Tuesday - Need to Read - James White and the Da Vinci Code

I am continuing to post each day this week a link to a blog article that we all NEED to READ. Uplifting, challenging, convicting, encouraging - whatever the case, these will be some things we need to think about, challenge us to re-evaluate some things in this new year, shed some light on new trends and fads within the evangelical world, and most of all point us to Christ!

Today we will take a look at a rather lengthy but worthwhile series of blog posts addressing The Da Vinci Code. These articles, written by James White, elder at the Phoenix Reformed Baptist Church and Director of Alpha and Omega Ministries, take this best selling book and soon to be released major motion picture to task. It seems historical fiction is being presented as though it was true. The trouble is not that fiction is presented as truth though nearly as much as the fact that this fiction seriously undermines both the Holy Scriptures and the Person and Work of Jesus Christ!

Here is how James kicked the series off:

May 19, 2006. That's when one of the most outrageous anti-Christian films we've ever seen will explode onto American movie screens. Powered by big stars (Tom Hanks, Ian McKellen) and Oscar winning director Ron Howard, the film adaptation of Dan Brown's The Da Vinci Code represents the investment of millions of dollars in spreading the clear message that the Bible "was compiled and edited by men who possessed a political agenda-to promote the divinity of the man Jesus Christ and use His influence to solidify their own power base" (234) all at the cost of the truth about the "divine feminine."

If you haven't read the book (unlike more than twenty million others), you may have only heard bits and pieces about its blatant attacks upon the Christian faith. I have had the opportunity of addressing the book in a number of contexts, and will continue doing so in an attempt to equip believers to respond to the onslaught. But I would like to document some of the major errors and the way in which they are presented by Dan Brown here on the blog. I encourage you to take this information and be prepared to use this opportunity to present a strong case for the Christian faith. Yes, you read that correctly. We need to see that attacks upon the faith are opportunities if we are prepared and if we are willing to count the cost and go against the cultural flow. We all know that nothing like this could ever be produced if the main target were, rather than the Bible and Christianity, the Quran and the Muslim faith, or Judaism. No, that would never be allowed, but Christianity is fair game at Sony Pictures, that's for certain. But since it is going to appear, we need to be ready to take advantage of it, and provide not only a strong denunciation of its errors, but a positive presentation of the truth of Scripture. And in doing so, we need to be willing to draw clear lines between those who call themselves Christians and yet are unwilling to view Scripture as Christ did, and ourselves.

And here are the rest of his articles dealing with the topic (to date):
It's Fiction, Dummy
The Da Vinci Code - Part 1
The Da Vinci Code - Part 2
The Da Vinci Code - Part 3
The Da Vinci Code - Part 4
The Da Vinci Code - Part 5
The Da Vinci Code - Part 6
The Da Vinci Code - Part 7
The Da Vinci Code - Part 8
The Da Vinci Code - Part 9
The Da Vinci Code - Part 10
The Da Vinci Code - Part 11
The Da Vinci Code - Part 12
The Da Vinci Code - Part 13
The Da Vinci Code - Part 14
The Da Vinci Code - Part 15
The Da Vinci Code - Part 16
The Da Vinci Code - Part 17

As James concluded recently, "We have thus far seen that Brown's "fiction based upon fact" presentation is purely fiction, even when it pretends to present facts. The number of simple, gross errors paraded before the reader thus far regarding Jesus, Constantine, the Bible, etc., has destroyed every bit of possible credibility Brown might claim for himself and his "research." We have entered into the final portions of this presentation, which, since they are based upon all the falsehoods that have come before, only grow the more fantastic and outrageous."

Stay tuned to the Alpha and Omega site for the final installments!!

UPDATE (1/17/06)
The Da Vinci Code - Part 18
The Da Vinvi Code - Part 19
Conclusion: The Da Vinci Code - Part 20