Sacrament is a term used in Christianity to refer to rites recognized by the Christian religion that are of significant importance to the Christian faith. The catechism of the Catholic believers denotes the sacraments as the efficacious signs mainly of grace, that according to the Catholic Church are or rather were instituted by Jesus Christ and entrusted to the religion through the church. The sacraments are believed to be the means by which divinity is revealed to the believers. These beliefs are the basis for sacramental theology.
Da Vinci code symbols are picked from the art work of the renowned artist Leonardo da Vinci. The cryptic symbols are detailed in a novel the Da Vinci code. The novel is a thriller story of a known Harvard symbolist who is summoned to decipher the meaning of the cryptic symbols. The book details stories about existence of conspiracies, secret societies, the Catholic Church, and some contorted truth about Christ.
On close examination of the art work of the master artist Leonardo, it is noted that siting at the right hand side of Jesus Christ is Mary Magdalene, this is contrary to popular belief that it was apostle John who was sited to the right hand side of Christ. The painting also conspicuously does not include the famous cup from which Jesus supposedly drank the wine of the last supper from. The critics of the Christian belief that Jesus was really God is mostly derived from those two symbols in the art work. It medieval legend suggest that the cup was just but a representation of Mary Magdalene. Mary Magdalene is considered as the human receptacle of the “Christ blood line.” This particular analogy completely differs with the teaching of sacramental theology where Christians are taught the significance of the last supper to their faith. The last supper is a commemoration, according to the Christian faith, of the Jesus Christ the founder of Christian faith (Lawler 25).
Mona Lisa
This is believed to be the expression of artistic belief of Leonardo Da Vinci of the sacred feminine. The probe of this artwork leads to a conclusion that Mona Lisa was not any specific person per say but a mysterious reference to Egyptian gods Amon and Isis. The name Mona is believed to be an anagram representing Lisa and Amon to be a short form of l’lsa which means Isis. The painting according to the book Da Vinci code was painted against the Church’s suppression of the true Identity of Mary Magdalene. This particular notion also contradicts the teaching of the sacramental theology. The beliefs in ancient gods and the notion that the church hides the true identity of Mary Magdalene is both far-fetched and utter distortion of Christian faith according to the teaching picked from the theology of sacraments. The Christian faith believes in the existence of divinity which was brought to them through Christ and as such is the only God. The representation of other gods is one according to Christianity in violation of the commandments that guide the Christian Faith (lawler).
The sacramental theology is accepted in mostly Christian culture where children and adults alike are Baptist to signify acceptance of the faith in Jesus Christ, the commemoration of the last supper to remember Jesus Christ. The teaching of the sacramental theology has attracted many liturgical publications by different authors. Most of the text written in this front bring the difference about the catholic teaching about sacraments and those of the protestant both who share the same faith of Christianity. Works of literally authors like Eduardo Echeverria discuss in great detail the about the ecumenical initiative of the catholic teaching on the topic of sacramental theology.
Work cited
Lawler, Michael G. Symbol and Sacrament: A Contemporary Sacramental Theology. Omaha, Neb: Creighton University Press, 1995. Print.
