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As the 21st century unfolded, popular culture had embraced a reexamination of the life and times of Jesus Christ of Nazareth. Mainstream spiritualism has remained remarkably alive through the expansion of Christian radio and television as well as by the publication of dozens of manuscripts and books about Jesus and the early Church. The Internet has allowed the global community to take part in blogs, informational Web sites, listservs, and Church-based messaging about prayer and religion. Since the events of September 11, 2001, an increased number of Americans report an affinity for spiritual exploration.
One cornerstone book and movie, released (respectively) in 2003 and 2006, stirred unprecedented interest in Christendom and ignited a debate about the divinity of Christ, the authenticity of the Bible, and the role of the Catholic Church across the past two millennia.
The Da Vinci Code rocketed to the top of best-seller lists in 2003 and held the spot so long that one book reviewer joked that “author Dan Brown is going to have to start paying mortgage on the place.” Sony Pictures released a film version in 2006, which was dubbed “the hottest movie of the year” by Newsweek magazine even before its release. While the film did not demonstrate the stellar staying power of the book, it played to large audiences and helped to spread the word’some would say spreading more questions than answers—about the subject.
The present work attempts to frame the phenomenon by examining how Christian churches, theologians, and the public responded to Da Vinci—s mass market splash, with an emphasis on Web entries available in 2006.