Torch, Summer 2006

N o doubt the subject matter surrounding The Da Vinci Code has captured the imagination of millions. The ripple effects of the story are seen from London courtrooms to cable documentaries. Six of the top 20 best-selling books in the “Christian” category on Amazon.com are derived from The Da Vinci Code ’s major thesis. What is this thesis embedded in The Da Vinci Code ? Simply this: We’ve been fooled. By “we,” I mean Christians in particular and the Western world in general. Jesus is not who we think He is. The early church is not what we were taught it was. The New Testament is nowhere close to what it should be. We have been duped, and the truth has been kept from us by the greatest conspiracy the world has ever (not) known. Not a bad premise for a book that covers only 24 hours and includes murder, kidnapping, secret organizations, albino monks, and dead knights. I don’t want to reveal the story to you because you may plan on either reading the book or seeing the movie. It is in the genre of a thriller with lots of action and plot twists. Instead of evaluating the story (which is rather predictable 4 TORCH / Summer 2006 BY DR. BILL BROWN