"The Da Vinci Code"

written by Dan Brown

Reviewed by Murray Brown

While obviously not a youth ministry book it is nevertheless a good book for youth pastors to read particularly with the release of the film due in May. If your young people are not already talking about it they soon will be and they will have questions we will need to be in a position to answer.

For the uninitiated The Da Vinci Code tells the fictional story of an art historian and a cryptographer (solver of codes) who set out to solve a murder mystery. In the course of uncovering and solving clues the writer introduces a range of theories related to the life of Christ. These theories are not original to the author. They have been around for quite some considerable time, being made more widely known through the writings of Michael Baigent and Richard Leigh (Holy Blood Holy Grail) whose books Dan Brown acknowledges as being a source of information (the extent of which is before the courts right now).

These writings are controversial and their conclusions are disputed yet are passed off in The Da Vinci Code as being verifiable fact that has for so long been hidden to and by the church. It is this blurring of truth and fiction that will raise questions among our young people - what is true in the story and what is not? (And does it matter?). My suspicion is that there will be young people will read the book and see the film and go away with doubts about the whole historical accuracy of what they have been taught in youth group, or at least with questions. For some it won't bother them too much - the post modern mindset and attitude to truth may simply leave them thinking, "Who cares anyway 'cause we can't prove anything" while for others it may cause serious doubts.

Therefore, reading The Da Vinci Code won't be enough for us. We'll need to do our own research in order to prepare an adequate response. Simply saying "The Da Vinci Code is wrong and the Bible is not" won't suffice. A book I found particularly helpful in my own post Da Vinci Code assessment is The Real History Behind the Da Vinci Code by Sharan Newman. She is a respected historian and significantly not a Christian so she has no personal faith axe to grind. In her book she casts doubts on much of what is passed off for fact in The DaVinci Code labelling Baigent and Leigh's writings as "a good story taking precedence over solid historical research".

The Da Vinci Code is a good read (though in my opinion not as good as its predecessor Angels and Demons). At times it becomes tedious as the narrative becomes stalled while Dan Brown's characters somewhat smugly fill page after page with their "factual" theories. Yet it is a book whose influence has already extended beyond the scope of the story itself and I recommend it as worthy of reading and research. It provides for us as youth workers a great opportunity to dialogue on faith issues with young people and to explore truth with them together.