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Missouri Baptist University
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For Immediate Release
RE: Conference Reveals Truth Lacking in The DaVinci Code
Conference Reveals Truth Lacking in The DaVinci Code
June 18, 2005
Missouri Baptist University hosted more than 100 scholars, professors, church leaders, and laity for Christian Reflections on Contemporary Culture June 17-18 for two days of discussion, along with lighthearted and thought-provoking responses. The first conference session began with a summary and critique of Dan Brown’s publishing phenomenon The DaVinci Code from Philip Jenkins in his seminar The Dan Brown Code: Why Are We So Hungry for New Gospels?
“The success of this book points to some very worrying trends and raises a lot of issues for apologetics,” Jenkins noted. “I’ve yet to fly on a plane where someone nearby me is not reading The DaVinci Code. It’s everywhere.”
More than eighty gospels were submitted for inclusion in the New Testament, but only four were chosen. The DaVinci Code looks to go beyond the portraits offered in these four canonical gospels and explore what “truths” may be lurking in those that were not included. The “rejected gospels,” supposed in Dan Brown’s novel to have been purposely hidden because of their incriminating evidence of Jesus and Christianity, are the basis for the novel. Jenkins’ objection is found in the emphasis of these hidden gospels and their implied historical validity.
Jenkins noted that none of these texts Brown cited were written in the same time period as the four gospels. Their rejection was not based on facts Christians wished to be omitted, but rather their historical relevancy in regard to when they were composed. “These are as far from the time of Jesus as I am from Ben Franklin,” Jenkins said.
Hidden Gospels, which Jenkins’ published in 2001, delves into the myths of other gospels and Jesus’ supposed marriage to Mary Magdalene. Hidden Gospels was published two years before The DaVinci Code.
“There is nothing new about studying texts like these,” Jenkins argued, “but what my book tries to do is explore the importance of these works for contemporary religious thought. These ‘hidden gospels’ have acquired an importance far beyond their real historical value, and, in fact, they serve as the core texts for a full-fledged modern historical mythology.”
“Maybe the most frightening thing about The DaVinci Code is the attitude it suggests toward the Bible,” Jenkins noted. “It suggests that people have an idea that Christianity is a good and exciting thing, but there must be more to it than what’s in the Bible… It suggests a real problem of literacy, and we urgently need to rediscover the whole process of apologetic based in history.”
The discovery of “new gospels,” a term with Jenkins used lightly, usually occurs once every three to five years. “Get ready for the next time,” Jenkins heeded in regards to the Gospel of Mathias, a text he strongly feels will be discovered in his lifetime.
Although the topics discussed in The DaVinci Code have certainly created a phenomenon, Jenkins urged those present to remember, “It’s only a novel.”
Dr. Philip Jenkins is a distinguished professor of history and religious studies at Pennsylvania State University. He is also author of many books pertaining to Christianity and culture, including The Next Christendom, which won the 2002 Theologos award from the Association of Theological Booksellers for the year's best academic book and the 2003 Christianity Today Book Award for the best book in the category of "Christianity and Culture."
Recorded sessions are available for purchase at www.christianityandculture.org.
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Missouri Baptist University is a premier Christian university in Saint Louis, offering graduate and undergraduate studies in over thirty specialized fields and nine degrees. MBU's education and fine arts programs are nationally known in addition to business, religion, administration of justice, and more. MBU is one of the fastest growing higher education institutions in Missouri with an enrollment of over 4,500 students at five locations in the bi-state region — West County, Lincoln County, Jefferson County, Franklin County and the new Illinois extension at Lewis and Clark Community College.
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