Decoding The Da Vinci Code

	Related Bible Studies: • Engaging the Da Vinci Code • The Da Vinci Code and Other Heresies • Debunking The Da Vinci Code
	Related Audio Sermons: • There's Something About Mary • What About That Other Bible?

As long as readers take novelist Dan Brown at his word when he claims to be purveying historical fact in The Da Vinci Code, we'll keep separating fact from fiction.

Perhaps you've heard of Dan Brown's The Da Vinci Code. This fictional thriller, which supposes a marriage between Jesus and Mary Magdalene that produced a royal bloodline in France, has captured the coveted number one sales ranking at Amazon.com, camped out for 47 weeks on the New York Times Best-Seller List, and inspired a one-hour ABC News special. Along the way, it has sparked debates about the legitimacy of Western and Christian history.

While the ABC News feature focused on Brown's fascination with an alleged marriage between Jesus and Mary Magdalene, The Da Vinci Code contains many more (equally dubious) claims about Christianity's historic origins and theological development. The central claim Brown's novel makes about Christianity is that "almost everything our fathers taught us about Christ is false."

Christian History and Christianity Today magazines have covered the subject widely, and we've compiled the articles below.

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Debunking The Da Vinci Code Bible Study Christians must know the truth to recognize lies. The Da Vinci Code has taken the world by storm. This fictional book challenges our views of Jesus and the historical church. Because Brown uses so many genuine historical facts, it makes his outlandish claims sound more plausible. Many Christians have become confused because of his assertions. This Bible study, based on a Christianity Today article by Ben Witherington III, examines the claims Brown makes in his book, refuting them according to historical fact and Scripture. Download Now! Engaging The Da Vinci Code Bible Study How should Christians respond to pop culture that contradicts biblical teaching? A recent Christianity Today article by Darrell Bock raises the issue of when and how Christians should react to popular cultural notions that flagrantly contradict Scripture. Should Christians attack false theories, engage in dialogue with the wider culture, or keep our distance? This ready-to-download study examines how we should live as Christians in the world around us. Download Now! The Da Vinci Code and Other Heresies Bible Study What is the allure of secret knowledge about God? A heresy isn't any false teaching, but a fundamental twist on orthodox Christian teaching. It is a teaching, couched in Christian language, which fundamentally robs our faith of an essential, necessary truth. Denying the deity of Christ, for example, is a heresy, whereas differing views of how the end times will happen are not. This study looks at some of the common heresies in our society today and the widespread appeal of exclusive religious knowledge. Download Now! Breaking the Da Vinci Code Answers to the Questions Everybody's Asking Many who have read the New York Times best-seller The Da Vinci Code have questions that arise from seven codes—expressed or implied—in Dan Brown's book. In Breaking the Da Vinci Code, Darrell Bock, Ph.D. responds to the novelist's claims using central ancient texts and answers several popular questions. Buy Now! Cracking Da Vinci's Code You've Read The Fiction Now Read the Facts Are your friends—or you—wondering if Dan Brown's best-selling thriller is really fiction? After all, it reads like irrefutable fact! Garlow and Jones confront the suspense novel's heresy and false teaching with true and accurate Christian theology. They trace Brown's misguided hypothesis back to its roots, revealing pagan influences in today's culture—and the church! Buy Now! The Da Vinci Deception Credible Answers to the Questions Millions are Asking about Jesus, The Bible, and the Da Vinci Code Was Jesus really married to Mary Magdalene? Did they actually have children who intermarried with the French royal family? Has the church been hiding the truth for centuries? In his bestselling work of fiction, The Da Vinci Code, Dan Brown blurs the lines between history and fiction, giving the impression they are one and the same and that Christianity is based on a lie. In The Da Vinci Deception, renowned theologian and pastor of the world famous Moody Church in Chicago, Dr. Erwin Lutzer examines the "facts" behind the bestselling novel, clarifies the issues involved in the deception, and equips readers with the truth. Buy Now! The Gospel Code Novel Claims About Jesus, Mary Magdalene and Da Vinci Dan Brown's international best-seller The Da Vinci Code has raised many questions in the minds of readers. The Da Vinci Code, in blurring the lines between face and fiction, popularizes the speculations and contentions of numerous more serious books that are also attracting wide attention. How would we respond to claims that we now have documents that reveal secrets about Jesus, secrets long suppressed by the church and other religious institutions? Do these new documents successfully debunk traditional views about Jesus and early Christianity? Ben Witherington III confronts these claims with the sure-footedness of a New Testament scholar, yet in the plain language that any interested reader can follow. He takes us back to the early centuries after Jesus' death and tells us what we can really know about Jesus, Mary Magdalene, the canonical Gospels and their Gnostic rivals. Buy Now!

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