While church leaders prompt their followers to see the movie, buy their
books, and "engage the
culture" through dialogue, many Christians question this strategy. But
not author Dan Brown! He welcomes the public controversy. He knows that
it fuels a useful global dialogue that gradually pulls the diverse readers
toward a new "common ground."
"The dialogue is wonderful," he tells us.
"...the debate that is being generated is a
positive powerful force. The more vigorously we debate these topics, the
better our understanding of our own spirituality. Controversy and
dialogue are healthy for religion as a whole."[1]
He is right about the power of dialogue
between opposing forces. This public process affects every participant,
whether they realize it or not!
[See
Brainwashing in
America] As
happened through the homosexual agenda, constant exposure evaporates the
shock and disgust of evil. Even those who
feel equipped to defend the truth will be pressured to set aside their
Biblical "certainties" for the sake of unity. In fact, the ground rules for
this dialectic process have already become familiar and normal to
believers as well as unbelievers across America. Ponder the effect of these
points:
- show tolerance and appreciation of all
contrary views.
[See
The Mind-Changing
Process]
- don't offend others with your "absolute
truth," facts or certainty.
- be ready to identify with all contrary
positions.
- be willing to "seek common ground" for
the sake of peace and unity.[2]
Remember, the biggest hindrance to this
social, political and spiritual transformation is Biblical Christianity.
Even "America's pastor" Rick Warren views
fundamentalism
as "one of the big enemies of the 21st century."
and
Psychiatrist Brock Chisholm, the first head of the UN's World Health
Organization (WHO) called Christian beliefs "poisonous certainties."
So how can God's people resist this process?
The answer must be based on what He has shown us in His unchanging
Word.
1. Renew your mind with
His Word. Don't corrupt it with lies.
Busy
schedules and tempting alternatives can easily squeeze out Bible study.
Then, when floods of "new revelations" crash against our beliefs, we may
never recognize the lies. Instead, they may seem more exciting than
the truth.
Transformational researchers such as Dr. Craig E. Abrahamson, Assistant
Professor of Social Work at James Madison University, understands this
process well. Despising the didactic
(fact-based) teaching of traditional education, he calls for the feeling-based, image-rich unconscious learning so
popular among change agents in today's schools and churches. He found that
--
"...inspiration, encouragement, satisfaction, and fascination must be integrated with
information in order to provide an education that... will have
true, lasting effects on that person's life and the society in which he or she interacts.
What a person usually remembers the longest is information that has an emotional impact."[3]
"There are many means
of de-potentiating [undermining the old] frames of reference.... Any
experience of the unrealistic, the unusual, or the fantastic provides an opportunity for
altered modes of apprehension. Aspects in a story that create confusion, doubt,
dissociation, and disequilibrium are all means of de-potentiating
students' learned
limitations so that they may become open and available for new means of experiencing and
learning...."[4] Emphasis added
Few forms of communication
undermine former values more effectively than
movies. When Dan Brown concocts imaginary experiences that stir strong feelings,
he plants unforgettable illusions in the viewers' minds. As Harvard Professor Chris Dede
wrote, "Sensory immersion helps learners grasp [a new] reality
through illusion."[5]
A letter from a visitor to our website illustrates our
vulnerability to this mind-changing process:
"I read Dan Brown's
novel "The DaVinci Code" recently -- another poor choice. I was curious
to see what the hype was all about. It was well written and sucked me
into the conspiracy/secret society plotline. Then I was hit with the
heresy-posing-as-truth (like 'Hath God Said?' line of the
serpent). I am thankful to God that I wasn't convinced, but it sure made
me think about things for a while."
To
avoid mental turmoil and spiritual confusion, we must know and follow God's
Word:
"...do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of
your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect
will of God."
Romans 12:2
"take up the whole
armor of God,
that you may be able to withstand in the evil day.... Stand therefore,
having girded your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of
righteousness, and having shod your feet with the preparation of the
gospel of peace; above all, taking the shield of faith with which you
will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one. And take
the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the
word of God." Ephesians 6:13-17
"For the weapons of our warfare
are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds,
casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself
against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into
captivity to the obedience of Christ...."
2 Corinthians 10:4-6
2.
Guard against deception. Don't be trapped in it.
Faced with Brown's blasphemous suggestions, we need to know
facts that validate the true gospels.
[See
How the New Testament Canon Was Chosen] But
our main weapon against deception is the Word itself. Without a solid grounding
in Biblical truth, we can neither resist today's tempting tales and
psycho-social strategies -- nor warn others.
"DaVinci Code undermines
confidence in the Scriptures,"
wrote another website visitor. "You can't eat poison and expect
to function well physically. And you can't take in false teaching and expect
to function well spiritually.... I know a Christian young man who read 'The DaVinci Code' and afterwards
his relationship with the Lord really went downhill. But he never saw
any connection between those two things."
Lies
and truth are incompatible! That's one reason why
God's Word is fast becoming intolerable to a "Christianized" world bent
on global oneness. God's call for separation from evil is incompatible with
today's envisioned
solidarity. While the world demands tolerance for everything but
Christianity, God
tells us to be living testimonies of His peace and victory in Christ:
"For what fellowship has righteousness with lawlessness? And what
communion has light with darkness? And what accord has Christ with
Belial? Or what part has a believer with an unbeliever? And what
agreement has the temple of God with idols? For you are the temple of
the living God.... Therefore 'Come out from among them and be
separate,' says the Lord. 'Do not touch what is unclean, and I will
receive you....” 2
Corinthians 6:14-17
"...you shall be holy to Me, for I the Lord am holy, and have separated
you from the peoples, that you should be Mine."
Leviticus 20:26
Remember, we
are in the world, but not of it! "As the Father has sent Me," said Jesus,
"so send I you." Jesus spoke the truth in love, but He never
participated in the world's decadence. Nor did His faithful followers.
[See
Who
defines the Kingdom of God?]
3. Follow your
conscience. Don't corrupt it!
A conscience trained by God's Word and Spirit will
see good and evil from God's perspective. A conscience seared by contemporary
illusions will justify human depravity. The natural result of immersion in
Brown's occult suggestions and ritualistic sex is a seared conscience -- and few
would notice the change. Small wonder, when even "Christians" have
learned to love what God calls evil. That's why God warns us,
"You love evil more than good...."
Psalm 52:3
"...even their mind and conscience are defiled. They profess to know
God, but in works they deny Him."
Titus 1:15-16
"Abhor what is evil. Cling to what is good."
Romans 12:9
Today's world turns all God's values upside
down. "It's sort of like a guilty pleasure, and I don't think there's
anything wrong with that,"[6]
said Paul Bettany, a former Catholic who plays the albino monk-assassin in
the movie. But there is something "wrong with that," and we need to remember the
solution:
"If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we
lie and do not practice the truth. But if we walk in the light as He is
in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of
Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin. If we say that we have no
sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our
sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us
from all unrighteousness." 1 John
1:6-9
4. Be humbly
alert. Don't minimize Satan's seductions nor your human weakness.
God tells us that “in latter times some will
depart from the faith, giving heed to deceiving spirits and doctrines of
demons...." [1 Timothy 4:1]
Some of those demonic doctrines are simply repackaged old heresies. Remember
Paul's letter to the Galatians:
"I marvel that you are turning away so
soon from Him who called you in the grace of Christ, to a different
gospel, which is not another; but there are some who trouble you and
want to pervert the gospel of Christ...."
Galatians 1:6-8
Since human nature
doesn't change, Satan uses the same old tricks again and again. He has now
revived those forgotten
Gnostic distortions that
brought confusion into the early Church. Hidden in secret societies and
occult orders through the centuries, they are suddenly permeating popular
culture. And since our global education system has so effectively "opened"
minds to old myths and perversions,[7]
the masses don't care enough to resist. The results are all around us:
"... although they knew God, they did not
glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their
thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Professing to be
wise, they became fools."
Romans 1:21-22
"...there will be false teachers among
you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying
the Lord who bought them, and bring on themselves swift destruction.
And many will follow their destructive ways, because of whom the way of
truth will be blasphemed...."
2 Peter 2:1-3
Our response? "Be sober, be vigilant;
because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking
whom he may devour. Resist him, steadfast in the faith."
1 Peter 5:8-9
5. Remember that God (not
man-made strategies) brings the victory
Man-made strategies for drawing unbelievers to God often seem to
succeed. After all, the masses are flocking into their fun-filled churches! But more often than
not, they are searching for feel-good experiences, not for God and His
truth. Finding what they sought, they join churches that don't offend them
with unwanted truths.
The
enthusiastic dialogue surrounding The DaVinci Code fits right in, and
it's a win-win case for all but born-again Christians who love
God's Word: Church leaders enjoy the rising numbers. Unbelievers can freely
claim to be Christians. The surrounding community is well served. And no one
dares confront sin or affirm Biblical boundaries. The only enforced
limitation deals with the fundamentals of God's Word: don't offend anyone
with "negative" truths or facts!
But
it's not God's way to victory! "For My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor
are your ways My ways,' says the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than
the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your
thoughts." Isaiah 55:8-9. Therefore,
"Walk as children of light (for the fruit of the Spirit is in all
goodness, righteousness, and truth), finding out what is acceptable to
the Lord. And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness,
but rather expose them. For it is shameful even to speak of those
things which are done by them in secret.... Therefore do not be
unwise, but understand what the will of the Lord is."
Ephesians 5:8-12, 17
See also
Comments on this topic,
The Historical Record rebuts DaVinci lies & shows the authority
of the Bible!
and
How
mysticism & the occult are changing the Church
NOTES
1.
http://www.danbrown.com/novels/davinci_code/faqs.html
2.
Small Groups and
the Dialectic Process at
www.crossroad.to/articles2/04/3-purpose.htm and
The Mind-Changing
Process
at
www.crossroad.to/articles2/Reinventing2.htm
3.
"Craig E. Abrahamson,
Storytelling as a Pedagogical Tool in Higher Education
at
www.britannica.com/magazine/article?content_id=58571&pager.offset=10
[Link now obsolete]
4.
http://www.britannica.com/magazine/article?content_id=58571&pager.offset=20
[Link now obsolete]
5.
The Transformation of Distance Education to
Distributed Learning.
While this and other papers by Professor Chris Dede focuses on education
technology, it emphasizes the value of sensory immersion into synthetic
environments as a tool to mold minds by instilling a programmed perception
of "reality." www.gsu.edu/~wwwitr/docs/distlearn/index.html
6.
David Gramin, "Bettany relishes Code Role,"
San Jose Mercury, 5-18-06.
7.
New Emphasis
in Schools and Culture
at
http://www.crossroad.to/charts/emphasis.htm
See also
How
mysticism & the occult are changing the Church
