A New Spin on the Old Controve essays

A New Spin on the Old Controve essays The Da Vinci Code and its Role in Religious Society Dan Brown's The Da Vinci Code has caused infinite controversy in its thrilling account of conspiracies by the Catholic Church. In the novel, Teabing states, ...Almost everything our fathers taught us about Christ is false(Brown 235). The novel has been the source of much criticism by Christians and officials of the Catholic Church. Reverend John Sewell says of The Da Vinci Code, It is filled with delicious Christian heresies (Sewell 3). As critic Cathleen Falsani reminds readers, Heres the thing about Browns novel: Its a novel. Fiction, not fact (Falsani 2). While this novel may be just fiction, it has caused many to reconsider everything they think they know about their religion. The novel is introduced by a page stating, All descriptions of artwork, architecture, documents, and secret rituals in this novel are accurate (Brown ix). Dan Brown was born to a math professor and scientist who gave him his early interests in religion and scientific paradoxes. Later he went on to study art history at the University of Seville that he says first got him interested in Leonardo Da Vinci and the many irregularities in his paintings, especially The Last Supper. The Da Vinci Code required a lot of research and history, which his wife, an art historian and painter, helped him with by accompanying Brown to the Louvre (Morris 1). Before becoming an author, Brown began his career as an English teacher. He later began to focus fully on his writing (Brown Site). The Da Vinci Code is a thrilling murder mystery in which the protagonists, Robert Langdon and Sophie Neveu, explore France and England on a search for the widely coveted Holy Grail. While most people believe the Grail to be a chalice, Langdon and old friend Leigh Teabing believe the Grail to be the ancient bloodline of Jesus Christ and Mary Magdalene. In anci...