Shannon from Rocks in My Dryer, raised a good point in my comments section. Christianity has survived 2,000 years of these types of episodes:
History is FULL of one episode after another in which Christ is scorned, reviled, slandered and rejected. But who is still standing 2,000 years later? He has endured much worse criticism than this, and his Holy Spirit is strong enough to break through the deception in a heart He chooses to call.I actually agree with Shannon, the church will withstand this. Dan Brown won't bring it down. Christ himself said that the gates of hell would not prevail against His church (Matthew 16:18) and that He can break through the lies with the truth. Christianity has survived and flourished by the power of God and His truth is greater than the lies of this movie and the book.
But I think that we should examine how the church prevails. How has Christianity endured? Of course the answer would be Christ, but how has Christ made His church endure? He does it the same way He grows His church, through His people. Throughout church history God's people have stood up to error. Athanasius is a great example of this, he stood against the Aryan heretics:
In about 319, when Athanasius was a deacon, a presbyter named Arius began teaching that there was a time before God the Father begot Jesus when the latter did not exist. Athanasius accompanied Alexander to the First Council of Nicaea in 325, which council produced the Nicene Creed and anathematized Arius and his followers.Augustine is another example, he stood up against the Pelagians:
It is largely due to Augustine's arguments against the Pelagians, who did not believe in original sin, that Western Christianity has maintained the doctrine of original sin.Martin Luther stood against the Roman Catholic church in defense of justification by faith alone. God used these men to direct the course of the church away from error into truth. And here we are again faced with yet another error. As Shannon said, God's Spirit will break through the deception of their heart and the way He does it is this:
Romans 10:17 So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.And how do they hear:
Romans 10:14-15 But how are they to call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? 15 And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, "How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!"They hear by what God's people share with them. And what we share with them is the truth of the gospel. We are to be prepared:
1 Peter 3:15-16 but in your hearts regard Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; 16 yet do it with gentleness and respect, having a good conscience, so that, when you are slandered, those who revile your good behavior in Christ may be put to shame.And that is why I have been recommending the Westminster Da Vinci Code apologetic website. So that God's people can become prepared to share the good news that Jesus died on
the cross for our sins, he didn't get married and have kids. If he did, then our hope would be in vain:
1 Corinthians 15:14 And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain.But it's not in vain. We have reason to hope and we need to share the reason with others. It is how God grows His church.
Technorita Tags: Da Vinci Code, dan brown, The Da Vinci Code, Movie, Religion, Christianity
