Reaching Seekers With The Real Truth About Jesus Christ
Steve Sellers, Campus Crusade for Christ

The Da Vinci Code novel has already stirred up quite a bit of controversy. Now, with the much-publicized release of the film adaptation of Dan Brown’s novel, public discussion is growing. In many ways, this is a good thing. Healthy debate regarding significant spiritual issues has always been a vital part of a sincere search for the Truth.

However, all the recent controversy surrounding The Da Vinci Code has also led to confusion for many people. One of the main reasons is that Dan Brown’s narrative creatively intertwines historical facts within the fictional story. For most readers, as well as movie audiences, distinguishing the facts from the fiction is not an easy task. The Da Vinci Code makes references to hidden documents and secret societies, about which most people will know very little, if anything at all, prior to reading the book or seeing the movie.

Careful examination will show that the distorted views about Jesus and the Christian faith in The Da Vinci Code do not, in fact, have the historical basis that the story claims to offer. A significant difficulty for readers and movie audiences, however, is the vast majority simply do not have the time or the resources to do a thorough investigation on their own.

As part of efforts to provide these much-needed resources to help people discover the Truth, Campus Crusade for Christ has created two publications. The first is a book by Josh McDowell entitled, The Da Vinci Code: A Quest for Answers. Josh’s book offers an in-depth exploration of the issues brought up in the book and movie, refuting the major claims and pointing readers to the Jesus Christ of Scripture.

For those who may not want to study the issues in as great a depth, Campus Crusade for Christ has also created a powerful, 20-page, full-color mini-magazine. This magazine is specifically designed to reach seekers by giving them critical information they need to distinguish between the fiction of The Da Vinci Code and the facts of history. In a concise format, this publication makes the most important points clear, such as:

• There is overwhelming historical evidence for the accuracy and reliability of the New Testament.
• The New Testament clearly teaches that Jesus is the Son of God who rose again from the dead.
• The claim that Jesus married and had a child has no solid historical basis.

After presenting the evidence, this magazine invites seekers to examine the Gospel and receive Christ.

To help reach as many people as possible, Focus on the Family has agreed to print and distribute 500,000 copies of this Campus Crusade mini-magazine. I am tremendously grateful to have this wonderful organization as a partner in the efforts to make known the real Truth about Jesus. With their help, more than four million copies of the mini-magazine have thus far been published, distributed, or will soon roll off the presses. In addition, churches throughout the nation are joining forces with Campus Crusade staff and trained volunteers to distribute this publication as well as Josh McDowell’s book at theaters and special outreaches.

If you would like to know more about these efforts, including how you can help place these publications into the hands of people who need to hear the Truth, you can do so by going online. Also available are additional apologetic and evangelistic resources, a full electronic version of the mini-magazine, and information on how to receive your own copy of Josh’s book. Simply visit: www.davincitruth.org