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Preparing For Da Vinci (Part 2)
- 04/03/06
- 16
There’s a sucker born every minute. Bob Ross thinks I’m one of them. Last week I posted an article defending the need for Christians to prepare themselves for the Da Vinci Code movie, but for their own sake and for the sake of their neighbors. Bob responded to this:
There is some dispute about whether P. T. Barnum or someone else said “There’s a sucker born every minute,” but there seems to be little doubt as to the validity of the remark.And those men and women out there who refer to themselves as “Apologists” are glad to have the suckers keep coming, for they “make a good living” off of them. I like to refer to the “apologists” as the “APPALLINGISTS,” for most of them are godawful appalling and need to make some apologies.
He goes on to draw a rather ridiculous parallel between Da Vinci Code and Y2K before turning to the “Bible Code.”
Awhile back it was the hidden, secret “Bible Code.” Now it is the “Da Vinci Code” that the Appallingists are using to take advantage of the naive suckers.These entrepreneurs thrive off of selling products to those whom they persuade need to be “equipped” and “prepared.” Or, if they themselves don’t need to be “equipped” and “prepared,” surely they know some needy believer who is apt to be terribly deceived — so they can be a Good Samaritan and order the cassettes, videos, booklets, books, and other useful “tools” to help arm the weaker brethren to offset and overcome the horrible Da Vinci Code — especially the movie.
Yesterday I was referred to the CHILLIES.COM blogstie by one of my readers where they were trying to “fry” me over what I had said about the item on James White’s website pertaining to being “prepared” for the Da Vincd Code movie – a piece of fiction based on a piece of fiction based on a Roman Catholic fictional painting of a few hundred years ago.
The email goes on for a while. The one thing Ross forgets to do is to interact with what I wrote. His thesis (and I use that term loosely, as most rants are devoid of any clear thesis) seems to be that preparing for Da Vinci will only put money in the hands of Christian hucksters and send even more Christians to the cinemas to watch the film.
“Now, if you want to join the suckers and “spend your money for that which is not bread,” you are free to do so. It’s still a free country. Otherwise, I suggest you keep your hand on your billfold when you hear some of the Appallingists palabberating about all the evils, dangers, and other devilish attributes of which you are in danger if you don’t get ‘eqipped’ and ‘prepared’ by sending for whatever the Appallingist has to sell you for a ‘gift donation.’”
It seems to me that this is a terribly naive attitude. I wonder if Ross would also object to Scripture’s admonition to “be prepared (uh oh, there’s that word) to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you.” One does not have to look far within Scripture to find great emphasis on both equipping and preparation.
You will note that my article said nothing about supporting Purpose Driven or any of the other ministries that are releasing books and DVDs and other material dealing with the film. Nor did I suggest that we go and view the movie in order to be able to dialogue with our friends about it. I merely suggested that we be able to have an answer to the lies that this movie puts forth as truth. Doing this will guard our hearts but may also make us more effective witnesses to those who have serious questions about the Bible’s claims. Bob’s rant has failed to convince me that this is a bad thing.
I am a follower of Jesus Christ, a husband to Aileen and a father to three young children. I worship and serve as a pastor at 
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Comments (16)
“Bob’s rant has failed to convince me that this is a bad thing.”
Problably because Bob’s rant contained absolutely nothing of substantive value. I’m just curious about this, but I wonder if Bob also falls into the KJV only category. That would be consistent with his demeanor.
Amen. Naive is a good word. I have no idea who the critic in question is, but he’s wrong/silly/out of touch. To compare Y2K to the Da Vinci Code is intellectually vacuous. Y2K was a theoretical doomsday scenario that bordered on end times hysteria. The Da Vinci Code is an already proven bestseller with a soon to be released movie that promotes blatantly false information about Christ and the Bible. Are some perhaps hyping out a bit? Yes. But churches do need to educate their people, or at least point them to resources so that their own faith won’t be needlessly damaged and they will be able to respond to questions from friends and neighbors who may buy into the propaganda of book and film. This film (or any film, or anything, for that matter) will not be the death knell of Christianity— it just pays to be prepared. Keep up the good work
You, Sir, are right on. Bob is right off.
I would much rather be considered an “APPALLINGIST” than suffer as a sucker in the ranks of utter stupidity… and I mean that in the nicest way.
I like the word “palabberating”, though. I think I’ll adopt it.
(But not the rest of his attitude. Let’s use every opportunity to share the gospel!)
Regarding my previous comment, after doing some quick research, I am glad to see that Ross is one who denies KJV Onlyism, but I am sad to read his rants against someone like White.
The saddest thing is, it will be those from the ranks of the ahistorical fundy camp that will stand to lose the most people from The Da Vinci Code.
Because of their (I speak not necessarily of Ross here—I don’t know the guy—but of those in the “fundamentalist movement” generally) simplistic views of canon-formation and biblical inspiration, their followers will be most easily sucked in by faux historical arguments about political shenanigans in the ecumenical councils and in the formation of the New Testament.
I shouldn’t be surprised by this level of cultural ignorance. If only The Da Vinci Code WERE merely about Leonardo’s view of the events from 1500 years later. None of us would need to lose any sleep over that. But I discovered The Da Vinci Code a couple of years ago when a solid Christian coworker from a Reformed background came into my office and said she’d been reading the book and that it was really throwing her for a loop, because “the guy makes a good argument.” More followed.
What will Ross say when one of his people comes to him and asks him why the church destroyed all but four of the 80 gospels about Christ that were circulating, as TDC claims? Or that Jesus was declared divine only at the Council of Nicea, and by “a relatively close vote”? Or that the canon was declared for political reasons by the Emperor Constantine? What will he do with the young people in his church, who will read these claims and probably won’t even bother to ask him about it?
He, as is so often the case with our fundamentalist brothers, has his head firmly buried in the sand. If he’d simply walk to the mall and ask, at random, a dozen teenagers about their opinions on The Da Vinci Code, he’d be in for the surprise of his life.
For a hard-hitting expose’ of the Da Vinci Code/Evil Opie conspiracy, see the latest edition of The Sacred Sandwich with the Twin Theologians!
The Sacred Sandwich
So, who is Bob Ross and why should I care what he says or thinks about anything?
Furthermore, it has long been my conviction that one should never trust any person whose last name is also used as a first name
No, wait … uh, what I meant was … oh, never mind.
“So, who is Bob Ross and why should I care what he says or thinks about anything?”
Bob Ross republished all of Spurgeon’s Tabernacle works. Unfortunately, he doesn’t ever seem to read any of them. Now he spends most of his time trying to think of silly things to attack. I guess you could say that he is the leading “apallingist” for kookery.
The Last Supper is a “Roman Catholic fictional painting”? Yes, Da Vinci was a Catholic (although I don’t know how devout he was), but the painting is simply a part of our Christian heritage, because the event it depicts is common to all Christians. Unless he means that the event was fictional, in which case he’s got bigger theological problems than his disdain for “appallingists.” (Whom I suspect he dislikes because they keep contradicting him.)
“Bob Ross republished all of Spurgeon’s Tabernacle works.”
Well, I suppose I could republish all of Einstein’s or John Stuart Mill’s works, but that would only make me a republisher. It wouldn’t make me an Einstein or a Mill; it wouldn’t make me an authority on them, either. It would just demonstrate that I didn’t have anything worth publishing myself at that time.
So, again (he asks rhetorically), who is Bob Ross and why should I care what he says or thinks about anything?
It’s tragic how some individuals, as they get older, become more prone to ranting that doesn’t interact directly with the issue at hand. A couple other pretty prominent Christian personalities have taken that route in recent years.
I hate it when someone has made a fairly good point and ruins it by coming off as a jerk. What about the proverb you hear all the time about how they don’t teach cops how to find every diffrent kind of counterfiet $100 bill there is in existence but they make them memorize what a real one looks like so they can easily spot a fake when they see it. It really is pointless to write a book on every new thing that comes along. If our churches would make it a point to teach their people the truth anything that does not look like truth could be discarded. Why is the church always playing catch up to new heresies? If it were faithfully teaching the truth of the gospel and church history it would not be so threatened when these things come along because the congregations would be educated in advance.
I didn’t read the aforementioned rant (and after reading through this thread I don’t think that I need to). I doubt that the Da Vinci Code is a major challenge to Christendom, but I do think that the buzz created by the movie presents an excellent opportunity to teach our church members about the historical foundation of the Christian faith. This is important both for strengthening the foundation of their own faith as well as equipping them to share their faith in an intelligent with their pagan neighbors.
The truth always benefits from being in the light.