I haven't seen the DaVinci Code. Nor have I read the book. That's just me. I'm also certain I was the last person in America to wear sunglasses on top of my head. But over the last three days, several friends and readers have asked if I would be writing on the subject. One man pleaded with me, "That movie's going to do a lot of damage to people who have a weak foundation."

I thoroughly enjoy Tom Hanks as an actor. I have ever since his "Bosom Buddies" days. I've loved Opie "Opus Dei" Taylor and Ritchie Cunningham long before they became Director Ron Howard. Where DaVinci is concerned, I'm an artist myself who, coincidentally, was the guest speaker at four local high school art classes just today. But early this morning, as I listened to Paul Harvey, I heard that a Van Gogh painting just sold for $40 Million and, frankly, at the mention of that old Master's name, I knew I'd better start doing some research. If such an article helped just one individual, it would be worth it.

HERE'S WHAT I FOUND OUT

Dan Brown's novel The Da Vinci Code is riding a whole new wave of publicity. It's already sold 40 million copies in forty languages in just three years. With the recent plagiarism trial in Great Britain (surely you've heard) and the upcoming release of the movie, it's making headlines all over again.

So, what's the big deal? Why are so many Christians dissing DaVinci? The concern - one that I instinctively share - is over the multitudes who have a tendency to confuse fact and fiction where movies are concerned. Case in point, for years I used to think that dead people became angels, just as they did in a cartoon I had seen. Apparently, Dan Brown actually encourages any delusions people might have with a note in the book stating that "all descriptions of artwork, architecture, documents, and secret rituals in this novel are accurate." That comment is debatable as you will see. CBN.com shares the concern that the average person "with little background in theology, history, or art is likely to come away from the book believing that the Christian Church, out of a hatred for all things feminine, has deliberately been hiding the truth about Jesus' identity and His relationship with Mary Magdalene." That's the root of the concern, like it or not.

Though Brown claims to be a who is jesus  , he writes in his book that the secret it supposedly reveals is "so powerful that . . . it threatened to devastate the very foundation of Christianity." Dr. Ken Boa, author of Unraveling the DaVinci Code and his soon-to-be released book, The Gospel According to the DaVinci Code, charges that Brown's agenda in this book is no less than "the deconstruction of Christianity."

I've read that Gnosticism is actually the religion Brown is pushing in the book. Though he presents Gnosticism as a religion that glorifies the body, and Christianity as one that considers the body to be evil, fact is, it's Gnosticism that considers all matter, including the human body, to be evil. That's why, while Christianity emphasizes the incarnation of Jesus, Gnosticism doesn't even teach it.

CBN asks, "Why else would Brown fudge so many of his supposedly "accurate" facts - facts that can be easily checked? From the correct spelling of the titles of paintings; to the colors, techniques, and materials used in those paintings; even to the name of the artist around whom the book revolves, Brown commits error after error. And his errors don't stop with art. He gets all kinds of details wrong about both Church history and secular history." Nevertheless, Brown's act has apparently fooled at least some of his readers as the New York Daily News book reviewer trumpeted, "His research is impeccable." On the other hand, Crisis Magazine reports: "So error-laden is The DaVinci Code that the educated reader actually applauds those rare occasions where Brown stumbles (despite himself) into the truth." On the web, not only can one easily find books and articles that point out Brown's pathetic skills as a researcher, but there are blogs and chatrooms where the rank and file from America and abroad - Christian and non-Christian - are showing themselves savvy enough to detect one error after another in both book and movie.