This weekend the Da Vinci Code movie was released. It is based on the best-selling book by author Dan Brown which was first published in 2003. The book has sold over 40 million copies and will probably end up as the best-selling novel of all time.
So why is the book so popular? Why am I talking about it in a Sunday morning message? What’s it all about? The novel is so popular because it is not just a spell-binding novel, it presents itself as much more than fiction. The first word that one encounters in the book is the word “FACT”. Later on author Brown writes, “All descriptions of artwork, architecture, documents and secret rituals in this novel are accurate.” The reason I’m talking about it on Sunday morning is that the theories spoken by the most educated characters in the novel call into question the basic elements of the Christian faith and a lot of people are taking these theories seriously.
NIV Colossians 2:8 See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the basic principles of this world rather than on Christ. I don’t want you taken captive or your faith shaken by the philosophy behind the Da Vinci Code. I also want each of us to be able to discuss these issues intelligently with others who may find the arguments compelling.
What is the book all about? Sorry if you haven’t read it yet or seen the film but here it is in a nutshell, blockbuster secret included. The story begins with the murder of the curator of the French Louvre Art Museum. The curator was also the head of a secret Catholic society called the Priory of Sion. The Priory of Sion guards a secret that if made public would destroy Christianity. Before he died, the curator tries to leave clues to pass on this secret to his granddaughter Sophie and Harvard professor Robert Langdon.
The novel is about Langdon’s search to discover the secret, which is the location and identity of the Holy Grail. The Holy Grail is not the cup used by Christ at the Last Supper but, and here is the blockbuster secret, The Holy Grail is Mary Magadalene. She supposedly was the wife of Jesus and bore him a child. The Priory of Sion is still guarding this secret and Jesus’ bloodline continues to this day.
How should we as believers respond to such a tale? A lot of Christians are getting all bent out of shape over it, but I just laughed. What a bizarre story. God laughs too. He laughs at every attempt of someone to cast aside His truth. NIV Psalm 2:1-4 Why do the nations conspire and the peoples plot in vain? The kings of the earth take their stand and the rulers gather together against the LORD and against his Anointed One. “Let us break their chains,” they say, “and throw off their fetters.” The One enthroned in heaven laughs; the Lord scoffs at them.
Dan Brown takes his “novel” very seriously and wants to influence the world to his way of thinking. Don’t think just because a movie or book is fiction that the author doesn’t have an agenda. There is a diabolical agenda behind The Da Vinci Code. However, first of all today we just need to laugh at the big secret and at all the strange fictions that the book portrays as fact.
Now let’s go into a little more detail about some of the fictions presented in the book and movie that challenge our Christian beliefs. We’ll look at the facts from the Bible and church history so that you can be informed and help others find the truth.
To hear more about this topic, listen to my May 21, 2006 message entitled Laughing At The Da Vinci Code