Published on 04/24/2006

The Da Vinci Code is the most controversial novel in decades. Now the movie, starring Tom Hanks and directed by Ron Howard, hits theaters in a little more than three weeks. The novel has sold more than 40 million copies worldwide, and has been entrenched atop bestseller lists for three years. Many Christians are outraged over its treatment of Jesus, the Bible, and the church. Others say it's just fiction, and don't know why it matters.

Commentary

Part of The Da Vinci Code's popularity is surely its fascinating plot. To summarize: Christ was deified by Constantine the Great in A.D. 325 at the Council of Nicaea. The "Priory of Sion" (supposedly founded in 1099) knows the "truth": Jesus was a man, married to Mary of Magdalene. The couple had a daughter they named Sarah, who was raised in France; her bloodline can be traced to this day. Her tomb and story are the "Holy Grail," the "cup" containing the "blood" of Christ.

Leonardo daVinci was Grand Master of the Priory of Sion from 1510-19. In this capacity, he used artistic means to tell the "truth." His The Last Supper pictures Mary Magdalene at Jesus' right hand. His Mona Lisa was named for Amon (the Egyptian male god) and Isis (their female god), intended to show the union of man and woman.

However, the Roman Catholic Church's most militant sect, Opus Dei, has attacked the Priory of Sion before it can release its "truth" to the world. As a result, the current Grand Master of the Priory, Jacques Sauniere (curator of the Louvre), must pass the key to the location of the Holy Grail to his granddaughter, Sophia Nevea. Robert Langdon, a Harvard professor of religious symbology, helps her find the key and the path to the Grail, with the assistance of renowned English historian Leigh Teabing.

Each character is of course fictional. And so many dismiss concerns over the book's claims, citing the fact that the work is a novel. However, Mr. Brown claims that his plot is built on historical truth. The first page of his book is titled "Fact." It ends with this claim: "All descriptions of artwork, architecture, documents, and secret rituals in this novel are accurate" (p. 1). Documents such as the Bible. Secret rituals such as those the book identifies with the Church.

How do the facts line up with Mr. Brown's fiction? Why does the issue matter to your life this morning? Any book which has sold 40 million copies around the world is relevant to our culture. And when that book tries to convince its readers that the Bible got Jesus wrong, that he was a man deified centuries later by the Church, Christians need to seize the opportunity to give the true Jesus to the world. We'll begin tomorrow.