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Yet, the "marriage claim" will launch many believers into an examination of the Nag Hammadi texts, specifically the Gospel of Philip, which does not say, "Jesus kissed Marry often on the lips" as Dan Brown claims. It actually says "Jesus kissed Mary on the … "—and at that point the manuscript is torn. Was it "forehead"? Was it "cheek"? "Hand"? Looking at the text more closely, a Greek word meaning "fellowship" is used in the context, which has no sexualized "content" at all. In other words, the infamous kiss was a greeting, not unlike that which is used in the Middle East today.

What is this Gospel of Philip? Who wrote it? The "Philip" of the New Testament? No. Then who? And why is it not a part of our New Testament? The answers to these questions, and plenty of others, have been covered by many authors (see some of them here), but the answers are not my focus. My focus is the "process." Once again, we see that Dan Brown has blessed the church by agitating her into careful study.

There are likely thousands of Christians about to study the Gospel of Philip—along with the other Nag Hammadi discoveries—for the first time. The Gospel of Thomas will likely be discussed, as will the never-seen, never-discovered, elusive "Q" source. And what will be the result? If carefully examined, they will come to a much deeper appreciation of the authority and reliability of the New Testament.

Christians who previously took the 27 books of the New Testament for granted are about to learn how those books came together. The movie will state that Constantine, through the Council of Nicea, commissioned and financed a "new" Bible in the 4th century. Believers will be forced to examine Dan Brown's claim that Constantine made a "quick switch" of sorts, taking out the "original" Gospels, replacing them with Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, all done for purely political purposes.

Is this true? Of course not. The famous Council of Nicea never dealt with the issue of what should be in the New Testament.

The intrigue doesn't stop with textual analysis. Dan Brown claims that the church led a smear campaign against women—specifically defaming Mary Magdalene. True? No. But to come to that conclusion, you'll have to examine the confusion created by Gregory the Great in the 6th century, when he associated Mary Magdalene of Luke 8 with the unnamed sinful woman or prostitute of Luke 7. In the process, you'll discover the exalted role that Mary Magdalene held in the Bible—as the first witness of the Resurrection.

Readers and moviegoers will be shocked at Dan Brown's assertion that the church killed 5 million women during the Middle Ages—for being witches. Careful study will reveal it was not 5 million, but more like 50,000. Then they will discover that it was less the church than it was the government—and that approximately 20 percent of those killed were not women, but men. And they will learn that the church condemned the killings. But what is the value of this process? Not the facts themselves, but rather the confidence that will come from the process of becoming better informed about the history of the church—with its glory, and yes, with its sins and failures.

When Dan Brown states that the church demonized sex, they will know this not to be the case (with the exception of some unfortunate, and sub-Scriptural, writings by some of the early church fathers). Instead, Christians can reflect on the beauty of sexual expression found in the "one flesh" statements of Genesis, the loving imagery of the Song of Solomon, and the "undefiled" nature of the marriage bed in Hebrews.

In the end, it may be that what Dan Brown has revealed is not that we are not so much "short" on faith, as we are weak in church history. We don't really know "our story." But a novel and movie may help us all become better students.

Brown is helping to motivate the church to learn its story. And if it learns its story, it will be able to defend itself against not only The Da Vinci Code, but other attacks on Christianity.

Thank you, Dan Brown, for what you have done. You have helped us connect with ourselves—our church!

Dr. Jim Garlow, coauthor of the bestselling Cracking Da Vinci's Code (Victor Books, 2004) and The Da Vinci CodeBreaker (Bethany House, 2006), is senior pastor of Skyline Wesleyan Church in San Diego. He has also prepared a downloadable Bible study called "Preparing for Da Vinci," available at his website.

© Dr. Jim Garlow 2006, subject to licensing agreement with Christianity Today International. All rights reserved. Click for reprint information.

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