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Signs of the Times Australia / NZ edition — lifestyle, health, relationships, culture, spirituality, people — published since 1886 |
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Signs of the Times Australia / NZ edition — lifestyle, health, relationships, culture, spirituality, people — published since 1886 |
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It’s no mystery: Sell 7.5 million copies of your historical novel about Jesus Christ and whether or not he married and had children, and the world will beat a path to your door. American novelist Dan Brown found that out with The Da Vinci Code, which remains a global bestseller. Famed Hollywood actor–director Ron Howard is heading up a team to bring the novel to movie houses around the world. Author Brown is so hard at work on a “Da Vinci” sequel that he doesn’t have time for interviews or personal appearances.
According to Dan Brown’s “official” web site, the numbers are impressive: “In its first week on sale, The Da Vinci Code debuted at #1 on The New York Times Bestseller list. Since then it has hit #1 on every major bestseller list [in the US] and has been translated into more than 40 languages.”
It’s no mystery, either, as to why the book is attracting fans. Building on the “basics” about the life and times of Jesus, as found in the Bible, Da Vinci suggests that Jesus married Mary Magdalene, had children with her, and thus wasn’t the “superhero” that was passed off by a bunch of ecclesiastical bosses following a fourth-century church council at the Turkish city of Nicea. The “truth” was hidden until Brown’s lead character makes a quirky discovery. Now, a secretive group within—shall we say, a “universal” church organisation—is hard at work trying to hide that discovery. Again.
For those who enjoy a good story, Da Vinci has enough history, drama and suspense to hold their interest—or six million hardbound copies wouldn’t have been sold. When it comes out in paperback, let alone as a movie, millions more will fall under its spell. You may not find such fiction your cup of tea, but some will accept this fanciful story as an accurate telling of history.
n How can you find the truth, and support your findings with facts? The Internet, that marvel of modern communication, can help, as I’ve found. (There’s no shortage of Da Vinci–related websites: My Google search revealed over 814,000 linked pages!)
For some people, the fact that the Bible doesn’t support the notion that Christ ever did marry or have children, will be the end of the story. For those who believe some of the more “juicy” details have been purposely omitted, more evidence may be required.
Breaking the Da Vinci Code is published by Thomas Nelson in the United States. Its author is Professor Darrell Bock of Dallas Theological Seminary in Texas. Bock gave an interview to Beliefnet, an American web site devoted to spirituality. The location for Bock’s interview may be helpful to some sceptics, since it’s not a purely “Christian” site.
In his comments, Bock sees the Da Vinci novel as an attempt to relegate Christianity to the level of other world religions. Instead of a Son of God, novelist Brown presents a “son” of God who had a mundane existence. Bock says history doesn’t support Brown’s claims; he offers a solid rebuttal in plain language. His arguments are coherent, friendly and not condescending. It’s an excellent resource to share with those who embrace as truth what is clearly fiction.
Among the many explicitly Christian sites discussing Da Vinci’s alleged “code,” Leadership University, an evangelical educational site, offers a wide range of topics, with links to other articles by Bock, scholar Ben Witherington III, and other writers from Protestant and Roman Catholic perspectives. (As you might suggest, the Catholic Church isn’t enamoured of a novel that suggests its forbears were hiding something.) All these links offer a useful perspective on the book, and can be found at the Leadership University web site. There’s even a good introduction that explains how far and how fast the novel has moved into popular culture.
Christian History magazine—a publication widely admired for its scholastic accuracy and plain speech—has a free newsletter article about Brown’s claims that the Council of Nicea (325 AD) led to the “doctoring” of Scripture in order to hide Jesus’ marriage. It’s online4 and makes for quick reading—as well as a good primer on the core issue.
The Da Vinci Code may challenge some people’s faith, or provide a facile excuse for not seriously dealing with Jesus’ message and claims. But a quick tour of the Web can put this story in its proper perspective: an intriguing tale, well told, but far removed from something we can put our faith in.
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* Mark Kellner is a freelance writer in Rockville, Maryland, in the United States, a computer columnist for The Washington Times, and a follower of Jesus.
Extract from Signs of the Times, August 2004.
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