Having read a couple of his books and attended lectures, listened to podcasts, etc., I highly respect Brian McLaren. Having said that, I don’t agree with everything he says (and I am not sure he agrees with everything he says). The Davinci Code is a lot a mosquito that just won’t stop. I thought its hype would have been its own demise but I thought the same thing about American Idol (and yeah, I’ve watched from time to time. I watch now just to laugh at that idiot Taylor. Pick anyone, Chris, that Brunette, bring back the airhead Kelly, but if this 52 year old weirdo wins, there is no hope for the Amercian public). Anyway, I digress, Brian McLaren on the DaVinci Code: (full article linked to title).
“With The Da Vinci Code poised to go from bestseller list to the big screen on May 19, pastor and writer (and Sojourners board member) Brian McLaren talks about why he thinks there’s truth in the controversial book’s fiction.
What do you think the popularity of The Da Vinci Code reveals about pop culture attitudes toward Christianity and the church?
Brian McLaren: I think a lot of people have read the book, not just as a popular page-turner but also as an experience in shared frustration with status-quo, male-dominated, power-oriented, cover-up-prone organized Christian religion. We need to ask ourselves why the vision of Jesus hinted at in Dan Brown’s book is more interesting, attractive, and intriguing to these people than the standard vision of Jesus they hear about in church. Why would so many people be disappointed to find that Brown’s version of Jesus has been largely discredited as fanciful and inaccurate, leaving only the church’s conventional version? Is it possible that, even though Brown’s fictional version misleads in many ways, it at least serves to open up the possibility that the church’s conventional version of Jesus may not do him justice?” …
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