Before you rush to the cinema...

I hate to join the bandwagon, but when UP professor and critically-acclaimed writer Dr. Jose Dalisay had his say about the Da Vinci Code, I figured it wouldn’t do me harm to do the same.

I first heard of it a year ago when I was a college freshman. At that time, only very few people had actually read it, with Katrina—a friend since grade school days—being one of them. She highly recommended the book to me while we were eating dinner together in the dining area, partaking of the delicious viand coated with the famous brown sauce. “Sure,” I said.

Having borrowed Katrina’s paperback copy of the book, I immediately started reading it. Unlike, say, Sherlock Holmes, Dan Brown’s novel is easy reading. One can go through chapters without mental stress. The narrative is plain; the plot almost ordinary—until Brown goes on telling about the controversial stuff, attacking the Roman Catholic Church, Biblical truths, the Doctrine of Jesus Christ, and in a way, the whole of Christianity.

This is where it gets problematic. Sure, the novel may not be a literary masterpiece because its writing is not at all impressive, but it is a novel that has had a great impact to the world nonetheless, especially now that American producers have decided to make a movie out of it.

What bothers me is that people may forget—as most movies and books often lead them to do—that it is nothing but a work of fiction. And fiction is not entirely factual, even if it contains real historical information.

Before you rush to the cinemas or you open the dog-eared copy that a friend has lent you, remember this: the heart of Christianity is not determined by the abuses of its so-called followers. Christianity is about Christ, who, because of His love for us, suffered, died on the cross, and was resurrected from the grave.