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A Word for Those
Who are Tired of Hearing about The Da Vinci Code
Hopefully
by now all of the hoop-la about The Da Vinci Code is beginning
to die down. If you are like me, you have encountered it in magazines,
in newspapers, on the radio, and on TV documentaries, and by now,
you are tired of it. I humbly beg you to indulge me for one more
article, so I can put in my two cents against the millions of
dollars that Dan Brown, the author of the book, has undoubtedly
raked in. Perhaps this article will be a little like the splendid
essay written by my pastor friend David Buffaloe, of Rock Hill
Baptist Church in Lexington, entitled “When Did Opie Die?”
as he discusses the lowering of the values of Ron Howard, director
of the movie based on the novel (see last week’s edition
of the Chronicle). I would like to write, not so much about the
“what” as about the “why” that we are even
having to deal with all of this mess.
Anybody can make the outrageously absurd claims that Jesus Christ
married Mary Magdalene and had children, and the church has hidden
this knowledge from the public, by covering up the “truth”
for centuries. What makes it so bad is that, evidently, the book
convincingly persuades people that the documented “proof”
for these assertions is real. The first page of the novel looks
like a dedication page, and is headed with the word “FACT:”
On this page, the author states that there was a secret society
called the Priory of Sion, founded in 1099, and since then has
included members such as Isaac Newton, Botticello, Victor Hugo,
and Leonardo Da Vinci. Additionally, on this same page entitled
“FACT:”, the author states that parchments were discovered
about this secret society in Paris, in 1975. Finally, the author
states, on this same page, that all accounts of art, architecture,
and manuscripts in the novel are “accurate.” These statements
are all lies! The book is laced with many other such lies and
fraudulent information that is presented as factual. Of course,
Dan Brown, the author of The Da Vinci Code, would simply say that
the statements are not lies, they are merely fiction (despite
his use of the word “FACT”). The Priory of Sion was
a social club founded in 1956, not in 1099! Isaac Newton, Leonardo
Da Vinci, and the others mentioned above never had any connection
with a secret organization like this. It is true there were some
hidden “documents” discovered. They were planted by
Pierre Plantard, who spent time jail for fraud, and on his death
bed in 1993, admitted under oath that he had made up the whole
myth of the Priory of Sion! The point is, the entire set of so
called facts about Jesus, about the Church, and the entire story
is completely based on these fake documents!
Given these facts, why is it that there has been so much media
attention about the “controversy” surrounding The Da
Vinci Code? Where is the controversy? Why is there so much confusion?
I have been told that there have been many people who have read
this book and have “lost faith” in Christ and the truth
of the scriptures. I must hasten to say, I simply cannot understand
why such a thing could happen to anyone. Are there so many people
in the American public that are so foolish and gullible, that
they would believe such garbage as fact when the front of the
book clearly has the words “A Novel” printed on it?
Perhaps Dan Brown is such an extremely talented and skilled writer
that he can make many people believe fiction is fact. If that
is true, I hope his next novel is not about flying elephants with
pink polka-dots, or we will have the American public running for
cover! God help us, as Christians, and responsible adults, to
realize that when we are not careful we can believe in lies, and
we will suffer terrible consequences as a result. “For the
time will come when they will not endure the sound doctrine; but,
having itching ears, will heap to themselves teachers after their
own lusts; and will turn away their ears from the truth, and turn
aside unto fables.” (2 Timothy 4:3-4)
James Sanders
Pastor,
sandersjc@yahoo.com
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