"The Da Vinci Code offers a potentially valuable opportunity for Christians to present an authentic account of the gospel to many who would not normally attend church services"

Read David Hilborn's review of The Da Vinci Code film

Listen to an interview with David Hilborn talking about the issues raised by The Da Vinci Code (10.5MB) 

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Dan Brown’s novel The Da Vinci Code is strewn with serious errors of fact and interpretation on the origins of Christianity. Brown claims in an opening note to the reader that all descriptions of historical documents referred to in the book 'are accurate'; yet this claim is laughable. Assessment of the impending film version of Da Vinci must wait until its global release on 19th May, but since both its Director Ron Howard and its star Tom Hanks have confirmed that the screenplay sticks closely to the novel, it is fair to assume that Brown’s core assertions will be repeated in the movie.

These assertions have been addressed in detail by our Head of Theology, Dr David Hilborn The Da Vinci Code: 'Jesus beyond the New Testament' and The Da Vinci Code: a reply to the claims of the Dan Brown character, Teabing.

Dan Brown's Claims

To summarise: Brown suggests that so-called Apocryphal Gospels like the Gospel of Thomas and the Apocalypse of Peter are more authentic than the New Testament gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John; but the vast majority of scholars date them well into the second century, whereas the canonical gospels were being circulated together around AD 100. Moreover, their Gnostic portrayal of Jesus was roundly rejected by mainline church leaders like Irenaeus and Tertullian well before 200. Brown also holds that Jesus was made into a divine figure by the Council of Nicea in 325 to serve the political agenda of the Emperor Constantine; but Jesus was recognised as God by the New Testament writers, and by numerous theologians well before then – not only by Irenaeus and Tertullian, but also by Ignatius of Antioch, Justin Martyr, Melito of Sardis and Origen. Brown also claims that Jesus fathered a child by Mary Magdalene, thereby instituting the ‘Holy Grail’, which is presented as their resulting bloodline rather than a vessel used at the last supper. Yet not even the Apocryphal Gospels confirm such a relationship, and the idea that Jesus sidestepped death and resurrection is discounted on several fronts, not least by the inability of the hostile Roman authorities to produce either a surviving Jesus in his original body or Jesus' corpse from the tomb, and by the coherence of the gospel accounts themselves.

The Church's Response

For all its faults, however, The Da Vinci Code offers a potentially valuable opportunity for Christians to present an authentic account of the gospel to many who would not normally attend church services. Some churches and individual Christians have already seized this opportunity with respect the novel: we hope more will do so when the film goes on general release. On this basis we are focussing our energies neither on seeking to get the film banned, nor on preventing people from seeing it. But while acknowledging the right to free expression of those who made, show and view The Da Vinci Code, we strongly encourage Christians to exercise their right to free expression by graciously challenging the distortions of the film, and by presenting moviegoers with a positive portrayal of the biblical Jesus. This may be done in various ways.

In some cases a church or churches may gain permission to hand out appropriate literature in the cinema lobby, critiquing the arguments of the film and offering an alternative understanding based on the New Testament. Where such permission is not forthcoming, a similar strategy could be implemented outside the cinema. Some may prefer to pay for a special screening of the film at a cinema or elsewhere, accompanied by a talk or discussion in which an orthodox understanding of Jesus and the early church is offered. Others may wish to hold an event in their church, or in some other venue, at which the film is debated and a presentation of the gospel made. Instead of or in addition to these options, some may usefully write or speak on the film from a classical Christian perspective in their local press, on local radio and TV, or on the Internet. Whichever of these approaches is chosen, we urge that a clear but reasoned tone be adopted: haranguing or harassing cinema goers is unlikely to persuade them of Christian truth, and contemptuously dismissing those with genuine questions arising from The Da Vinci Code is unlikely to lead them to the real Jesus.

It is no doubt regrettable that so many people have been persuaded by the bogus history contained in Dan Brown’s book, and that many more will be taken in by the film version. But rather than seeing the film merely as a threat, we urge that it be treated also as an opportunity to introduce people to the true Christ who promised to lead people into all truth.

Read David Hilborn's review of The Da Vinci Code film

Listen to an interview with David Hilborn talking about the issues raised by The Da Vinci Code (10.5MB)

Podcast feed