The Da Vinci Code DVD: Release Date November 14th

The Da Vinci Code movie is being released on DVD on November 14th. If you haven’t seen it yet, now’s your chance to finally see what everyone’s been talking about. The international best-selling novel has sold over 60 million copies in 44 languages, and now the movie has grossed hundreds of millions of dollars around the world. Why is this story so popular? What’s the big attraction?

The reason that The Da Vinci Code sold so many books, movie tickets, and soon DVDs isn’t Dan Brown’s writing ability. (It’s a fast paced, fun tale, but plenty of those are written every year.) No, it’s clearly the controversial content that has made it such a bestseller.

There has been substantial confusion among readers about whether the book is factual. While promoted as fiction, Dan Brown repeatedly claims the details of the story are historically accurate, and the “FACT” page of the book states “All descriptions of artwork, architecture, documents, and secret rituals in this novel are accurate.”. However, nearly all scholars disagree. Many of the biggest claims of The Da Vinci Code story have been shown to be false.

So if you’re wondering which, if any, of the supposedly historical facts in the movie are accurate, you aren’t alone. Here is a sampling of some of the issues raised by the movie:

• Was Jesus considered “merely a man” before Constantine? - No. There’s no evidence the early church believed this. Even the early 2nd century heretics were suggesting that Jesus was only God and NOT a man. (See also this streaming video)
• Did the church run a “smear campaign” against Mary Magdalene? - No. Mary is spoken of positively in the Gospels and made a Saint by the church.
• Were there really “more than eighty gospels” written? - No. The few other ancient writings we possess are much later than the biblical records and thus were never considered historically accurate.
• Did Leonardo Paint Mary into the Last Supper? - No. It would make no difference even if he did; but read the article for six good reasons why we know he didn’t.
• Did Leonardo Da Vinci hate the Bible? - No. All of the quotes from Leonardo in The Da Vinci Code are misquoted. Leonardo was not referring to the Bible or Christianity in any of them!

The reason the story captivates people is that there is something about the person of Jesus Christ that just intrigues. He enchants our minds and our hearts. When we consider what really know about Him, the real Jesus outside of The Da Vinci Code fiction, author Max Lucado asks “What do we do with such a person? We applaud men for doing good things. We enshrine God for doing great things. But when a man does God things? One thing is for sure, we can’t ignore him. Why would we want to?” (Max Lucado, Next Door Savior)

The real Jesus is much more incredible than the false one portrayed in Brown’s Code. If Brown’s book has piqued your curiosity, you can explore the life of Christ for yourself with an interactive online experience called Who is Jesus?, a free, guided, 5 part course available through thelife.com, or continue reading this blog.