Book Review: Discussing the Da Vinci Code Curriculum Kit

Date May 7, 2006 Posted by Roger Overton

The Discussing the Da Vinci Code Curriculum Kit by
Lee Strobel and Gary Poole contains three items: a DVD, a group discussion
guide, and the book Exploring the Da Vinci Code by the same authors. In this
review I will cover the DVD and it’s discussion guide. The accompanying book
will be reviewed independently.

This curriculum was put together with “seekers” in mind.
“Since the primary audience for this guide is the not-yet-convinced seekers,
the ideal place to use Discussing the Da Vinci Code is within the context of
seeker groups.” (10) The emphasis is group discussion such that if the proposed
schedule is followed participants will spend about 17 minutes watching the DVD
and 43 minutes conversing per session.

The DVD and discussion guide are broken down into four
sessions in which Lee Strobel visits some of the historical locations utilized
in The Da Vinci Code and interviews contemporary scholars. In the first
session, the topic of historical analysis is discussed with historian Paul
Maier. The second session poses the question “Can we trust the four Gospels?”
to New Testament scholar Scot McKnight. Strobel interviews Kathy McReynolds in
session three about the role of women in Christianity and Jesus’ relationship
with Mary Magdalene. The final session deals with the divinity of Jesus with
scholar Mark Strauss.

Considering the proposed “seeker context,” the discussion
guide is very well done. It provides great questions for discussion while provided
many quotes from scholars, Dan Brown, and facts throughout the booklet. In the
back of the guide are several appendices that recommend further resources,
state the facts, and give arguments for the true identity of Jesus that is
affirmed by historic Christianity.

While it’s neat to see Lee Strobel “on location,” he doesn’t
really engage the sites he visits, so that seemed somewhat pointless. Strobel
is more known for his investigative journalist approach, which he applied well
on the DVD. He asks good questions that provoke good responses form the
reputable scholars.

The DVD also has some promotional trailers, which
could be shown to get people interested in joining the discussion group. The
graphics and navigation of the DVD are extremely well done. The DVD together
with the group discussion guide make Discussing the Da Vinci Code a thought provoking curriculum that
will be useful for seekers and curious Christians alike.

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Book Review: Reinventing Jesus

Date May 6, 2006 Posted by Roger Overton

One of foundational claims of The Da Vinci Code by
Dan Brown is that the Bible of Christian tradition is unreliable. The result is
that our idea of Jesus doesn’t match up with the real Jesus who was married to
Mary Magdalene and had a child with her. Rather than respond directly to the
speculations of the novel and works like it, Reinventing Jesus by J. Ed
Komoszewksi, M. James Sawyer, and Daniel B. Wallace seeks to provide a positive
case for why we can trust the New Testament and the Jesus it speaks of.

Reinventing Jesus is divided into five parts
consisting of 18 chapters together. Part one deals with whether or not the
first Gospel writers were able to get the story right. Part two is an analysis
of the transmission of the Gospels seeking to show that what we have now is
incredibly close to what was originally written. The canon of the New Testament
is tackled in part three, where explanations are given for why some were
included in the Bible and others weren’t. With the reliability of the
scriptures established, part four goes on to look at what the New Testament
says about Jesus. Finally, in part five, Christianity is defended against
accusations that it borrowed from pagan mythology.

Throughout the book, the authors interact with the claims of
The Da Vinci Code and other more scholarly works that question the
historicity of the Bible, but the central focus is more about a positive case
for Christianity than a defensive one. At the end of the book are subject and
Scripture indexes, as well as a thorough recommended reading list according to
each part of the book.

Of the works that deal with claims like those in The Da
Vinci Code, Reinventing Jesus is one of the more scholarly. That
said, it does a commendable job of making the scholarly discussions accessible
and relevant to “motivated laypersons” without dumbing down the material
or making the reader feel dumb. The book covers a wide hosts of issues related
to the Bible and Jesus, but due its focus on a positive case for Christianity,
lacks a thorough critique of Gnosticism or “the sacred feminine.” Ultimately,
Reinventing Jesus is a great book for readers who want accurate first-hand
information from scholars about the historicity of the Christian faith in light
of “novel speculations.”

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Book Review: Cracking Da Vinci's Code

Date May 5, 2006 Posted by Roger Overton

Christian apologists have been quick to respond to the
historical inaccuracies taught in The Da Vinci Code. However, few have
done much work on one of its central themes, 
“the sacred feminine,” which is deeply rooted in a pagan worldview.
Pastor James Garlow and Dr. Peter Jones co-authored Cracking Da Vinci’s Code
to respond to the historical errors of Dan Brown’s novel, as well as its
paganism.

Garlow and Jones begin with a chapter explaining why they
wrote their book. “Cracking Da Vinci’s Code is for you if you have
stopped to ponder Brown’s ‘code’ woven into his novel. It is for you if you are
now questioning all you have learned about Jesus. We are writing for you if you
are now saying, ‘I once thought of Jesus as the Son of God, but I guess I was
wrong. He is simply a man after all.’ For your sake, and His, we feel we must
respond.” (23)

The first issue addressed is Brown’s characterization of sex
and the Christian view of it. Garlow points out that, “Sex is God’s idea, and
second to salvation, it’s the best idea He ever shared with us.” (51) The
authors go on to discuss the “sacred feminine,” Jesus, historical revisionism,
the canon of scripture, the Gnostic gospels, secret knowledge, and pagan
symbols. The conclude by showing that, “Under the guise of a novel, The Da
Vinci Code is an ideological call to arms.” According to them, it is a call
to embrace pagan monism. They ultimately present to the reader a choice between
paganism and Biblical theism.

At the beginning of each chapter is a brief narrative about
their own fictional character, Carrie Williams. Carrie is a practical agnostic
who is attracted to the claims of The Da Vinci Code, but she’s turned
off by her extremely pagan roommate. In the middle of the book is a foldout
color insert of The Last Supper, explaining its history and the figures in it.
In the back is a reader’s guide with four to five questions for each chapter to
help facilitate reflection and discussion, as well as a spread of others books
for further reading.

Cracking Da Vinci’s Code covers a wide range of issues, but hones in on the
most important- the underlying worldview of pagan monism. The authors carefully
explain each point and argument, showing the weaknesses of Brown’s claims and worldview.
The narrative about Carrie reminds us that the issues being dealt with are of
practical and eternal importance. By the end of the book, James Garlow and
Peter Jones have offered an excellent exposition of The Da Vinci Code as
well as a clear and compelling case for the truth of biblical Christianity.

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Da Vinci on Parade

Date 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.

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Book Review: The Da Vinci Code, Fact or Fiction?

Date May 4, 2006 Posted by Roger Overton

Of the books responding to the claims of The Da Vinci
Code, this is one of the shortest, weighing in at 81 pages. After a
foreword by Hank Hanegraaff, historian Paul Maier offers a chapter pointing out
why many of the claims of the novel are false. Though The Da Vinci Code
is fiction, Dr. Maier believes this sort of response is necessary because “many
readers assume that all of the supplementary contextual and background detail
involving Christianity is true when it is not.” (9)

Dr. Maier’s chapter responds to claims about the Priory of
Sion, Constantine, whether Jesus married Mary, the Knights Templar, the sacred
feminine, and art, music, and architecture. After covering those issues, he
goes through a series of quotes from Dan Brown’s novel showing the inaccuracies
of each claim.

After Maier’s critique, Hanegraaff asks, “But what is
truth?” He focuses in on the historical evidence for the authenticity of the
Bible, and then explains the Biblical evidence for Christ’s deity. Hanegraaff
also responds to the claims that Christianity barrowed from pagan religions and
offers evidence that Jesus did rise from the dead.

Paul Maier closes with an interesting thought in his
afterword. “Perhaps there may even be a benefit in all of this. Strange as it
may seem, heresy had always been good for the church, since it forces a renewed
attention to the central doctrines of Christianity in order to counteract
error. Without heresy, we would not have the great creeds of Christendom. If,
then, this latest attempt to subvert history forces widespread study of Jesus,
the Gospels, the origins of Christianity, and how the church developed across
the centuries, so much the better.” (68)

The best thing about this book is that it’s incredibly
readable. The technical points are available, but they’re in footnotes in the
back so they don’t distract from the main text. It covers a wide range of
questions raised by the novel and provides a great list of resources for
additional study. Unfortunately, it doesn’t really cover Gnosticism, which is a
rather prominent issue.

If you’re looking an a quick and easy, yet incisive
response to Dan Brown’s The Da Vinci Code, The Da Vinci Code, Fact or
Fiction? is the book for you. Hank Hanegraff and Paul Maier have supplied
an accessible book that’s short in length, but not in answers.

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Book Review: The Truth Behind the Da Vinci Code

Date May 3, 2006 Posted by Roger Overton

In a postmodern culture that often relativizes religious
truth, it becomes harder to tell the different between fact and fiction. In the
introduction to The Truth Behind the Da Vinci Code, Richard Abanes notes
that, “too many readers of The Da Vinci Code have already responded to the
novel by trustingly embracing it as historically accurate.” (9) Abanes’
response is to compare the historical inaccuracies of the novel with the facts.

Richard Abanes groups his analysis into five main
categories, each comprising a chapter of his book. These are roughly historical
revisionism, the canon of scripture, the Christian view of women, the history
of the Priory of Sion, and Leonardo Da Vinci. Each chapter has a very structured
order- an introduction, a series of claims by the novel countered with the
facts, and a conclusion.

Some will note that the last two chapters aren’t so much a
defense of Christianity as they are correctives of general history. There’s an
explanation in Abanes’ conclusion. “This is not even a ‘Christian’ issue. The
issue is fact versus fiction. Truth verses lies. Accuracy versus inaccuracy. In
other words, The Da Vinci Code would still be just as offensive if its
misrepresentation of historical facts were used to attack Buddhism, Islam, or
any other world religion instead of Christianity.” (77)

The great strength of this book, as with other books by
Richard Abanes, is the depth of research. Historical research is a skill that
Abanes has refined well, in this case to the point of providing facts that many
critics haven’t uncovered. He’s also very straightforward with his arguments.
For instance, in discussing Dan Brown’s confusion of male and female symbols
with Egyptian ones, Abanes asks, “But why would Magdalene be associated with an
Egyptian cow?” (47)

Though the book covers many issues, it fails to offer a
helpful response to Gnosticism or understanding of the “sacred feminine.” It
also does not provide any resources for further study of the issues.

The Truth Behind the Da Vinci Codeshows Richard Abanes’ strength as a historical
fact-checker. Some will find a few of his points irrelevant to defending the
Christian faith, and others will find it lacking in some crucial areas, but on
the whole he offers an effective response to Dan Brown’s novel.

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Book Review: Breaking the Da Vinci Code by Darrell Bock

Date May 2, 2006 Posted by Roger Overton

Though The Da Vinci Code is a fictional novel, many
scholars are concerned about the historical inaccuracies it depends upon. One
of these scholars is Darrell Bock. “This is not merely any piece of fiction.
The scope of what it claims as fast, the impression it leaves making those
claims under the “cover” of fiction, and the fact that it addresses a
significant subject for our culture’s own self understanding make it important
that its claims be assessed and/or appreciated.” (6) In Breaking the Da
Vinci Code, Dr. Bock seeks to break several of the underlying premises of
the novel.

Beginning with a study on who was Mary Magdalane, the book
has eight chapters examining the various claims of the novel. Dr. Bock draws
from biblical texts, as well as non-biblical texts, to make his arguments. The
book also deals with questions about whether Jesus was married, if his being
single might make him un-Jewish, if the Gnostic gospels help us understand
Jesus, how the New Testament assembled, and whether recent “scholarly” work
accurately reflect the historical record.

Dr. Bock concludes that only “two historical claims of the
novel stand: (1) women were elevated by what Jesus taught (although probably
not as much as some would suggest), and (2) Mary Magdalene was not a prostitue.
The remaining foundation of the novel is made of sand.” (154) The final chapter
provides the “Real Jesus Code,” the gospel that Jesus taught and Mary Magdalane
experienced. There is a brief appendix by an art professor, Robert Baldwin,
which points out some of the art flaws in the novel. A glossary is found at the
back of the book describing important themes and figures.

This book deals with most of the important questions raised
by The Da Vinci Code. For the most part, responds with compelling
academically backed arguments that are expressed in an accessible form. Despite
having a great glossary, however, there is not much offered for additional
resources outside of the book. Though Dr. Bock addresses Gnosticism, the
explanation of it was somewhat lacking. Further lacking is an analysis of the
“sacred feminine” that was so prevalent in the novel.

Breaking the Da Vinci Code is a noteworthy response to the popular novel. Though
the analysis could have been expanded, Darrell Bock offers a devastating
critique of the faulty historical foundation of Dan Brown’s book.

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Book Review: The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown

Date May 1, 2006 Posted by Roger Overton

I rarely read novels, and this is the first novel I’ve ever
reviewed. Since it is a novel, and a rather popular one, I don’t think a
summary of the book is appropriate or necessary…

My favorite thing about The Da Vinci Code is the
suspenseful plot. Brown did an excellent job of creating a mystery that kept me
guessing throughout much of the book. Though many of the “facts” he drew from
are debatable, I mostly enjoyed his creative use of religious history and theology.

At a few points in the book I felt like I missed something
and had to reread a page or two, only to find out that whatever I felt like I
missed wasn’t there. I think these were attempts to create suspense about plot
points that just didn’t come across smoothly. While we learn quite a bit about
the secondary hero, Sophie Neveu, we learn very little about the main
character, Robert Langdon, outside of his professional career. The result is
that I didn’t feel very committed to Robert- I didn’t care much whether he
failed or succeeded.

There are, of course, a number of historical problems with
the book. For example, the book claims that the Dead Sea Scrolls contain
gospels that were not included in the New Testament canon (p254*). However,
very few scholars (secular or religious) believe any of the Dead Sea Scrolls
have anything to do with Jesus or Christianity. Even the secular scholar I
studied them under (Robert Eisenman) believes some of them describe James, but
not Jesus. There are countless books that document other historical errors, so
I’ll stop there. The problem with this is that at the beginning of the book
Brown has a list of three “Facts,” including: “All descriptions of artwork,
architecture, documents, and secret rituals in this novel are accurate.” Due to
the fact that many of the descriptions are not accurate, Brown betrays the
trust of his reader.

A significant element of the book is its promotion of the
“sacred feminine.” After reading all 489 pages*, I don't think Brown made it clear what he specifically meant by “sacred feminine,” except that it has
something to do with sex. In fact, the book ends up talking about sex at
various points in some explicit ways.

Overall, the religious conspiracy and mystery of The Da
Vinci Code made for an interesting read. It was mostly enjoyable, though I
naturally cringed at some of the historical inaccuracies. If you’re looking for
a light religious mystery, this may be a good book for you. However, I would
not let someone read it under 16 (due to the sexual content), and I would
recommend reading one of the response books afterward so you’re not left
wondering what was fact and what was fiction.

*I read the mass paperback edition, which has
different pagination than the hardcover.

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Book Review: The Compleat Gentleman

Date April 29, 2006 Posted by Roger Overton

With the large number of books being published these days,
one might think there are ample books already available on any given subject.
The subject of the Gentleman may be a counter-example to that idea. Brad
Miner’s book, The Compleat Gentleman, attempts to fill the void of books
describing and defending the virtues of a gentleman.

Most of the first chapter centers on the actions of the men
onboard the sinking Titanic, both the hit motion picture and the true
history. While watching the movie in the theater with his son, the laughter of
some teenagers behind him at the words of a gentleman made him realize that
what constituted chivalry in the early 1900s have been lost on the current
culture. In this chapter he uses the men of the Titanic to define some elements
of the gentleman and set up the rest of the book.

Chapter 2 begins Mr. Miner’s deep plunge into the history of
chivalrous tradition. The natural starting point is Arthurian legend since
“King Arthur is the lightning rod of the chivalric imagination.” Two threads
are developed in this chapter that are often interwoven: the literary history
of chivalrous tradition and historical information on the training and
activities of knights. He not only discusses the chivalric elements of
Arthurian legend but also the issues of historical reliability of the
traditions. He continues on to training of the page, squire, and the knight,
which leads historically to the Knights Templar.

The position of the knight faded away, but the code of
chivalric conduct remained. “The model of the true knight was gradually
supplanted by the beau ideal of the complete gentlemen, which—arguably—reached
its zenith during the long reign of England’s Queen Victoria.” This transition
is brought to bear in Chapter 3 in a discussion of the plethora of literature
on gentlemen’s code of conduct in the midst of the Victorian era.

The first three chapters are the foundation for the next
three. A set of values and characteristics being established historically, Mr.
Miner defines three main categories essential to the gentleman: the warrior,
the lover, and the monk. Chapter 4 focuses on the martial spirit of the
gentleman. According to Mr. Miner’s analysis, honor is to be valued above, even
at the expense of death and key to this is being prepared for anything. “The
warrior’s way is the way of the dojo: he spars with death, brother against
brother. When death wins, the gentleman graciously bows in defeat.” He colors
his report with a bit of history and evidences from his own personal
experiences.

Switching back to a more historical analysis, Mr. Miner
examines the courtly love tradition. He shows how in many cases, love and
marriage were two completely different entities that had no bearing on one
another. It came about, then, that affairs were a natural feature of courtly
love. After a brief tangent on women in the military, Mr. Miner comes to the
conclusion that in love the goal of the gentleman is “to allow a woman to be
what she wants to be.” His ideal woman is “the architect of her own happiness.”

Mr. Miner begins his discussion of monks in Chapter 6
pointing out what seems to be an inherent contradiction in the categories of
the gentleman. “At any time have there been ‘lover monks’?” Instead of women,
Mr. Miner focuses the affections of the monk on learning and truth. The monk
qualities of the gentleman then are education and self-discipline.

After all of the build up from historical analysis, Mr.
Miner gets to the application of what it means to be a gentleman today. For
today’s warrior courage, strength, and honor are necessary, as well as always
being prepared. “Where do heroes come from? The answer, of course, is that
heroism awakens in cultures that dream of it. Men pray for peace, but train for
war. God willing, their heroism will not need to stir, but it will arise and
conquer if they have dreamed the dream.” For today’s lover, he reiterates “What
does a woman want most? To have her own way. This is the key to both
conjugal joy and social harmony.” For today’s monk he also reiterates the
necessity of education. Mr. Miner sums up this chapter, in part, by reflecting
on some of the codes of our armed forces and how those are examples of codes of
conduct for the gentleman.

The final chapter is on the art of sprezzatura, roughly
meaning restraint, though Mr. Miner spends time throughout the book playing
with slight variations of meanings. The gentleman “is possessed of the
commingling of restraint and detachment that is sprezzatura and that we
can easily call cool.”

When I picked up The Compleat Gentleman, I expected
more of a book on conduct. To a great degree, I was pleasantly surprised by Mr.
Miner’s emphasis on historical analysis and definitions, as well a discussion
primarily focused on character rather than conduct. This is to Mr. Miner’s
credit. However, much of the historical information became tedious. I found
myself bored through Chapters 2 and 3 and mostly kept reading in hopes that
Chapter 7 would be worth it. Not only was some of the information tedious, but
particularly the overview of the debate on Arthurian legend was irrelevant to
the rest of the book.

The chapter on sprezzatura, I think, would have fit better
before discussing the applications for today’s gentleman. But this
disorderliness is somewhat common in this book. At several points Mr. Miner
begins talking about a future chapter, apologizes for getting ahead of himself,
and returns to the point where he started. This often made the book feel
unorganized and perhaps not well thought out (surely he has a Word processor
and can rearrange his points!).

What makes this book a worthwhile read is: 1) the topic is
not discussed often enough, so any discussion of it is worth the time, 2) many
“academic” discussions of literature and history are brought into a layman’s
understanding, and 3) Mr. Miner draws out many conclusions that would make the
world the better place were they practiced by men.

From a Christian perspective, I found a few points that
begged for correction. “But despite religious claims, perhaps especially of
Christianity, a gentleman per se is not defined by his religion. The status of
‘gentleman’ in no ways denies the claims of religion, and the gentleman may
very well—certainly will, if he is religious—recognize the higher claim of
faith upon his soul, but his gentlemanliness is a nexus of secular attributes.”
(210) Even in Mr. Miner’s analysis, this brings a contradiction into the life
of the gentleman. He is to be loyal to God and country, but his religion is not
to define him. This is especially problematic for a Christian gentleman, since
the very reason for being a gentleman should be his religion (more precisely,
to be Christ-like). The gentleman cannot be loyal to God and yet not let God
define Him. God already defined him at creation.

Similarly, Mr. Miner never supplies the reader with an
argument for why one ought to act as a gentleman, except perhaps people get
along better. The book lacks a foundation in this sense. “But even agnostic and
atheist gentlemen are guided by at least one principle. Simply stated: a
gentleman is dedicated to the virtue of goodness.” (171) But if he is either of
these he has no basis for pursuing goodness. He can’t even define goodness
without a supreme being who exemplifies it.

On the lover, “a gentleman does have to allow a woman
to be what she wants to be.” (150) He repeats later (as I’ve noted) that women
having their way is the key to social harmony. One may wonder why men shouldn’t
have their own way as well. The truth is, neither men nor women should have
their own way. The gentleman and the lady should both seek God’s way and find
the joy in that (which is much greater than the temporary pleasures of doing or
being whatever one wants).

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Book Review: Credo by Ray Pritchard

Date April 23, 2006 Posted by Roger Overton

As Christians, what do we believe? If we can begin to
articulate our beliefs, do they have any impact in our lives? In Credo,
author Ray Pritchard looks to the Apostles Creed as an exceptional answer to
these questions. He gives three reasons we should to this creed: “First, it is
the oldest and most widely accepted… Second, it offers a broad survey of
Christian doctrine… Third, the Creed offers a radical challenge to the
skepticism of this generation.” (17)

After introducing the Creed, each chapter examines it
line-by-line, resulting in 19 chapters ranging from 7 to 13 pages each. Each
chapter explains what is meant in each line, ways we can understand it, and
what it means for our lives. The importance of practical application is made
apparent throughout the book. “This is more than a doctrinal statement. It’s a
declaration of your personal commitment to what the Creed says… The world will
not be moved by a halfhearted commitment to things we don’t really believe.” (207-8)

Ray Pritchard does an excellent job explaining what’s at
stake in each part of the Creed. For example, in discussing the virgin birth,
he explains that “in order for Christ to be our Savior, three conditions had to
be met: He must be a man… He must be an infinite man… He must be an innocent
man.” (63) He doesn’t shy away from the most controversial part of the Creed-
the idea that Jesus descended into hell. Instead, he thoughtfully describes
what it cannot mean, what it might mean, and what it must mean.

Not only is each doctrine thoughtfully addressed, but
application is made by asking what difference they make for us. In covering the
practical issues as well, Ray Pritchard does a great job making the Apostles
Creed come alive, which is necessary in a Christian culture that’s forgetting
its roots. Credo recommits these ancient truths to our hearts and minds
in a meaningful and accessible style.

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