The movie based on the novel “The Da Vinci Code” is released on May 19th (2006). Already the event is creating much interest, at least equal to media and public interest around the release of Mel Gibson’s film “The Passion of Christ”. I know many of our churches are planning creative evangelistic opportunities at this time. For example, Thornleigh Community Baptist Church is hiring a local theatre for the film and then inviting those present back to its Sunday service where the film will be “unpacked”.

I’m personally speaking at a number of outreaches on the topic “Why Jesus in light of “The Da Vinci Code”. I know my Morling college community is heavily involved. Marc Rader who is on our faculty and the pastoral team at Gymea Baptist has just published, with the NSW Bible Society, an excellent booklet on “The Da Vinci Code”. Our chairman, Kel Willis and graduate student Bruce Burgess have published the paper/pamphlet “Challenging the Code” which is being reprinted after 10,000 copies were sold. Kel, Bruce and others are also preaching and sharing in many services and outreaches. Let me encourage you to ensure that your church is taking this opportunity to share the gospel fact that Jesus died and rose again for our sins according to the Scriptures (1 Corinthians 15:3-5).

I have taken the liberty of including answers to questions asked of me about “The Da Vinci Code” from one of our leading journalists. Part of this response was published in her article.

Questions:

1) “Would you describe books like the Da Vinci Code, and the soon-to-be published Jesus Papers, all of which assert Jesus survived the Resurrection and married, as heretical? Is there any truth to their propositions, and how do they undermine the credibility of the Bible and the messages of the church?”

On planes, trains and in restaurants I have had many wonderful unsolicited conversations about the Da Vinci Code. People want to openly talk about it and the claims of Christ. The two books are heretical in that they deny the resurrection of Christ – the heart of the Christian message.

2) “Could Jesus’ Resurrection have been metaphorical after all?”

No, the gospels and N.T. declare an empty tomb and that Christ rose in time and space.

3) ” How do you explain the great appetite for such books/films and the willingness of the public to believe in these theories?”

People are genuinely searching for values and meaning today. More than Gordon Gecko’s “Greed is good, greed is right” (Wall Street).

Materialism and our scientific, technological age have not provided answers to the deeper questions of life. And my experience from conducting Christian stalls in Mind, Body, Spirit festivals is that people love Jesus, they are just not too sure about his church – and so conspiracy theories on the institution of Christianity prosper.

4) “What do you think are the motives of such writers, and their publishers?”

Publishers to sell books, writers well that’s for their own conscience.

5) “Does the church acknowledge that it has contributed to the institutional mistrust that feeds such conspiracy theories by its own misbehaviour, sex abuse scandals and the Inquisition being such examples?”

Sexual abuse and other forms of abuse in the church have understandably caused deep concerns. And my experience is that when in conversations on the Da Vinci Code one has answered all the factual questions about Jesus the book raises, people still come back to the issues that the Da Vinci Code has at its heart that institutions including the church are not to be trusted, and the role of women in the church. I believe the novel’s success really lies on its focus on these two issues.

6) “Should the church use the Da Vinci Code as a way to reconnect with the secular world, as the Vatican writer John Allen suggests, and if it is such an opportunity how should the church go about it? Is it time for a new marketing effort?”

I know that many churches are seeing the release of the Da Vinci Code film as a positive time to conduct special services and public meetings on topics like “Why Jesus in light of the Da Vinci Code?” I personally am speaking on a number of these occasions. Also many churches are taking time to equip their parishioners to answer the questions books like the Da Vinci Code raised and show that Jesus truly did die and rise again. For example, Thornleigh Community Baptist Church is hiring a theatre for its parishioners and friends to watch the film and then inviting those attending to church the following morning to look more closely at the film’s claims about Jesus.

7) ” What are the key messages you would like to convey about the accuracy and themes of the Da Vinci Code et al?”

The Da Vinci Code and books like it rely on secondary sources to create their own Jesus. The gospels are the reliable historical source. And the Jesus of the Da Vinci Code is ultimately just another guru. The Da Vinci Code Jesus would not have survived 2000 years. I believe seekers today will not finally have settled for the “small” Da Vinci Code Jesus who is not saviour or Lord. Our searching world wants more!

Rev Dr Ross Clifford President Baptist Union of Australia