Wednesday, May 20, 2009

Angels and Demons

The closing lines from Ross Douthat's NY Times opinion column on Dan Brown and the fascination with his novels turned films (HT: JT):

The “secret” history of Christendom that unspools in “The Da Vinci Code” is false from start to finish. The lost gospels are real enough, but they neither confirm the portrait of Christ that Brown is peddling — they’re far, far weirder than that — nor provide a persuasive alternative to the New Testament account. The Jesus of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John — jealous, demanding, apocalyptic — may not be congenial to contemporary sensibilities, but he’s the only historically-plausible Jesus there is.

For millions of readers, Brown’s novels have helped smooth over the tension between ancient Christianity and modern American faith. But the tension endures. You can have Jesus or Dan Brown. But you can’t have both.

That about sums it up. In the case of Brown, fiction is stranger than truth. Just give me Jesus.

3 comments:

Deek Dubberly said...

Great post. Great links. Thanks!

Hayden said...

Loved the last line 'You can have Jesus or Dan Brown. But you can't have them both.'

Unfortunately, many who would call themselves Christians would not see this as being true.

Paul Cobb said...

"Just give me Jesus" says it all.
There is a lot of clutter we are wading through in this world, thank you for cutting through some of it for us.

When you get time... please give my blog a look.
I just posted about a pastor who was on Fox News yesterday... who allows needy people to take money out his church's offering plates as they are passed.
http://whatjesustellus@blogspot.com
Keep Pressing On For The Lord...