withallyourmind.net

I know that just about every apologist and his mother has blogged something about the Da Vinci Code recently, but I also noticed a large number of Christians who were content to say something like “But everyone knows it’s just fiction. What’s the big deal?” and leave it at that. The unfortunate fact, however, is that popular culture does a lot more to affect peoples’ worldviews than you would think. One recent survey found that 17% of Canadians and 13% of Americans believed that Jesus’ death was a fake and that he was secretly married - a key premise of the Da Vinci Code. Another survey in France found that nearly one in four thought the book “is based on facts surrounding the life of Jesus Christ.” A survey done by The Barna Group found that 5% (estimated to be about 2 million people) who read the book actually changed their religious views because of it and 24% considered it to be “a helpful spiritual document.” The point I’m trying to make here is that the Da Vinci Code is affecting how people think about Jesus and every Christian should know at least enough about it to answer the questions it raises about the historicity of the biblical documents.

(HT The ID Update)