I have never seen people’s faith being challenged by the contents of Dan Brown’s ‘The Da Vinci Code’. Mass hysteria over a book of fiction that makes certain allegations against the Christian faith, and one can draw parallels to 'The Satanic Verses' written by Salman Rushdie, although it was non-fiction. And I can't, for the world of me, understand why there is such a problem with the book... not that Dan Brown cares as he's released a prequel that is made into a movie titled after the book, "Angels and Demons'.

It's been a while now since the book 'The Da Vinci Code' was released, and the only thing that really has woken the Christian community is that it has shaken some concepts that is taken to be the Gospel truth... typical of us dogmatic types to indulge in circular reasoning!

The Da Vinci Code, by itself, presents a radical (and amongst Christian circles, rather deviant much like The Gospel of Barrabbas) take on the life and ministry of Jesus Christ, his relationship with Mary Magdalene and the events that followed his crucifixion and his ressurection. To the seemingly unflinching Christian, the marriage of Jesus is nothing short of blasphemy … Jesus was God!

Yet the Bible also said that Jesus was man and he was tempted.

So, just in case The Da Vinci Code was written along the lines of Salman Rushdie's book, that is... as a work of non-fiction, hypothetically (and realistically) speaking: If the phrase "Jesus was man" in the literal sense, why could he not be capable of marriage, or have children, just like any other man?

Realism is a much-desired quality in today's world. And that’s where the doubts begin to surface and raises other questions that this book seeks to bring out.

Was it true that the church tried to kill Jesus’ bloodline? What was written in the Dead Sea Scrolls & the Gospel of Barabbas? Is our version of the Bible today nothing but a diluted version of the actual truth? Did Jesus really rise from the dead? Does the Priory of Sion still exist? Was the sacred feminine a threat to the male dominated Church?

And so on and so forth as revealed in The Da Vinci Code...

It's no surprise that as a part of humanity for centuries now, people tend to exaggerate in varying degrees ranging from white lies to the ridiculous. And no one wants to ask either themselves (or the ones in charge) the hard uncomfortable questions.

Why do you think this is important?

Because the foundations of your faith once shaken results in disillusionment, regret and perhaps, is life-changing in a way that can only be assumed is for the best!

But is that what faith all about? Checking facts to see what we truly believe is backed by evidence to substantiate its authenticity. The Da Vinci Code doesn't seem to convey that message at all...

Maybe most of these zealous Christians haven't read the part of the book where Robert Langdon, who bowed his head in front of the portrait of Virgin Mary at the Louvre Museum and accepted what he chose to believe in despite the facts (no evidence in not being able to find the Holy Grail etc.).

And maybe, that's what it all comes down to: faith is based on things unseen... much like the little girl who carries an umbrella to school (believing in her heart that it will rain) despite an ongoing drought in her town for years. That's faith... and it has nothing to do with facts... it is just about what you 'know' backed perhaps, by your intuition regardless of the availability of evidence or not.

I, for one, have bowed out of my 'faith' in Christianity as the exceptions are far too many in comparison to the rules. But this is a discussion for another day!

One way or another, if Christians consider this book to be blasphemous then perhaps it's fair to say that their faith lies in the inability to be wrong [which suggests otherwise], in a world where scientific proof and New Age Spirituality is leaving them and their outmoded beliefs behind and towards a path that Charles Darwin first came up with a century ago.

After all, if you don't believe in something... you'll fall for anything, right? [in a caustic tone]