People of faith see discussing the movie and book as a chance to share the facts.
People of faith see discussing the movie and book as a chance to share the facts.
By LINDA M. LINONIS
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER
"The Da Vinci Code" by Dan Brown has mesmerized more than 40 million readers. On Friday, millions more will fill seats in movie theaters as the film opens nationwide.
The book is fiction, a novel, a creative piece of writing. The movie is a murder-mystery, not a documentary or a historically accurate film.
"There's a fine line between fact and fiction," said the Rev. Rick Stauffer, who noted that Brown's technique of combining and blurring the two may make it hard to fathom the truth.
Brown's ability to intertwine facts, fiction and mixed-up facts and present them in an entertaining style has made his book a best-seller. "He has a great novelist mind," said the pastor of Tabernacle Evangelical Presbyterian Church, 2432 S. Raccoon Road, Austintown.
The hook and hype in Brown's novel is religion. The book artfully combines religion and politics, plays fast and loose with fact and fiction, and fireworks ensue. Throwing in the suggestion of a conspiracy theory has made it a blockbuster. The co-conspirators are a secretive organization, Opus Dei, and a large and powerful institution, the Catholic Church.
The attraction
In a nation still discussing the magic bullet in John F. Kennedy's assassination, whether Marilyn Monroe committed suicide, the theory that Elvis "died" to retire from show business and the whereabouts of Jimmy Hoffa, the attraction is a given.
Tabernacle Church will address questions stirred up by the book and movie in programs planned at 7 p.m. Wednesday, May 31 and June 7 and 14. The DVD series, "Discussing The Da Vinci Code" by Lee Strobel and Gary Poole, will be shown with discussion led by the Rev. Mr. Stauffer.
"Our goal is to give people the opportunity to share the truth of Scripture," Mr. Stauffer said. "Dan Brown lists what he considers to be facts. But Brown's 'facts' aren't accepted by everyone and aren't part of the Christian canon.
Getting caught up
People are caught up in the excitement swirling about "The Code." That may lead them to believe what they've read and what they'll see is factual. "The book refers to this database on the Holy Grail, but the thing is ... the database doesn't exist," Mr. Stauffer said. "You're led down rabbit trails, but nothing comes of it."
A Gnostic gospel suggesting that Jesus and Mary Magdalene were married is not part of the Christian canon, but that's presented matter-of-factly in "The Da Vinci Code." "It's a corrupt response to Christianity," he said. "It's rebellion in the early church."
"I think there's something in all of us ... a spiritual search for something beyond ourselves," said Mr. Stauffer. "Dan Brown has hit on that ... that people will read this as truth because he writes with such intrigue."
"Many churches are threatened by the misinformation," he said. "It's irreverent to what we hold as truth. It can be offensive when your life is Christ-centered."
If the book and movie spark dialogue and discussion about faith, it's "well worth the effort," Mr. Stauffer said.
Enjoying it as fiction
Sister Mary McCormick of Youngstown, an assistant professor of systematic theology at St. Mary's Seminary in Cleveland, said, "I like to read novels and enjoyed it as a work of fiction."
She pointed out that Brown set up Tom Hanks' character as an expert in "symbology." "There's no such field as that," Sister Mary said. "But symbols are prevalent in all religions and especially in Catholicism. When people desecrate symbols such as a church or a cross, it's not only destruction of property ... you're tapping into something so much more."
"That part of the book is right ... the importance of symbols," she said.
"In Da Vinci's 'Last Supper,' there are 13 men at the table with Jesus sitting in the middle. Brown claims it's Mary Magdalene to the right of Jesus. No art historian concurs with that interpretation."
Brown capitalizes on Mary Magdalene's significance in the early church. "Of all the women named in the gospels, Mary Magalene's name appears 13 times. It's the most," Sister Mary said. "Peter's name appears more frequently than Mary Magdalene but some apostles, like Bartholomew, are obscure and named only on the apostle list.
"Mary Magdalene is named by the four gospels as the first person to discover the empty tomb and realize Jesus Christ had risen from the dead. She has a place of honor," Sister Mary said.
Exaggerations
Brown takes some elements of truth, such as Mary Magdalene's importance, and exaggerates them, Sister Mary said.
Sister Mary said she sees the popularity of the book and movie as a means for people of all beliefs to investigate and explore information pertinent to their faith.
"I think it's rather exciting that people who are not studying theology full time are interested. The book has prompted that," she said. Biblical scholars and church historians are finding people interested in topics and lectures that they might have snoozed through before, she added.
Sister Mary will be a guest on the morning show from 10 to 11 today on WKYC in Cleveland discussing "The Code." But she won't be seeing the movie this weekend; she'll be grading papers.
The Rev. David Black, pastor of Calvary Presbyterian and Covenant Presbyterian churches, both in Warren, has discussed "The Code" in sermons. He acknowledged it as an intriguing book. He admitted "some of the claims bothered me a great deal. I don't think the author makes it clear enough that this is work of fiction, but I've heard the movie does," he said.
No need to get angry
"It doesn't help to get angry about it," he said, and noted the subject offers people of faith a chance to explain why and how they think differently about what's been presented by Brown.
"The novel makes silly and slanderous claims against the Catholic church and other religions," he said. "It's bound to get religious people upset. But it's also the chance to offer a sense of clarity."
Locust Grove Baptist Church, 12015 Washingtonville Road, Salem, will present "Unlocking The Da Vinci Code" from 7:30 to 9 p.m. Sunday in a free program, a live satellite broadcast featuring two authors.
The Rev. Robert Noble said he realized the importance of the program when he talked about "The Code" with his congregation; he learned many younger people had read it and older people had not.
"People in the 25-30 age group often don't see religion as relevant. They accept ideas in books and movies that support that feeling," he said.
"Many Christians really don't know what they believe and why. They've accepted what they've been taught," he said. "Sometimes they're not equipped to carry on an intelligent debate when challenged. They don't know how to defend their beliefs."
Helping with answers
This program and others challenging the "facts" in "The Da Vinci Code" will help provide answers, he said.
"Remember the uproar in the Muslim community over Salman Rushdie's 'Satanic Verses'? Whenever religious beliefs are challenged, there's a furor," the Rev. Mr. Noble said.
"'The Passion of the Christ'" movie, which told a realistic story, got people to think. At the other end of spectrum, the questioning is shaking up Christianity. But in talking, we might be able to reach a few people," Mr. Noble said.
The Rev. Jerry Hunt, pastor of Christian Assembly of Youngstown, 5050 South Ave., said, "I'm concerned that people who don't have a solid basis of faith will fall for this."
"Everyone loves a conspiracy," he said, and might take for fact the fiction of the book. "There are people who are sure in their faith. However, there are some people not certain in their faith ... religion has let them down and they might be taken in."
The Rev. Mr. Hunt is presenting "Dismantling The Da Vinci Code" at weekly services, from 7 to 8:30 p.m. Wednesday. "You need to be able to give hope and answers ... to the hope lies within you," he said of the programs. "It's shoring up people's faith and a biblical response to the nonsense."