Kris and I began the day in Louisville, Kentucky, at Springdale Community Church, where I spoke about The DaVinci Code<\/em> (and the bad version of the book in the new movie). My talk went a full hour, but the audience seemed to keep up. My purpose was to see how Dan Brown fared when it came to biblical study and church historical awareness. I don\u2019t think he fares so well, but he has clearly tapped into trends of a current generation. Kris and I began the day in Louisville, Kentucky, at Springdale Community Church, where I spoke about The DaVinci Code (and the bad version of the book in the new movie). My talk went a full hour, but the audience seemed to keep up.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":197,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[476],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1340","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-books"],"yoast_head":"\n
\nAt any rate, we so enjoyed being again with David and Gayle Butler. By the way, if you\u2019re a young pastor and want role models: David and Gayle are sterling examples of pastoral gifts and generosity \u2014 both of them. Kris and I resonate with them so much we feel like we\u2019ve known them forever.
\nWe then hopped in our Rav4 and drove up to Indiana. Convinced as we were that Chicago\u2019s traffic, with all its construction, would be nightmare, we ditched highway 65 and headed over toward Champaign on 74, but in Danville decided to take Hwy #1 north \u2014 which was a fun drive through the flatlands of central Illinois \u2014 until we got to the end of 57 and found ourselves mired in a massive traffic jam. We found our way out somehow, and that got me to the Vineyard Fellowship of Oak Park, where I once again did a DaVinci Code talk. The host, Perry Marshall, a sharp-thinking Christian orchestrated a splendid event with a nice Sunday night turnout. Good questions. Lots of good ones.
\nHere\u2019s an outline of my talk; use it as you want (if you want). I asked folks to grade Dan Brown\u2019s work (imagining they were teachers). Sorry for the formatting. The talk is now online in my sidebar under Studies I have Online.
\nThe Challenges of The DaVinci Code
\nIntroduction:
\n1.\t160+ weeks on bestseller list.
\n2.\t300+ items on Amazon.com with that title in them, including DVC games
\n3.\t44 languages
\n4.\tDiet Code: Revolutionary Weight-Loss Secrets from the DVC!
\nIngredients to Popularity
\n1.\tConspiracy against the Church: \u201cgreatest cover-up in history.\u201d
\n2.\tMystery and Intrigue
\n3.\tFeminism: quote p. 454.
\n4.\tRevelation of sordid lives of religious leaders: Silas the albino priest.
\n5.\tClaim to be factual: p. 1.
\n6.\tSelf-flaggelation: visible in movie.
\nFive Challenges to the Church: What grade would you give Dan Brown?
\n1.\tChallenge of Desirability to Believe the DVC
\n1.\tDriven to the heart of a suspicious generation: priestly scandals, \t\t\t\t televangelists, local church failures, personal wounds, Clinton.
\n2.\tGeneral conviction that the Church has suppressed women.
\n3.\tPresentation of weird religious people.
\n4.\tProposal of an alternative, more credible story that tells this \t\t\t\t generation exactly what it wants to hear.
\n5.\tSurprising connections with symbols.
\n6.\tOffering the theory that a power-broker (Constantine) used power \t\t\t\t to establish religion (tapping into the seeds of worry in our \t\t\t\t\t political climate).
\n7. \tCaught the Church napping on self-awareness on history.
\n8.\tReponse has to be both rational and relational.
\nGrade:
\n2.\tChallenge of a Conspiracy: What is it?
\n1.\tJesus was a pluralist; EC was pluralist.
\n2.\tRedemption was up to the individual
\n3.\tThe divine feminine was central to ancient religions
\n4.\tOrthodoxy suppressed the #s 1-3.
\n5.\tGnostic gospels make this clear.
\n6.\tRestore the feminine; restore pluralism; junk the orthodox.
\nGrade:
\n3.\tChallenge of the Central Factor: Was Jesus Married?
\nEverything in the DVC rests on one fact: Jesus was married.
\n1.\tTo disprove this, one must have proof to assert it.
\n2.\tStatistics: since all Jewish males were married, Jesus was.
\n3.\tThe Gnostic Gospels indicate this.
\n4.\tMary Magdalene and Jesus were married.
\nFirst, Christians are not afraid of marriage.
\nSecond, when we would expect a wife to appear, she does not:\t\t\t\t\t at Crucifixion (mother Mary, Mary Magdalene, John told to \t\t\t\t\t take care of Mary, the mother); 1 Cor 9:5: Paul could easily have appealed to Jesus.
\nThird, Christians told the truth about Jesus\u2019 life: Mark 6:3; Mary as \t\t\t\t a sotah become na\u2019ap; Joseph as a disgraced tsadiq.
\nFourth, Jesus\u2019 teachings about celibacy could well indicate \t\t\t\t\t\t personal life: Matthew 19:10-12; Mark 9:42-48
\nFifth, the Gnostic Gospels are (1) late and (2) do not say Jesus was \t\t\t\t\t married.
\nSixth, had the Magdalene been married, she would have been \t\t\t\t\t called \u201cwife of Jesus\u201d and not \u201cfrom Magdala\u201d.
\nGrade:
\n4.\tChallenge of Historical Background to the Novel
\n1.\tDBrown is right in this: history is at the core of our faith.
\n2.\tConstantine compiled Bible at Nicea: p. 234.
\n3.\tConstantine deified Christ: p. 234. (\u201cupgraded Jesus\u2019 status\u201d; 233: \t\t\t\t\t just a prophet)
\nClose vote: not close. Nor did they really vote; they signed or didn\u2019t.
\n4.\tGnostic texts are more feminine
\n5.\tMary Magdalene was the leader of the faith.
\nFirst, the Bible\u2019s books were never voted on; they were in play from the second century on; the four gospels were always the only gospels in play. Muratorian Canon (gospels); Irenaeus; Justin Martyr (four gospels); Tatian (4G); Origen knows of other gospels and condemns them.
\nAll but 2 of the bishops signed the Nicene Creed
\nSecond, John 1:1; Romans 9:5; Jesus\u2019 personal claims.
\nThird, Gnostic Gospel of Thomas says Mary has to become a \u201cman\u201d to become saved (114).
\nFourth, what do we know about Mary? (1) from Magdala,\t(2) demonized and exorcised (Lk 8:2), at cross (Mt 27:56, 61), sees empty tomb (Jn 20:1-18).
\nGrade:
\nImplication: foreground is fiction; background must be historical; bad \t\t\t\tmove.
\n5.\tChallenge of the Reliability of the Gospels
\n1.\tJewish oral tradition: R. Meir; CFD Moule
\n2.\tGospel comparisons: reliable with some flexibility.
\n3.\tInter-relationship shows an early conviction that these Gospels saw the original Gospel (Mark; connected to Peter?) as authoritative and the foundation for all Gospeling. I call this the Apostolic Sayings of Jesus Blog
\n4.\tJewish milieu is in tact: Mark 7.
\n5.\tCriterion of embarrassment: Mark 6:5; Peter\u2019s words at Jesus\u2019 \t\t\t\t\tconfession.
\n6.\tDating: 30-40 years after Jesus\u2019 life we have our Gospels.
\n7.\tJohn 14:26; 16:13: Spirit-directed memory of eyewitnesses.
\n8.\tGnostic Gospels: c. 150 AD at earliest; clearly against the other \t\t\t\tGospels; non-Jewish; heroize the losers and debunk the orthodox.
\nGrade:<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"