Religion Opposed to Other Fictions

The Catholic group Opus Dei, linked to the Vatican and cast as the villain in Dan Brown’s book and film The Da Vinci Code, posted a statement asking Sony to attatch a disclaimer to the film reminding viewers that “this is a work of fiction, and that any resemblance to reality is pure coincidence.”

In the spirit of full disclosure, the disclaimer might be appropriate.

But it also seems an appropriate disclaimer to add to the Bible.

As a deluge of scholarly science confirms, the Bible is less a book of history than a book of fable. Aside from the grotesque, ridiculous, barbarous and contradictory proclamations of the Old Testament, the more important (to Christians) New Testament adds to the vague story of a Jew named Jesus a host of after-the-fact miracles aimed at coercing belief, including the claim that his mother was a virgin, that he walked on water, that he rose from the dead, etc. Similar marvels and parlor tricks were attributed to an army of so-called prophets across the ages as followers tried to persuade others to join their sect, and many of their stories have become the stuff of myth, legend and fairy tale.

In addition, the gospels chosen to be included in the Bible were selected from a broad array of gospel writings of the period, many of which were contradictory. The selection gave inappropriate, unwarranted and seemingly arbitrary value to Matthew, Mark, Luke and John at the expense of the others, Judas and Mary, for example. The fact is, all were just hearsay--stories passed down and embellished over the decades, each containing views and biases reflecting the culture of their all-too-human authors. In other words, more fiction than fact.

To be sure, anyone who chooses to live in accordance with the apparent principals and values of Jesus has seemingly chosen an excellent role model. But anyone who believes that the Bible is historical fact stands on no firmer ground than someone who believes the Da Vinci Code is fact.

And anyone who believes that the creator of the universe somehow wrote the Bible--with all its contradictions and bizarre, magical nonsense--is dangerously out of touch with reality, reason, science and sanity.

If you’re going to put a disclaimer on Dan Brown’s film, put it on the Bible, too.