People read it and say "It's a novel but all the church stuff is true," ... I got into a protracted "discussion" with a fellow FReeper awhile back about that very point.
He insisted that the novel was historically accurate. He repeatedly posted that the novel was fiction, "but the history in the novel is true."
Well put. It's funny, though, watching some people on this thread hopping around saying 'It's fiction! It's fiction!" They refuse to grasp even the simplest concepts of what fiction is and what it does, and the uses it is put to, and what the author is doing. The reason this book is given such attention is because the author claimed it's BASED on FACT--that's why people have bought it by the millions and subsequently said "Hey, the stuff in here is true." And also why the authors of the supposedly NON-fiction book "Holy Blood, Holy Grail" filed a lawsuit.
Amazing how some people can't understand very simple concepts, such as how a work of fiction can be based on facts; indeed, how ALL novels are based on facts, to one extent or another.
I suppose if someone held up an anti-Christian sign these same folks would say "IT'S JUST A SIGN, IT DOESN'T MEAN ANYTHING!!!!!"