“The Da Vinci Code” …

“The Da Vinci Code” was just fiction, right? No harm done. No one would actually act on it, right?

A California woman publishing a novel similar to “The Da Vinci Code” claims she is a direct descendant of Jesus Christ of Nazareth.

Kathleen McGowan of Los Angeles is making the statement as her work, “The Expected One,” becomes available this summer.

“I don’t want people to think I’m claiming to be some elitist figure in the [Jesus] bloodline,” McGowan told the Sunday Times of London. “But what I’m saying is that Mary and Jesus had children and after 2,000 years of procreation there are probably millions of descendants around the world. I believe I’m one.”

This would never have been published if not for Dan Brown’s success.

McGowan submitted her proposal to publishers in 1997, and says, “I was laughed out of New York City. … I was told nobody would ever publish a book claiming Jesus was married to Mary Magdalene.”

Dan Brown’s “Da Vinci Code” asserted that after the crucifixion of Jesus, Mary, who was pregnant with Jesus’ child, moved to France with the help of Joseph of Arimathea, Jesus’ uncle. She purportedly lived among local Jews and gave birth to a daughter named Sarah.

A former editor for the Irish News in Belfast, McGowan originally published her version herself last year after selling shoes on eBay to pay for research. Though it sold only 2,500 copies, the rights were snagged by Touchstone Books, an imprint of Simon & Schuster.

The publishing house has already spent seven figures acquiring the rights to the story, and will spend another $275,000 on marketing.

The book is based on a prophesy that Ms. McGowan considers true, and in a Rev. Moon-like move, sets up the prophesy in such a way that she possibly is one to fulfill it.

She says the book’s title refers to an ancient prophecy about a woman chosen by divine providence to bring the real story of Mary Magdalene’s life to the world. But she won’t say whether or not she considers herself “The Expected One.”

“I’m not grandiose about this, and it concerns me a lot that I could be portrayed that way,” she told USA Today. “I don’t want it to appear that I’m standing up and saying I’m the expected one. That’s a dangerous, ego-driven kind of thing.”

(As I understand it, Rev. Moon prophesied about a coming prophet of God that was rather specific, and that he himself fulfilled.)

So now, in addition to the many fooled by Mr. Brown’s book (a book that, while fiction, he claimed was mostly the truth), we have another book and possible movie that may bring in more, and confirm the “faith” of those already in that camp. The church needs to speak with a louder voice on this, lest we give up the saving of the gullible and the ignorant. I understand the reluctance of some churches to deal with transitory pop culture fads and deal more with the eternal. I hear the best way to learn to spot counterfeit money is to educate yourself primarily on what a good bill looks like, but this phoniness is being passed around at an alarming rate.

(Cross-posted at Stones Cry Out. Comments welcome.)

Filed under: Uncategorized

Like this post? Subscribe to my RSS feed and get loads more!