The DaVinci Myth vs. The Gospel Truth - Online Christian Library

THE DA VINCI MYTH VS THE GOSPEL TRUTH
Church, in particular the Catholic Church. The recent
scandals involving predator priests—sometimes being
protected by their bishops—plays well into Brown’s
hands. We see the Church getting caught in a shameful
attempt to cover up. Many today grew up in the Church,
Catholic or otherwise, and are discontent. Spirituality is
in. Religion is out.
One reason for the popularity of the book is that it
is a murder-mystery-thriller. Since it gained so many
readers early on, many others wanted to read it: Success
breeds success. Furthermore, it is a controversial religious
novel, not orthodox in its perspective. Provocative, anti-
Christian books sometimes sell well merely because of
the controversy.
Another reason The Da Vinci Code is so popular is
that it essentially gives permission for sex without
restraints. Sex is a powerful force, and the paganistic
worldview espoused in the novel encourages one to
make up his or her own rules. Brown alleges that a corrupt,
patriarchal Church placed arbitrary limitations on
sex as a way to control people. Even through Alfred
Kinsey’s and Hugh Hefner’s sexual revolution, most people
understood that God, the Bible, Jesus, and the
Church did not sanction “free love.” (In fact, if people
had followed God’s ways—no sex outside the bounds of
holy matrimony—millions would have been spared the
downside of the sexual revolution, i.e., abortion, the
exploding rates of sexually transmitted diseases, divorce,
and subsequent poverty.)
What The Da Vinci Code does is place a stamp of
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