And That Is What They Want You To Believe

When people don't believe in God,
it's not that they believe in nothing,
it's that they believe in anything.

Nothing could be truer of the publishing and cinematic phenomenon known as "The Da Vinci Code." Dan Brown's tale of secret societies and ancient conspiracies has tickled the eyes and ears of millions. The novel went on to be a worldwide best seller. The film became the third highest grossing picture of 2006. And the follow-up, "Angels & Demons" arrives in theaters Friday May 15th.

One thing is certain. "The Da Vinci Code" has struck a nerve.

But with a little research, the truth comes to light. And believers can take heart. That's what we did at the last meeting of THE DECODER RING. We took a mini Art History class on Leonardo Da Vinci and his most famous works. We studied through the actual history of the church, including how the books were selected for inclusion into the New Testament, and who, when, and where that was decided. And finally, we tracked down the supposed proof for the existence of The Priory of Sion and the history of Jesus' bloodline, finding that it was planted in a museum a few decades ago, and has been proven to be complete fabrication.

We discovered that the lies told in the book and movie are centuries old, but they've been packaged together in an exciting new way. We learned that false beliefs about Jesus started even while the New Testament was being written! And the Bible predicted more false teachers would come:

"But there were also false prophets among the people,
just as there will be false teachers among you.
They will secretly introduce destructive heresies,
even denying the sovereign Lord who bought them—
bringing swift destruction on themselves."
2 PETER 2:1

Hundreds of years after the original gospels were written, spurious and false "gospels" started making the rounds. Gnostics of every persuasion began warping basic Christian tenets. And falsehood started to spread. The recent "discovery" of the so-called Gospel of Judas, as well as interest in other ancient texts that give an "alternate" (false) view of Christian history, has only added fuel to the fire.

When I first read the book and saw the movie, I wrote about it in this post. "The Da Vinci Code" offers a completely fictional account of church history, clever fabrication of ancient history, and a view of Jesus that totally strips Him of his divinity. It has its believers and its detractors, and an audience of millions. How should a Christian respond?

Oddly enough, with hope.

You see, people are hungry for God, yet they keep getting fed all the wrong food. Every time some new "controversial" book, movie, TV show, or song comes out that touches on God in an offensive way, it gains a lot of attention.

What an opportunity to share the gospel.

More likely than not, you've encountered someone who has read or seen "The Da Vinci Code" or Dan Brown's other Robert Langdon thriller "Angels & Demons." So study up. Read the Bible. Talk about it. God can't wait to take someone's interest in spiritual things and lead them to Himself.

Oh, and God loves Dan Brown, Ron Howard, Brian Grazer, Akiva Goldsman, Tom Hanks, Ian McKellen, and Audrey Tautou as well. Pray for them!

See you next time at THE DECODER RING.