The Da Vinci Code movie is sure to be a blockbuster but it’s also sure to be controversial.

Not sure if your church should address this issue?

Here are some things to consider:

• A January 2006 survey of churches by Outreach, Inc., indicated that 68% are “likely” or “very likely” to engage in a Da Vinci Code-related outreach. Some 77% said they’d do a sermon series on the film; 48% said they’d organize a small group discussion series; 44% said they’d host an event for their community.
• In 2005, the National Geographic Channel commissioned a Canadian survey, finding that 32% of all Canadians who have read the novel believe that the theories outlined in it are true.

Book Facts:

• The book’s introduction states: “All descriptions of artwork, architecture, documents and secret rituals in this novel are accurate.”
• Since its 2003 publication, the book has been translated into 44 languages and sold more than 40 million copies worldwide.
• Nearly one-third of all Americans (100 million) have read the novel, keeping it on The New York Times Best Sellers for 148 weeks straight
• Time magazine recently named Dan Brown one the world’s 100 most influential people, among the likes of President George W. Bush and the Dalai Lama.
• On his website, Brown identifies himself as a Christian, as well as “a student of many religions.” He continues, “My hope in writing this novel was that the story would serve as a catalyst and a springboard for people to discuss the important topics of faith, religion and history.”
• “As soon as people understand that the few Gospels included in the Bible are not the only versions of the Christ story, they begin to sense contradictions. Magdalene is most obvious. Her role was deliberately distorted, a smear campaign by the early church fathers,” said Brown in a July 2003 Washington Post interview.

Questions They’ll Be Asking

Although there are many issues raised in the movie, there are four troubling theories presented. Click here to download the “Questions They’ll Be Asking” PDF download from the March/April issue of Outreach  (Adobe® Acrobat Reader® required). 

What Christian Leaders and Pastors are Saying:

Dan Kimball, author and pastor of Vintage Faith Church:

“I personally think The Da Vinci Code holds more post-movie evangelistic potential than the Passion or Narnia movies. It shouldn’t scare us, since the truth of Jesus is the truth. It should make us go, ‘Hey, that's not what really happened! But here is what we believe.’ ”

Steve Clifford, pastor of WestGate Church

“The fact that this freaked us out at all, that so many books needed to be published to debunk The Da Vinci Code, is an indictment against us, not the public. But the book is in no way a serious threat to the Christian faith and once you get educated about it, this is a story Christians can engage with confidence and patience.”

Ken Baugh, senior pastor at Coast Hills Community Church

“When I preached The Da Vinci Code series, I’d tiptoe off the stage thinking I can’t believe I just got away with teaching Theology 101. The Da Vinci Code puts apologetics back in the game. It allows us to teach theology in church. If we had done this before, people would have said, ‘This is so boring. What does this have to do with my life today?’ We can now bring some meat to the table that I don’t think we’ve had the opportunity to do before.”

“If the book created this much discussion and interest, the movie is going to do 10 times as much.”

“For all the flaws of Dan Brown’s book, I think in some ways he’s suggesting that the dominant religious institutions have created their own caricature of Jesus. And I think people have a sense that’s true….”

Brian McLaren, Author and pastor

“I think the popularity of The Da Vinci Code is telling us that a lot of people don’t find the image of Jesus that’s portrayed by the dominant Christian voices genuine, so they’re looking for something that seems more real and authentic.”

Craig Detweiler, author and associate professor and chair of mass communications at Biola University.

“The Da Vinci Code movie will be the ultimate cinematic discussion-starter in 2006. We’re discovering that movies are starting conversations for our culture, and The Da Vinci Code is asking spiritual and historical questions we, as pastors, theologians and church leaders, were trained to answer.”

“To the degree we respond defensively, as someone attacked, we will have taken the bait and reinforced the perception of Christianity as a powerful monolith that’s interested in stifling debate rather than encouraging a search. The movie’s tagline is ‘Seek the truth.’ One way to absolutely stop that search (or to encourage people to search elsewhere) is to blatantly say, ‘The Da Vinci Code is a lie.”

“I think this movie is a prime opportunity to discuss the roots of the Christian faith. Who is Jesus? Where did the church come from? Can we trust the Bible? These questions will be on the mind of any person who sees the movie, inside or outside the congregation. To pastors, I say: ‘Do your homework! Get ready.’”

Josh McDowell, author

“If we do not deal with this subject in a positive way, we run the risk of losing a generation of marginal Christians and honest seekers to skepticism. Usually as the body of Christ, we lag behind. But we have an opportunity now to get ahead of this issue and address it in a positive way.”