Food For Thought
August14
I’ve always wondered why the masses are ok with fictional story lines like the Left Behind” series but upset with “The DaVinci Code”. They both base their stories on Bible stories, but then make up buckets of stuff to fill in the blanks and make a more entertaining read. It’s what authors do.
I always assumed (or maybe hoped) that people knew that all these books are just fiction. But Jim Evans and others are warning that folks may not be that smart.
Post-millenial dispensationalism was presented to me, as a child, as fact. Despite the fact that my family was Catholic, though obviously trending away from that. I was gobsmacked and I genuinely wonder how my life would be different had I not been eschatologically stymied. I have had more conversations that have just ended when I made the claim that the Left Behind series were not a history of the future.
I think it has a lot to do with the Puritan cultural foundation of America. Despite all our liberties and wealth, I think there’s something in all of us, that is greatly upset by the notion that our selves are not only not inherently perfectable, but that we could ever do anything except be worthless sinners striving toward grace. If we take the Left Behind road, all we need do is endure and believe and things will be taken care of for us (to paraphrase Evans). If we take the DaVinci road, we are responsible for our own choices and must back our belief with effort and action– and that’s unacceptable, especially to an evangelical culture that frequently derides change.
These are all half-formed thoughts, obviously. But good point!
I am astounded that many, many people who say they have read “The DaVinci Code” also tell me that they have never read “Holy Blood, Holy Grail,” and “The Messianic Legacy,” two non-fiction books, both thoroughly researched and documented, and from which Brown filched the idea and filler material for his novel. Brown’s book is merely contrived fiction; the real evidence to ponder is found in the two non-fiction books by the same authors.