THE DA VINCI CODE by Dan Brown

(Doubleday)

Best for: older teens and adults

READ...

Robert Langdon is an American professor and symbologist in Europe on business. He's called from his hotel room late at night to help solve a murder, and quickly discovers that he's the prime suspect in the case! He soon joins forces with a French cryptologist named Sophie Neveu (who also happens to be the granddaughter of the murdered man), and they race to solve a series of encoded messages left by the murdered grandfather. All while being chased by a murderous albino, high officials of the Catholic church, the police, and a hidden society of people who also want the answers to the codes. Only a few of the characters are interested in finding out who committed the crime. What they really want to know is the location of the Holy Grail. Or, the identity of the Holy Grail.

Everyone loves a good conspiracy theory, but this one is too much. According the THE DA VINCI CODE, Jesus Christ was married to Mary Magdalene, they had a child together, and the Church has been conspiring to cover up this secret for thousands of years. And while Christians have been hiding their heads in the sand, numerous intelligent people have worked to pass on the "truth" through arts and science. The book explains that the works of Da Vinci clearly point to the relationship between Jesus and Mary, most Disney movies are thinly-veiled attempts to let humanity know about Mary, and even every-day objects such as playing cards contain the symbols we need to reveal what everyone has been blind to all these years. Mary Magdalene is the Holy Grail (the book explains it all), and Christians are a bunch of fools. And not only are they fools, they're evil people who have made goddess worship and temple sex rites out to be wicked--when really these are the true forms of worship Jesus and Mary Magdalene would have wanted us to follow. 

If you're able to just take THE DA VINCI CODE as a story, it's a good ride. It's got plenty of twists and turns, it's hard to tell who the bad guys are, and it's a lot of fun trying to figure out the encrypted messages. But even with these elements, it's not a strong book. One of the keys to good fiction is the author's ability to show us a story instead of having to explain it to us. We should be able to figure out what's happening by the actions of the characters. In THE DA VINCI CODE, the author resorts to having two of his main characters "teach" the third main character everything they know. So many sections of the book are their lectures on art history, church history, and so on. Not exactly compelling literature. 

I've read many reviews of THE DA VINCI CODE, and found that most reviewers highly recommend the book (except for author and sometimes reviewer Stephen King, that is. He considered it, "dreck"). They comment on it's numerous cliff-hangers, conspiracy theme, and Brown's ability to keep readers guessing as to who the bad guys really are. But what surprises me is that none of the reviewers made any comment on the subject matter. And I've only been able to find a couple Christians who have responded to this book in the press. Christians have made a big hoo-ha over the Harry Potter books--which are clearly fiction--and have ignored THE DA VINCI CODE, which attacks the very basics of faith. I don't get it! Are Christians reading this book and ignoring it? Not reading it at all (which I doubt is true because it's been a best-seller for months now)? Accepting it as truth? 

What's troubling is that the author, Dan Brown, has stated that he believes the theories set forth in his book as fact. THE DA VINCI CODE is really just his attempt to preach his gospel to the world and let them know what he (and sadly, many others) believes. And my guess is that many are buying it--not just the book, but his message.

I found only one article that refutes a number of the outrageous claims made by Brown. It's written by Albert Mohler, president of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. (You should be able to find it on Crosswalk.com)  I'd like to see more Christians reading this book and publicly refuting--or at least talking about--Brown's claims as well.  

THINK...

• When Christians read books that clearly attack our faith, what should we do? Big protests and boycotts often make Christians look ignorant and hateful. How can we respond in love, yet let others know the message of a book is not true?

• How do you separate a good story from a bad message ?

• According to the story, the Church has paid a lot of money (and even killed people) to keep the story of Jesus and Mary from becoming common knowledge. How long do you think a conspiracy of this nature could endure? Are you a person who quickly believes conspiracy theories or not? How can a person move from being gullible to being discerning? 

• Brown sets forth many theories as fact. How can we discern what's truth and what's not? There are elements of truth mixed in with the fiction--enough that it makes the fiction sound like truth. What are other belief systems that use this same approach?

LIVE!

I've heard it said many times that the best way to know a real dollar bill from a counterfeit is to handle real money. The more you know the touch of the real article, the easier it is to identify a fake. I believe it's the same with our faith. The deeper we get into our relationship with God, the more we read of the Bible, the more we are surrounded by truth, the easier it will be to identify the lies. Reading THE DA VINCI CODE doesn't change my relationship with God, because I know the truth. 

Read John 8:31-32. What do you know is true? How does this truth free you?

If you were intrigued by THE DA VINCI CODE, you might also enjoy: 

A Treasure Deep by Alton Gansky (Barbour Publishing)

The Lies of Saints

Just about any book by Sigmund Brouwer is a good read--but I especially recommend his mysteries and thrillers. This book finds Nick Barrett digging into the disappearance of a former beauty queen. His prying leads him to uncovering a big conspiracy involving the Citadel and high society.