Bob Cornwall/Faith in the Public Square/Commentary

Three years on the bestseller lists, now a major motion picture directed by Ron Howard and starring Tom Hanks, Dan Brown's “The Da Vinci Code” is a can't miss blockbuster. This mystery-thriller takes on the Roman Catholic Church, Opus Dei, and Christianity in general, while mixing in the Knights Templar, Masons, Gnosticism, the Holy Grail, and famous works of art. The book and its conspiratorial claims have drawn a great crowd of fans and elicited a considerable industry of critical responses.

As a piece of literature, “The Da Vinci Code” doesn't rank with Steinbeck or Updike, but something about the storyline is intriguing. The story centers on a secret that if exposed would rock Christianity to its very foundations. The Priory of Sion, a 20th century secret society that Brown believes dates to the middle ages, holds the evidence supporting this explosive secret, while ‘Opus Dei' -- a real Catholic renewal group - is willing to kill to keep the evidence from being revealed.

The secret? The Holy Grail of legend isn't a chalice, it's a child born of Jesus and Mary Magdalene.

Why is the story so popular? Possibly it's the conspiracy theory that drives the plot, or the feminist angle. There's the recent interest in Gnosticism - consider the release of “The Gospel of Judas.” Then there's the allegation that Jesus was a human just like us, who enjoyed sex and wanted to be married. Maybe it's a reflection of ongoing interest in the goddess and “New Age” spirituality.

As fiction, “The Da Vinci Code” poses little threat to the Christian faith. But, Brown claims that the book is based on fact, something many of his readers accept at face value. Unfortunately, the book depends on such discredited books as “Holy Blood, Holy Grail,” and Brown demonstrates no understanding of modern biblical scholarship or the underlying facts of Gnosticism. There is also the misrepresentation of Opus Dei that is problematic. But perhaps there's a silver lining - maybe the book will stir a renewed interest in the history and interpretation of the Bible at a time of growing biblical illiteracy.

The book raises important questions, though its answers are flawed at best. Uppermost might be the question of Jesus' humanity. While the church affirms the full humanity of Jesus, it also affirms his full divinity. Too often the humanity gets lost in the divinity, but Brown's turn to Gnosticism won't provide the necessary counterbalance. If anything, the Jesus of Gnosticism was even more divine than the Jesus of the canonical gospels. Gnosticism also divorced Jesus from his Jewish context, offering a version of Christianity that was distinctly anti-Semitic.

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As for Mary Magdalene, she figures prominently in both canonical and Gnostic gospels, but never as Jesus' wife. She was, even in the canonical gospels, a significant disciple of Jesus. Could Jesus have been married? There's no reason why not - except that there isn't any evidence he was, especially since he was an itinerant preacher.

Then there is the issue of the church's suppression of the women. There is truth to this charge, but Christianity isn't unique in this. Though there has been great change, many parts of the Christian community continue to treat women as second class citizens. If the book stirs us to a discussion of the role of women in church and society, then it has done the church a good service.

Finally, there is the question of how the Bible came to be. Since it didn't fall from heaven, how did Christians decide what was authoritative and what was not? It wasn't, as Brown suggests, the work of Constantine. Constantine can be blamed for a lot of things, but he didn't have a role in choosing the books of the bible in an effort to create a divine Jesus. Truth be told, the four gospels date from the latter half of the 1st century, a half-century before the Gnostic gospels, with which Brown is enamored, started appearing. Still, the question of how the Bible came to be is worthy of careful study in our churches.

Although Dan Brown got his facts wrong, it'll probably be a movie that should be seen. Then, we should have a conversation about the questions it raises concerning the history and message of the Christian faith - I'm willing, if you're willing.

Dr. Bob Cornwall is Pastor of First Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) of Lompoc, CA (www.lompocdisciples.org). He may be contacted at lompocdisciples@impulse.net or at First Christian Church, P.O. Box 1056, Lompoc, CA 93438.

May 21, 2006