Da Vinci: A Broken Code

Al Lutz, Brian Edwards,
David Cross, some other guy.

Last night I drove down to the Solihull Arts Complex for a lecture by Brian H. Edwards, organised by Solihull Presbyterian on the issues raised by Dan Brown's The Da Vinci Code. Brian is a Christian writer and apologist and has produced many books amongst which is a little 32-page book on the phenomenon.

I have never really been one to get hyped up about these kinds of cultural phenomena. Rather cynically, I always think, "someone is making money out of this and it isn't me"! So I had not read the book, though my wife Susan has, nor seen the film. Nevertheless, I am aware that these kinds of things can affect the consciousness of the culture for a time at least which creates an opportunity for discussion with non-Christians. There are some who would argue that this is just fiction: why all the fuss? But there are some who are influenced nonetheless. I remember watching someone on TV a few weeks ago, a lapsed Catholic, who read the book and then claimed that she was convinced by every word. Clearly, the fact that it was fiction had not deterred her from believing it! There will be many others.
I guess there were about 30 in attendance. Brian presented the main issues for Christians, making use of a PowerPoint presentation. It was clear and well delivered without being confrontational. He laid out the facts compared with the propositions made by the characters in the book. It was followed by questions afterwards.

Most interesting for me was a discussion after the meeting with the young guy who was the council's caretaker looking after the venue for us. He is not a Christian, but described the presentation as 'fascinating' and we talked about some of the issues. He was delightful.

Overall, It was good to meet some of the Solihull people again and to make some new contacts.