Witnessing
The little girl is only 7, and she walked into B’s Sunday school class last week with a smile. One of the Geneva members has been bringing her for the last month or two. During the lesson, activity and singing, she let on that she knew Jesus was married and had had a child with his wife, Mary Magdalene.
Last Thursday afternoon, one of our Let’s Start Talking friends came by. Life's falling apart and she’s faced with difficult questions. Cancer, marriage on the rocks, no job, few friends… G. is hurting. In addition, her son is attacking her struggling faith. “Didn’t you read in that Brown book that the Bible is man’s idea and not God’s, that Jesus was no more God than you or me? How can you believe that stuff?”
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The fictional character Teabing says: “What I mean is that almost everything our fathers taught us about Christ is false.”
Some people listen to him.
The church says: We know that this disciple's testimony is true (John 21.24).
What have you heard your friends say? How have you replied?
posted by Brady @ 8:59 AM
3 comments
3 Comments:
I haven't seen the movie (or read the book) yet but I understand there is a "disclaimer" at the beginning of the movie which states that this is a work of fiction.
Nevertheless, with Tom Hanks as the main actor in the movie I think many people will overlook the disclaimer and take both the book and movie to heart.
We can already see that happening by the experiences you've had.
I haven't had any personal experiences with respect to your question, yet.
Here's the response I wrote to one my Christian sisters who ask my take on the Da Vinci Code:
The Da Vinci Code has been debunked in numerous places since the book came out. 60 minutes had a report on the Priory of Sion that plays an integral part in the book and completely debunked that aspect of it. You can read the transcript here.
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/04/27/60minutes/main1552009.shtml
I've seen other news reports and read other information that comes to the same conclusion. There are no reputable scholars who give any credence at all to what is written in the book. Naturally the movie will open the doors for the same questions that the book raised. I think the decision to go to the movie should be left up to the individual. I'm not sure as the body of Christ we send the right message if we spend all of our efforts on trying to get others to boycott something that is so obviously fiction. However, we should use the movie as an opportunity to discuss Jesus and the gospel. We need to be alert to opportunities to talk with co-workers, friends, and others about God's love and plan for salvation.
I have read the book and it was pretty interesting, as a mystery, up until close to the end where it completely fizzled out in my opinion.
The book is actually a murder mystery and the "Da Vinci Code" code are words left by the murdered person in one of Da Vinci's paintings to help his granddaughter and a historian find his killer(s). The big secret of the book is that the person standing next to Jesus in Da Vinci's last supper is actually Mary Magdalene. The book asserts that what's written in the four gospels is all myth and that Jesus married Mary Magdalene and had children and that his descendants are still living. You can see from this brief synopsis that the story is very convoluted. The documents that Brown mentions in the book to support this claim were shown to be fakes that were created about 40 years ago. This is brought out in 60 minutes piece from April 27.
Peace to you Brady.
I read the book (and will see the movie) in order to have those discussions. So far, I've been disappointed. I haven't had the chance to really discuss it with anybody except my brother who, while not devout in his faith, is certainly smart enough to recognize fiction when he sees it.
I thought there were some clever aspects to the book. To this day I can't see that painting without noticing how much like a female the one disciple looks. Still, a story is a story is a story.
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