Though justice may be blind, this does not preclude her from occasionally displaying a sense of humor.
In a recent 68-page decision, English Justice Peter Smith found that the best-selling novel “The DaVinci Code” did not infringe on the copyright of a nonfiction book written in ’83. Justice Smith also decided to have “a bit of fun” by inserting a secret code in the decision.
As the title implies, encrypted messages play a pivotal role in the plot of the novel, which has sold almost 63 million copies. The protagonists – one of whom is a cryptographer – break at least 6 separate codes in a quest to solve a series of murders. Justice Smith decided to get in on the fun by writing a code of his own.
Throughout the decision, certain letters are italicized. The first 7 italicized letters spell “Smithy”and the next several italicized letters spell “Code.” Then, 33 or so more letters are italicized; though these letters do not immediately spell anything.
The 82nd paragraph, on the 7th page of the ruling, says the code is inspired by the 2 books involved in the suit.
The authors of the nonfiction book, “The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail,” claimed that the novel lifted its basic premise from their book. Both books deal with the theory that Jesus Christ and Mary Magdalene were married and had a child that began a still-existent bloodline.
The novel further suggests that Magdalene was present at the last supper – the gathering where Jesus predicted he would be betrayed (Matthew 26:4).
Mary Magdalene is a significant figure in mainstream Christian theology. For instance, she was the first person to whom Jesus appeared when he was resurrected, according to Matthew 28:1. Also, she helped in his burial (Matthew 27:61).
However, many theologians feel that if Jesus had a mortal wife this would call into question the significance of his ministry and sacrifice (Matthew 20:28), as well as his divinity (John 30:31). Magdalene, together with Jesus’ mother, mourned his death (Mark 15:47), and told the other disciples about the resurrection (Luke 24:10). Yet the mainstream canon does not suggest a more intimate relationship.
“The DaVinci Code” has become a publishing sensation. It was recently released in paperback and will soon debut as a movie. It’s entirely plausible that the authors of “The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail” were counting on the publicity the lawsuit would generate in order to spur sales of their book. However, they had basically no chance of winning. If they had decided to sue because the characters in the novel are flat and totally undeveloped, perhaps they’d have a case. Their case for copyright infringement was beyond thin, though.
Never mind that the novel is a work of fiction while “The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail” is a nonfiction piece. Never mind that the novel seems to acknowledge and credit the influence of “The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail,” as well as several other nonfiction works. The key issue here, as far as I’m concerned, is that there’s not much original material in the theories advanced by either book.
The theories have their roots in a variety of non-canonical sources. However, the roots of these theories are in no way secret. It’s not that there has been a conspiracy to keep this information secret, it’s just that not too many people believethe information.
Many non-Christians may have been hearing these theories for the first time. But even the most casual scholar of early Christian theology will have heard such theories time and again.
As someone who’s done a bit of research on the origins of early Christian texts and teachings, I can tell you that the conspiracy theories promulgated by these books aren’t even the most interesting of the numerous conspiracy theories I’ve encountered regarding the historical personage of Christ.
You want a conspiracy theory? Try this on for size. The publisher of “The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail” and the publisher of “The DaVinci Code” are both part of the Random House Publishing Group. What “they” don’t want you to know is that sales of both books have been helped by the lawsuit. Did “they” arrange this? It’s not impossible.
So if a publisher were using the court system to drum up publicity for a couple of books, this would clearly undermine the sober and serious purpose of the judiciary. It would seem entirely appropriate, then, for the judge to issue a whimsical ruling to keep in the whimsical spirit of the case.

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