So I was sitting at dinner the other night and I made a remark about the upcoming release of “The Da Vinci Code” on May 18th. I stated that I enjoyed the book and was eagerly awaiting the movie’s release. It was then that a series of negative comments were made bashing the book, movie, author, and anyone who has read the book. The conclusion was that “that book/movie is an atrocity.” Is it really? This is a subject I’ve thought long and hard about, and I’d like to share my opinions with you, and hear your opinions as well. As Paul says in the New Testament, “as Christians we must test everything.”
I’m often struck by the enormous amount of Christians who protest movies like Harry Potter, The Da Vinci Code, etc. It’s also interesting that this is one of the main way’s we (as Christians) are portrayed on the news…as protesters of movies, often children’s movies. I often wonder if Jesus and Paul were alive today if they would protest Harry Potter. Or would they use the images of our culture to speak to us?
It’s interesting to note that Jesus lived as a young boy in the town of Nazareth. We were recently in Nazareth and the neighboring towns on a field study. What’s also fascinating is that Joseph and Jesus worked as “tekton’s” (Greek for stonecutter or master builder) and there wasn’t much to build in Nazareth during the time of Jesus, as it was a very poor town. In very close proximity to Nazareth is the pagan city of Zippori. Due to the close proximity of Zippori and the massive building projects going on during the time of Jesus, it is almost certain that Jesus and Joseph would have worked in Zippori, most likely on the construction of the theater and several other buildings. When the workers finished construction of the city’s theater there was a dedication ceremony. During the ceremony Herod decided to have his actors perform the very pagan play, “Trojan Women.” It is during this play that the Queen makes the following remark after her city is destroyed. She says, “O Troy, O Troy, how I would’ve gathered you as a hen gathers her chicks.” Sound familiar to anyone? This is almost the exact phrase Jesus uses to describe the city of Jerusalem in Matthew 23:37 and Luke 13:34. Once again we see Jesus using the language of culture. We need to be able to speak the text and relate it to culture in ways that the people around us will understand. If we don’t speak their language, we have lost them.
It’s also interesting if you follow the travels of Paul in Acts. When he is in the Synagogue, or in a religious area he makes extensive use of the Bible, often quoting the scripture as many as 20 different times in one sitting. But when he goes to a pagan city such as Lystra, he almost never quotes the Bible. Instead he uses farming images to speak to the people of Lystra, who were country farmers. He once again speaks in a language their culture understands.
There is also a fascinating story recorded by a Greek historian regarding the city of Athens Greece (for more on this story see the book Eternity in Their Hearts by Don Richardson). It is in Athens that a severe plague occurs and no one is able to discover the cure. In Athens at that time, it was said that there were more gods than men. The men of Athens don’t what to do about the plague b/c they have prayed to all of their gods, and no help has arrived. The eventually enlist the help of a Philosopher/Poet from Crete named Epimenedes. They meet with him at a place called Mars Hill. It is here that Epimenedes tells the men to meet him the next day with a flock of hungry sheep. When the men bring the sheep, Epimenedes advises them to say a prayer to “The Unknown god.” The men ask the unknown god if he would heal the city. The also ask that if he exists, that he would forgive their ignorance for not knowing him. In addition, they ask him to show them a signal that he will heal the people from the plague. They ask that he would make the sheep lie down on the grass of Mars Hill. This would be completely contrary to the sheep’s nature as they were very hungry. The men promise that they will make an altar to the “Unknown God” wherever the sheep lay down. It is recorded by a pagan Greek historian that almost all of the sheep lay down on the hill. The men than make a giant altar that and etch the inscription, “To the Unknown God” on the altar.
It is in Acts 17 that Paul comes to Athens and is greatly distressed to see all the idols in the synagogue. Later on he comes to a meeting of the Areopagus (Mars Hill) and says to the men, “Men of Athens! I see that in every way you are very religious. 23For as I walked around and looked carefully at your objects of worship, I even found an altar with this inscription: TO AN UNKNOWN GOD. Now what you worship as something unknown I am going to proclaim to you (Acts 17:22,23).”
It is amazing to see Paul’s reaction here. As a Jew he was raised his whole life to abhor graven images and pagan idols. Yet what does he do when he comes to this city where there are more idols then men? He doesn’t bash their gods, or insult them. He says, “Men of Athens, I see that in every way you are very religious.” Unbelievable. He then goes on to proclaim the message of Jesus in a way that they’ll understand. Amazing. Throughout the whole book of Acts you never see Paul bashing people for their beliefs or foreign gods. Instead he proclaims the love of Jesus in a way the culture will understand.
Later on in the book of Titus we even have Paul quoting the pagan philosopher/poet Epimenedes (Titus 1:12)! He is writing to Titus who is living on Crete, which is where Epimenedes came from. Once again he is using the language of culture to speak to culture.
This topic just fascinates me. Jesus and Paul always use the language of the modern culture to speak to the people in a given area. Paul never bashes the people for their foreign gods, even in Ephesus where Artemis worship was running rampant. He just speaks to the culture, and shows them the love of Jesus.
Stories like the ones I talked about above make me wonder if Jesus and Paul would protest Harry Potter or the Da Vinci Code. I also often wonder what would happen if the people who spent countless hours protesting Harry Potter would spend their time fighting world poverty and the AIDS pandemic in sub-Saharan Africa. It reminds me of a sermon I heard recently by one of my favorite pastors. It was called “Beautifully Angry.” He basically said we should reconsider what we get angry about. It seems people in today’s day and age get more angry about sitting in traffic then they do about important issues like poverty and AIDS. What would happen if Christians stopped getting angry about Harry Potter and started getting angry about AIDS? And really contributing to support AIDS orphans and victims of this and other horrible crises? Just something I’m wondering about here on this rainy day in Israel.
One more PS. I think that the Da Vinci Code is a great opportunity. An opportunity to talk to non-believers about Jesus, faith, and the Bible. It gives us an opportunity to talk to people about the Bible who might otherwise be uninterested. I agree that anything that turns people away from God is horrible, and if the Da Vinci Code does this to anyone, it is sad. But I think there is good and truth that can come out of the Da Vinci Code. And we can use the movie to speak to our culture about God. Much like Jesus and Paul used images from culture so many years ago…..
