19th January, 2005

DAVID ADAMS

Since its publication in 2003, The Da Vinci Code has topped best seller lists around the world, spawned a veritable industry of companion books and guides (there’s now even talk of a movie starring Tom Hanks), sparked a minor tourism boom and even caused a court case surrounding claims of plagiarism. Chances are even those who haven’t read Dan Brown’s controversial book have heard something of it.

Yet while its populist appeal has seen it sell more than 17 million copies across the globe last year (around 620,000 paperback copies in Australia alone), it’s many claims - particularly those suggesting Jesus Christ was no more than a mortal prophet - have also sparked concerns among Christians from Sydney to the Vatican.

"This book is to religious history what John Wayne movies are to the history of the American West" - Dr Keith Suter

“This book is to religious history what John Wayne movies are to the history of the American West,” says Dr Keith Suter, consultant on social policy at Sydney’s Wesley Mission.

The book follows the story of Harvard symbologist Robert Langdon and French police cryptologist Sophie Nevue who become caught up in a series of murders after meeting in Paris. Confronted with a series of complex riddles, their investigation leads them to discover a trail of clues hidden in the works of Leonardo Da Vinci which ultimately leads them to a secret society called the Priory of Sion; an organisation which has for centuries guarded explosive ”secrets” which, when unearthed, turn accepted Christian truth on its head.

Dr Suter recently delivered a seminar at the mission in which he outlined numerous errors he believes are contained in the book, ranging from the absence of historical evidence to support false claims made about Jesus and Mary Magdalene - including that Jesus was only a human and did not die on the Cross but instead went and lived in the south of France with his wife Mary through to a litany of other errors including that the Catholic Church executed as many as five million women as witches (while still bad, Dr Suter says the figure was actually calculated to be no more than 50,000 males and females).

“This is all nonsense...” he says of the claims surrounding Jesus and Mary Magdalene and others made in the novel that involve Leonardo Da Vinci and a secret society called the Priory of Sion.

“Many of the early Christians died for their faith. They would not have done so if they had know that it was a fake...”

Dr Suter believes the book’s popularity can in part be explained by its appeal to people who enjoy a conspiracy theory.

“In fact there is a phrase - which I think is repeated in the novel but it’s certainly there once - which says that ‘everybody loves a conspiracy’...That resonates (with people),” he says.

Dr Suter points to the debate of who was responsible for 9/11 as just one example of the world’s fascination with conspiracy theories.

“There is this subculture of conspiracy and this novel - and his earlier one Angels and Demons - feeds into this conspiracy-minded culture...The guy knows how to play the reader along.”

According to Dr Suter, the book also taps into the anti-Catholic feelings evidenced among some sections of the population by adopting a hostile attitude against the Catholic Church and picks up on the New Age emphasis being placed on the role of the goddess.

On his website, Dan Brown says the book is “not anti-anything” and that he regrets if it has offended anyone. “I wrote this story in an effort to explore certain aspects of Christian history that interest me,” says Brown, who describes himself as a Christian and a “student of many religions”.

Dr Suter believes discussion of the book could open the way for Christians to talk with others about their faith. “The late Alan Walker used to argue that ‘You go to where the people are, you don’t expect them to come to you’. And clearly this is where the people are.”

“The vast majority of devout Christians understand this fact and consider The Da Vinci Code an entertaining story that promotes spiritual discussion and debate.”

While he won’t say Christians shouldn’t read the novel - commenting that the church doesn’t have a good history with regard to banning books, Dr Suter says it was important those who do have a good grasp of church history to enable them to read the text critically.

“If you want to be entertained, fine, I’ve got no problems with that. But I wouldn’t say to somebody if you want to understand the American Old West, watch a John Wayne movie...” he says.

“I was talking to somebody at the Sunday night service who said he’d enjoyed (The Da Vinci Code) - he’s a Christian and he didn’t take it on face value, but he just enjoyed working out the signs and the story behind it. That’s fine. But just don’t read into it a greater significance. The worry I’ve got is that people are reading too much significance into it and being fooled by it.”

He says the book exploits a lack of historical awareness among many Christians - particularly among people of protestant denominations who tend to assume “everything began with Martin Luther or John Wesley” - and uses devices such as a statement at it’s front claiming that descriptions of artworks, secret rituals and documents are all accurate to package fanciful claims as factual history (Brown himself says the book is a work of fiction but that all the artwork, architecture, documents and secret rituals do exist and are interpreted by fictional characters.)

Yet despite his concerns, Dr Suter believes the book’s popularity is a sign of the “great thirst” for spirituality within the community and could, as a result, open the way for dialogue between Christians and non-Christians about matters of faith.

“I think for Christians, it can be a good tool for evangelism,” he says. “The late Alan Walker used to argue that ‘You go to where the people are, you don’t expect them to come to you’. And clearly this is where the people are.”