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Christus
Rex
The Da Vinci Code
Maurice Hagar
In March 2003 this heady conspiracy-thriller blasted off with 6,000 copies sold its very first day. Within a week it left the stratosphere and hit the NY Times bestseller list, where it has been a permanent fixture since. And with a Ron Howard movie now in the works that promises to rival Mel Gibson’s The Passion of the Christ, Dan Brown’s The Da Vinci Code shows no signs of reentering earth’s atmosphere anytime soon.
The Da Vinci Code, according to Dan Brown’s Website (www.danbrown.com), is “an exhilarating blend of relentless adventure, scholarly intrigue, and cutting wit” that “heralds the arrival of a new breed of lightening-paced, intelligent thriller…surprising at every twist, absorbing at every turn, and in the end, utterly unpredictable…right up to its astonishing conclusion.” Without revealing the plot, which you may want to read for yourself, suffice is to say the book is a smorgasbord of ancient/New-Age spirituality, Gnosticism, paganism, feminism, and goddess worship replete with sex rituals, all tied neatly together in a conspiracy theory to end all conspiracy theories that vilifies 2000 years of Christian history. “The greatest story ever told is, in fact, the greatest story ever sold” (266-7).
More than blasphemy, The Da Vinci Code is an alternate or revisionist history in the guise of fiction. On ABC’s 20/20, Brown acknowledged that through this work and his other bestsellers he is on a religious mission to change how mainstream America thinks about Christian history. And when asked by Matt Lauer on NBC’s Today Show, “How much of this is based on reality?” Brown’s response was, “Absolutely all of it…is historical fact.”
The same question posted on Brown’s Website is answered thus: “The Da Vinci Code is a novel and therefore a work of fiction…While it is my belief that the theories discussed…have merit, each individual reader must explore these…viewpoints and come to his or her own interpretations. My hope in writing this novel was that the story would serve as a catalyst and a springboard for people to discuss the important topics of faith, religion, and history.” He goes on to say of scholars who discount the historicity of his work: “I obviously disagree” and “Since the beginning of recorded time, history has been written by the ‘winners’…Many historians now believe (as do I) that in gauging the historical accuracy of a given concept, we should first ask ourselves a far deeper question: How historically accurate is history itself?”
This claim is also made in the novel itself by the fictional historian Leigh Teabing:
History is always written by the winners…As Napoleon once said, ‘What is history, but a fable agreed upon?’ He smiled. ‘By its very nature, history is always a one-sided account.’
Sophie had never thought of it that way.
‘The Sangreal documents simply tell the other side of the Christ story. In the end, which side of the story you believe becomes a matter of faith and personal exploration’ (256).
The official Reader’s Guide to the book, also available from Brown’s Website, helps us make the connection between his fiction and our history:
- Now that you've read The Da Vinci Code, are there any aspects of life/history/faith that you see in a different light?
- Historian Leigh Teabing claims that the founding fathers of Christianity hijacked the good name of Jesus for political reasons. Do you agree?
- Has this book changed your ideas about faith, religion, or history in any way?
- Does the world have a right to know all aspects of its history, or can an argument be made for keeping certain information secret?
Such discussions are reportedly occurring all over the country in book reading and discussion groups, which are in turn driving sales of approximately 90 related books both pro and con. Thankfully, as reported by Peter Steinfels in the June 5, 2004, issue of the NY Times, “By now, Mr. Brown's coy claims to factuality have been pounded to an intellectual pulp. Even the latest publication of the Jesus Seminar, the scholars whose claims to dissect the Gospels did much to prepare the ground for Mr. Brown's fiction, carries an article on ‘The Da Vinci Fraud’.”(2)
Nonetheless, Brown and his mass of adherents continue to blur the line between fact and fiction—postmodern fact-ion. Postmodernism “deconstructs” modernist “metanarratives” of universal, objective truth and constructs local, inter-subjective “worlds of our own making.”(3) Realism is replaced by constructionist views of truth and reality; fact is replaced by fiction:
- “It is my belief that the theories discussed…have merit, each individual reader must explore these…viewpoints and come to his or her own interpretations.”
- “In the end, which side of the story you believe becomes a matter of faith and personal exploration.”
Such postmodernism, the prevailing philosophy in contemporary Western academia, is particularly evident in the humanities, including history. In a recent graduate-level course in the philosophy of history, the lessons to be learned included:
- History tells us more about the historian than about history.
- Accepted histories are particularly suspect of manipulation.
- History is dynamic, not static, and always subject to revision.
- Development of alternative perspectives is a sign of growth.
Duncan Salkeld of University College Chichester, England, in an analysis of postmodern history (http://www.ucc.ie/chronicon/salkfra.htm), draws the same conclusions:
- Historical narratives serve as a kind of framing fiction, therefore the facticity of history is fundamentally undermined.
- All history is written in the present, therefore the ‘past’ has no independent reality, (therefore there is no ‘past’).
- History has no essence or intrinsic priority-driven matter of its own (like facts or laws), therefore the historian has nothing she/he must attend to or respect.
- Textuality constructs historical knowledge, therefore to construct an historical text is to construct ‘history’ (therefore, history has no extra-textual reality).
- Historians only write interpretations of the past, therefore there can be neither historical knowledge nor truth.
- History is written in conventions of language, therefore histories are relative and convention-specific.
- Meaning does not correspond to real objects in the world, therefore history cannot claim to have anything to do with reality.
- There are no ultimate, neutral values by which to live, therefore history cannot be regarded as a repository of those values (therefore history can offer nothing by way of ethical guidance).
- Modernist views of the past are discredited by theory, therefore theory spells the end of (modernist) history.
- Though language always constitutes the objects of history, historical artifacts may shape historical language, therefore no historical perspective is stable or sufficient.
One “postmodern history” Website captures the situation by explaining, “It's ‘postmodern’ because anyone can contribute and because events can contain conflicting accounts and information.”
“Many historians now believe (as do I) that in gauging the historical accuracy of a given concept, we should first ask ourselves a far deeper question: How historically accurate is history itself?” As the covenant people of the God of history, such a sentiment should serve as a call to arms in the cultural battle.
- Our God acts in history for the express purpose of making Himself known to all people: Exod 6:7, 7:5, 14:4, 18, 18:9-11, 29:46; Deut 4:32-35, 7:7-9, 29:2-6; Josh 3:9-13, 4:21-24; 1 Sam 17:45-46; 1 Kgs 8:41-60, 18:36-37, 20:13-28; 2 Kgs 5:15, 19:17-19; Ezra; Isa 37:20, 45:1-6, 49:22-26; Jer 33:3; Ezek 34:27-30, 36:11-38, 37:4-28; Joel 2:26-27, 3:16-17; Matt 9:6, 24:32-33; John 10:37-8; Acts 2:22.
- Scripture conveys objective truth as a permanent record of God’s actions in history: Exod 31:12-13; Prov 2:1-10; Ezek 20:19-44; John 8:32, 13:17; 1 John 2:3-21, 3:14-24, 5:13.
- The aim of Christian ministry is to spread this objective, historical “knowledge of the truth” and to “demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God:” John 17:1-26; Acts 13:38; 2 Cor 10:5; Col 1:2-3; 2 Tim 2:4, 25; Titus 1:1; Heb 10:26; 1 John 5:20.• God will judge all people according to their knowledge of this universal, historical truth; Paul summoned “all Israel” to “be assured” that Jesus is both Lord and Christ and proclaimed that Jesus’ historical resurrection “has given proof…to all men” of their coming judgment: Ps 96:13; Acts 2:36, 17:31; Rom 1:18, 25, 2:8; 2 Thess 2:10-13.
So, what should Christians do in response to The Da Vince Code? Brown’s Website includes an endorsement by Father John Sewell of St. John's Episcopal Church in Memphis:
This [novel] is not a threat. This is an opportunity. We are called to creatively engage the culture and this is what I want to do. I think Dan Brown has done me a favor. He's letting me talk about things that matter.
Amen! Specifically, you should:
- Consider reading the book because your friends and neighbors are.
- Brush up on your Church history. A book such as Cracking Da Vinci’s Code by James Garlow and Peter Jones or The Da Vinci Hoax by Carl Olson and Sandra Miesel would be a start.
- Prayerfully and lovingly engage your friends and neighbors, earnestly contending for the faith that was once for all time delivered to the saints—Jude 3.
Our sovereign God is working all things out for our good and His eternal glory—The Da Vinci Code included. Soli Deo gloria!
2 http://www.nytimes.com/2004/06/05/national/05beliefs.html
3 Translation: “truth is subjective”, Ed.
Volume
Two - Issue Two
Theology: Satan Loves Proof Texts - Gregory Soderberg
Science & Culture: The Cyborgs Are Coming! - Maurice Hagar
Family: Time To Eat - Robert Nash
Literature: The Da Vinci Code - Maurice Hagar
Liturgy: Liturgical Thoughts and Musical Musings - Gregory Soderberg
Poetry: Tylwyth Teg (The Fair Folk) - Josh McInnis
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