Dr. Ray Pritchard Christian Blog and Commentary

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Should You Read the Da Vinci Code?

  • Dr. Ray Pritchard
    Dr. Ray Pritchard is the president of Keep Believing Ministries, an Internet-based ministry serving Christians in 225 countries. He is the author of 29 books, including Stealth Attack, Fire and Rain,… More
  • Published Mar 17, 2005

Yesterday I received an email from a young man asking if he should read Dan Brown's monumental bestseller, The Da Vinci Code. Here is part of what he wrote:

I need to know if it is "safe" for me to read The Da Vinci Code. I bought the book today and have read the first 3 chapters or so (not much as the chapters are short). I let my wife know that I was reading it and she was genuinely concerned about it. She is afraid that it will confuse me and that at some point I may recollect things written in the book as facts that I have learned from the church or the bible.

Obviously the answer would vary, depending on the person and their level of spiritual maturity and Bible knowledge. Here is my answer:

Go ahead and read The Da Vinci Code. For one thing, it's a bestseller. For another thing, millions of people have read it and are talking about it. And the author knows how to write a good novel. The main thing is, remember that it's a novel. The parts about Mary and Jesus and Da Vinci's painting and the Holy Grail have no basis in historical fact.

So I strongly recommend that you buy a second book called The Da Vinci Deception by Erwin Lutzer. Dr. Lutzer's book exposes the false ideas about Jesus and Mary and the bad history that Dan Brown used when he wrote his book. In fact, I think you would enjoy reading both books at the same time.

Take the novel for what it is--a well-written tale that purports to be based on history but isn't really. And read Lutzer to find the truth that Dan Brown overlooked.


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