So I’m a little late with my take on The Da Vinci Code, and for good reason. I’m simply a guy who can’t figure out what he believes about controversial issues, so I wait until I’ve found a peaceful harmony somewhere in between the positions already out there.

Actually, that’s not entirely true. My initial reaction, while reading the book a couple of weeks ago, was, “What is the big deal? It’s a bunch of silly connections in paintings done by an artist a few hundred years ago.” Later on I began to see the danger of this book, because weaving together fact and fiction in an entertaining way does not afford the reader to know which is which––something especially confusing for those who don’t know much about the Christian heritage. But then again, the book was written as a novel and published under the fiction section of every bookstore. So readers should be responsible and realize that this fact-fiction line will be blurred for sake of entertainment.

Does the theory that Jesus might possibly have had children with a woman named Mary Magdalene threaten my beliefs? Not at all. Of course, I’m firmly aware that history and New Testament literature are on my side. But not everybody knows this. Our society is increasingly aware that the knowledge we have received from history books is knowledge written by those in power, with money, and most likely with an agenda. And it only takes a few history lessons about the Inquisition, Native American domination, and slavery to realize that those who claim the name of Jesus are either misguided, misinformed, or simply do not have the world’s best interest in mind. This kind of skepticism raises eyebrows, and when alternate story, a story that is not so far away from conceivability, arises, the story the world has come to dislike has altogether become even more unlikable. In this way, the theory can become dangerous and threaten the faith of many.

That’s where The Da Vinci Code has its appeal: it is a new account of history based on a popular appeal to a common thread throughout all literature that intrigues just about everyone: conspiracy. Whether it be government conspiracies or religious conspiracies, people love to read about “other ways of looking at it.” And The Da Vinci Code, in good measure and in excellent style, delivers just what people are looking for.

So whether or not the underlying premise of the story is true, and whether or not there is a “ton of facts” that Dan Brown has either ignored or was misguided by, is not the point. We are not responsible for his mistakes, nor are we responsible to correct him in condemnation. Brown himself looks at the rise in discussion over Jesus as “absolutely wonderful,” because he is a big fan of discussing and discovering faith in our world.

Here is the irony: Dan Brown has written a compelling novel, and the Church has responded by condemnation and reactive propositions. The solution is not to oppose facts alone (as important as it is to engage the debate on that level). The solution is to make compelling the real story of Jesus to our world. What will happen as we tell a story––better yet, as we live the story––that is compelling enough for people to hear and to live, other stories will not have such an impact in our world. Yes, they will shake a few people, but the Church can simply live its life, saying, “Come, here’s the way of truth, let’s walk in it together.”

Doug

Doug Stuart is a committed follower of Jesus and passionate about building for the Kingdom of God through education and mobilization. He is a regular writer at LibertarianChristians.com as well as the founder of Living Loud.

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