Sir Leigh Teabing: The Good Book did not arrive by facsimile from heaven. The Bible, as we know it, was finally presided over by one man. The Pagan emperor Constantine.
Sophie Neveu: I thought Constantine was a Christian.
Sir Leigh Teabing: Oh, hardly, no. He was a lifelong Pagan who was baptized on his deathbed. Constantine was Rome's supreme holy man. From time immemorial, his people had worshipped a balance between nature's male deities and the goddess, or sacred feminine. But a religious turmoil was gripping Rome. Three centuries earlier a young Jew named Jesus had come along, preaching love and a single God. Centuries after his crucifixion, Christ's followers had grown exponentially, and had started a religious war against the Pagans.
Robert Langdon: Or was it the Pagans who commenced making war against the Christians? Leigh, we can't be sure who began the atrocities of that period.
Sir Leigh Teabing: Well, we can agree that the conflict grew to such proportion that it threatened to tear Rome in two. So, Constantine may have been a lifelong Pagan but he was also a pragmatist. And in 325 Anno Domini he decided to unify Rome under a single religion, Christianity.
Robert Langdon: Christianity was on the rise, he didn't want his empire torn apart.
Sir Leigh Teabing: And to strengthen this new Christian tradition, Constantine held a famous e****enical gathering known as the Council of Nicaea, and at this council the many sects of Christianity debated and voted on well, everything from the acceptance and rejection of specific gospels to the date for Easter to the ministry of sacrament, and of course, the immortality of Jesus.
Sophie Neveu: I don't follow.
Sir Leigh Teabing : Ma Chère, until that moment in history Jesus was viewed by many of his followers as a mighty prophet, as a great and powerful man, but a man nevertheless. A mortal man.
Robert Langdon: Some Christians held that Jesus was mortal. Some Christians believed he was divine.
Sophie Neveu: Not the Son of God?
Sir Leigh Teabing: Not even his nephew twice removed.
Sophie Neveu: Hold on, you're saying Jesus' divinity came from a vote?
Sir Leigh Teabing: Remember, in those days gods were everywhere. By infusing Jesus the man with divine magic, making him capable of earthly miracles and his own resurrection, Constantine turned him into a god within the human world. He basically knocked the more distant gods out of the game.
Robert Langdon: Constantine did not create Jesus' divinity. He simply sanctioned an already widely held idea.
Sir Leigh Teabing: Semantics.
Robert Langdon: No, it's not semantics. You're interpreting facts to support your own conclusions!
Sir Leigh Teabing : [angrily] Fact: for many Christians, Jesus was mortal one day and divine the next!
Robert Langdon: For a few Christians, Jesus had his divinity enhanced!
Sir Leigh Teabing: Absurd! There was even a formal announcement of his promotion.
Robert Langdon: They couldn't even agree on the Nicene Creed!
Sophie Neveu: Excuse me! "Who is God, who is man?" How many have been murdered over this question?
Sir Leigh Teabing: As long as there has been One True God, there has been killing in His name. [he draws his crutches off the table, and uses them to prepare to stand up] Now, let me show you the Grail. [he stands up]
Sophie Neveu: I thought Constantine was a Christian.
Sir Leigh Teabing: Oh, hardly, no. He was a lifelong Pagan who was baptized on his deathbed. Constantine was Rome's supreme holy man. From time immemorial, his people had worshipped a balance between nature's male deities and the goddess, or sacred feminine. But a religious turmoil was gripping Rome. Three centuries earlier a young Jew named Jesus had come along, preaching love and a single God. Centuries after his crucifixion, Christ's followers had grown exponentially, and had started a religious war against the Pagans.
Robert Langdon: Or was it the Pagans who commenced making war against the Christians? Leigh, we can't be sure who began the atrocities of that period.
Sir Leigh Teabing: Well, we can agree that the conflict grew to such proportion that it threatened to tear Rome in two. So, Constantine may have been a lifelong Pagan but he was also a pragmatist. And in 325 Anno Domini he decided to unify Rome under a single religion, Christianity.
Robert Langdon: Christianity was on the rise, he didn't want his empire torn apart.
Sir Leigh Teabing: And to strengthen this new Christian tradition, Constantine held a famous e****enical gathering known as the Council of Nicaea, and at this council the many sects of Christianity debated and voted on well, everything from the acceptance and rejection of specific gospels to the date for Easter to the ministry of sacrament, and of course, the immortality of Jesus.
Sophie Neveu: I don't follow.
Sir Leigh Teabing : Ma Chère, until that moment in history Jesus was viewed by many of his followers as a mighty prophet, as a great and powerful man, but a man nevertheless. A mortal man.
Robert Langdon: Some Christians held that Jesus was mortal. Some Christians believed he was divine.
Sophie Neveu: Not the Son of God?
Sir Leigh Teabing: Not even his nephew twice removed.
Sophie Neveu: Hold on, you're saying Jesus' divinity came from a vote?
Sir Leigh Teabing: Remember, in those days gods were everywhere. By infusing Jesus the man with divine magic, making him capable of earthly miracles and his own resurrection, Constantine turned him into a god within the human world. He basically knocked the more distant gods out of the game.
Robert Langdon: Constantine did not create Jesus' divinity. He simply sanctioned an already widely held idea.
Sir Leigh Teabing: Semantics.
Robert Langdon: No, it's not semantics. You're interpreting facts to support your own conclusions!
Sir Leigh Teabing : [angrily] Fact: for many Christians, Jesus was mortal one day and divine the next!
Robert Langdon: For a few Christians, Jesus had his divinity enhanced!
Sir Leigh Teabing: Absurd! There was even a formal announcement of his promotion.
Robert Langdon: They couldn't even agree on the Nicene Creed!
Sophie Neveu: Excuse me! "Who is God, who is man?" How many have been murdered over this question?
Sir Leigh Teabing: As long as there has been One True God, there has been killing in His name. [he draws his crutches off the table, and uses them to prepare to stand up] Now, let me show you the Grail. [he stands up]
Sir Leigh Teabing : The Good Book did not arrive by facsimile from heaven. The Bible, as we know it, was finally presided over by one man. The Pagan emperor Constantine.
Sophie Neveu : I thought Constantine was a Christian.
Sir Leigh Teabing : Oh, hardly, no. He was a lifelong Pagan who was baptized on his deathbed. Constantine was Rome's supreme holy man. From time immemorial, his people had worshipped a balance between nature's male deities and the goddess, or sacred feminine. But a religious turmoil was gripping Rome. Three centuries earlier a young Jew named Jesus had come along, preaching love and a single God. Centuries after his crucifixion, Christ's followers had grown exponentially, and had started a religious war against the Pagans.
Robert Langdon : Or was it the Pagans who commenced making war against the Christians? Leigh, we can't be sure who began the atrocities of that period.
Sir Leigh Teabing : Well, we can agree that the conflict grew to such proportion that it threatened to tear Rome in two. So, Constantine may have been a lifelong Pagan but he was also a pragmatist. And in 325 Anno Domini he decided to unify Rome under a single religion, Christianity.
Robert Langdon : Christianity was on the rise, he didn't want his empire torn apart.
Sir Leigh Teabing : And to strengthen this new Christian tradition, Constantine held a famous e****enical gathering known as the Council of Nicaea, and at this council the many sects of Christianity debated and voted on well, everything from the acceptance and rejection of specific gospels to the date for Easter to the ministry of sacrament, and of course, the immortality of Jesus.
Sophie Neveu : I don't follow.
Sir Leigh Teabing : Ma Chère, until that moment in history Jesus was viewed by many of his followers as a mighty prophet, as a great and powerful man, but a man nevertheless. A mortal man.
Robert Langdon : Some Christians held that Jesus was mortal. Some Christians believed he was divine.
Sophie Neveu : Not the Son of God?
Sir Leigh Teabing : Not even his nephew twice removed.
Sophie Neveu : Hold on, you're saying Jesus' divinity came from a vote?
Sir Leigh Teabing : Remember, in those days gods were everywhere. By infusing Jesus the man with divine magic, making him capable of earthly miracles and his own resurrection, Constantine turned him into a god within the human world. He basically knocked the more distant gods out of the game.
Robert Langdon : Constantine did not create Jesus' divinity. He simply sanctioned an already widely held idea.
Sir Leigh Teabing : Semantics.
Robert Langdon : No, it's not semantics. You're interpreting facts to support your own conclusions!
Sir Leigh Teabing : [angrily] Fact: for many Christians, Jesus was mortal one day and divine the next!
Robert Langdon : For a few Christians, Jesus had his divinity enhanced!
Sir Leigh Teabing : Absurd! There was even a formal announcement of his promotion.
Robert Langdon : They couldn't even agree on the Nicene Creed!
Sophie Neveu : Excuse me! "Who is God, who is man?" How many have been murdered over this question?
Sir Leigh Teabing : As long as there has been One True God, there has been killing in His name. [he draws his crutches off the table, and uses them to prepare to stand up] Now, let me show you the Grail. [he stands up]
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