Spiritual Turbulence
The hardest thing in the world can be witnessing to Americans today. Many people simply have no interest in discussing eternal issues: heaven, hell, the soul, sin, whether or not there's life after death. Having a desire to witness is well and good until one continually runs into a buzz saw of disinterest.
Fortunately, spiritual turbulence is ahead. On May 19, the Da Vinci Code movie will be released in theaters. As my pastor commented yesterday, it would be foolish to ignore this movie. It is directed by Ron Howard. It stars Tom Hanks, Ian McKellen, and Alfred Molina. It's based on a book that sold 40 million copies. It's backed up by an all-star crew. This movie will make money and this movie will draw in millions of Americans.
This movie will cause spiritual turbulence because it contains many heresies, most of which the church thought were long dead. For the unprepared Christian, the attacks on Christianity may prove damaging. For the non-believer, the movie will challenge what they thought they knew about Christianity.
All of this will have two benefits: it will inspire Christians to know what they believe and whom they believe in and it will shut down the buzz saw of disinterest in spiritual matters. Many people leaving the theater will be filled with questions about Christianity. There first stop will probably be the Christians they know.
Because being forewarned is being forearmed, I wanted to pass along a resource that I've found helpful: The Da Vinci Opportunity by Dr. Mark D. Roberts. Dr. Roberts has a PhD in New Testament studies from Harvard University. During his graduate career, he spent an extensive amount of time studying the texts that the Da Vinci code references. In fact, he probably spent more time studying those texts than he did the New Testament texts themselves. As such, he is uniquely qualified to comment on the Da Vinci code and the accuracy of Scripture.
His three part series (part 1, part 2, part 3) contains 21 essays on the reliability of the Gospels, the background of Gnosticism, and the differences between the Jesus of the Da Vinci code and the Jesus of the Bible.
Read the series. Watch the movie. Stand firm in your own faith and be ready to answer the questions that are sure to come your way. That is all.
[tags]da vinci code, entertainment, culture[/tags]
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