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DA VINCI DEBUNKERS: Spawns of Dan Brown's Bestseller by Marcia Ford
FaithfulReader.com's contributing writer Marcia Ford takes a look at 11 books either on the market or in the works that respond to Dan Brown's bestselling and controversial novel THE DA VINCI CODE. She focuses on the varying perspectives of the authors, differences in the structure of the books and significant distinctions in content --- and then reveals her choice for the best Da Vinci-related work. Click here to read.



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Meet the Authors
Richard Abanes
Darrell L. Bock
Dan Burstein
James L. Garlow
Peter Jones
Steve Kellmeyer
Erwin W. Lutzer
Sandra Miesel
Carl E. Olson
Amy Welborn
Ben Witherington III

 
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THE DA VINCI CODE Author Roundtable

14. FaithfulReader.com: What do you hope your book will accomplish?

Amy Welborn: I hope that my book will, first of all, assure readers that the assertions Brown makes are false.

Secondly, I want to let readers know that the traditional sources for knowledge about Christian origins --- the New Testament and early Christian writings --- are reliable.

Third, I want to help readers think logically about these issues. There is just so much irrational, illogical thinking that goes on in this novel that it's mind-boggling. (For example, Brown accuses the "Peter Party," which proclaimed the divinity of Jesus, of suppressing the "Magdalene Party," which of course saw him as a mortal teacher. But then Brown says that before Constantine, no one believed in Jesus' divinity. So...who were the Peter Party? Where were they? I thought no one believed in Jesus' divinity? Secondly, Brown says that this Peter Party was intent on suppressing the role of Mary Magdalene. But it's the Peter Party who's responsible for the canon of Scripture, which contains gospels that all feature Mary Magdalene as the first witness to the empty tomb. If you were intent on suppressing her role, wouldn't you take that out?)

Fourth, I want to encourage readers to look at Mary Magdalene for who she was --- the "apostle to the apostles" or the "equal to the apostles" as the Eastern Orthodox call her. There are plenty of reasons to honor and imitate Mary Magdalene that are rooted in what we know about history, rather than what we fantasize.

Fifth, and most importantly, I want readers to come away from reading my book knowing that if they're curious about Jesus, that's a fantastic thing. If they want to know more --- go for it. Read the Gospels. Read the entire New Testament! Read some early Church writings --- the Didache, the letters of Ignatius, the Shepherd of Hermas, the account of Polycarp's martyrdom. Read and absorb what the earliest witness to Jesus experienced. Go for it. Do it.

Richard Abanes: I simply want people to have the facts. As I say in my book: This is not even a "Christian" issue. The issue is fact versus fiction. Truth versus lies. Accuracy versus inaccuracy. In other words, THE DA VINCI CODE would still be just as offensive if its misrepresentations of historical facts were used to attack Buddhism, Islam, or any other world religion instead of Christianity. This is because the most egregious aspect of the novel is not that Dan Brown disagrees with Christianity, but that he utterly warps it in order to disagree with it --- to the point of completely rewriting history" (see p. 77 of my book).

Dan Burstein: I hope SECRETS OF THE CODE will live up to its purpose of giving readers all the raw materials they need to get a serious taste of the books and ideas Dan Brown consulted in creating THE DA VINCI CODE. In doing so, I hope my book will help readers learn about the ideas they are most interested in, sort out fact and fiction, and gain new perspectives on the broad canvas of issues painted by Brown.

Steve Kellmeyer: My book has already accomplished what I intended. It has brought people face to face with the truth. What they choose to do with the truth is up to them.

Darrell L. Bock: Simply put, I hope that by putting the ancient materials before people, they can see what the history actually was. I respect people's ability to make a judgment based on what the ancient record is.

Sandra Miesel: We tried to give a thorough debunking, not only of Brown, but of his bad sources and the mentalities that make the Templars such darlings of the occult. The issues of Gnosticism, goddess-worship, the conspiratorial view of history and the true nature of Christ are perennial ones that I hope our readers will be better equipped to address. Relying on standard academic sources, we want to show what good references look like.

Carl E. Olson: My book refutes the errors of THE DA VINCI CODE and also provides a wealth of information about the truth behind the origins of Christianity, the person of Jesus, the Holy Grail, and much more.

Erwin W. Lutzer: I would hope that after reading my book, people who have had doubts about their faith would realize the errors in Brown's book. I hope they come away confident that the Christian faith has nothing to fear from THE DA VINCI CODE or other attacks made against it. I'd also like to think that skeptics would take another look at Jesus and realize that the Christian view of Him is compelling and satisfying.

Peter Jones: I hope it will show the consistency in biblical spirituality, in its anthropology, theology and Christology, and historicity.

James L. Garlow: I hope it causes people to have deeper passion for Christ.

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