While “The Da Vinci Code” has sold more than 40 million books and is currently showing in movie theaters worldwide, most Americans are not buying its key theological premises, according to a poll commissioned by the North American Mission Board (NAMB).
The complex plot of Dan Brown’s fictional suspense-thriller revolves around a central theme alleging not only that Jesus Christ was married to Mary Magdalene but also that the couple produced a child. Tom Hanks stars in the movie version.
NAMB commissioned Zogby International, a well-known research firm, to conduct the poll, which involved a sample of 1,200 adults surveyed by telephone in March.
Twenty-three percent of Americans have read it while 43 percent said they had not read the book but were familiar with the content.
Among those who had read it, more than 60 percent believed that the Bible is closer to the truth, while 10 percent believed “The Da Vinci Code” is more truthful. Thirty percent of those who had read the book believed neither was truthful or were not sure.
Among the entire sample, 72 percent believed that the Bible was closer to the truth; 6 percent accepted the novel’s account as the truth; and 22 percent were not sure or believed neither.
“The most striking result from the survey is that after either reading or hearing about ‘The Da Vinci Code,’ 44 percent of respondents were more likely to seek the truth by studying the Bible, while only 20 percent were less likely to study the Bible,” said Ed Stetzer, missiologist and senior director of NAMB’s Center for Missional Research near Atlanta.
More information about the study can be found online at www.namb.net/cmr. (BP)
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