Thoughts Evoked by The da Vinci Code

Yesterday in another blog I mentioned that Angela and I are currently reading Angels and Demons by Dan Brown. This book came out prior to The da Vinci Code but seems to be equally intriguing and we're very much enjoying it. My brief mention of The Da Vinci Code produced this question:

"Forgive my stupidity, but isn't the D. Code quite anti-Christian???? ... and anti-Bible?"

A discussion of The da Vinci Code could take hours so rather than launch into the details of the plot and the questions it raises, I'll just say no; I don't believe this book is anti-Christian and I don't believe it is anti-Bible.

The da Vinci Code is a work of fiction that suggests perhaps we don't know everything there is to know about Jesus. This idea does not threaten my faith in the least. I think there is much we don't know about Jesus and it is always interesting to hear others' thoughts and opinions about who this man is to them and who he might have been to Mary Magdalene and others who encountered him while he was on earth. Dan Brown presents some ideas in The da Vinci Code that happen to be unpopular in some Christian circles, but this does not mean his idea are null and void or that we should shy away from reading the book. Setting limits on the amount of spiritual awareness one can have does not protect the individual from the possibility of veering off the path of righteousness, but rather it shelters that person and produces a fear-based attitude that makes considering new knowledge an incredibly difficult task. It inhibits growth.

The da Vinci Code suggests that Jesus may not have been perfect, or at the very least that there might have been more to this man than we have been taught. It doesn't cause me any discomfort to think that perhaps Jesus didn't possess some of the magical qualities that Christian tradition often attibutes to him, or that he might have been more emotionally attached to Mary Magdalene than it appears. If Jesus were this candidly human, the sacrifice he made would have even greater implications. The point is, blemish or no blemish, this is still the same Jesus that you and I know and love, and experience daily. Reading a work of fiction does nothing to tear at that root.

People who write about Jesus fascinate me. It often means they have experienced Jesus in some uniquely profound way and have formed an emotional attachment to him, and as a result the words pour out of them. Jesus inspires people. That's why I find it hard to believe that the religious scholars who assembled the Bible could only find four Gospels worthy of passing on to future generations. Surely there were hundreds of people besides Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John who encountered Jesus, became inspired by him, and wrote about him. I have heard that there were as many as eighty-four other Gospels that were rejected as the books of the Bible were being collected. I'm sure there would be millions of extra Gospels if Jesus walked the earth today. All of this is to say, perhaps there is more to be learned about Jesus. Sources that offer a fresh perspective are not by nature anti-Christian. It's Christians who are often anti-evolvement.

Rev. Dr. Jo Hudson delivered a terrific sermon last night at the Cathedral of Hope and she had this to say about the Bible--"I don't know if it happened exactly that way, but I believe it is true." It might be hard to fully wrap our brains around that, but I think it speaks to the importance of actively seeking God each day and continuing to keep an open mind about the ways in which God can work in the world.

I absolutely believe in the truth of the Bible. But perhaps there is more to the story.