| Vatican appoints official Da Vinci Code debunker

I sort of agree and sort of disagree with this: "The Catholic church are overreacting: ultimately, it's only a novel and the controversy will eventually die down. On the other hand, the book raises some serious questions about the origins of Christianity. Even though it makes many glaring historical errors, the fact remains that early Christianity did take many variant forms, including Gnostic Christianity, and there are genuine issues to be examined. But such examinations should be undertaken by competent theologians and historians, not hack thriller writers who are very poor at their research"

THe fact that it is only a novel means that we should be measured in our response,. However, given that many people don't have a clue about the real historical issues and are culturally prejudiced against Christianity and towards 'marginal discourses' [read: heretical fringe movements], then the impression that the novel will leave is one that the churches will have to work hard to dislodge. The novel presents these things as if they are a factual basis for a fictional storyline and many people do not know enough to suspect differently. On the other hand dealing with a novel as if it's a scholarly work or a pornographic work is probably running the risk of appearing to use a sledgehammer to crack a nut.

Guardian Unlimited Books | News | Vatican appoints official Da Vinci Code debunker: