I hosted the Jerry Johnson Live radio program tonight and forgot to give credit to an article that I was using. I was discussing The DaVinci Code movie that came out in theaters today. I went and saw the movie this morning in preparation for the show. Afterward, I read some reviews of the movie, one of which was Ben Witherington’s “Da Vinci Code– the Movie: ‘So Dark the Con of Man.’â€During the show when I gave my evaluation of the movie, I echoed much of what Ben Witherington said. I found the “Guide to Christian Viewers†section from Witherington’s review particularly insightful, and I used it on the show. Witherington writes:
This movie is not appropriate to bring: 1) young children to– the violence and self-flaggelations scenes involving Silas the monk are too much for the young; 2) likewise this movie is going to raise numerous questions for people not well grounded in their faith, especially those of Roman Catholic background. I am not urging them to see it either. 3) Those who know the Bible, but not much about church history (including modern church history– e.g. what is Opus Dei) are not going to be able to dialogue with the inquisitive about this movie very well since it is more about church history than it is about anything in the Bible itself. In particular those who know little or nothing about the Council of Nicea, the mythical Priory of Sion, the Gnostic Gospels, or the formation of the canon will be ill-prepared for the discussions this movie may raise. It would be better to do a little homework before or after seeing this movie if one wants to use it to have a dialogue about the Christian faith with Da Vinci Code fans. 4) there are certainly some things in this movie, especially those that come out of the mouth of Teabing, and some of the actions of the Catholic bishop and his lacky the monk which any Christian should and will find disturbing. There is really not a single positive portrayal of a devout Christian in this movie, and that in itself is disturbing in a movie that is so much about the history of Christianity. Christian audiences therefore should be cautious, and come prepared to thinking critically about the movie if you go (source).
Sorry about the oversight. Dr. Witherington has a great blog, and you should check it out.
