Since its release in 2003, more than 40 million copies of “The Da Vinci Code” have been sold worldwide, putting the mystery novel on the New York Times best-seller list until Oct. 29, 2005, when it slipped to No. 16.
Its selling power certainly bodes well for the film version, opening May 19. Part of this success is no doubt due to the controversy surrounding the book — controversy that will now carry over to the film.
Anticipating such a controversy, several months prior to the release, the film’s distributor, Sony Pictures, hired two outside marketing consultants to help address the concerns. One firm, Grace Hill Media, developed two Web sites that contain articles with opposing views to those of the book’s author, Dan Brown. Such a move would certainly seem counterproductive to marketing were it not for the fact that Sony, like Brown, realizes that controversy sells. The fact that the film features Hollywood notables — such as Ron Howard directing and Tom Hanks starring in the principal role — should also assure it of blockbuster status.
Though presented as a work of fiction, the book is filled with religious themes and set in a historical context that tends to make its shocking claims about Jesus and the church seem more real and credible to the reader. In addition, in an ABC “Primetime” interview, the author stated, “I began as a skeptic. As I started researching ‘The Da Vinci Code,’ I really thought I would disprove a lot of this theory about Mary Magdalene and holy blood and all of that. I became a believer.”
Obviously some of what he came to believe is expressed through the book’s principal characters. This was confirmed during recent litigation in which the authors of one of Brown’s source books, “Holy Blood, Holy Grail,” filed suit against his publisher over intellectual property rights. A judge rejected their case April 7. Brown made the following statements to the court: “Characters in my novels often speak for me, or reflect my experiences.
“My hope in writing this novel was that the story would serve as a catalyst and a springboard for people to discuss the important topics of faith, religion and history.”
What were those “important” topics expressed by the characters that he wanted people to discuss? They consist of at least three primary assertions that are in opposition to the beliefs of the Christian church:
• The Bible cannot be trusted.
“The Bible is a product of man, my dear. Not of God.” (Chapter 55)
“More than eighty gospels were considered for the New Testament, and yet only a relative few were chosen for inclusion … Constantine commissioned and financed a new Bible, which omitted those gospels that spoke of Christ’s human traits and embellished those gospels that made him godlike. The earlier gospels were outlawed, gathered up, and burned.” (Chapter 55)
• Jesus is not God, nor did the first-century church believe Him to be God.
“At this gathering [Council of Nicaea] many aspects of Christianity were debated and voted upon … [including] the divinity of Jesus … until that moment in history [A.D. 325], Jesus was viewed by his followers as a mortal prophet … Jesus’ establishment as the ‘Son of God’ was officially proposed and voted on by the Council … A relatively close vote at that.” (Chapter 55)
• Jesus was married to Mary Magdalene and intended to restore the worship of the goddess. In support of this idea, Brown puts forth the idea that Mary Magdalene was the Holy Grail, the lost chalice.
“Not only was Jesus Christ married, but He was a father. My dear, Mary Magdalene was the Holy Vessel. She was the chalice that bore the royal bloodline of Jesus Christ.” (Chapter 58)
“… it was not Peter to whom Christ gave directions with which to establish the Christian Church. It was Mary Magdalene … Jesus was the original feminist. He intended for the future of His Church to be in the hands of Mary Magdalene.” (Chapter 58)
On this point, one of the novel’s characters points to his library and appeals to actual books as supportive of these theories.
“The royal bloodline of Jesus Christ has been chronicled in exhaustive detail by scores of historians [in books such as] … ‘The Templar Revelation’ [and] … perhaps the best-known tome … ‘Holy Blood, Holy Grail.’” (Chapter 60)
In reviewing Brown’s court statement, it is apparent he gleaned much of the information regarding the theories presented in “The Da Vinci Code” from these books and wants his readers to give serious consideration to these theories.
“I chose to include the title of ‘Holy Blood, Holy Grail’ in this chapter (along with three other nonfiction books — ‘The Templar Revelation,’ ‘The Woman with the Alabaster Jar’ and ‘The Goddess in the Gospels’) in the hope that any readers who became curious about some of the ideas in my book, a fictional thriller, would know where to turn to find jump-off points for additional reading material and more details … Offering the reader a glance at someone else’s bookshelf seemed like an entertaining way to offer other reading material,” Brown said.
While “The Da Vinci Code” is marketed as fiction, the books referenced by Brown claim to be historical. Were the reader to “jump-off” into “The Templar Revelation,” as Brown suggests, he would find it not only supports Brown’s assertions about Jesus and Mary but also more clearly defines them. For example, “The Templar Revelation” makes the following claims:
• “Jesus and Mary Magdalene were initiates of the Isis and Osiris mysteries …”
• “Jesus was an Isian priest who was trying to present an acceptable version of the Isis/Osiris religion to the Jews …”
• “… he [Jesus] was using the Messianic mania current at the time … to reintroduce goddess worship …”
Incredibly Brown has dismissed the Bible as being a fraud and extols such books as “The Templar Revelation” as being accurate. Nowhere does Brown, or his characters, suggest the reader “jump-off” into the Bible for the facts about Jesus.
Why not? Because the Jesus of the Bible and His mission portrayed there stand in stark contrast to the Jesus that Brown wants his reader to embrace. It is important to remember that while Brown is wrong on who Jesus is and what His mission is, Christians can agree with him in hoping “the story would serve as a catalyst and a springboard for people to discuss the important topics of faith, religion and history.”
The book and the movie provide a wonderful opportunity to engage the culture with the “facts” about Jesus, His mission and the Bible. It is not enough simply to disagree with Brown; one must also be prepared to discuss the errors in the context of presenting the truth.
EDITOR’S NOTE — Bob Waldrep is vice president and state director of Watchman Fellowship, an independent Christian research and apologetics ministry focusing on new religious movements, cults, the occult and New Age.
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