Angel or Demon? Debunking the Debunkers...
Dan Brown has been an unlikely guide on my spiritual journey of late. I picked up a copy of the uber-popular The Da Vinci Code mostly out of intrigue for scandal. After all, had I not just seen on a Borders bookshelf this BestSeller flanked by not 1, not 3, but 5 (that's FIVE!) books attempting to debunk the theories and theology of Dan Brown? I felt it my pastoral duty to investigate, albiet doubtful I would cry aloud in protest.
Immediately, I was riveted. Now don't get me wrong, this book and it's prequel Angels and Demons (equally absorbing!) are more fun than fact. Were it not for the art and religious hooks, I can't claim I'd of even read something from the modern thriller genre. But this was different. Fifty years after Tolkien introduced the world to the ring of power, Brown gives us a specific instance of powers' corruptibilities. Oh, and similarities abound to M. Night Shyamalan's most recent classic The Village as well. Both of Dan Brown's books challenge the status quo not only of Western Christianity, but of Western civilization as a whole. As huge as that sounds (and both books are gloriously enormous in scope and reach), Brown simply begs the question, "How would we see things differently if Christendom had not been the most dominate world power over the last 1700 years?" Issues of science, faith, history, and art have all been influenced, distorted, and given life by an institution that has wielded tremendous power: The Institutional Church.
As a post-modern, he's simply deconstructing cultural Christianity with the hopes of giving us a glimpse of something deeper and more ancient. Isn't this what we post-moderns and emerging church persons are hoping for at our core? Absolutely! John Driver, in his book Radical Faith: An alternative history of the Christian Church, laments that "The church's memory was twisted to serve the puposes of established powers and their institutions, rather than the needs of the Christian people." That might as well be on Code's jacket cover as a plot summary! Of course he's referring primarily to Christendom, which is also precisely what Dan Brown takes aim at in narrative fashion. "In the fourth century, the Christian Church ceased to be a persecuted minority movement and became an established institution, protected by secular powers." Creeds, dogma, and even our present canon codified during this same time period in which secular powers reigned. The Church, as it were, sold out (souled out?) it's radical roots for political power.
Enough of the deep stuff! Brown's novels waver back and forth between characters guided by good faith, and characters guided by bad faith brought on by being squashed by the powers and principalities of our world, whether religious or not! I was surprised at their depth, to be honest. But in the midst of Catholic abuse scandals, corporate fraud, and raging government clinging to every shred of power - Brown has helped me ask some of life's bigger questions. In the midst of all the page-turning bravado, weaves a great tale of oppression, sin, and all it's ugly consequences. Sure, he suggests some things about Jesus and the church that are hard to swallow. But in doing so he reminds me that in history there are winners and there are loosers, and it's the winners who get to write history. Heretics, whether truly unorthodox or only perceived so (one thinks of Galileo for instance, or even our own Dan Brown!) never get the chance to speak. No matter what I believe, my belief is based as much in those whom passed it on to me as in he whom I claim to believe. At the very least, some discernment is demanded of us? Is that so bad?
Besides all that, Brown has got people reading and talking about faith and religion in ways that are far safer than Tim Lahaye allows! So, with that, I debunk you! You crazy debunkers! Let all the free Christians of the world read and enjoy The Da Vinci Code and Angels and Demons! I for one, can't wait for the next Robert Langdon book to hit my libraries shelf next summer!!
Immediately, I was riveted. Now don't get me wrong, this book and it's prequel Angels and Demons (equally absorbing!) are more fun than fact. Were it not for the art and religious hooks, I can't claim I'd of even read something from the modern thriller genre. But this was different. Fifty years after Tolkien introduced the world to the ring of power, Brown gives us a specific instance of powers' corruptibilities. Oh, and similarities abound to M. Night Shyamalan's most recent classic The Village as well. Both of Dan Brown's books challenge the status quo not only of Western Christianity, but of Western civilization as a whole. As huge as that sounds (and both books are gloriously enormous in scope and reach), Brown simply begs the question, "How would we see things differently if Christendom had not been the most dominate world power over the last 1700 years?" Issues of science, faith, history, and art have all been influenced, distorted, and given life by an institution that has wielded tremendous power: The Institutional Church.
As a post-modern, he's simply deconstructing cultural Christianity with the hopes of giving us a glimpse of something deeper and more ancient. Isn't this what we post-moderns and emerging church persons are hoping for at our core? Absolutely! John Driver, in his book Radical Faith: An alternative history of the Christian Church, laments that "The church's memory was twisted to serve the puposes of established powers and their institutions, rather than the needs of the Christian people." That might as well be on Code's jacket cover as a plot summary! Of course he's referring primarily to Christendom, which is also precisely what Dan Brown takes aim at in narrative fashion. "In the fourth century, the Christian Church ceased to be a persecuted minority movement and became an established institution, protected by secular powers." Creeds, dogma, and even our present canon codified during this same time period in which secular powers reigned. The Church, as it were, sold out (souled out?) it's radical roots for political power.
Enough of the deep stuff! Brown's novels waver back and forth between characters guided by good faith, and characters guided by bad faith brought on by being squashed by the powers and principalities of our world, whether religious or not! I was surprised at their depth, to be honest. But in the midst of Catholic abuse scandals, corporate fraud, and raging government clinging to every shred of power - Brown has helped me ask some of life's bigger questions. In the midst of all the page-turning bravado, weaves a great tale of oppression, sin, and all it's ugly consequences. Sure, he suggests some things about Jesus and the church that are hard to swallow. But in doing so he reminds me that in history there are winners and there are loosers, and it's the winners who get to write history. Heretics, whether truly unorthodox or only perceived so (one thinks of Galileo for instance, or even our own Dan Brown!) never get the chance to speak. No matter what I believe, my belief is based as much in those whom passed it on to me as in he whom I claim to believe. At the very least, some discernment is demanded of us? Is that so bad?
Besides all that, Brown has got people reading and talking about faith and religion in ways that are far safer than Tim Lahaye allows! So, with that, I debunk you! You crazy debunkers! Let all the free Christians of the world read and enjoy The Da Vinci Code and Angels and Demons! I for one, can't wait for the next Robert Langdon book to hit my libraries shelf next summer!!
posted by Heretic @ 1:30 PM
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