I stayed up late last night and finished The Da Vinci Code. I must say, Dan Brown is quite an author. If you can, for a moment, forget about his pseudo-history, the book was fantastic. It was very well-written, fast-paced, and easy to read. Brown has mastered the art of leaving the reader on the edge of their seat at the conclusion of each chapter, thus successfully luring you to read on. The end of the book has some nice surprises and pretty much all the loose ends are tied up. The book as a whole has earned a well-deserved place on the New York Times bestseller list.

However, there are some severe problems with almost all of the book’s historical/religious/moral content. The range of issues is so broad that I was forced to formulate a specific way to handle it. My course of action is as follows:

1. I’m going to select five main points of discussion from the book. I’ll try to select the five that, in my mind, are the most important and/or relevant to us today. There will undoubtedly be issues left untouched, but that cannot be helped.

2. I want to do some more reading from different sources on these issues to gain a broader perspective. This extra reading will also allow Dr. McGuire and Jason Beavers to finish reading the book as well since they went at a much slower pace than I.

3. Once ready, I will begin to post my five main topics on this blog as separate issues one at a time. This will allow for a specific area to handle each topic by itself while providing you, the reader, with an opportunity to respond/dialogue.

I really believe that this book will ultimately serve a good purpose for the church. Its challenges and claims will force the church to delve back into its history and reexamine Biblical texts. God is the Master of using an opposing force for a redemptive purpose. Stay tuned for more in the days to come.