Da Vinci on Parade

May 5, 2006 Posted by Roger Overton

Well over a dozen books have hit the shelves responding to
the claims of The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown. Some have attributed this
phenomenon to the marketing of various publishers trying to gain some revenue
from the popular novel and forthcoming movie. There is likely some truth to
that claim, but I believe the majority of critical authors are after something
else.

We live in a culture that has no idea where to turn to for truth. We've decided
we cannot trust the authority of our eyes, so we've blindfolded ourselves so we
see nothing. Instead of trusting the authority of external revelation, we
depend on our internal revelation- how we feel about things. In our disability
we see falsehoods in the truth, and truth in falsehoods. And so it is with The
Da Vinci Code- in a work of fiction many claim that truth has finally been
revealed. Many more are simply unable to tell the difference between truth and
fiction.

Christians are now presented with a unique opportunity.
Questions about Jesus and the Bible are on the minds of millions of people.
Unfortunately, many Christians also have trouble discerning the truth from the
fiction. And so the responses to the novel generally fulfill two purposes. 1)
To encourage believers about the historicity of their faith. 2) To equip
believers to answer the questions of those who fall for the fiction.

In this second purpose Christians who interact with
non-Christians (which should be all of us) have a responsibility to be
equipped. Questions provoked by the novel will come up and the believer would
be derelict in duty if ignorant of where to turn to deal with them. We do not
need to have all the answers, but we at least ought to know where to look to
find them.

Since there are so many resources available, I’m
reviewing many of the most popular. My goal is to post a review almost daily,
then post a comparative review at the end, just in time for the movie’s
release. Since I unwittingly order an extra copy, I’ll be giving away Exploring
The Da Vinci Code by Lee Strobel and Garry Poole. To win the book, post a link
on your blog pointing to any of our posts or reviews on the subject between May
1 and May 19, 2006, and then send me an email showing me you’ve done so.