On The Da Vinci Code
The whole "Da Vinci" hubbub, Ben Witherington III of Asbury Theological Seminary says, shows "we are a Jesus-haunted culture that's biblically illiterate" and harbors general "disaffection from traditional answers."
"Merely because an author describes matters as being factually correct does not mean that they are factually correct. It is a way of blending fact and fiction together to create that well known model 'faction.' The lure of apparent genuineness makes the books and the films more receptive to the readers/audiences. The danger of course is that the faction is all that large parts of the audience read, and they accept it as truth."
-British Justice Peter Smith
My favorite personal anecdote about this book was an email that I got from an old professor of mine as a response to my inquiry about what he thought about the book. He is a well regarded Reformation historian who was a (repeatedly) professed hardline atheist. Interesting guy.
"I don't have anything against the book in particular, excepting that it is so empowering to people who have no academic scruples. Sort of like a fuse that ignites a grenade of stupidity."
I am totally stealing that quotation.
"Merely because an author describes matters as being factually correct does not mean that they are factually correct. It is a way of blending fact and fiction together to create that well known model 'faction.' The lure of apparent genuineness makes the books and the films more receptive to the readers/audiences. The danger of course is that the faction is all that large parts of the audience read, and they accept it as truth."
-British Justice Peter Smith
My favorite personal anecdote about this book was an email that I got from an old professor of mine as a response to my inquiry about what he thought about the book. He is a well regarded Reformation historian who was a (repeatedly) professed hardline atheist. Interesting guy.
"I don't have anything against the book in particular, excepting that it is so empowering to people who have no academic scruples. Sort of like a fuse that ignites a grenade of stupidity."
I am totally stealing that quotation.