The Davinci Code

Whilst I was in Melbourne last week I picked up a copy of Dan Brown's novel, 'The Davinci Code'. Most people will be aware that the film version is being released in just one weeks time, so the present interest in this book can only increase. I found the book very readable and it had all the elements of a good mystery story. It does hold your interest through to the end, but I did find it somewhat repetitious. At times it seemed like it was just puzzle after puzzle.

Some Christians will no doubt be very concerned and want to do all they can stop people seeing the movie and reading the book. I guess the value of the book is that it generates discussion about our faith and gets people thinking about some of the fundamentals we believe in. Even in our own family the book has generated a lot of discussion around the tea table each night.

After I finished the book I made an attempt at listing some of the major issues raised in the book. I listed them:

Jesus was only a great man.
There was no mention of Him being divine until the council of Nicea where his divinity was determined by a very close vote.
Jesus got married to Mary Magdalene and had a daughter by the name of Sarah.
There were about 80 gospels suppressed by the Church
Mary Magdalene is the 'Holy Grail'
Christianity has done away with the concept of 'goddess' and as a result been unjust in its attitude towards women. (The book makes a great deal of 'the sacred feminine')
Leonardo Davinci was desperate to reveal these secrets with hidden messages in his paintings

I'm sure there are many other issues as well that you might add. These are some of the obvious ones. Of course the evidence for all these contentions is hidden somewhere and the book ends without the evidence ever being presented. I guess you can do that in novels.

I am planning a series of three messages looking at some of the issues above. It will be a challenge for me as I have rarely if ever preached apologetic sermons. I have quite a bit of reading to do in preparation. Next week Jo and I are taking some time out for four days at Bruny Island together. Maybe I'll take some of my reading over there.