A "new gospel" doesn't surface after hundreds or thousands of years without some plotting by the enemy. He's not going to let an opportunity go to waste.
I tend to see a great degree of behind-the-scenes spiritual engineering when these sorts of circumstances arise. Hmmm, let's see:
- Dan Brown writes The Da Vinci Code, which is just a modern primer for Neo-Gnosticism and New Age thought. Neo-gnosticism couches its teaching in some Christian terminology, but its tenets (that all matter is evil and that true freedom only comes through diabolical, secret knowledge) are diametrically opposed to the truths presented in the Bible. Brown's book makes egregious claims about Jesus Christ and paints neo-Gnosticism and goddess worship as the secret truth predating Christianity and Judaism.
From the last page of Brown's novel:
Like the murmurs of spirits in the darkness, forgotten words echoed. The quest for the Holy Grail is the quest to kneel before the bones of Mary Magdalene. A journey to pray at the feet of the outcast one. With a sudden upwelling of reverence, Robert Langdon fell to his knees. For a moment, he thought he heard a woman’s voice...the wisdom of the ages...rising up from the chasms of the earth.
Really, I shouldn't even have to quote any more of Mr. Brown's writing for you to see the writing on the wall. What he's trying to do is obvious.
- Ron Howard and Tom Hanks, two of the biggest and most respected names in Hollywood, sign on to make The Da Vinci Code film. Uh oh.
- Just before Passover/Resurrection Sunday and just before the film's hype kicks into high gear, a fragment of Gnostic writing, The Gospel of Judas, is "mysteriously" discovered and smugly touted by some "scholars." People start asking one another, "Was Judas a good guy?" and "Are there other gospels out there?"
Um, yeah. Just a coincidence.
I can't do a better job of analyzing the whole thing than Red Giants and Kjos Ministries have. As I mentioned in an earlier post, I've also edited an article by Joe Schimmel about The Da Vinci Code for his Da Vinci Con site. I'll let you know when that article has posted.
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