Westserve

Decoding Da Vinci - followup

Our recent ‘Decoding Da Vinci’ night was a great time.
Owen Seto – a 4th year MTC student – spoke of the challenge to Biblical Christianity that the book ‘The Da Vinci Code’ presents. You didn’t need to have read the book to enjoy the night and gain a deeper understanding of some of the key historical arguements that support the Bible’s version of events.

Owen developed the talk based on some of Greg Clarke’s material, and Greg, himself through CASE, has just released a CD and DVD resource entitled “Convinced by Da Vinci?”.
Here’s a promo for that resource:

CASE Resource: Convinced by Da Vinci? DVD Now available:
Recently, there have been many opportunities in popular culture to discuss faith in Jesus and the Christian world view, from Mel Gibson’s The Passion of the Christ to C.S.Lewis’ Narnia Chronicles due out in cinemas in December.

When it comes to Dan Brown’s The Da Vinci Code the opportunities for gospel conversation seem endless. And the topic is going to be around for a while — Sony Pictures has announced that they are making the story into a movie to be released next year.

The Da Vinci Code has fired the imaginations of millions of readers around the world. It’s a gripping story of murder, religious intrigue and ancient history has left many considering their own spirituality. It combines the thrills of crime writing with the claims of religious history and more than a dash of conspiracy theories. What makes The Da Vinci Code such a talking point for Christians is the way it wraps a murder mystery around alternative claims about the true history of Christianity. Tapping into the negative emotions many people have about the church, it throws down the gauntlet to Christians to demonstrate that their faith is worth believing.

Do you want to be equipped for discussions with your non-Christian friends on The Da Vinci Code? Do you want to explore its contents and find some answers to the issues it raises? Do you want to have a resource you can use with your friends to discuss a topic of common concern? Do you want to know what’s in the book and how to respond?

In this 2 part hour-long presentation, Director of CASE Greg Clarke explores how the novel has tapped into common feelings about the Christian church and traditional religion. He also examines the novel’s various claims:

• Is there any evidence that Jesus was married to Mary Magdalene?
• Was the Bible put together for political purposes?
• Are there other ancient gospels that tell us about Jesus?
• Did the Priory of Sion exist?
• Is religious truth a hard-to-find secret?
• Is the novel an elaborate joke?

You can now buy a CD ($10) or DVD ($20) of the seminar Greg has been giving. Download the order form here: down load PDF..

CASE stands for the Centre for Apologetic Scholarship and Education and is a teaching and scholarship project of New College at the University of New South Wales in Sydney. To find out more about CASE visit the website: www.case.edu.au where you can join the email list and subscribe to the Case quarterly magazine.

The talk recorded on this DVD was given at Christchurch St Ives in Sydney. Thanks to the ministry team and Audio Advice for their support.

You can read a review of the DVD here and order it here.