Home » Academics » Truth Lab

David & Da Vinci

The Ol' Days

You are probably not old enough remember flannelgraphs. They were the essential teaching tool of every Sunday school teacher and Vacation Bible School volunteer for years. The teacher would attach roughly cut out figures of the particular story to a light blue felt background (my recollection is of blue, though any color probably works).

My favorite story was about David and Goliath in 1 Samuel 17. The little guy comes out to the battle field and steps up when no one else is willing to take on the Philistine giant, Goliath.

The Deeper Story

As I've grown, I've studied this part of Scripture in more detail. In fact, I even led a group of students to the spot where the story of David and Goliath happened — the valley of Elah right in the middle of the foothills of Judea between the coastal plain (which was occupied by the Philistines) and the mountains of Judah and Jerusalem.

There are two key events that we typically blow through when reading this all-too-familiar story.

First, this is not just a story of God giving a little guy the power to take on a big guy. It is also about a little guy who steps up for a very good reason. David comes to the front lines and witnesses the giant coming out every morning and evening to "defy the ranks of Israel" (1 Samuel 17:10, NIV). Each time, the Israelite army would recite their prayers — the Sh'ma, a collective prayer that starts in Deuteronomy 6:4. The prayer begins:

Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.

At the very moment the children of Israel are stating their devotion to God, this Philistine giant comes out and the Scripture says he "defied" the armies of Israel (1 Samuel 17:36). The Hebrew word for "defy" here is harap which means "to blaspheme." Goliath wasn't just laying a challenge to the army, he was defying the God whom they served.

First Words

The second key event that we typically miss is that 1 Samuel 17 includes the first words spoken by David in Scripture. In the more eastern Jewish tradition of the Hebrew Bible (i.e., the Old Testament) there is a great deal of meaning in the first words spoken by a central character — especially one like David.

David's first words are found in verse 26. Wondering why the army of Israel (which includes his older brothers, by the way) have done nothing for 40 days as Goliath has defied their God, David asks, "What will be done for the man who kills this Philistine and removes this disgrace from Israel? Who is this uncircumcised Philistine that he should defy the armies of the living God?"

David understands the need to take action. Despite a tongue lashing from his oldest brother Eliab, who accuses David of deserting the sheep in favor of his own "conceited" desire to watch the battle from the front lines (v. 28), David remains strong.

Armed only with a sling shot and a few stones, David takes matters into his own hands. After some smack-talk from both David and Goliath, the next thing we know, David is standing over the felled giant and the army of Israel is chasing the rest of the Philistine army back to their mommies.

Lessons Applied

If Scripture is meant to teach us about how to live today (and I believe it is), then there is a lesson for us about following David's example — to step up in today's society and speak about how we allow the "giants" of our culture to defy our God. I don't see a lot of that in today's Christ followers.

For whatever reason, we stand alongside the rest of the "army" and just allow those "giants" to shout into our most holy moments. We turn a deaf ear to the sometimes subtle and sometimes overt harap against what is core to who we are and what we believe.

Behind the Code

On May 19th, a movie with "summer blockbuster" potential will be released in more than 70 countries on the same day (a record in movie distribution). The movie is The Da Vinci Code, based on Dan Brown's best-selling novel.

At the root of this movie are assumptions that will shout "claims" into the culture, some of which run counter to the Christian community. For example, there are assumptions about the formation of the biblical canon, which claim that in 325 A.D. Constantine made an autonomous decision to put the four Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John into the New Testament. Investigate for yourself and you'll find that these four Gospels were used by the early church long before 325 A.D.

At the same time, the early church had very valid reasons for excluding other gospels. The Da Vinci movie, nevertheless, claims that these excluded gospels are more historically and theologically accurate than the four chosen by the early church. This confusion led Gnostics in the early church era to create a case for other gospels and to begin casting doubt on the authoritative nature of Scripture as a whole. The same argument may be made today. The early church not only followed the prompting of the Holy Spirit, but many of them, independent of one another, tested the other "gospels" for both internal consistency and external validity to verify their "truthfulness."

More troubling to me is the assumption that Jesus was not divine and had a wife (supposedly Mary Magdelene), with whom He had a child (assumed to be named Sarah). The astonishing thing about this presupposition of truth is that there is absolutely no valid evidence to back up this claim. However subtle the message, we are led to believe that this fact is so important that generations of churchmen would go to any lengths to protect this fact from the world. It makes for a really engaging story, but to assume it as fact is very dangerous.

The Giant

As I sat in a theatre recently, the preview for The Da Vinci Code came on. The screen was filled with riveting scenes of action and intrigue; then these words appeared: "Seek the Truth."

Astonishing.

A fictitious story is going to help me dive into a search for the truth?

No doubt, The Da Vinci Code will be a well made movie — excellent actors, creative director, and wealthy producers. But beyond whatever entertainment value it provides, I'm very hopeful the movie will spark a discussion amongst those interested in really seeking truth on these issues.

The "giant" in this story is a medium called "film" and its whiz-bang approach to presenting a story full of ideas to a mass audience. Don't let the glitz fool you and influence you to stand with the army on the sidelines. You may be called to engage in the cultural dialog on these issues. If you see the movie, be ready to discuss it. I wonder what your "first words" will be in this discussion?

Alone on the Frontlines

Neil Postman in his book, Amusing Ourselves to Death, writes:

What Huxley teaches is that in the age of advanced technology, spiritual devastation is more likely to come from an enemy with a smiling face than from one whose countenance exudes suspicion and hate. In the Huxleyan prophecy, Big Brother does not watch us, by his choice. We watch him, by ours.¹

Are we going to be sucked into the media's fancy show and "smiling face" and forget that in the middle of it is essentially a message of harap — of defiance of who God is? This giant is armed with huge screens and surround sound and a darkened place where we are whisked away to another life, another story, another set of truth claims.

C O F F E E  S H O P

---

How do you think you'll handle conversations — especially with non-Christian friends — about The Da Vinci Code and the "truth claims" it puts forth?

Join the discussion!

Regardless of whether you see the film or not, you must be willing to make your first words really count in this cultural dialog. Yes, let's seek the truth. Let's stand up when the "giant" of The Da Vinci Code scares everyone else away. You may feel alone, but you will be armed with the truth of God. May your stones include "being prepared," "being challenging," "being loving," and "being bold."