₦airaland Forum

"The DaVinci Code" is a novel, nothing more. Like many "alternative history" novels, it takes something that happened, twists it, and follows an alternative chain of events - but in this case does it in the style of a thriller rather than a historical novel.

Yes, it was bound to upset some genuinely religious people. And yes, I don't feel - having read it thoroughly - that it's the greatest thriller ever written, or that some of his hypotheses are believable. Yet, I don't feel that it did anything to detract from the Christian message or really cast any doubt on who Jesus was or, in fact, that it is likely to cause anyone's belief to waver or to prevent anyone believing who is not yet a believer. If anything, quite the opposite. It leaves so many questions unanswered that, in my opinion, it is far more likely to attract people to find out more about Christianity than to drive them away from it. It might be seen as an attack on some facets of the Church, but no more than that, (and there aren't too many people who would argue that there aren't SOME facets of SOME of the flavors of Christian church religion that need reforming - as they have needed for centuries).

More interesting, yet with some similarities and, no doubt, equally controversial if not more so, is a new novel by Sean Brandywine called "Project J". It's not yet published - I have an advance copy. Look out for it over the next few weeks. I'm told it's likely to appear as an ebook first and then in print a few weeks later. It goes further, I think, in trying to separate what Jesus intended and what was later attributed to Him. Some is, of course, no more than fiction by the author, but much of it is solidly based on research, on the Bible, and, I'd venture to suggest, on a solid understanding of Christian values. Anyway, without giving away too much of the story, I think it would be fair to say that it goes much further than "The DaVinci Code" in looking at Jesus' life and the areas of it that are not described to us in the Gospels - both from the author's imagination or inspiration (or his Faith?), and from factual evidence. It's bound to upset some people. For others, it's a truly moving story. It's also a very good read... .