In the best-selling novel "The DaVinci Code," author Dan Brown urged readers to "seek the truth."
Campus Light Ministries has accepted the challenge.
The group will discuss Brown's claims and their factual merit today at their regular meeting.
In the discussion titled "Jesus: Deity or DaVinci," Dave Greear, campus pastor for the group, plans to prove that Brown's novel is simply a work of entertainment not fact.
"The problem is the preface of the book comes across like it is a novel based on historical fact," Greear said. "It is blatantly against the Bible and Christianity."
In Greear's opinion, the book is not historically accurate, and he plans to point out the inconsistencies in the novel by using historic facts, statements from church fathers and the Bible.
Greear said "The DaVinci Code" continues to be debated because it disagrees with Christianity.
"I think it's a way to get people to doubt, not a way to bring people to church," Greear said.
He said he thinks Christians responded quickly because of the "need" to set the record straight.
In "The DaVinci Code," Brown discusses an array of religious theories from secret societies to Christ's marriage to Mary Magdalene, but Greear plans to focus only on the divinity of Jesus Christ. Brown claims that Christ as a deity was man created, but Greear believes the divinity of Christ was real.
"A lot of people may have been affected. We want to present the other side," Greear said.
Matthew Lambert, junior criminal justice major, agrees with Greear.
"To me, his (Brown's) claims are off the wall," Lambert said.
However, junior safety technology major Matt Sovine said he was "uninterested" by the whole debate.
Greear said he understands "The DaVinci Code" is a book that was meant to provide entertainment. He has no hard feelings toward Dan Brown or anyone who believes the book is a work of fact, but he wants to provide his side of the story to anyone who is willing to listen, he said.
Greear picked "The DaVinci Code" as a way to begin a semester-long discussion of Christ.
Campus Light Ministries meets Tuesdays at 9 p.m. in the Memorial Student Center Room 2W23. The Sept. 12 meeting will be in Room 2W22 to accommodate a crowd.
Cassie Davis can be contacted at davis332@marshall.edu.
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