Volume 2 - Edition 6 - May 2006
Worldview Alert: The DaVinci Code
by Ted Gerk
By now you would no doubt be very aware of the hype surrounding Dan Brown’s book “The Da Vinci Code”, and subsequent movie. I’ve seen the movie and am reading the book…and I can tell you its’ no great Hollowood epic nor a literary masterpiece.
There are two thoughts on how the Christian community can respond to the controversy. I certainly respect the rights of those who feel slighted and offended by the ancient heresy portrayed both in the book and the movie. But I’m impressed with how some groups such as Campus Crusade for Christ have latched on to this incredible opportunity to “tell the story of Jesus”. To that end a series of web sites, blogs and books have been produced, educating the public and the Christian community on our “roots”. I say “roots” because how many of us know and understand how our Bible came to be? How versed are we in Church history? And the claims of Christ…was he just a great teacher? (All these questions and more can be found at web sites that I’ll list at the end of this article.)
As a parent, though, how do I handle this cultural quest to diss Jesus? My older children are being encouraged to either read the book or view the movie. Additionally, I’m using Josh McDowell’s new book: “The DaVinci Code: A Quest for Answers” to spur on discussion and educate them on early Church history. In fact, we at Heritage Christian Online School believe so passionately in using such opportunities to “teach” our children, that we’ll send a free copy of Josh McDowell’s book to any family that emails me at: tgerk@onlineschool.ca.
Meanwhile, the words of C.S.Lewis ring true:
“I am trying here to prevent anyone from saying the really foolish thing that people often say about Him [Jesus Christ]: “I’m ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don’t accept his claim to be God.” That is the one thing we must not say. A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic — on a level with a man who says he is a poached egg — or else he would be the Devil of Hell.You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is,the Son of God,: or else a madman or something worse …. You can shut him up for fool, you can spit at him and kill him as a demon; or you can fall at his feet and call him Lord and God. But let us not come up with any patronizing nonsense about his being a great human teacher. He has not left that option open to us. He did not intend to.”– From “Case for Christianity”
For further study, I invite you to view the following web sites:
http://www.thelife.com/davinci/
http://davinci.thelife.com/
http://www.campuscrusade.com/DaVinciquest/
http://www.jesusanddavinci.com/