Can We Talk?

I want to talk about The Da Vinci Code -

Ok, I know The Da Vinci code has been out for about 4 years; but being the “conscientious christian” I was, I turned my back and thumbed my nose at it and everyone that was reading it. I didn’t really know what the book was about and frankly I did not care. As far as I was concerned, Jesus was born without sin, and died without sin, end of story. I would hear people talking, saying things like, “I knew the church was covering up, he had to have been having sex with Mary Magdalene.” OUCH! How could people speak about Jesus in that way? It hurt me deeply to hear Jesus being “gossiped” about. As time went on, the hype died out and the topic was laid to rest. Then, one day my daughter and I were in Barnes and Noble (my personal playground) and she picked up a copy of The Da Vinci Code. She said she was dying to read it. Of course I let her know that it was just a trashy book by someone trying to get rich as God’s expense and it would be a waste of her time and money. So she bought it! Ugh! The funny thing is, I became curious about what was really in the book and before long, my interest was piqued! I fought the urge to buy it, besides I has soooo many books that I needed to read I wouldn’t have time. Then they started promoting the movie starring none other than Tom Hanks so of course I had to buy it! As luck would have it, Barnes and Noble University was having reading group and the book was, you guessed it, The Da Vinci Code.

I was hooked right from the start. I read all the disclaimers and understood that I was reading a novel. Now if it was categorized as a documentary or it claimed to be totally based on facts, that would be a different story. So I dug right in. It was fascinating and frightening at the same time. I found myself following the logic and entertaining the possibility that The Templar’s were hiding something that could change the past, present and future history, and belief system as we know it. I could now see how so many people were pulled into Dan Brown’s story and believe the book was totally based on facts. I mean, think of it; The Knights Templar did exist and Dan Brown is not the first person to speculate they were hiding highly sensitive items from the Catholic church. Opus Dei still exists to this day and they still practice many of their rituals and are totally devoted to the Catholic church. Leonardo Da Vinci was eccentric, did write backwards and was very controversial in his time. The Dead Sea Scrolls exist, the Gnostic Gospels exist, there is a Rose line, and the figure of John does look like a woman to the right of Jesus in the Last Supper. Dan Brown weaves fact with fiction so seamlessly that it’s hard at times to separate the two. He even makes the Priory of Sion seem real. He had me fooled until I researched it for myself. So, let me pose this question. Do you believe that Jesus and Mary were married? Do you believe they had sex? Do you believe that Mary bore the Holy Grail? Imagine that the answers to these questions are yes. Would it affect your belief in Jesus or the story of the Resurrection? Would finding out that Jesus was human in every way change the way you see Him? What affect would it have on your religious beliefs? Do you think it would destroy the Catholic church or Christianity as it is today?

I for one built my faith on the word of God. It is written in the bible, “Be Still and Know, that I am God.” Psalm 46:10. Benny Hinn was conducting a class on healing and I like how he broke this down. He says that in this passage, God is saying, “Be silent, Be still and know, I AM.” I can’t explain how I felt when I got this revelation, but I do know that God is the great I AM. He is real to me and has not diminished in my sight. Besides, we are supposed to walk by faith and not by sight.

I do find The Da Vinci code exciting and entertaining and Dan Brown is an excellent fictional writer. The movie was outstanding; even my 13 year old enjoyed it. I have since read Dan Brown’s Angels and Demons and Deception Point and truly hope Ron Howard considers putting them to film. I recently found out he has another novel, Digital Fortress and you can bet I’ll be reading that one too. Dan Brown has many critics and has even had to defend himself in court a few times. Catholic critics say he has caused an uprising of the sale of books on the occult and has turned the readers of his books hostile to the Catholic church. Believe me, the Catholic church has done far more damage on their own over the course of history to create hostily toward the church than Dan Brown could EVER do! Personally, his book actually made me look deeper into my faith and my relationship with Jesus. I found that it was I who was lacking, not Him, and I have a renewed desire to read and learn and grow in my walk and knowledge of THE GREAT I AM!