The Da Vinci Code?
Intro:
A. Im sure that by this time, you have all heard of The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown. The book has sold more than 40 million copies and has been translated into over 40 different languages. The movie brought in over $217 million in the box office (a little bit of which came from me). It has been turned into a video game, and since the movie has just come out on DVD, people are again thinking and wondering about The Da Vinci Code.
B. While The Da Vinci Code tells an adventurous murder mystery thriller on the surface, the underlying message is clear: The Bible is incomplete and inaccurate. The book asserts that Jesus never claimed to be the Son of God, but was deified three hundred years later by Emperor Constantine; that Jesus was married to Mary Magdalene, who bore his child and gave rise to a prominent family line that is still present in Europe today; and that Jesus wanted Mary Magdalene to lead his church, but she was forced out by power-hungry men. One of the characters in the book says, Almost everything our fathers taught us about Christ is false. Instead of a literal cup or chalice, the Holy Grail is actually Mary Magdalene and the royal bloodline of Jesus. Leonardo da Vinci was supposedly one of the keepers of this secret and hid clues in his art. And the Catholic Church, of course, is trying to keep this hidden from the world. A lot of the ideas come from a 1980s book called Holy Blood, Holy Grail, whose authors by the way, tried to sue Dan Brown.
C. You may be thinking, So what? The Da Vinci Code is just a fiction. Well, that would be fine and true if thats what Dan Brown was claiming.
1. One of the first things a reader of The DaVinci Code will see as they open the book, is a page titled FACT. Among the things on this page is a statement: All descriptions of artwork, architecture, documents, and secret rituals in this novel are accurate.
2. In an interview with Good Morning America when asked: If you were writing it as a nonfiction book, how would it have been different? Dan Brown responded: I dont think it would have. I began the research for The Da Vinci Code as a skeptic. I entirely expected, as I researched the book, to disprove this theory, and after numerous trips to Europe and two years of research, I really became a believer.
3. In another interview, Dan Brown said, I wanted to write a book that while it entertained at the same time, you close that last page and go Wow, do you know how much I just learned? Thats fascinating. That is really what I set out to do.
4. And polls have found that up to 60% of the people who read the book believe the underlying message about the Bible and Jesus and Mary Magdalene.
5. Dan Brown was recently named one of the worlds 100 most influential people by Time Magazine for a reason. So, please dont give me, Chill out; its just a fiction.
D. 1 Peter 3:15 says, ...but sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts, always being ready to make a defense to everyone who asks you to give an account for the hope that is in you, yet with gentleness and reverence. We need to know, not just what we believe, but why we believe itand we need to be able to explain it to others. This is something that you need to be able to do in regard to The Da Vinci Code. There are so many people out there who want to believe it and after seeing Dan Browns Fact page, they are gladly sold.
E. The catch phrase for The Da Vinci Code movie is: Seek the truth. And you know, that is very good advice and so thats what I want us to do today. Lets take a look at some of the claims of the book and see how they stand up to the evidence.
To read the entire sermon click here
| 
Posted by 
Posted by 
Posted by 
Posted by 
