DaVinci Debrief
With the movie opening tonight, I figured I'd weigh in on the whole "controversy".

First off, I've read the book, and I enjoyed it. As a work of fiction, and a mystery/thriller, I found it to be a page turner. As a Christian, I had a few problems with it. My biggest problem is not with the 'fictional' premise that Jesus and Mary Magdalene were married and had a son, but rather with the purposeful distortions of the historical backdrop. People have been speculating things about Jesus since His Resurrection. That's nothing new. Just as people have been demonizing the Catholic Church, and Christians in general, for centuries.

However, certain statements made against the backdrop of history are presented as, and assumed by the naive, to be authentic truth. Many of them simply are not. Take the specific claims that Constantine was not a sincere believer and was baptized on his death bed against his will. There is no historical evidence to back up those 'facts'. History clearly indicates quite a bit of sincerity in constantine's belief, as evidenced in the amount of time, energy and resources he invested in protecting, promoting and establishing the Christian faith as the official religion of the Roman Empire. Surely, history does seem to indicate that Constantine also had political and pragmatic motives for his advocacy of Christianity, beginning with the Edict of Milan in 313. The faith had spread significantly into the military, and popular sentiment against imperial persecution of Christians was threatening the stability of his empire. However, Constantine did far more for the Christian Church than was necessary to alleviate these political strains.

As for his deathbed baptism, it's quite true that Constantine was baptized at the end of his life, rather than immediately after his conversion as a result of his victory at the Bridge of Milvan. Taking as my source the well-received work from 1977, "A History of Christianity" by Paul Johnson, Constantine's decision to delay his baptism until death was based on the unbiblical, yet very popular, belief of the time that baptism took away all of one's sins, but that it was not effective to remit any sins that would accrue afterwards. Many people of the time, afraid that their inability to avoid sinning after baptism would forbid their entrance into heaven, waited until the end of their lives to be baptized.

This phenomenon underlies my other major point to this post. Less than 300 hundred years after the ministry, death and resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth, serious doctrinal error and extra-biblical superstition had pervaded the life of the Christian Church. The assumption of a clerical/laity separation was already deeply entrenched, and those who were entrusted with the leadership of Christ's people were more concerned about establishing a power base of 'orthodoxy' and control over the lives and thoughts of the 'common' man. Rather than correcting misconceptions about baptism, justification, and developing the character of Christ, they systematically locked away the source of truth -- God's Word -- and focused their energies on vicious debates over the specific details of the doctrine of the Trinity.

Constantine and the prominent clerics of his time, most notably Athanasius, probably did a great disservice to the cause of Christ in this world by encumbering the Message with the concerns of power, politics and wealth. Granted, it appears from the historical record that both Constantine and Athanasius were driven by relatively commendable motives to elevate the faith and protect the message from being corrupted by false teaching, particularly those who denied the deity and eternality of Jesus. However, it's also fairly clear from history that these objectives were also tainted by fear (i.e. - lack of faith that God is perfectly capable of taking care of His business) and self-interest.

Despite all of that, and the shameful history of abuses, lies and violence that ensued from the institutional Church (Catholic and Protestant alike), God's Word is preserved, the Holy Spirit is still active in this world, and Jesus Christ is still enthroned as the Ruler and Judge of Everything.

This is why I'm not too concerned about the impact of "The DaVinci Code", book or movie. I can see why the Catholic Church is bummed, however. This work represents a real threat to their hold on millions of people's lives, at least in their fearful perception. "Why?", I wonder. Could it be that the leaders of the Catholic Church realize, much as they did when Martin Luther began to proclaim justification by faith, that their hold is based on something other than the Power of Jesus Christ? Or is it simply that the Catholic Church's reputation is more important than the truth? The infallibility claim of the papacy is certainly a big bone of contention.

And what about evangelicals in America? Why are they so bent? For a lot of the same types of reasons, I suspect. There's a bit more diversity in the Protestant world, however. Some people are calling for a boycott, while others are actually encouraging Christians to read the book and go to the movie. Of course, most of these leadership sources are also telling their flock to buy their DaVinci "De-Coders".

The biggest problem here, in my opinion, is that most people who call themselves Christian are either too lazy or too committed to things other than following Christ to take the time to do the research themselves.

"The DaVinci Code" is one of the best opportunities Christians in the English-speaking world have to engage the non-believing world in an extraordinary way. Why is "The DaVinci Code" such a phenomenon? Because people are looking for answers, and because people who really know in their hearts what the answer is are looking for an excuse not to believe. Either way, engaging people in discussion over the historical claims and mythical propositions contained in this fictional work can be a great way not only to evangelize, but to grow in the truth.

I believe many Christians are actually afraid of history because of the enormity of wrongness in the actions of Christians and the Christian Church over the years. Just like we are so afraid to acknowledge our own wrongdoing. This is one of the reasons why churches are full, yet the world is filled with hate, violence and imminent destruction.

Denial. Not a river in Africa. The worst disease a Christian can have.

Guess what? We fucked up! A lot. We were wrong! Many times.

But Jesus Christ is the answer for all of that. He defends us with His mercy and compassion. It's time we stopped spending so much time justifying the unjustifiable.
- posted by The Drake @ 7:40 AM