The Da Vinci Code Movie: What's a Christian to Do?

In a recent column in the Chicago Sun-Times film critic Richard Roeper chides concerned Christians over their response to the upcoming movie based on Dan Brown's best seller The Da Vinci Code. "An e-mail making the rounds is urging recipients to contact actor Tom Hanks, who has agreed to play the lead in Ron Howard's adaptation of Dan Brown's wildly popular novel," states Roeper. I have not personally received this e-mail, and if I did I would do with it what I do with most e-mails of this variety: Delete it. I understand the desire to keep the bunk festering between the covers of The Da Vinci Code out of the public eye, but I think this is the wrong approach in attacking it. More on that later.

According to Roeper Chuck Colson wrote, "For non-believers, [the book] confirms their unbelief. It turns off honest seekers, and it has confused and disillusioned even many Christians," to which Roeper responds, "I doubt it." Unfortunately, he is wrong. The fact of the matter is that many Christians have been shaken by the book and I have personally talked with at least one "non-believer" who bolstered his opinions with erroneous information gleaned from The Da Vinci Code.

It is a sad situation when Christians are so uneducated about their own faith and its history that they will swallow obvious lies, no matter how cleverly packaged. There is only one way to counter this sort of thing, and it doesn't involve e-mail petitions to Tom Hanks. The only way to stop The Da Vinci Code from having a negative impact is to know the truth and to spread that knowledge to everyone who will listen. Be ready to gently correct your friends when they tell you how Constantine compiled the Bible. Let them know that Pierre Plantard, one of the men who began the Priory of Sion in the 1950s, has admitted the documents claiming Da Vinci and other historical luminaries were members are phony. It would also be useful for you to acquaint yourself with the Jewish culture of Jesus' day in order to refute claims that Jesus would have had to be married.

I know, I know, it seems like a tall order. Who has the time to do all that research? Well, the good news is that a number of strong Christian men have done the hard stuff for us. Let me end this entry with a few book recommendations. I have read a couple of these books (the ones marked with a '*'), but others I have not. Of the books I have not read I will only list those books by authors I know I can trust.

*The Da Vinci Code: Fact or Fiction by Hank Hanegraaff and Paul Maier

*Breaking the Da Vinci Code: Answers to the Questions Everybody's Asking by Darrell Bock

The Da Vinci Deception by Erwin Lutzer

All of these books are small and could be read in a weekend (if not less). They provide an excellent critique of the claims of The Da Vinci Code in an easy to read fashion. Pick up one or all of them today.