Wednesday, April 12, 2006
Assessing the Phenomenon of "The Da Vinci Code"
Why has this book sold more copies than another other publication ever save the Bible? This question is swirling around my head as I peer into the facts behind the fiction and as I prepare for the release of this story in movie-form. (And let me say, there isn’t much serious scholarship contained in it. But more on that later…) As much as I’d like to find some new conspiracy plot behind its popularity, the first realization is a challenge to the church: This book proposes to describe true spirituality, and many in the listening world does not believe the Christian Church is telling the truth about God.
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3 comments:
Greg
I couldn't agree more. THis book is filling some hole in people's spiritual life that the church has obviously missed ...
Derek
Do you also have the sense that there's diminished confidence in the church's ability to provide a response? Or is it that "Da Vinci Code" spirituality is simply easier?
Dan Brown is merely the con man that has found his "mark." In other words, the individual who wants to rationalize his or her lifestyle -- in this case seeing themselves as the center of the universe -- their own god -- will joyfully embrace any form of humanism, rather than walk in the truth. And why not? The world knows that much of what the Church offers is mere entertainment and emotionalism. And they can get that from any good movie or fast-read novel. All their life they have been told that truth is relative -- there is no right or wrong -- except when the wrong happens to them -- then it's "absolutely" wrong!
Sure, the "mark" who is finally conned, wants to be conned. He wants to believe that his choices don't have consequences -- at least bad consequences. He wants to believe that whatever lifestyle he chooses will not harm himself or others. After all, if it "feels" good, it must be right. Is it any different for most of the Church? The Church would rather "feel" than reason.
And too, the Church's offerings are often full of contradictions. For example, the modern day pagan knows deep inside that his will is incipient--that he is the originator of his actions and that there is no outside or inside cause behind the will. But most of the Church would convey just the opposite: that God "has a wonderful plan" and that everything that "happens" is "God's plan," "God's purpose." My choices are God's choices -- His plan? Other people's choices are really God's plan or purpose for my life? Really? And the unthinking sheep of the church flock to such drivel because they have lost their true shepherd(s). The fact is, the sheep are also conned. Sad, but true. They comfort themselves because they feel that the illusion of "God in control of everything" steadies their shipwrecked lives. There is a battle going on in the heavens and many are the casualties.
Why is this book such a phenomenon? It's what "they" want to hear. Is the sleeping Church any different?
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