ok, people are upset wtih da vinci. well, not da vinci, but dan brown’s take on da vinci’s motives and mission (if he had one.)
the book, and soon-to-be-released movie, are creating a cottage industry of refutations that begin in rome and stretch to timbuktu. the catholic church is upset. opus dei is upset, historians are upset, the art community is upset, theologians are upset, the amalgamated union of conspiracy theorists are upset.
why?
because the story around the story is tabloid treasure. Jesus Christ, not who we think he is? Jesus is not, as Paul said, equal with God? the son of man is really the con of man? He was married? mary magdalene’s bones are the holy grail?? (not according to the famed historical group monty python.) as the movie’s promo says, “no matter what you have read….no matter what you believe” inferring that truth is elusive and unknown.
archbishop of canterbury, rowan williams, shared in his Easter sermon, “It all makes a good and characteristically ‘modern’ story – about resisting authority, bringing secrets to light, exposing corruption and deception; it evokes Watergate and All the President’s Men. As someone remarked after a television programme about the Da Vinci Code, it’s almost that we’d prefer to believe something like this instead of the prosaic reality. We have become so suspicious of the power of words and the way that power is exercised to defend those who fear to be criticised. The first assumption we make is that we’re faced with spin of some kind, with an agenda being forced on us – like a magician forcing a card on the audience. So that the modern response to the proclamation, ‘Christ is risen!’ is likely to be, ‘Ah, but you would say that, wouldn’t you? Now, what’s the real agenda?’
we don’t know what to believe because we don’t KNOW what we believe. we believe the story of Jesus as we have known it, but don’t know it enough to tell it, defend it, understand it when challenged. this story of dan brown is a catalyst to genuine faith if we will embrace the opportunity.
40 million books in 44 languages is no small royalty check. but more valuable is real faith that is trasure beyond measure. already, miilions of conversations have begun over this book. the funny thing is, none of it is really about the whodunnit part of the story. nobody talks about jacques or robert or sophie or bazu fache. everybody is talking about Jesus. is he? was he? will he? can he? did he?
get ready for the conversation. don’t get defensive, but defend your faith with security, knowledge, experience, and guts. what an opprtunity.
as the trailer beckons at its end…. SEEK THE TRUTH!
good idea.
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