Question:

Could you please suggest resources which refute Dan Brown'sThe Da Vinci Code? I lead a Bible study which includes non-Christians, and need an answer quickly because I expect many in the study will ask me to respond to this Da Vinci nonsense.

Answer:

One of the best things I can do is to refer you to a good website, http://www.thetruthaboutdavinci.com/, which has some very useful and reliable information.

In addition, there is a helpful book by James L. Garlow and Peter Jones called Cracking Da Vinci's Code (Victor, 2004). Also useful is the video The DaVinci Code Deception (Grizzly Adams, 2005), based on three books (including the one by Garlow and Jones).

Beyond that, I would point out that Brown has re-written church history in order to generate the plot of his novel. For example, the reality is that the deity of Christ was accepted in the Church universally from the beginning. The Council of Nicea was not to establish the deity of Jesus, but to define its nature: was he "of similar substance" with the Father, or "of the same substance" with the Father?

Another example of error in Dan Brown's The Da Vinci Code is the fact that the church was worshiping on Sunday from the beginning as is evidenced not only by the New Testament, but by writings of the earliest Fathers.

I suggest you look through the material on the previously-mentioned website carefully, and if you have any more questions on specific issues, get back to us.