50)

"The humble peasant girl, Mary Magdalene, - to what splendor she attained! ('Abdu'l-Baha', Divine Philosophy, p. 57)

My mum got sent an email from one of her friends with his view of the Da Vinci Code based on the Baha'i writings. It was quite interesting. One thing that he mentioned which I thought to be rather comical (but maybe I just have a skewif sense of humour) was his take on the whole Europe-trying-to-claim-Christ thing... here is part of his essay:

"In order to minimize the divinity of Jesus, emphasize His human aspect, and exalt the "divine feminine", the author has the villain argue that Jesus was married to Mary Magdalene, had at least one child through her, and that the descendents of their offspring went to Europe to become the line of the Merovingian kings in France. Trying to reconstruct history so that the Asian origins of the Christian Faith become more European and even American has become popular in more recent centuries. Europeans like to trace their beliefs and culture back to their own Europe rather than to other races, cultures and lands such as are in Asia – just as European historians still have a hard time acknowledging the Hebrew sources of Greek civilization, which they regard as the European origin of European civilization."
For those interested in reading a much more challenging continuation please request this from dgarciaandrade@yahoo.com

To see the whole email please click on my feeble attempt to link to a document on my own computer -->
(ie. I just copied it into a bmp so that its an image)

I hope its not too small or fuzzy to read!