2 of 2

I have my quibbles with the special, and with the hype the network used to advertise it. But the popularity of both the book and the special points to our culture's continuing fascination with Jesus. And even when that curiosity borders on the perverse, we need to be engaged in the conversation—if not on TV specials, certainly in our neighborhoods, schools, and offices, wherever the topic of conversation comes up—talking about the real Jesus in a constructive way.

Darrell Bock is research professor of New Testament studies at Dallas Theological Seminary and author of Jesus According to Scripture: Restoring the Portrait from the Gospels (Baker, 2002).

Copyright © 2004 Christianity Today.Click for reprint information.

A ready-to-download Bible Study on this article is available at ChristianBibleStudies.com. These unique Bible studies use articles from current issues of Christianity Today to prompt thought-provoking discussions in adult Sunday school classes or small groups.

Bock also wrote a critique of The Da Vinci Code for ABCNews.com.

CT's Christian History Corner recently debunked and explained much of The Da Vinci Code, and published a follow-up article on the controversy's benefits.

The Da Vinci Code is available from Amazon.com and other book retailers.

The publisher offers more information about the author, an excerpt, and a reader's guide.

The book has its own web site, as does author Dan Brown.

ABC has more information about the program on its web site.

Christianity Today's Film Forum has noted upcoming plans for a movie based on the book. Ron Howard is slated to direct.

For more on early church heresies about the nature of Christ, see Christian History's Issue 51: Heresy in the Early Church, available in its fully illustrated print form the Christian History Store or as text online.

first page |  2 of 2

share this page

January 2004, Vol. 48, No. 1