5/05/2006

Pastor Takes on the Text of 'The Da Vinci Code'

SEATTLE, May 4 /Christian Newswire/ -- Author and pastor Mike Gunn offers a unique and engaging response to Dan Brown’s bestseller The Da Vinci Code. Rather than offering opinions from the sidelines, the former Boston College linebacker wades into the plot and characters of Brown’s popular thriller in a challenging new book from Hollywood Jesus Books, The Da Vinci Code Adventure.

Officials at the Vatican are encouraging a boycott of the upcoming movie. Opus Dei is calling on director Ron Howard to attach a special disclaimer to the film. Pastors are organizing protests. Scores of Christian authors have written books debunking the dubious claims of The Da Vinci Code’s characters and the speculative histories behind Dan Brown’s book.

But millions of readers have found The Da Vinci Code engrossing and thought-provoking, and they’re not particularly interested in boycotts, disclaimers, or debunking. And the Church has thus far largely ignored the needs of these readers.

Pastor Mike Gunn, cofounder of Seattle’s influential Mars Hill Church with Mark Driscoll and Leif Moi, has long had a passion for examining the intersection of faith and pop culture. Recognizing the appetite of readers and moviegoers for an adventurous look at spirituality, Gunn has collaborated with www.HollywoodJesus.com contributing editors Greg and Jenn Wright to author The Da Vinci Code Adventure: On the Trail of Fact, Legend, Faith, & Film.

The book is scheduled to be released by Hollywood Jesus Books on May 16, just prior to the May 19 release of Ron Howard’s film adaptation of The Da Vinci Code. Retailers will start carrying the book two weeks later.

The book’s publishers, who have partnered with The Da Vinci Dialogue to provide ongoing news and online discussion forums, see The Da Vinci Code Adventure as the logical next step in using readers’ natural interest in spirituality to lead them beyond the text of Dan Brown’s book into an exciting examination of Scripture and other truths behind The Da Vinci Code.

“It’s like ministering in your local tavern,” says Greg Wright. “Not every Christian belongs there. But if none of us go through those doors, who will? Bright, spiritually inquisitive people want to talk about the issues that Dan Brown’s book raises in a meaningful way. And God’s calling a lot of us to be an ongoing part of that conversation, at the same time that God has called others to protest and debunk.”

Pastor Gunn hopes his book goes a long way toward helping the Church contribute positively to that conversation.

ABOUT THE DA VINCI CODE ADVENTURE

The Da Vinci Code Adventure doesn’t merely talk about The Da Vinci Code and its themes. It directly tackles Dan Brown’s text, taking both fans and casual readers well into the next leg of Brown’s compelling and fascinating theological exploration— and this is what Brown is really after.

Pastor Mike Gunn and his team of investigators guide readers through both The Da Vinci Code itself and the dizzying maze of Scripture, contemporary scholarship, philosophy, historical documents, Church tradition, and faith-oriented films that tell the rest of this intriguing story. They analyze Dan Brown’s text a handful of chapters at a time, closely examining his portrayal of Opus Dei, the Priory of Sion, the Knights Templar, the Masons, Hieros Gamos, the sacred feminine, and the Council of Nicaea, among other topics. The structure of these investigations is inspired directly by the text of The Da Vinci Code, closely following the outline of Brown’s narrative.

Along the way, readers will gain a broad perspective on how films have portrayed Jesus, the mysteries of the Christian faith, and the quest for the Holy Grail— everything from Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade to Mel Gibson’s Passion, from The Last Temptation of Christ to The Omega Code, and much much more.

For additional information on the The Da Vinci Code Adventure, visit www.hjbooks.com. Review copies and interviews are available upon request.