"The Da Vinci Code" bears false witness because it falsifies the historical record of Christ, who is both true God and true man. In violating the Eight Commandment, it strikes at the First and Second.

 The front page of Brown's book says: "Fact: ... All descriptions of ... documents ... in this novel are accurate."

 But then Brown has a character, British Royal Historian Leigh Teabing, assert without contradiction that the 4th Century Roman Emperor Constantine falsified the New Testament to fool people into believing that a solely human Jesus was divine. Constantine, according to Teabing, ordered that more accurate gospels, which denied the divinity of Christ, should be "outlawed, gathered up and burned."

 "Fortunately for historians," Teabing says in the novel, "some of the gospels Constantine attempted to eradicate managed to survive. The Dead Sea scrolls were found in the 1950s hidden in a cave near Qumran in the Judean desert. And, of course, the Coptic Scrolls in 1945 at Nag Hammadi. In addition to telling the true Grail story, these documents speak of Christ's ministry in very human terms. ... The scrolls highlight glaring historical discrepancies and fabrications, clearly confirming that the modern Bible was compiled and edited by men who possessed a political agenda -- to promote the divinity of the man Jesus Christ and use His influence to solidify their own power base."

 Many scholarly authorities, both religious and secular, have debunked this claim.

 Bart D. Ehrman, chair of the Department of Religious Studies at the University of North Carolina, writes in "Truth and Fiction in The Da Vinci Code" (published by Oxford): "The historical reality is that the emperor Constantine had nothing to do with the formation of the canon of the scripture." There "were no imperial book burnings."

 What about the Dead Sea and Nag Hammadi documents? "The Dead Sea Scrolls do not contain any Gospels, or in fact any documents that speak of Christ or Christianity at all; they are Jewish," writes Ehrman. "Neither (the Nag Hammadi documents) nor the Dead Sea Scrolls ever speak of the Grail story. Nor do they speak of Jesus' ministry 'in very human terms'; if anything, Jesus is portrayed as more divine in the Nag Hammadi sources than he is in the Gospels of the New Testament."

 What about Jesus marrying Magdalene? "List every ancient source we have for the historical Jesus," writes Ehrman, "and in none of them is there mention of Jesus being married."

 Judas got 30 pieces of silver for betraying Jesus. How much will those with a stake in "The Da Vinci Code" get?