DaVinci Hysteria

I was flipping channels last night and happened upon "Inside The Actor's Studio." The guest was Tom Hanks. Overall, I like Hanks. He seems like an affable enough fellow, he's undeniably talented as an actor, and he has a reputation for being a nice guy. Fair enough. So, what was he doing on "Actor's Studio"? Hawking "The DiVince Code," of course. The whole second half of the program was devoted to that task. Last week, Hanks was also on Letterman, Leno, SNL, and various other talk shows. They're really pushing this movie. The producers see dollars signs looming just ahead.

Adding to the hype and hoopla are statements like the one made by the host, James Lipton. He repeated an oft-cited claim, "Over 40 million people have read this book."

Sadly, as I've often said, the only thing we've learned from history is that we've learned nothing from history. The average person-on-the-street knows next-to-nothing about the history of the church, the Bible, or the Christian religion. They've never invested the time it would take to understand the basic tenets of the faith or the facts on which it is based. Yet, they'll read a book that admits to being fiction and come away with the conclusion that the church has lied, hidden evidence, and conspired to foist a false gospel on the unwary public in order to mask the fact that Jesus was married and His blood line continued through Mary Magdalene.

So, why do people believe this book so willingly? Well, it's because in the opening of book, the author insists that, while the story of the hunt to uncover clues is fictional, the descriptions of documents, artwork, secret rituals, and basic evidence are factual.

If you'd like to hear a very good presentation of the numerous historical and factual errors found in the book, check the following link. Grace Heritage Church in Auburn, Alabama recently hosted James White to speak on the subject. His presentation is compelling and informative. The link to those mp3's is here: DaVinci Errors The program has intermittent sound problems, but stick with it. They clear up quickly enough. White's grasp of Christian history gives him a unique and substantial platform from which to reply to Brown's assertions.

Also, if you prefer the read the basic information at the basis of White's presentation, you can read it here: DaVinci article

In the end, as I said on Sunday morning, I think all the worry and hand-wringing will pass as the DaVinci fad passes and we wait for the next wave of criticism against the church. But, the Church of Jesus Christ stands unfazed, because it is not based on the will or strength of men. When Jesus said, "I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it" (Matt 16:18), I assume He knew what He was talking about.

God is still on His throne. He still reigns. And, ever since Paul took the gospel out to the Gentile world, gnostic heresy such as we find in TDC has been published in order to undermine the clear statements of the Bible. Yet, 2000 years later, Christianity remains. Faith remains. The facts stand uchanged, just as God Himself continues in His unchanging sovereignty.

So, get ready for the blast of hysteria as the movie opens. Then it will move to DVD and end up on shelves in homes around the world so that those who cannot believe the truth will be able to point to it as evidence for their agnosticism.

But, the faith of the saints is not one whit disturbed.

Quick update:

The reviews of the movie coming out of the Cannes film festival are predominantly negative. It's been called "plodding," "boring," "too long," etc. We'll have to see what the movie-going audience thinks when the film opens on Friday.