Today’s release of the movie “The Da Vinci Code” has turned into a marketing bonanza for churches of many denominations.
“It’s been very good. It’s driven people back to the Bible to learn,” said Pastor Mike Kelleher of Calvary Temple church, which advertised a series of evening discussion groups on a banner near the church on South University Boulevard.
The movie, denounced by many religious groups, is based on a historical thriller by Dan Brown about a clandestine society protecting a secret – that Jesus married Mary Magdalene and had children. In the book, the society is pitted against the Vatican, which wants to make sure the marriage and children never come to light.
The Denver Catholic Register weekly newspaper added a four- page, full-color supplement to next week’s edition, giving detailed arguments against Brown’s work. The supplement’s cover shows Leonardo Da Vinci’s painting “The Last Supper,” which Brown writes has Mary sitting to the right of Jesus. The supplement counters that the figure in question is actually the apostle John and that it was traditional to show John as a beardless, attractive youth.
“It’s an opportunity for people to learn about the facts of their faith, to defend it,” said Jeanette DeMelo, spokeswoman for the Denver Archdiocese.
Because the book and movie singled out the Catholic Church, the archdiocese went to great lengths to debunk them. It hosted about 20 lectures by seminarians across the city. It also mailed copies of “The Da Vinci Deception,” Edward Sri’s critique of Brown’s book, to all the priests in the church’s 110 metro-area parishes, DeMelo said.
“We’re not calling for a boycott of the movie,” she said. “But we don’t recommend seeing the movie because of the misrepresentations about the church. If (parishioners) see it, we recommend they take a look at the material that talks about the fallacies of the book.”
The Denver Archdiocese has set up a website, archden.org/davincicode.
Pastor Gene Barron of the Valley View Christian Church immediately saw opportunities in the book, which he said he couldn’t put down.
“Unfortunately, it’s a historical novel with much of the fiction set in a factual, historical setting,” he said. “Many people can’t separate the fact from the fiction.”
Barron, whose congregation numbers about 800, mailed 15,000 invitations to check the church’s website, valleyviewcc.net, or come to church to discuss their faith.
“This has been a wonderful opportunity to give them the evidence behind their faith, to give them the reasons to defend their faith,” Barron said.
Alex McFarland, director of apologetics for Focus on the Family in Colorado Springs, said the book “has created an intense interest in theology and doctrine.”
“This has prompted a lot of people to do the homework, to hit the books, to be prepared around the watercooler to defend their faith,” McFarland said.
He said he “disavows” the book’s contents.
Marion Neiser of the Marilyn Hickey Ministries in Greenwood Village called the book “just fun.”
“It’s intriguing about art history, with intriguing arguments about challenges to the Christian beliefs,” she said. “It gave us a springboard to address our beliefs: What is the truth? What does the Bible say?”
