FREMONT — Evangelical leaders derided "The Da Vinci Code" as part of "a war against historical Christianity" in a program simulcast Sunday in churches across North America, including the Thornton Avenue Baptist Church.The 90-minute broadcast, produced by the evangelical Church Communication Network, took aim at the Gnostic gospels, quoted in the novel to argue that Jesus had fathered a child with Mary Magdalene and that the early church conspired, motivated in part by sexism, to hide the truth.
The account's veracity, said Erwin Lutzer, co-author of a book critical of "The Da Vinci Code," is "right up there with an Elvis sighting."
Though "The Da Vinci Code" is sold as fiction, simulcast host Mark Mittelberg said the book, and now the movie, has shaken the faith of many Christians.
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