The $125-million film version of author Dan Brown’s controversial best-selling book, "The Da Vinci Code," opened recently in more than 3,700 U.S. theaters and nearly 8,700 overseas.
Brown’s book, which sold more than 40-million copies, theorizes that Jesus married Mary Magdalene, that they had a child, and that the Roman Catholic Church tried to cover up the matter.
The film’s opening prompted scattered demonstrations in the U.S., in which protesters called the premise that Christ fathered a child, blasphemous. The controversial nature of the movie resulted in its delay or restrictions in a number of countries, while some Christian leaders both here and abroad called on people of faith to boycott the film. In addition, the movie was roundly panned by critics who previewed it.
In the Philippines, home of Asia’s largest Christian population, the city council in the capitol of Manila approved a resolution banning the film in local theaters.
Greek authorities banned the movie for those under 17, saying it touched on “religious and historical questions of major importance that a minor is not able to evaluate.”
The Orthodox Church in Russia denounced the film as a “dangerous provocation.”
The movie’s release in India was postponed initially while government officials weighed complaints from the Catholic Bishops’ Conference.
Vincent Nichols, the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Birmingham, England, lashed out at the film.
“The Da Vinci Code” gratuitously insults Jesus Christ and the Catholic Church. It deliberately presents fiction as fact,” Nichols said.
Nichols’ sentiments were echoed by his spokesman, Peter Jennings.
“My question to Dan Brown is this: Would he dare to write such a book about Islam? No, they wouldn’t dare. But they view the Catholic Church as a soft touch,” Jennings said.
That view was shared by a top Vatican official, Archbishop Angelo Amato, secretary of the Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith, who called on Catholics to boycott the movie.
“If this was directed at the Koran or the Holocaust, it would have provoked a worldwide revolt. Directed at the Church and at Christians and it goes unpunished.”
Two other top aides to Pope Benedict XVI also heaped criticism on the film.
Cardinal Paul Poupard, president of the Pontifical Council for Culture, expressed concern that many movie-goers would find the film convincing, despite its inaccuracies.
“This is a shocking and worrying cultural phenomenon that reflects, on the one hand, the ignorance of millions of people; and, on the other, the voluptuous pleasure the media take in promoting products that have nothing to do with the truth,” Poupard said.
Also, Cardinal Camillo Ruini, president of the Italian Bishop’s Conference and the pope’s vicar to Rome, said, the film’s mixing of fact and fiction amounted to “falsifications” with “no relation to history.”
In response to the movie, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Catholic Communication Campaign launched a Web site, http://www.jesusdecoded.com, to provide accurate information on Jesus, Catholic teaching, and various topics explored in “The Da Vinci Code.” The Campaign also penned a booklet, "The Authentic Jesus," and made a documentary entitled, “Jesus Decoded.” The objective of the hour-long program is to highlight clear and accurate information about the person of Jesus, his disciples, and the formation of the books in the New Testament.
While targeting the Catholic Church, other religious groups were quick to denounce the film.
One organization, The Interfaith Coalition Against "The Da Vinci Code,” called for a boycott of the movie.
Coalition member Robert Knight, is director of Concerned Women for America’s Culture and Family Institute.
"The Da Vinci Code" is a clever and dangerous book suffused with lies, distortions, Satanic imagery and historical inaccuracies, all designed to cast doubt in readers’ minds about the deity of Jesus Christ. The solution for such dangerous drivel is the same as it has always been, which is to go to the truth to expose error. Serious Christians will see through the many lies and historical fictions that Brown plants throughout the book, but millions will believe that this profoundly dishonest book and film contains at least some ‘truth’ about Jesus and the church,” Knight said.
Don Feder, president of Jews Against Anti-Christian Defamation, is another Coalition member.
“‘The Da Vinci Code" director Ron Howard has a First Amendment right to make this garbage. We have a First Amendment right to criticize it and encourage people not to see it,” Feder said.
A religious scholar, Dr. Donald Bierle, president of Minneapolis-based Faith Studies International, stresses that Jesus never married.
“Brown contends that the Gnostic Gospels claim that Jesus and Mary Magdalene were married, yet no Aramaic or Hebrew word for ‘companion’ normally means ‘spouse.’ There are no documents known from ancient times that ever refer to Jesus and Mary as being husband and wife,” Bierle said.
However, others in the faith community see the film as a teaching opportunity.
The National Council of Churches, in a statement, observed that both the movie and book “do not accurately reflect the life and ministry of Jesus or the traditions of the church.”
However, “This is an opportunity to teach about and bear witness to true biblical teachings–many of which have been distorted in Hollywood as well as in our daily lives. This is an opportunity for all Christians to share their faith when friends ask what they think about the movie. The story of Jesus as told throughout the centuries is compelling.
In the midst of the media frenzy, let us not forget that "The Da Vinci Code” is a work of fiction. We pray that those who see this movie will want to know more about Jesus Christ. And we call on our Christian brothers and sisters to uncover distortions of biblical truths not only in entertainment, but in politics and actions perpetuated in our society every day,” the NCC stated.
Bishop Carlton Pearson of New Dimensions Worship Center in Tulsa, OK., leveled criticism at some vocal Christians who have spoken out against the film.
“What some are referring to a ‘Faith-based community’ is beginning to sound more like a ‘Fear-based community.’ The panic of the religious right is obvious in their knee-jerk reaction to ‘The Da Vinci Code” or to anything else that challenges their often idolatrous traditions. What is the difference between the Christian response to "The Da Vinci Code" and the Islamic world’s response to Salman Rushdie’s Satanic Verses?
According to Christian theology, it is not Christ’s possible marriage to a woman that has made the difference in the world, it is His marriage to the church and to His purpose to redeem humankind to God that should be the only thing that truly counts.
True believers should be allowed to ask questions without being accused of being rebellious renegades; and, thus, treated as second-class Christians. True believers simply believe, but having faith does not mean you are brain-dead,” Pearson said.
The group American Atheists chided religious groups wanting to boycott or censor the movie. Ellen Johnson, the organization’s president, said, the same level of scrutiny applied to “The Da Vinci Code” should also be used to question the Old and New Testaments and other religious claims as well.
“If we’re going to pick apart “The Da Vinci Code” on a line-by-line basis and point out all of the shortcomings of the film, we should be doing the same with some of the astounding claims accepted on blind faith that we find in the Bible,” Johnson said.
Some non-Catholics have come out with books and videos to counter the theories presented in “The Da Vinci Code.”
Speaker and author Josh McDowell has penned , "The Da Vinci Code: A Quest For Answers."
McDowell said there’s not one single historical documentation in "The Da Vinci Code," with all of its claims. McDowell said his book outlines 188-documentations.
McDowell, who encourages believers not to see the film, says it should nonetheless be viewed as a platform for evangelism, even more so than “The Passion of the Christ” two years ago.
“I believe the film and the book gives us a platform a hundred times greater than ‘The Passion of the Christ,” because “The Passion” publicly became the controversy of tolerance versus intolerance. ‘The Da Vinci Code’ has become the controversy of truth versus fiction,” McDowell said.
Also, WatchWORD Productions recently signed an agreement with Good News Holdings of Los Angeles to release the world’s first Video Bible as the ultimate answer to “The Da Vinci Code.”
WatchWORD Bible creator Jim Fitzgerald said he believed the timing is “providential.”
“When people don’t know the Bible, they can believe a work of fiction like The Da Vinci Code. The concern is real. A recent Barna Research Group survey shows that two-million U.S. readers had their faith changed by reading the novel. In England, the effect has been even greater,” Fitzgerald said.
The 26-hour production includes thousands of on-location scenes, word-for-word text on screen, narration, original music soundtrack and effects. It can be viewed on TVs, computers, portable DVD players, iPods and cell phones.
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