Question
Do you have an opinion of an Orthodox Christian [me] reading “The DaVinci Code” as part of a book club? I know it’s a novel, and would of course view it as such. Any thoughts would be appreciated.
Answer
If you are firm in your faith, to the point that the book would not cause you to question, doubt, or speculate, and if you can stay focused on the fact that it is a novel and nothing more, then read it.
If you begin reading it and then start questioning reality based on the fiction contained therein, stop reading it.
If you are not firm in your faith, to the point that the book would cause you to question, doubt, or speculate, or if you are the type that would at some point begin thinking, “hey, maybe this stuff is really true and Mary Magdalene really was what it says she was and the Church has been lying to us all these years,” then don’t read it.
In any instance, if by “book club” you mean a bunch of people who get together to give their personal views on what they have read, you may wish to skip the discussion. Surely, you’re bound to encounter those who draw inane and insane conclusions based on the book. If, however, you are fully capable of discerning reality and truth from opinions that could range from the bizarre to the downright stupid, then the discussion may prove a bit entertaining.
Frankly, the book is interesting as a fictional novel—in the same sense that the recent mini-series “Revelations” was interesting as a fictional novel—but both are about as factual as a book or mini-series about 18th century chicken breeding on Mars. Sadly, there are people out there who are incapable of discerning between fact and fiction.