Posted on 05/16/2006 8:12:33 AM PDT by Esther Ruth
The DaVinci Delusion That Cannot Be Ignored--May 16 --> Posted to Jans_eUpdates for May, 2006
May 16 - The DaVinci Delusion That Cannot Be Ignored
I had hoped I could ignore this social and spiritual tsunami but I cannot. When "The DaVinci Code" has sold 45 million copies and millions more are eagerly going to enter theatres this summer for the film, cautions must be sounded as many are doing.
There is no name on earth that evokes such instant and blinding hatred than does the Name of Jesus Christ to all enemies of the gospel. And though the book has done its damage, in the coming days, one of the biggest hate crimes against true Christianity is about to open on film with tens of millions more eagerly standing in line.
Author Dan Brown says, "My sincere hope is that 'The DaVinci Code', in addition to entertaining people, will serve as an open door to begin their own exploration." Exploration of what?? The total debunking of all that the Bible has to say, including the death, burial, and resurrection of our Lord. As Erwin Lutzer of Moody Memorial Church says, "Dan Brown's agenda is not thinly veiled: This book is a direct attack against Christ, the church, and those of us who are followers and call Him Savior."
Hear my radio interview/discussion on this with discernment Pastor Gary Gilley from last weekend here: http://www.olivetreeviews.org/radio/mp3/ It is an hour full of pertinent information.
Brown has the audacity to state right up front that all facts in the book are TRUE when, in fact, they are irrational lies. He has introduced to the unsuspecting an alternative form of Christianity debunking the sacrifice Jesus made for us on the cross. While dozens of films and books have done this over the years, none have been quite this salacious, filled with lies and distortions, about the One who took our sins upon Him. One should only waste money on the Hollywood Christian haters if you have a genuinely seeking friend or relative who wants the facts to be unraveled so they can hopefully embrace truth. And no previous Bible/Jesus-bashing book has sold 45 million copies so this has reached the state where the culture must be engaged in a reasonable way.
Brown tries to wipe away doubt in the opening segments of the film. What he's done is exercise his imagination, strung together rumor, myth, and legend. He has introduced to the unsuspecting an alternative form of Christianity. Any doubt these are the "last days" of deception predicted by Jesus Himself in Matthew 24?
The plot includes Jesus NOT dying on the cross, marrying Mary Magdalene, and having a child whose descendents are still alive. A secret society guards this "truth." Yet not a single credible, ancient source substantiates this.
Skeptics, seekers, new Christians, and unstable Christians could end up believing that the Christian faith is founded on a myth, for Brown cleverly mixes some truth with a lot of fiction, something that always confuses and leads people away from truth. And most today do not have the time or will not take the time to really study and find the real truth.
Campus Crusade for Christ says they have gotten notes saying some of the following:
"I read 'The DaVinci Code' and no longer know what I believe." (A missionary in Europe)
"Two close friends of mine in the church lost their faith over 'The DaVinci Code.' "
"I lost my son to 'The DaVinci Code.' "
This apostasy has gotten some fuel from Emergent Church leader Brian McClaren. In an interview in "Sojourner's Magazine," very much to the left but calling itself evangelical, McLaren suggests it is popular because "it is an experience in shared frustration with status-quo, male-dominated, power-oriented, cover-up-prone, organized religion (which is why he created a new, more trendy one called "Emergent.") McLaren suggests that the standard vision of Jesus is not sufficient to most. "I don't think 'DaVinci Code' has more harmful ideas in it than the 'Left Behind' novels, as they twist Scripture toward a theological and political bend." This leaves me speechless and in more serious doubt and concern for those filtering into McLaren's movement called the Emergent Church.
On the positive side, the book and movie open up a tremendous opportunity to talk about Jesus while He's on the minds of millions. It's an opportunity to engage the culture.
For more on the topic beyond last weekend's radio program, visit the link "Spiritual Deception" at my Web site, http://www.olivetreeviews.org/topics/spiritual_deception.shtml This CBN link also has a good analysis, also under "Spiritual Deception" on my site: http://www.cbn.com/special/DaVinciCode/
So rescue the perishing while there is still time, won't you?
Awaiting His return, Jan Markell
Would you first chose a friend with wishy-washy faith to pray for you, rather than a friend with "tried and true" faith?
Saints aren't deities...they are members of the Body of Christ who are in heaven. Death has no power to sever the bond of Christian unity.
We ask saints to pray for us, just as we ask our earthly friends to pray for us. We have saints' pictures around, just as we have pictures of our other friends around. We have their pictures around, just as we have pictures of people we admire (like George Bush and George Washington) around
Then why not pray directly to God?
Shortcut right to the boss.
I asked FReepers to pray for my grandson. Was that okay?
Just the other day my daughter and I were talking about how some people believe the characters in movies and TV are real? So it is not that surprising that people would believe just about anything including the Dan Brown trash! We live in an age of Just Do It and babies being killed for convenience anything goes. So why not our Savior!
What an embarrassment that Christians feel compelled to oppose/care about this. Treat it like a pop novel based on a silly premise. Because that's what it is.
Is a woman allowed to look at a picture of her husband who is stationed overseas, while she writes a letter to him?
Am I allowed to have statues, silhouettes and pictures of George Washington around my home? (I never knew George, though I admire him greatly).
Yes. Of course.
I am not going to say anymore because I don't want to offend you or anyone else.
I'm not embarrassed. I enjoy watching folks contradict conspiracy theories.
I can't do much to contradict The Da Vinci Code since I haven't read it.
So do I. But all this boycott crap adds credibility to the silly theories. You'd think people would know by now that acting threatened plays into their hands.
Oh. So I can't complain?
Keep my mouth shut?
No way.
There are two sides, one for and one against. If you don't like what I say, too bad.
You're not offending me.
For about 30 years, I opposed asking for saints' intercession Then I learned that
Acts 5: 14-16
"[T]hey even carried out the sick into the streets, and laid them on beds and pallets, that as Peter came by, at least his shadow might fall upon some of them. The people also gathered from the towns around Jerusalem, bringing the sick and those afflicted with unclean spirits, and they were all healed.
Acts 19: 11-12
"And God did extraordinary miracles by the hands of Paul, so that handkerchiefs or aprons were carried away from his body to the sick, and the diseases left them and the evil spirits came out of them."
Nowadays we think of this word as pertaining to an act of worship, whereas it is simply a form of request. Shakespeare's work, and that of his contemporaries, are full of the expression "I pri'thee" or "I pray thee" - meaning, "Please, I beg of you ..."
Using this definition (which - for instance - has been around longer than America has existed) today's Freepers literally pray to President Bush every day, asking him to close the borders, or to sort out Iran. Prayer is not worship: it is a request.
So why pray to saints? The clearest way I can think of putting it is as follows: imagine that you are lying in a gutter with a broken leg. You cry out to passersby. You ask God for help. How does God respond? It will be in one of the following ways :
a) He appears Himself and helps you.
b) He sends an Angel who (hopefully) helps you.
c) He appeals to the conscience of a human being, who (hopefully) helps you.
From experience God overwhelmingly opts for option C*. He works through people. God chooses to use us humans to do his mighty works. He works through us to feed the poor, clothe the naked, defend the powerless.
Sainthood is the Church's recognition that death is no barrier to the power of God. He works through us in life, and he also chooses to work through holy, God-filled people who have died - as a sign of Christ's body, real and active in the world you and I know. The Church (the Body of Christ) seems to be built as a community - not simply a huge number of 'vertical' relationships with God, but a community of interacting, active lovers.
I hope this is helpful Sir.
(* He doesn't - often - just appear before someone and get them to help out - God is extremely minimalist. He won't overwhelm anyone's free will. He uses the still small voice of conscience - the better angel of our nature.)
I think Christians can become weary of calling out all the apostasy so they get timid and tired. They can become fearful of the rejection of family, friends, the world, etc.,by calling a spade a spade. Also they fall into the pc trap of being the good, quiet, subservient little Christian who just watches it all go by. Christians also fall into the high school peer pressure trap of watching what other Christians around them are doing first before speaking up. Not everyone sees things as clearly, quickly as another, not all have the same discernment abilities (obviously) such as "weaker brothers" so the assumptions is of course you warn folks and just don't twiddle the thumbs, pondering why in the world possibly some may not have as much "insight" or understanding as another - you just speak the truth, plainly, clearly, etc. that something is out of line with Scripture. It shouldn't be a big deal when a Christian calls out an apostasy. Human pride and arrogance can creep in to the mind of believers also of course, and they can begin to think that "hey, we are just so cocky, arrogant, sure of it all we will not even respond to this stuff."
I think that talk of boycotting adds attention to the silly theories.
But...
I can't agree that talk of boycotting adds credibility to the silly theories.
In the same way, Fahrenheit 911 needed debunking, even though the public debunking drew even more attention to (what's-his-name's?) movie.
Regarding those cited in the article who claime that reading a novel has caused them to lose their faith, or become confused about what to believe, if it does come down to a standoff between "us" and "them," we in the Christian world are undeniably better off with the confused ones on the side of "them." Some people, it's been said, are just too stupid to survive.
What a great explanation!
I'm concerned that the "confused ones" will not encourage their children to believe in Christ or allow their children to be influenced by other Christians.
I realize that the children can still find a path to Christ, but they might wander for many years of their lives.
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