A Prayer of Faith

And now, after the many reviews which have been given of this book, this is the review last of all, which I give of it: That it’s worth reading!

There have been many criticisms laid against What Da Vinci Didn’t Know, but I found, upon careful inspections that nearly all of them were addressed in the introduction. Especially things such as “The Da Vinci Code is fiction! Sheesh, no-one should be taking it seriously enough to write a book about it!” Even gripes about the formatting (i.e. all footnotes are in the back of the book) have been explained. While taking the time to read carefully through the introduction and conclusion sections, it became very clear that the authors are a good-natured group of people that are well aware of how they come across when they talk about history and the myriad inaccuracies to be found in a work of popular fiction. They are never directly critical of Dan Brown, and never presume to know what his intention or thoughts were in writing his book. They also never come across as though they were speaking down to their readers, writing as though they are doing us a great favor by letting us in on the real deal.

The authors make an excellent point when they say:

“…Member of our society are often much more interested in getting their history lessons from novels, television shows and Hollywood movies than through… scholarly explorations of the past. Scholars and academics who have forgotten the “story” in history are partly responsible for the lack of interest in, and support of their historical craft because their works are often stilted, unimaginative and basically uninteresting.” (pp. ix-x)

Because so many of us get our information from the popular media, the authors, as professional historians, feel it is important to make sure that they fulfill their responsibilities to clarify the erroneous assumptions presented as fact for the sake of an engaging story. The most grevious errors the Da Vinci code presents are those that counter reliable sources that teach the following doctrines:

“1. The Divinity of Jesus Christ.
2. Christ’s role as the savior and redeemer of mankind.
3. The legitimacy of the early Christian church.
4. The integrity of our canonical New Testament.
5. The very existence of God the Father and His Son, Jesus Christ.
6. The commandment of Chastity
7. The authority of the original Quorum of the Twelve Apostles.”
(p. 111)

The body of book is made up of chapters, with each focused on a single claim, subject, or assumption made by The Da Vinci Code. Each chapter stands alone, and does not assume that one has read the previous chapters; this means that some information is repeated rather often, but the functionality of this format outweighs the repetition. Pertinent quotations from The Da Vinci Code are included (so it is not necessary to read the two in parallel), and serve as reminders for things that may have been easily overlooked in a fast-paced emotional reading of the murder-mystery. The only major failing of What Da Vinci Didn’t Know is that the authors, as historians deeply in love with history, make some of the failings of most historians. The material is sometimes dry, and carries a tone of deep reverence for the art and craft of history.

The best point of the book is the comfort one can feel in knowing that the authors are LDS and include frequent reminders that they take their faith, and your faith, seriously. After reading the book I came away with the distinct impression that history is vague and subject to wild interpretations–that the cut and dry history we knew of in third grade is a myth. What is decidedly less vague, though, is the testimony of the Holy Ghost, and the blessings one can recieve by living the gospel.

The greatest problem of The Da Vinci Code is the way it has served to draw attention away from the purpose of Christ’s life and ministry, and send that attention towards minutae of Christ’s life that can never be proven by the means we have available to us. Especially that “If we have not studied and applied in our lives the profundity of the Atonement of our Lord and come to know for a certainty of His divinity, no other information we aquire about him will make any difference.” (p. 50)

What Da Vinci Didn’t Know, by Richard Neitzel Holzapfel, Andrew C. Skinner, & Thomas A. Wayment. Published by Deseret Book.

Cover image © Deseret Book. Used with permission.

This entry was posted on Monday, May 29th, 2006 at 6:01 am and is filed under All Good Books. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.