Dan Brown’s bestselling novel, The Da Vinci Code, hit the big screen in the summer of 2006 in a flurry of fanfare and controversy.  That spells major success, in the millions, for Sony Pictures, director Ron Howard, and actor Tom Hanks.  Dan Brown has already cashed in on the book—putting over $75 million into his bank account.  With a chart-busting novel and millions in the bank, Brown is already fighting off the plagiarism hunters, one price of riches and fame.

Christians have a dog in this fight too.  At stake is something more valuable than money—the truth about the Bible, the honor of Christ, and the eternal destiny of human souls are at stake.  Dan Brown has drawn a line in the sand with his ideas, in the pages of The Da Vinci Code.  That’s where Christians must show up in full armor, on the battleground of ideas.  “We are destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God” to take “every thought captive to the obedience of Christ” (2 Corinthians 10:4-5).

Dan Brown Has a Pagan, Feminist Agenda

Dan Brown wants the world’s religions to return to the pre-Christian worship of gods and goddesses.  This is a revival of paganism.

In 2004, Dan Brown spoke before the New Hampshire Writer’s Project about his quest to write The Da Vinci Code.  That speech clarifies his purpose in writing—it’s more than just a story to him.  Brown wants the world and its religions to return to the pre-Christian tolerance of goddess worship.  Here’s what he said about the point of the entire novel, a point that he laments many people are missing:

Prior to two thousand years ago, we lived in a world of gods and goddesses.  Today we live in a world solely of gods.  Women in most cultures have been stripped of their spiritual power, and our male dominated philosophies of absolutism have a long history of violence and bloodshed which continues to this day.  I simply wrote a story that explores how and why this shift might have occurred, what it says about our past; and more importantly, what it says about our future.  As I said earlier, history is written by the winners.  The details are long lost, and in many cases, impossible to know.  We can challenge and debunk details forever, but the fact remains in the major religions of the world women remain second class citizens.  Why can’t there be women priests?  Why is this even an issue?

Dan Brown is a self-proclaimed Christian, but not of the Bible-believing variety.  He is a cultural Christian, a nominal Christian, who has rejected biblical absolutes and embraced the questioning skepticism of postmodernism.

“If you ask three people what it means to be a Christian, you will get three different answers.  Some feel it is sufficient simply to be baptized into a Christian church.  Others feel you must accept the Bible as immutable, historical fact.  Still others require a belief that all those who do not accept Christ as personal savior are doomed to hell.  Faith is a continuum.  We all fall on that line wherever we may fall, and by attempting to classify, and rigidly classify, ethereal concepts like faith, we end up debating the semantics to the point where we entirely miss the obvious.  That is, that we are all trying to decipher life’s big mysteries—Where did we come from?  What happens when we die, where are we going?  What does all of this mean?  And each of us must follow our own path to enlightenment.”

Brown is quite willing to debate the issues, but don’t expect him to accept absolutes.  He said,

“The world is a big place, and now more than ever there is enormous danger in believing we are infallible, that our version of the truth is absolute, that everyone who does not think like we do is wrong, and therefore an enemy. Everyone is entitled to believe what they believe.  If you find someone’s ideas absurd or offensive, just listen to somebody else.”

Dan Brown doesn’t want to get caught up in “debating the semantics,” he prefers to talk in broad concepts.  That’s evident in his novel.  Though he purports to have based the book on extensive research, the most important part of the book—where he communicates his fundamental thesis—is filled with embarrassing factual errors.

The Da Vinci Code Is Blatantly Anti-Christian

Dan Brown wants to overturn the historic record of God’s loving redemption with a tale of sex, intrigue, and conspiracy.  He wants you to see Christianity as a patriarchal cover-up of the sacred feminine.

For his “Christian” readers who have grown up hearing the Bible’s truth claims, Brown knows he has his work cut out for him.  He faces the rather large task of turning Christianity on its head and restoring the sacred feminine to the world.  The crucial scene for his purpose has the protagonists, Robert Langdon and Sophie Neveu, learning secret “truths” from historian Sir Leigh Teabing.  There in Teabing’s library, Brown unfolds his central thesis through the character Teabing.

Ready?

Teabing tells the uninitiated Sophie that Jesus and Mary Magdalene were lovers.  At the crucifixion, Mary was pregnant with the child of their union.  Aided by Joseph of Arimathea, Jesus’ uncle, she fled to France to give birth to a daughter named Sarah.  That’s important because Jesus and Mary Magdalene were both of royal lineage (he says Mary was of the tribe of Benjamin).  The royal bloodline continued to advance quietly for a few hundred years until it intermarried with French royal blood, creating the Merovingian bloodline.

According to Teabing, the emperor Constantine and the “founders” of Christianity knew about Jesus, Mary, and the royal offspring.  To maintain the positions of power afforded by a patriarchal church and state, Constantine suppressed the “truth” about the royal couple, smeared Mary’s reputation by calling her a whore, and foisted the myth of Jesus’ divinity upon the world.

The Brown/Teabing thesis asserts that Constantine canonized the myth of Jesus’ divinity in the Bible.  At the Council of Nicea, Constantine and a group of bishops voted on which books would be included in the canon.  Afterward Constantine tried to suppress and destroy the rest, thereby safeguarding the precious patriarchy for the good of the Roman Empire.

The wild tale continues with an indictment of organized Christianity.  Church leaders, secret societies, and ignorant masses have allegedly continued through the centuries as co-conspirators in perpetuating the divine Jesus myth.  They thus uphold patriarchy and suppress the rightful role of the goddess and the veneration of the sacred feminine.  The founders of Christianity and its leaders have always known the “truth” and have been relentless in silencing anyone who seeks to uncover the truth.

Teabing praises enlightened souls like Leonardo Da Vinci who had the courage to question and challenge the system.  Da Vinci and others encoded their works of art with clues to discovering the ancient secrets about Jesus, Mary Magdalene, and the royal bloodline.  In the spirit of Da Vinci, enlightened and courageous souls of today can use his clues, supported by the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls and the Gnostic texts at Nag Hammadi, to uncover the insidious conspiracy, educate the ignorant masses, and restore the long-suppressed worship of the goddess.

The Da Vinci Code Retells the Tale of an Ancient Liar

Dan Brown offers a feminine divinity reminiscent of the Garden of Eden—the same old temptation for a new age.

That’s quite a tale, but it’s not at all new.  As Dan Brown says, “I am not the first person to tell the story of Mary Magdalene and the Holy Grail.  This idea is centuries old.  I am one in a long line of people who has offered up this alternative history.”  He’s right.  In fact, the line of people offering up “alternative history” began with Satan.

In the Garden of Eden, Satan seduced Eve with an “alternative history” that cast doubt on God’s character and Word.  Into a perfect world of truth and absolutes, Satan asked the first question:  “Indeed, has God said…?”  He then told her a new tale; interestingly, it was also a story about the divine feminine.  Satan told Eve, “God knows that in the day you eat from [the forbidden tree] your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God” (Genesis 3:5).  Eve ate that fruit, as did Adam, and every human being since has had their eyes opened to the guilt, shame, pain, and death that results from sin.

The fundamental premise of Dan Brown’s novel is rooted in sinful skepticism.  He encourages the reader to question the truth, to question Christ’s claims, to question the Bible.  Brown tells a story in which Jesus is not who He said He is and God’s Word is not to be trusted.  He then fills the authority vacuum with his ridiculous fable about Jesus, Mary Magdalene, the Holy Grail, and the sacred feminine.

Brown is not just writing a good piece of fiction—he’s on a spiritual quest.  He isn’t an honest seeker either; he is committed to disbelieving the Bible and Jesus’ claims of divinity.  In the words of his fictional Teabing, “The Bible is a product of man, my dear.  Not of God.  The Bible did not fall magically from the clouds.  Man created it as a historical record of tumultuous times, and it has evolved through countless translations, additions, and revisions.  History has never had a definitive version of the book.”

Dan Brown’s disbelief about the Bible is a product of his commitment to historical skepticism.  In his speech at the New Hampshire Writer’s Project, he said…

“First, when we read and interpret history, we are not interpreting the historical events themselves.  We are interpreting written accounts of those events.  In essence, we are interpreting people’s interpretations.  And second, since the beginning of recorded time, history has always been written by the winners—those societies and belief systems that conquered and survived.  Despite the obvious bias in this accounting method, we still measure the historical accuracy of a given concept by examining how well it concurs with our existing historical record.  I should add that many historians now believe that in engaging the historical accuracy of concepts we should first ask ourselves a far deeper question:  How historically accurate is history itself?  In most cases we’ll never know the answer but that should not stop us from asking the questions.”

But the Bible is not merely a product of man.  “But know this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture is a matter of one’s own interpretation, for no prophecy was ever made by an act of human will, but men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God” (2 Peter 1:20-21).  Though written by men, the Bible is God’s Word.  “All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness” (2 Timothy 3:16).  Dan Brown has moved beyond harmless fiction to challenge the Word of God and redefine Jesus according to his own idolatrous, blasphemous image.  He has questioned God, cast doubt on His Word, and dismissed the sovereign claims of Christ.

Far-fetched tales with fanciful, conspiratorial claims have circulated for years.  The general public dismissed them as such because they never gave much credence to something as unscientific as religion.  Today, however, the climate is different.  Cold, rational secularism has given birth to a nebulous, undefined spirituality.  Dan Brown, a spokesman for that new spirituality, says, “What I have finally come to accept is that science and religion are partners.  They are simply two different languages attempting to tell the same story.  Both are manifestations of man’s quest to understand the divine.  While science dwells on the answers, religion savors the questions.”

Christians Should Use The Da Vinci Code As an Opportunity for the Gospel

Even though Dan Brown has attacked the Bible and the Lord Jesus Christ, Christians should not view the revival of paganism as a threat, but rather as an opportunity for the gospel.

The Da Vinci Code—novel, movie, media sensation—enters into a post-Christian climate.  Whether it’s Dan Brown, Ron Howard, Tom Hanks, proponents of the divine feminine, secularists, and neo-pagans, non-Christians are co-conspirators in a cosmic rebellion against God.  Nevertheless, they are our mission field.  Were it not for the wondrous grace of God, you would be among them.

As you encounter people influenced by The Da Vinci Code, remember what the Bible says about the unbelievers, and have compassion.  “The god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelieving, that they might not see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God” (2 Corinthians 4:4).  They are “futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart [is] darkened” (Romans 1:21).  They are “dead in [their] trespasses and sins”; they walk “according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience”; and they are “by nature children of wrath” (Ephesians 2:1-3).

How should you respond?  With zeal for the truth of Christ and the authority of God’s Word, you must defend the integrity, the veracity, and the authority of the Bible.  Don’t worry; it’s not hard.  Brown’s “extensive research” failed to produce accuracy on the simplest details of the Bible and church history.

Take a little of your time to Read Albert Mohler’s commentary (http://albertmohler.com/commentary_read.php?cdate=2006-04-12) and James White’s analysis (http://www.aomin.org/tdvc.html).  Prepare yourself to give an answer to those exposed to the book, the movie, or the media coverage.

Your commitment to see God honored in the culture should be manifest first of all in your testimony about Christ, “who committed no sin, nor was any deceit found in His mouth; while being reviled, He did not revile in return; while suffering, He uttered no threats, but kept entrusting Himself to Him who judges righteously” (1 Peter 2:23).  In a spirit of gentleness, correct those who deny Jesus’ claims on their life (2 Timothy 2:24-26) and call them to repentance and the obedience of faith.

The current popularity of The Da Vinci Code is your opportunity to talk with friends and family, neighbors, co-workers, and even strangers about the topics Dan Brown has raised in his story.  Embrace the challenge of The Da Vinci Code with compassion for hell-bound sinners, and seize this time as an evangelistic opportunity for the Kingdom of God.

The KJV is the oldest of the four and continues to be the favorite of many. It is known as the Authorized Version of 1611 because King James I approved the project to create an authoritative English Bible. Although it contains many obsolete words (some of which have changed in meaning), many people appreciate its dignity and majesty. The NKJV is a similar translation, taken from the same group of ancient manuscripts, that simply updates the archaic language of the KJV.

The NIV was completed in 1978. Its translators did not attempt to translate strictly word for word, but aimed more for equivalent ideas. As a result, the NIV does not follow the exact wording of the original Greek and Hebrew texts as closely as the KJV and NASB versions do. Nevertheless, it can be considered a faithful translation of the original texts, and its lucid readability makes it quite popular, especially for devotional reading.

The NASB, completed in 1971, is a revision of the American Standard Version of 1901. It is a literal translation from the Hebrew and Greek languages, making it a favorite for serious Bible study.

Which version is the best to use? Ultimately, that choice needs to made by each person individually. Each of the versions have strengths and weaknesses, but they are all reliable translations of the Bible.

Ideally, the serious student of Scripture should become familiar enough with concordances and word-study aids, so that even without a thorough knowledge of the original languages, he or she can explore some of the nuances of meaning that arise out of the original texts.

There certainly are—Psalms 19 and 119 come immediately to mind. John has preached a sermon on Psalm 19 (80-19), which we trust will benefit you, so let’s focus here on Psalm 119, a psalm wholly dedicated to God’s Word and its role in the believer’s life. 

When you carefully read through Psalm 119, the first thing likely to catch your eye will be a number of strange symbols interspersed throughout. Ever wonder what those are? Well, they’re the letters of the Hebrew alphabet, arranged in order in twenty-two sections of eight lines each. 

If you could look at the psalm in a Hebrew Bible, you would observe that each line in the twenty-two sections begins with the same Hebrew letter. The first section begins with the first letter of the Hebrew alphabet, the second section with the second letter, and so on. That pattern continues through the psalm until all twenty-two letters of the Hebrew alphabet have been used in order. 

Psalm 119 is one of several psalms that follows an acrostic or alphabetical arrangement (cf. Psalms 9, 10, 25, 34, 37, 111, 112, 145). The arrangement wasn’t designed to outline the psalm’s thought, but was crafted as a memory device to implant the psalm’s lyrics in the mind. 

As you read through the text, take notice of the recurring terms. Eight different words repeat throughout the psalm and refer to Scripture: law, testimonies, precepts, statutes, commandments, judgments, word, and ordinances. Nearly every verse in the psalm contains one or more of those terms, making Psalm 119 a thesaurus of terms for the Word of God. 

Here is a sample of affirmations Psalm 119 makes about Scripture: 

• God’s Word reflects the character of God. Notice these attributes of God ascribed to Scripture:

1. Righteousness (vv. 7, 62, 75, 106, 123, 138, 144, 160, 164, 172)

2. Trustworthy (v. 42)

3. True (vv. 43, 142, 151, 160)

4. Faithful (v. 86)

5. Unchangeable (v. 89)

6. Eternal (vv. 90,152)

7. Light (v. 105)

8. Pure (v. 140)

• The chief way you can obtain spiritual counsel is through the application of God’s Word by God’s Spirit to your heart (cf. vv. 98–100). 

• God’s Word provides illumination to walk without stumbling (v. 105). 

• Like silver refined seven times (cf. Ps. 12:6), the Word is pure, inerrant in all it declares (v. 140). 

• Scripture clearly reveals the way of salvation (v. 155).

When you read through Psalm 119, you will soon realize it is no dry, dusty treatise. In fact, it is entirely a psalm of prayer to God from a heart exercised by sin and enlightened by grace to love God and His Word. By following the example of the psalmist’s prayer, you can learn to rightly respond to God’s Word: 

• The supreme prayer the psalmist breathed is a confession of his inadequacy and God’s sufficiency (cf. vv. 18, 98, 99, 105, 130). 

• The psalmist passionately desired to obey God’s Word (cf. vv. 4, 8, 30–32, 44, 45, 51, 55, 57, 59–61, 63, 67, 68, 74, 83, 87, 101, 102, 106, 110, 112, 129, 141, 157, 167, 168). 

• The psalmist asked for help to turn from vain activities and to desire things of greatest value, including God’s Word (cf. vv. 14, 72, 127).

We trust you’ll derive life-long benefit from this golden alphabet of praise for the Word of God. 

But should sin seek to dull your appetite to read the Word, be sure to join your voice with the psalmist in the prayer he offered in the last stanza of Psalm 119: 

Let my cry come before You, O LORD; give me understanding according to Your word. Let my supplication come before You; deliver me according to Your word. Let my lips utter praise, for You teach me Your statutes. Let my tongue sing of Your word, for all Your commandments are righteousness. Let Your hand be ready to help me, for I have chosen Your precepts. I long for Your salvation, O LORD, and Your law is my delight. Let my soul live that it may praise You, and let Your ordinances help me. I have gone astray like a lost sheep; seek Your servant, for I do not forget Your commandments. (vv. 169-176)

The Old Testament was originally written in Hebrew and Aramaic (cf. Genesis 31:46; Ezra 4:8-6:18; 7:12-26; Jeremiah 10:11; Daniel 2:4-7:28), and the New Testament was penned in Greek. After the Old and New Testament books were written, scribes produced and distributed copies of the original manuscripts. They took painstaking care to craft those copies by hand, long before the days of the printing press.

In God’s providence, we no longer have the original documents. They disappeared over time. What we have available now are copies of those original documents—copies produced over a number of centuries. By comparing and analyzing those copies through a process called textual criticism, we are able to determine what the original manuscripts said and where variations crept into the copies. That process has confirmed that God has accurately preserved His Word for us.

The “Chicago Statement on Biblical Inerrancy” correctly notes:

Since God has nowhere promised an inerrant transmission of Scripture, it is necessary to affirm that only the autographic text of the original documents was inspired and to maintain the need of textual criticism as a means of detecting any slips that may have crept into the text in the course of its transmission. The verdict of this science, however, is that the Hebrew and Greek text appears to be amazingly well preserved, so that we are amply justified in affirming…a singular providence of God in this matter and in declaring that the authority of Scripture is in no way jeopardized by the fact that the copies we possess are not entirely error-free…Similarly, no translation is or can be perfect, and all translations are an additional step away from the autograph. Yet the verdict of linguistic science is that English-speaking Christians, at least, are exceedingly well served in these days with a host of excellent translations and have no cause for hesitating to conclude that the true Word of God is within their reach. 

While you can’t handle the original documents today, you can have confidence that most English Bibles faithfully represent what was contained in those documents. God has providentially preserved His Word for subsequent generations despite the best efforts of many of His enemies to eliminate it.

God’s Word is inspired. 

Second Timothy 3:16 speaks of the inspiration of Scripture. “Inspired” is the translation of a Greek word that literally means “God-breathed.” Every word of Scripture is from the mouth of God! 

Theologians speak of inspiration as the mysterious process by which God worked through the authors of Scripture to produce inerrant and divinely authoritative writings. Inspiration is a mystery because Scripture doesn’t explain specifically how it occurred. The only glimpse we have is from 2 Peter: “Know this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture is a matter of one’s own interpretation, for no prophecy was ever made by an act of human will, but men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God” (1:20–21). 

“Interpretation” speaks of origin. Scripture didn’t originate on the human level but with the Holy Spirit, who “moved” upon the authors to write it (v. 21). “Moved” is the translation of a nautical term that describes the effects of wind upon a ship as it blows against its sails and moves it through the water. Similarly, the Spirit moved on the Biblical writers to produce the Word of God in the language of men. 

The human authors of Scripture knew they were writing God’s Word, and they did so with confidence and authority. Often they cited or alluded to one another as authoritative agents of divine revelation (e.g., 2 Peter 3:15–16). 

On a personal level, inspiration guarantees that what Scripture says, God says. It’s His counsel to you; so you can study and obey it with full assurance that it is true and will never lead you astray. 

For further study, consider this: Often the New Testament affirms the inspiration of the Old Testament by attributing Old Testament quotations to God Himself. For example, compare these Old Testament passages with their New Testament counterparts: Genesis 2:24 with Matthew 19:4–5; Psalm 2:1–2 with Acts 4:25–26; Isaiah 55:3 with Acts 13:34; Psalm 16:10 with Acts 13:35; Psalm 95:7–11 with Hebrews 3:7–11. How might you respond to someone who says that the Bible is merely the words of devout religious men?

Step 1 — Reading

Begin by developing a plan on how you will approach reading through the Bible. Unlike most books, you will probably not read it straight through from cover to cover. There are many good Bible reading plans available. Here is one John recommends:

• Read through the Old Testament at least once a year. As you read, note in the margins any truths you particularly want to remember, and write down separately anything you do not immediately understand. Often as you read you will find that many questions are answered by the text itself. The questions to which you cannot find answers become the starting points for more in-depth study using commentaries or other reference tools. 

• Follow a different plan for reading the New Testament. Read one book at a time repetitiously for a month or more. That will help you retain the New Testament so you will not always have to depend on a concordance to find things.

If you want to try that, begin with a short book, such as 1 John, and read it through in one sitting every day for thirty days. At the end of that time, you will know the book. Write on index cards the major theme of each chapter. By referring to the cards as you do your daily reading, you will begin to remember the content of each chapter. In fact, you will develop a perception of the book with your mind’s eye.

When you come to longer books, divide them into short sections and read each section daily for thirty days. For example, the gospel of John contains twenty-one chapters. Divide it into three sections of seven chapters. At the end of ninety days, you will finish John. For variety, alternate short and long books, and in less than three years you will have finished the entire New Testament—and you will really know it!

Step 2 — Interpreting

In Acts 8:30, Philip asked the Ethiopian eunuch, “Do you understand what you are reading?” Or put another way, “What does the Bible mean by what it says?” It is not enough to read the text and jump directly to the application—you must first determine what it means, otherwise the application may be incorrect.

As you read Scripture, always keep in mind one simple question: “What does this mean?” To answer that question requires the use of the most basic principle of interpretation, called the analogy of faith, which means you should interpret the Bible with the Bible.

Letting the Holy Spirit be your teacher (1 John 2:27), search the Scripture He has authored, using cross references, comparative passages, concordances, indexes, and other helps. For passages that remain unclear, consult your pastor or godly men who have written on the issues involved.

Step 3 — Evaluating

You have been reading and asking the question, “What does the Bible say?” Then you have interpreted, asking the question, “What does the Bible mean?” Now it’s time to consult others to ensure that you have the proper interpretation. Remember, the Bible will never contradict itself.

Read Bible introductions, commentaries, and background books that will enrich your thinking. In your evaluation, be a true seeker. Be one who accepts the truth of God’s Word even though it may cause you to change what you have always believed, or cause you to alter your life pattern.

Step 4 — Applying

The next question is: “How does God’s truth penetrate and change my life?” Studying Scripture without allowing it to penetrate to the depths of your soul would be like preparing a banquet without eating it. The bottom-line question to ask is, “How do the divine truths and principles contained in any passage apply to me in terms of my attitude and actions?”

Jesus made this promise to those who carry their personal Bible study through to this point: “If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them” (John 13:17).

Having read and interpreted the Bible, you should have a basic understanding of what the Bible says, and what it means by what it says. But studying the Bible does not stop there. The ultimate goal should be to let it speak to you and enable you to grow spiritually. That requires personal application.

If there is a command to be obeyed, obey it. If there is a promise to be embraced, claim it. If there is a warning to be followed, heed it. This is the ultimate step: submit to Scripture and let it transform your life.

Step 5 — Correlating

This last stage connects the doctrine you have learned in a particular passage or book with divine truths and principles taught elsewhere in the Bible to form the big picture. Always keep in mind that the Bible is one book in sixty-six parts, and it contains a number of truths and principles, taught over and over again in a variety of ways and circumstances. By correlating and cross-referencing, you will begin to build a sound doctrinal foundation on which to live.