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Cracking Da Vinci's Code by James L. Garlow and Peter Jones Reviewed by Tim Chaffey |
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Garlow and Jones offer this work in response to the wildly popular fictional book by Dan Brown entitled The da Vinci Code. These two Christian men take exception to some of the controversial and deceptive ideas and claims made in the book. They also do a great job of keeping the book very readable. Even though it is over 200 pages long, the book was a quick read. This book is designed to answer questions some of the questions you may be asking after reading The da Vinci Code. It was written with the unbeliever in mind. If you are looking for an exhaustive factual critique of of Brown's book, this book is not the one (see The Truth Behind the da Vinci Code or Breaking the da Vinci Code - review coming soon). If you are looking for a good Christian critique to give to an unbeliever, this book would be perfect. The authors of this work are very interested in evangelism. One of the interesting aspects of this book is the fictional story woven into the beginning of each chapter. It follows a young college student named Carrie who is being lured into goddess worship through a group book study of The da Vinci Code. At the same time, her Christian friend, Evan, is showing her the truth about this book and God's Word. Garlow and Jones do a fine job of pointing out many of the historical and theological errors contained in Brown's book. It would have been nice to see a stronger critique of these errors but this was not authors' intent. They did include some sidebars that contained the true history distorted by Brown. As it is, Cracking da Vinci's Code contains enough information to demolish Brown's book. Finally, some may claim that Garlow and Jones are simply trying to make a buck by critiquing a popular book. After all, why should someone even critique a fictional book? In most cases, there is no need for this type of critique; however, The da Vinci Code is a different story. Dan Brown claims that the historical details provided in the book are factual. He leads the reader to believe that his claims are true even though most are not supported at all. Also, many of his claims are a direct and dishonest attack on Christianity, the Bible, and Jesus Christ. One certainly has a right to critique religious beliefs but this should be done with integrity and honesty. Unfortunately, Brown has decided to use slander and deception as his way of critiquing Christianity. (10/15/05) |
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Rating: (9 out of 10) About the Authors
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