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View from the Pew
Mary Adamski
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Decoding DaVinci
A pastor brings to town his "crusade" against church history as "distorted" in the best-selling book and new movie "The DaVinci Code"
There's a traveling preacher in town who wants to help local Christians arm themselves for a major battle in "the war between good and evil." He's selling his version of a shield.
"Distorted" ideas are the enemy and information is the defense for the Rev. Steve Munsey, who has joined the ranks of literally hundreds of Christian soldiers who are bashing "The DaVinci Code."
Anyone who has watched or listened to a talk show, set foot in a bookstore or even talked to anyone who reads has heard about that 2003 fictional thriller by author Dan Brown. It poses ideas about Jesus, the Christian religion and its history and religious organizations that set off a virtual industry of response. Cyberspace is loaded with references to books, articles, film productions and Web pages claiming to "break" or "debunk" or "crack" or present the "fact and fiction" about Brown's imaginings.
Munsey, pastor of the Family Christian Center of Munster, Ind., brought his contribution, "Exposing the DaVinci Code," a 65-minute DVD that will be presented during his 6 p.m. talk tomorrow at Word of Life Christian Center, 544 Queen St. The November 2005 production by Highland Entertainment is sold in bookstores and retail stores and has been shown on pay-per-view television channels.
"I'm on a crusade," said the visitor. He started a speaking tour last Sunday at King's Cathedral on Maui, and will move on to churches and college campuses on the mainland. "The book is a lie, but it is creating a tidal wave about what is the truth, among believers and atheists. I'm on a crusade to explain Dan Brown and what he's done."
He is girding people to defend their belief against the movie version of "The DaVinci Code," due to be released in May, which he considers even more threatening than the book.
"The strongest pulpit in the world is the movie theater. It dominates the younger culture," said Munsey, who is the author of several books and has been tapped by national media as a Christian spokesman. "We are a sight-sound generation, educated through the computer, games and movies. They will see it and go out and say it's a fact. It will erupt their thinking.
"I'm not saying don't go. We need to get into the marketplace," said Munsey. "We will always have the emotional people who will say, picket the movie. We can go toe to toe, eye to eye with the story. It is fiction; the Bible is true."
COURTESY OF THE REV. STEVE MUNSEY
The cover of the Rev. Steve Munsey's "Exposing the DaVinci Code" is shown above. The visiting pastor will present the DVD as part of his talk at 6 p.m. tomorrow at Word of Life Christian Center.
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The DVD features a dozen Christian professors or writers who address controversial themes from Brown's book. (Don't look for a true-and-false roundup in this column. There's not enough space on the page.)
Munsey thinks the DVD provides the answers for Christians. "Prepare yourself with all the information. Start understanding what's about to be said." He said the coming movie "forces the pulpit to organize. We'd better get study groups together."
So much of "The DaVinci Code" and, indeed, so much of the early history of Christianity is about the Roman Catholic Church, centuries-old trivia about heresies, crusades, popes and religious movements. It's stuff that any self-respecting modern Protestant would choose to ignore. The demonizing of the Vatican is a train of thought that many fundamentalists have in common with the author of this book.
But here's Munsey, urging 21st-century Christians to educate themselves about that old information. "I'm on a huge crusade for Catholics and Christians to prepare yourselves. This issue is linking Catholics and Christians for the first time since 325 A.D., bringing them together on the issue of the divinity of Christ." (Don't look for a crib sheet on that date here. Do your own homework.)
A pastor for 20 years, Munsey said: "The church is in a shallow state right now. The fad is the seeker. You're seeking ... not too long, not too deep, just a little bit. We find ourselves in a time when people who claim Christ do not know the Bible. They do not get enough education. If they have to explain what they believe, they rely on their own testimony.
"I don't think the movie will do anything but draw people to the knowledge of the Bible. The movie will make the agnostic, the atheist, the Buddhist, the Muslim, everyone want to talk about Jesus Christ."
In the meantime, Munsey has done his bit to bring Christianity into the marketplace. There's the DVD on sale. And his book, "The Holy Code," a study guide dissecting and correcting Brown's tale, will be published next month.