The Da Vinci Code, Part 3: How a Book and a Movie Helped the Church
The Da Vinci Code, Part 3
How a Book and a Movie Helped the Church
By Dr. Jim Garlow
April, 2006
Author of Cracking Da Vinci’s Code and The Da Vinci CodeBreaker
By now you have heard a great deal about the upcoming movie based on the bestselling book The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown. As the movie approaches, there will be many discussions regarding the truly Christian response to this movie.
One obvious response, don’t go. If the Holy Spirit so direct you, then follow it.
Another response, boycott it with loud protests. There are times to do this, but I doubt this is the time. Any boisterous objections on this one will likely drive ticket sales even higher than projected. Be assured, this movie will be big – very big – at the box office.
A third option is to do a “quasi protest” by going to another movie that first weekend – in an attempt to offset the success of The Da Vinci Code. Believe it or not, this is what some are advocating. I doubt this strategy will work well.
My personal advice (just in case your asking) is, as I said in last month’s article, go to the movie. (For the record, I rarely – very rarely – go to a movie.) The evangelistic potential surrounding this movie is great. In fact, it is too great to miss.
However, do not go to the movie with other believers. Go with unbelievers – or to be more politically correct, seekers – so that when they (and you) walk out of the theatre together, the conversation begins that could lead them eventually to a dynamic faith in Christ.
I do not want to overstate the evangelistic potential of the opening weekend of this movie. I do not expect enormous numbers of unbelievers to suddenly become believers after seeing The Da Vinci Code movie and beginning conversations with believers. But here is what I do expect: conversations to begin – believer with seeker – in ways that are “pre-evangelistic.” Followers of Jesus, if they are strategic, will be positioned so that can be asked about Jesus and about the New Testament – more than they ever have.
But it is exactly at this point that I have some of my greatest concerns. Here is the “kicker.” Are believers prepared to answer questions about who Jesus is – and why we see Him as being divine? Are believers prepared to make the case for the reliability of the New Testament?
Most believers are busy just “living life.” They are good workers, busy with soccer games, paying their bills, mowing their lawns, working out in fitness centers, attending worship services and Bible Studies and a host of other great expenditures of time. So why should they – given their overextended schedules – read a book that attacks the divinity of Jesus and the reliability of the New Testament? And why should they go to a movie that does the same? You’re are expecting me to say – so that they can witness to their friends and neighbors after the movie, as I have suggested above. That is only part of the answer. It is precisely at this point that Dan Brown and his novel The Da Vinci Code have done the church a great favor.
Before any believer can go to the movie, then witness effectively to a seeker, the believer must first know the truth about the issues the book and the movie raise. This means some study. This means growing. This means learning.
This book and movie have thrown believers into a situation where they cannot simply say, “because the Bible says so.” We cannot summarily dismiss, as I heard one believer do recently, “well, The Da Vinci Code is ‘of the devil.’” It may well be “of the devil,” but we will have to have a more compelling answer than that, if our skeptical co-workers are ever going to meet Jesus through us.
What do we need to know? There are six things we need to know about The Da Vinci Code. I will mention only two. (The remaining ones are available in a downloadable Bible study called “Preparing for Da Vinci” at www.jimgarlow.com )
Here are the two most important things we must know before we attend the movie with a seeker:
First, we must know how to refute The Da Vinci Code’s claim that Jesus was not perceived as being divine until the 4th century. Brown would have us believe that the idea of Jesus divinity was an “invention” by the attenders of the Council of Nicea in 325, done for purely political reasons – and passing my only a close vote.
Hand in hand with that is the claim that Jesus was married to Mary Magdalene. Candidly, if Jesus had been married it would not have altered his theological significance. But the fact is, truth matters. There is not one shred of credible evidence that Jesus was married – not in the New Testament, not in the writings of the Early Church Fathers (after the New Testament) and not in the Gnostic Writings, with which Dan Brown is so enthralled.
Secondly, we must know how the New Testament came together. The Da Vinci Code tells us that Constantine, through the Council of Nicea, commissioned and financed a “new” Bible in the 4th century. He did a quick switch of sorts, taking out the “original” gospels, replacing them with Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, all done for purely political purposes.
Is this true? Of course not. The famous Council of Nicea never dealt with the issue of what should be in the New Testament. However, as believers, we need to know that. (For full discussions on these and other issues, see my two books: Cracking Da Vinci’s Code [Victor Books] and a newly released dictionary, The Da Vinci CodeBreaker [Bethany House])
In reality, it may be that what Dan Brown has revealed – and this is his great gift to the church – is not that we are not so much “short” on faith, as we are weak in church history. We don’t really know “our story.” And that is tragic because it is a glorious story.
Some people do not realize that something significant happened between 100AD (the close of the New Testament) and 1980. The fact is – much happened! And Dan Brown is helping the church (I hope) to learn its story. Because if it learns its story, it will be able to easily defend itself against not only The Da Vinci Code, but similar books that are attacking Christianity, and others yet to be written.
So, thank you, Dan Brown (just in case you are reading this) for nudging us all to know the spectacular story of the Christian faith!
How a Book and a Movie Helped the Church
By Dr. Jim Garlow
April, 2006
Author of Cracking Da Vinci’s Code and The Da Vinci CodeBreaker
By now you have heard a great deal about the upcoming movie based on the bestselling book The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown. As the movie approaches, there will be many discussions regarding the truly Christian response to this movie.
One obvious response, don’t go. If the Holy Spirit so direct you, then follow it.
Another response, boycott it with loud protests. There are times to do this, but I doubt this is the time. Any boisterous objections on this one will likely drive ticket sales even higher than projected. Be assured, this movie will be big – very big – at the box office.
A third option is to do a “quasi protest” by going to another movie that first weekend – in an attempt to offset the success of The Da Vinci Code. Believe it or not, this is what some are advocating. I doubt this strategy will work well.
My personal advice (just in case your asking) is, as I said in last month’s article, go to the movie. (For the record, I rarely – very rarely – go to a movie.) The evangelistic potential surrounding this movie is great. In fact, it is too great to miss.
However, do not go to the movie with other believers. Go with unbelievers – or to be more politically correct, seekers – so that when they (and you) walk out of the theatre together, the conversation begins that could lead them eventually to a dynamic faith in Christ.
I do not want to overstate the evangelistic potential of the opening weekend of this movie. I do not expect enormous numbers of unbelievers to suddenly become believers after seeing The Da Vinci Code movie and beginning conversations with believers. But here is what I do expect: conversations to begin – believer with seeker – in ways that are “pre-evangelistic.” Followers of Jesus, if they are strategic, will be positioned so that can be asked about Jesus and about the New Testament – more than they ever have.
But it is exactly at this point that I have some of my greatest concerns. Here is the “kicker.” Are believers prepared to answer questions about who Jesus is – and why we see Him as being divine? Are believers prepared to make the case for the reliability of the New Testament?
Most believers are busy just “living life.” They are good workers, busy with soccer games, paying their bills, mowing their lawns, working out in fitness centers, attending worship services and Bible Studies and a host of other great expenditures of time. So why should they – given their overextended schedules – read a book that attacks the divinity of Jesus and the reliability of the New Testament? And why should they go to a movie that does the same? You’re are expecting me to say – so that they can witness to their friends and neighbors after the movie, as I have suggested above. That is only part of the answer. It is precisely at this point that Dan Brown and his novel The Da Vinci Code have done the church a great favor.
Before any believer can go to the movie, then witness effectively to a seeker, the believer must first know the truth about the issues the book and the movie raise. This means some study. This means growing. This means learning.
This book and movie have thrown believers into a situation where they cannot simply say, “because the Bible says so.” We cannot summarily dismiss, as I heard one believer do recently, “well, The Da Vinci Code is ‘of the devil.’” It may well be “of the devil,” but we will have to have a more compelling answer than that, if our skeptical co-workers are ever going to meet Jesus through us.
What do we need to know? There are six things we need to know about The Da Vinci Code. I will mention only two. (The remaining ones are available in a downloadable Bible study called “Preparing for Da Vinci” at www.jimgarlow.com )
Here are the two most important things we must know before we attend the movie with a seeker:
First, we must know how to refute The Da Vinci Code’s claim that Jesus was not perceived as being divine until the 4th century. Brown would have us believe that the idea of Jesus divinity was an “invention” by the attenders of the Council of Nicea in 325, done for purely political reasons – and passing my only a close vote.
Hand in hand with that is the claim that Jesus was married to Mary Magdalene. Candidly, if Jesus had been married it would not have altered his theological significance. But the fact is, truth matters. There is not one shred of credible evidence that Jesus was married – not in the New Testament, not in the writings of the Early Church Fathers (after the New Testament) and not in the Gnostic Writings, with which Dan Brown is so enthralled.
Secondly, we must know how the New Testament came together. The Da Vinci Code tells us that Constantine, through the Council of Nicea, commissioned and financed a “new” Bible in the 4th century. He did a quick switch of sorts, taking out the “original” gospels, replacing them with Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, all done for purely political purposes.
Is this true? Of course not. The famous Council of Nicea never dealt with the issue of what should be in the New Testament. However, as believers, we need to know that. (For full discussions on these and other issues, see my two books: Cracking Da Vinci’s Code [Victor Books] and a newly released dictionary, The Da Vinci CodeBreaker [Bethany House])
In reality, it may be that what Dan Brown has revealed – and this is his great gift to the church – is not that we are not so much “short” on faith, as we are weak in church history. We don’t really know “our story.” And that is tragic because it is a glorious story.
Some people do not realize that something significant happened between 100AD (the close of the New Testament) and 1980. The fact is – much happened! And Dan Brown is helping the church (I hope) to learn its story. Because if it learns its story, it will be able to easily defend itself against not only The Da Vinci Code, but similar books that are attacking Christianity, and others yet to be written.
So, thank you, Dan Brown (just in case you are reading this) for nudging us all to know the spectacular story of the Christian faith!
posted by jimgarlow at
7:47 AM
