Da Vinci Mode

Tempted Again


by KC
All of the recent press coverage and hype about The Da Vinci Code motion picture brings to mind another motion picture of the late 1980's -- The Last Temptation of Christ -- and all of its controversy. The Last Temptation of Christ started out as a book; it was a novel and a work of fiction, written in the 1950’s. It took about thirty years for it to make it to the silver screen, long after its author’s passing. The book was an honest attempt by a Greek man to explain the Orthodox Christian doctrine of the Two Natures (see discussion) in a way that people with a communistic, atheistic orientation could understand. The book was out there for thirty years, without any controversy. When the book was made into a movie, there was lots of controversy. Protestors objected to any depection of Jesus as a man with human weaknesses. Their emphasis on that was misplaced. As some reporters found, many of the protesters had neither read the book nor seen the movie.

On a personal note, the protesters lost credibility with me, because I knew from reading the book myself what the focus should have been -- the Two Natures. If they had actually seen the movie and disagreed with it on legitimate points, I would have had more respect for their points of view. It’s sad to me that so many people of faith felt their faith was simply too fragile to be tested or questioned. The saddest thing is that the actions of the protesters did more to hurt Christianity than help it. People going into the movie were met with intimidation on the way in, death threats, several physical assaults on movie goers by protesters, and numerous bomb threats, all by so called “Christians.” WWJD? On the bright side, the protests regarding The Da Vinci Code haven’t been nearly as prevalent or as violent.

The book first presenting the ideas behind The Da Vinci Code – “Holy Blood, Holy Grail” – has been out since the mid 1980’s, actually before the Last Temptation movie was out. Am not expecting people to read obscure religious tomes (like I do), but at least become informed about the matters at hand, and present a better argument to the public.

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Many thanks to KC, our guest editorialist. KC has an advanced degree in Ancient Studies and is also a coworker of mine.

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