ALEXANDRIA, La. (BP)–Did Jesus Christ have a wife? Is the Bible a mere compilation of ancient manuscripts? Will the upcoming Sony release of The DaVinci Code create a panic in the Christian community?
By John Yeats
LBC Communications
ALEXANDRIA (BP)–Did Jesus Christ have a wife? Is
the Bible a mere compilation of ancient manuscripts? Will the upcoming
Sony release of The DaVinci Code create a panic in the Christian community?
To confront these questions, the Louisiana Baptist
Convention and Louisiana College have produced a DVD titled, The DaVinci Code: Faith, Fact or Fiction?
The DVD features Charles (Chuck) Quarles Ph.D. of
Louisiana College, vice president for integration of faith and learning
and associate professor of religion.
LBC produced the DVD in its studio and mailed a copy
April 4 to each of the convention’s 1,456 churches to equip pastors and
members for the release of the movie. The book and the upcoming film
are a concern to the Christian community primarily because of a
dialogue between characters Langdon, Sophie, and Sir Leigh Teabing.
Teabing is described as a ‘religious historian’
whose life’s passion is research of the Holy Grail. In this dialogue,
Teabing claims that the Gospels are unreliable accounts that pervert
the true story of Jesus. He insists that Jesus was a mere mortal
prophet who was deified by Constantine as part of a political ploy for
consolidating his own power. Teabing also asserts that Jesus was
married to Mary Magdalene and that they conceived and bore children and
that this sacred bloodline is the true Holy Grail.
“Since this dialogue is fictional and contained in a
novel, we might be tempted to ignore Teabing’s challenges to our
faith,” Quarles said. “Unfortunately, many readers are taking Teabing’s
remarks very seriously. Since Brown claims that all descriptions of
documents are accurate, many have concluded that Brown has carefully
researched the issues that Teabing discusses and since this dialogue is
from the lips of a Harvard professor and British Royal historian it
must surely be an accurate presentation of the real facts about the
origins of the Christian faith.
“This fact, coupled with the enormous popularity of
the book and the expectation that the upcoming film will be a box
office smash, requires thoughtful believers to prepare to respond
intelligently to the claims of the Code.”
Wayne Jenkins, director of the LBC evangelism/church
growth team, said the movie could open doors for Christians to share
their faith.
“People are already talking about the book and now
the movie,” Jenkins said. “Questions raised by the film provide
believers an excellent opportunity to present the historical evidence
for our Christian faith.”
The DVD ends with an invitation to receive Christ, and also includes a message to pastors.
“The DVD will allow people in the church to engage
unbelievers in discussions about spiritual matters and the potential
for sharing the Gospel,” Jenkins said.
The Louisiana Baptist Convention is making The DaVinci Code: Fact, Faith or Fiction DVD available for a cost recovery fee of $5. Discounts are available for bulk orders.
The DVD can be purchased by calling 318-449-4254 during business hours.