Just out of curiosity I googled "The Da Vinci Code" and came up with 27+million hits. Everybody and their dog are talking about it right now.
When I preached about it on Sunday, I got several "deer in the headlights" looks from people who were obviously questioning why I was talking about a novel. That all changed when I mentioned that between our two worship services I was at our coffee house and a community member walked in. When she learned what we were discussing, her first comment was, "Well, of course Jesus was married. He was a Jewish rabbi." People couldn't believe that someone would actually believe the claims found in The Da Vinci Code.
I wonder how many other people have bought into Dan Brown's theology? I think we'd all be amazed at the number.
It's so easy to assume that since we live in a "Christian nation," as some claim (I'm not one of them) that everyone has a Biblical worldview. Tain't so. Perhaps this will be the greatest benefit The Da Vinci Code provides to the American church. Maybe people will finally begin to see the truth, that we are not a Christian nation and that the majority of Americans can describe who Jesus is in ways which are not Biblical.
Once the cloak of a "Christian nation" is removed, perhaps the Church will get serious about proclaiming Jesus Christ and him crucified. Wouldn't that be something!?!
I don't think we're a christian nation anymore, but even sadder is the fact that most christians today are biblically illiterate.
Posted by: Brett | April 25, 2006 at 03:41 PM
i agree, we're not the Christian nation people want to claim. it is sad that people frame their faith around 'spiritual fiction.' i can't count how many folks i've met who have claimed to be strongly impacted by 'left behind.' at least dan brown doesn't claim his stuff is theology, but won't say it's fiction either.
Posted by: gavin | April 25, 2006 at 11:23 PM
It sure would be something!
Posted by: Greg Hazelrig | April 28, 2006 at 07:40 AM
Was intrigued by your "My preaching style..." entry, so I thought I'd read more. You're absolutely right. I'd estimate that over 90% of church people are biblically illiterate. As a result, people are feeding their spiritual hunger with whatever sound reasonable to a logical mind. That's why peole can buy into "Left Behind" as if it really is the Gospel of the second coming. That's why Dan Brown's novel is causing people to question if the Bible really is true. That's why this coming Gospel of Judas is being hyped like crazy, and people will buy it hook, line, and sinker.
We've got to give our people back their biblical heritage. We've got to start teaching them good Scriptural knowledge ever week.
Posted by: Jeff Edmondson | April 29, 2006 at 10:01 PM