There are more than a dozen books and many web sites by Christians answering the claims made by Dan Brown in The Da Vinci Code. Some will question why anything in the book needs an answer, since the book is fiction. But from the start Dan Brown claims that much of the book is based on fact. When asked in an interview on The Today Show on 10/10/2005 how much of the book was based on reality, he replied “Absolutely all of it. Obviously, Robert Langdon is fictional, but all of the art, architecture, secret rituals, secret societies—all of that is historical fact.” He tries to blur the line between fact and fiction, hoping that we will accept his basic premise that the organized church has suppressed the real truth about Jesus.
But many of his historical “facts” are questionable to say the least. We should take movie’s promotional slogan of “Seek the Truth” to heart and carefully examine the claims made in the book nd the movie. There are many excellent Christian resources on this topic. This is a great opportunity to learn more about the historical basis of the Christian faith and to share the Gospel with the many who will be asking questions after seeing the movie. Here are some helpful resources:
- Da Vinci Code FAQ by Dr. Ron Rhodes
- Jesus and Da Vinci: Who was Jesus, Really? (includes many links to other resources)
- The Da Vinci Code: A Myth of Christian Origins by Andreas J. Kostenberger
- The Da Vinci Opportunity by Mark Roberts: Section 1, Section 2, Section 3. (This is an extensive collection of articles. His FAQ is a good place to begin.)
- Second Thoughts on How to Respond to the Da Vinci Code Film by Brian Godawa
- For those who prefer video clips, Lee Strobel has put together a list of questions and answers about the Da Vinci Code (the answers are all video clips).
I have tried to glean the best of the best for this list. Please let me know if you have suggestions for something else that should be listed here.
You can also listen to the sermon that I preached last Sunday on this topic.
Added on 5/25/06:
- Larry Hurtado, NT Professor at the University of Edinburgh, on Scholarly gripes about The Da Vinci Code’s Jesus
- Steve Olson, on why if Jesus did have children, virtually all of us would be his descendants (based on his article in Nature)
i have found that “Reinventing Jesus” by Dr. James Sawyer, is a very good resource for people who have questions about the historical Christian faith. It goes over the cannon of scripture, as well as many of the myths that are claimed to be fact. i will be bringing some by on May 28th as i am coming with Dr. Gary Tuck. Dr. Sawyer is also having a book signing at Western Seminary San Jose on June 3rd. This is open to the public and he will be having an question and answer time at 12.30 pm. Please tell people about it and that they are welcome. Thanks, dan
Hi Dan,
Thanks for stopping by, and for sharing this resource with us.
Pastor Ken:
I think this is a good video: Jesus Film by Wycliffee Bible Translator.
http://www.jesusfilm.org/languages/index.html
Thank for your concern on this matter.
Sincerely,
Tze-John Liu
7-26-2007
Thanks for the reminder about the Jesus film. For anyone who wants to see the biblical account of the life of Jesus presented in a film, this is a good choice.
I think that the film was produced by Campus Crusade, not Wycliffe. On the film web site it is available in many different languages.
This is as far as I got.