‘What if the world realises that the greatest story ever told is a lie?’ So asks the Grail expert Leigh Teabing in the much anticipated but almost universally panned film of Dan Brown’s novel The Da Vinci Code. It was this assault on the reliability of the Gospels that led most Christian commentators to regard it as a dangerous book, particularly as Brown’s ‘evidence’ was skilfully woven into a credible, entertaining and often accurate tour of art, history, symbology, theology – and some very lovely buildings.

In fact, the film fails to match the excitement, intrigue and sense of discovery of the original story. It differs in other ways, too. For example, Brown’s attacks on the Church have been softened, and his wildly exaggerated account of the European witch-hunts has been tempered – not that the truth is not still an appalling stain on our record. Nonetheless, the basic premise of the novel – that the Bible lies – remains central.

Interestingly, the film changes significantly the views of its professorial hero, Robert Langdon. He is now a lapsed Catholic who fell down a well at the age of seven and spent a terrifying night there. He confesses that he prayed to Jesus and, more tellingly, that he felt there was ‘someone’ down there with him.

This may sound more positive than the conclusion the book comes to, but the context in which we hear this is Langdon’s belief that he has indeed discovered the last descendant of Jesus’ marriage to Mary Magdalene – Sophie Neveu.

Who, then, is Christ for this cinematic Langdon? A human inspiration. And what should Sophie do now that she knows the facts? Destroy the faith of millions? Or let them live with a nourishing but nonetheless unfounded fiction? The answer is: better a good myth than a disruptive truth.

Jesus, of course, thought differently: it is the truth that sets us free. And while we certainly need to tell anyone who is interested why the Bible can be trusted, we also need to find a way to demonstrate that the life he brings is indeed a life of joy and freedom, wonder, discovery and adventure. After all, aren’t all Christians called to be part of God’s epic purposes in time and eternity? Aren’t we all called to be agents of transformation in his world?

It’s great to crack the code, but it’s vital to live the word.

Mark Greene

additional resources

Read Mark Greene's original Connecting with Culture on The Da Vinci Code, at www.licc.org.uk/culture.

For a longer article by Mark on the book and its issues, visit www.licc.org.uk/articles.

Read Christianity Today's review of the film, with discussion starters, at www.christianitytoday.com/movies.

For a spread of reviews of the film, visit the US site www.rottentomatoes.com.