After trying to resist the fervor surrounding Dan Brown's novel the Da Vinci Code, I finally succumbed and read the book after reading an article in a popular magazine that revealed that Christians who read the novel were questioning their faith and many non believers dismissed Christianity after reading it. This certainly got my attention. Released in March 2003, The Da Vinci Code has sold more than 4.5 million copies, The acclaim surrounding the book led ABC to air a primetime special entitled Jesus, Mary and Da Vinci: Exploring Controversial Theories About Religious Figures and the Holy Grail. Furthermore, Hollywood is preparing to make a movie out of the book to cash in on its popularity. Why is this book so popular? Conspiracy theories have been popular ever since the death of Christ, yet why are people, especially Christians surrendering to such ideas?

In the current postmodern culture truth is a forgone ideal. Historical fact might as well be fiction. Many modern readers read with very little discernment and can not give a coherent critique of current cultural ideas. In his novel Brown weaves together a fascinating mix of conspiracies, mystery and romance, and a cheap but thrilling story line thrown together in what seems to be the perfect combination for the modern reader. In his novel, Brown compiles many of the old heresies and conspiracy theories surrounding historic Christianity. He even goes so far as to say most of what we know of Christianity is false. The immense popularity of the novel along with the growing murmur concerning the claims of the book, indicate that many are buying into this brew of conspiracy theory, romance novel and pseudo-scholarship.

A critical inspection of the book, its claims, and the discussion it has raised are most definitely in order for those who wish to engage the culture. Many popular reviews have lauded Brown for giving a historically accurate version of Christian history in the form of a novel. Two recent New York Times Book Reviews said that "the Da Vinci Code is absorbing -- perfect for history buffs (New York Times Book Review Fall 2003)" and "readers have finally found a book that combines historic fact with a contemporary story line (New York Times Book Review Fall 2003)." Even Brown claims in the introduction to the novel that "all descriptions of documents and secret rituals are accurate (Brown, Dan The Da Vinci Code., Acknowledgements)." Brown then opens his book with a page titled "FACT (Ibid., 2)." He then goes on to describe the two main organizations in his book, the Priory of Sion, a secret society charged with guarding the secrets of the church, and The Vatical Prelature know as Opus Dei, a Catholic Sect. Brown's book even contains footnotes and source materials similar to books about history. With traits like these, one must wonder what kind of novel Brown is attempting to put forth. If his work were one of a scholarly nature, an opening like this would certainly bring about the needed and compulsory scholarly criticism of fellow intellectuals.

Brown's combination of fiction and fact, if there is such a thing is precisely what gives the novel its irresistible appeal. Readers are drawn into the book by its comic book fights and chases, mystery novel plot, and romance book relationships, find themselves absorbing historical "facts" that Brown recounts throughout the book. The main way He disseminates these facts is through his assembled cast of experts who reveal the secrets of the church that have been hidden for so long. Dr. Richard Langdon is professor of religious symbology at Harvard University. Brown's other expert, Sir Leigh Teabing, is an expert in religious history from Oxford. Throughout his work, Brown quotes these men as experts on religious and historical facts. Some notable quotes come from chapter 55 where the secret is revealed to Sophie Nevue, the beautiful heroine who learns the true nature of the church and its conspiratorial history from Langdon and Teabing. At the outset of the discussion Teabing informs Sophie that "The Bible is a product of man. Not of God…The bible has evolved through countless translations, additions, and revisions. History has never had a definitive version of the book (Ibid., 231)." It is revealed that Christianity was compiled by men, namely Constantine, "Constantine fused pagan symbols, dates, and rituals into the growing Christian tradition, he created a hybrid religion that was acceptable to all parties (Ibid, 232). To establish Christ's divinity, "Constantine financed a new bible which emphasized the divinity of Christ and destroyed earlier gospels which spoke of Christ's human traits (Ibid., 234). To culminate his presentation, Teabing states that "almost everything our fathers taught us about Christ was false (Ibid., 235)." It is in this manner that Langdon and Teabing dismiss much of historical Christianity as improvised and false.

Many of the heresies addressed in the book are nothing new. They are simply reincarnations of heresies originating from the time of the Gnostics. As Christian Scholar James Hitchcook notes, "The Gnostics did not accept the Incarnation of Jesus and treated doctrinal orthodoxy as being too literal-minded. The gospels were not to be taken at face value but as stories with hidden symbolic meanings (www.beliefnet.com December 30, 2003)." Brown regurgitates many of the Gnostic heresies and adds to them dubious doctrines such as goddess worship, and higher criticism of scriptural interpretation, which continue on into baseless theories on everything from church tradition to architecture to the heads of a secret society. Some of the dogmas and theories that Brown advances are:

While Brown claims that this information is historical and accurate, cataloguing his scholarly infractions will likely exhaust the casual reader who is not necessarily reading for scholarly accuracy. However, the more serious reader must wonder at Brown's "scholarship" when he gets the date of the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls incorrect (discovered in 1947 not in the 1950's as Brown claims). The heresies that Brown advances are nothing new and have been long-rebuffed by both theologians and historians in a thorough manner. Many of the other theories that he advances can only be considered flashy at best, and all baseless.

With this in mind, why have so many people read the book as a novel and then regarded it as historically informative? The Da Vinci Code takes esoteric criticisms of Christianity and conspiracy theories mainstream. One scholar noted in a recent article: "By manipulating his audience through the conventions of romance-writing, Brown invites readers to identify with his smart, glamorous characters who've seen through the impostures of the clerics who hide the 'truth' about Jesus and his wife. Blasphemy is delivered in a soft voice with a knowing chuckle: '[E]very faith in the world is based on fabrication (Sandra Misel Crisis Magazine Dec. 2003)."

While the novel was an interesting read, one should not take any information in the book as historical fact, or even as a smidgen of a fact. Brown has written a novel filled with conspiracy theories and nothing else. However, the novel has done something very effective for our culture. It reveals that our culture, including many Christians have a fascination with Jesus and Christianity rather than a knowledge of Christianity. Let me explain what I mean by this. As I stated in my opening, I have seen many instances where Christians are questioning their faith and those in the secular world are dismissing Christianity as a bunch of conspiracy theories after reading the novel. The popularity of the book along with the miniseries concerning the book, display's our culture's continuing, albeit often misguided, fascination with Jesus.

As Christians, moments like these are opportune times to engage the culture in an informed manner and explain what we believe about our savior and our faith. Sadly, many Christians are in no position to do this because they have no idea about the history behind their faith and the rationale for their beliefs. Unfortunately even when confronted with theories that are clearly absurd and baseless, many Christians do not have an answer to give. Why are Christians so quick to read books such as The Purpose Driven Life, but can not explain how the canonization of the Bible occurred or how central the divinity of Christ is to our faith? If we cannot answer the central questions concerning our faith, what good is it? We are told to be wise as serpents (Matt. 10:16) and to always be ready to give an answer to anyone who asks (1 Pet. 3:15). The Christian faith is a historical faith that has documented evidence and a history of scholarship that attests to its validity. While one might be quick to say that the job of proving these issues should be left to Christian scholars, that is precisely where modern Christians and the modern church have gone wrong. We have been quick to establish programs, conferences, and retreats that emphasize the health and wealth gospel. In the meantime, we have forgotten or simply refused to teach ourselves and our children the essential foundations of the faith; the faith that is very inheritance given to us and our children. If we cannot defend the historical, rational foundations of our faith, how do we expect to live our faith, let alone share our faith with an unbelieving and critical culture?

I have my criticisms of the Da Vinci Code, the hype surrounding it, and the fantastical nature of the TV special. However, the continuing popularity of the book and the issues it bring up, while often misguided and incorrect, serve as an opening for Christians to follow our Lord's command and engage the culture. We need to be prepared and ready to engage our culture in our neighborhoods, schools, and place of work-talking about the real Jesus. Let this remind us that we always need to be ready to give an answer.

A List of Books and resources that debunk the Da Vinci Code and deal with heresies contained within the book.

1. Evidence that Demands a Verdict by: Josh McDowell
2. Encyclopedia of Bible Difficulties: by Gleason L. Archer
3. The Case for Christ: by Lee Strobel
4. Crosswalk.com review of Da Vinci Code
5. Focus on the Family review of Da Vinci Code