Fiction Isn't Just Fiction Anymore
Pulp thrillers are becoming the new Bibles of our time.

by Carl E. Olson

Fiction Isn't Just Fiction Anymore
Pulp thrillers are becoming the new Bibles of our time.

by Carl E. Olson



It's just fiction!"

I've heard this remark quite often over the past few years, referring
to the Left Behind series and the Harry Potter novels, and now to the
latest fiction sensation, The Da Vinci Code. "Those books are just
fiction," readers remarked, "Why be concerned about them?"

When such comments are made about the Left Behind books, they don't
usually come from Rapture-believers or fundamentalist Protestants, but
from Catholics. I regularly hear from readers explaining how
entertaining the books are and how they've "opened up the Bible" for
them, helping them to understand the Book of Revelation and current
events. Many state that the Left Behind series changed their lives and
inspired them spiritually. But most of them also emphasize that the
best-selling end times novels are "just fiction."

It seems that fiction, for many people, is simply entertainment and
escapism that can have only a positive effect. So, the Left Behind
books explain Scripture, but never misinterpret it. The Harry Potter
books inspire children to read, but never to explore the occult. The
Da Vinci Code explains the true history of Christianity, but never
misrepresents it.

Yet the enormous success of the Left Behind series and of The Da Vinci
Code in particular indicates that novels promoting esoteric beliefs,
presented in a fast-paced fashion, and loaded with attacks on the
Catholic Church make for best-sellers. It also suggests that
best-selling fiction--despite being "just fiction"--is a source of
theology, philosophy, and history for a growing number of readers.

The Illinois Conference of Catholic Bishops recognized this fact and
recently issued a statement describing the Left Behind series and its
creator, fundamentalist Tim LaHaye, as anti-Catholic. LaHaye denies
the charge, saying the bishops are "reading into these books something
that's not there." However, those familiar with the novels and with
LaHaye's books on "Bible prophecy" know the San Diego-based pastor is
a throwback to the nativist anti-Catholicism of the
nineteenth-century.

In several non-fiction books, LaHaye claims Catholicism is "pagan" and
is a "Babylonian idolatrous religion," marked by corruption, murder,
and numerous false doctrines. The anti-Catholicism is more subtle in
the Left Behind books, but obvious to the alert reader. LaHaye is
adamant that "true Christianity" was nearly destroyed by the Emperor
Constantine, who allowed pagan practices and "Babylonian mysticism" to
infiltrate the Church. In his commentary Revelation Unveiled, he
admits that the Catholic Church today does hold to truths such as the
Trinity and "the personal deity of Christ, but errs in adding
Babylonian mysticism in many forms and salvation by works."

Armageddon, the latest installment in the Left Behind series, was
published in April (2003) and quickly topped the best-seller list. The
Da Vinci Code, a whodunit with a theological agenda, appeared around
the same time. The author, Dan Brown, states he is a Christian,
"although perhaps not in the most traditional sense of the word."
That's a mild understatement considering his novel is based on the
beliefs that Jesus was not divine, was married to Mary Magdalene and
had children, and that the Catholic Church has kept all of this hidden
through intimidation, deception, and even murder.

Just as many readers believe the Left Behind novels are God-given
guides to understanding the "end times," readers and critics are
fawning over The Da Vinci Code and its explanation of the real history
of Christianity and the Catholic Church. This despite Brown's stiff,
disjointed thriller being packed full of historical errors, feminist
propaganda, and neo-Gnostic sermonizing.

Ironically, characters in the novel (who clearly mouth Brown's views)
condemn Constantine for abandoning paganism and endorsing Christianity
despite never becoming a Christian himself. The absurd assertion is
made that Constantine convened the Council of Nicaea to deify Christ.
As one character, a historian, soberly explains, "until that moment in
history, Jesus was viewed by His followers as a mortal prophet. . . .
Jesus' establishment as 'the Son of God' was officially proposed and
voted on by the Council of Nicaea."

Sadly, these distorted views of history and Catholicism--views that
really are fictional--are the closest thing to theology and catechesis
that some people will ever read. Bad fiction distorts truth by
pretending to be more than just fiction, while good fiction should
reveal truth, not misrepresent it.



http://www.carl-olson.com/articles/la_envoy73_tdvc.html

Fiction Isn't Just Fiction Anymore
Pulp thrillers are becoming the new Bibles of our time.

by Carl E. Olson

The author, Dan Brown, states he is a Christian,
"although perhaps not in the most traditional sense of the word."
That's a mild understatement considering his novel is based on the
beliefs that Jesus was not divine, was married to Mary Magdalene and
had children, and that the Catholic Church has kept all of this hidden
through intimidation, deception, and even murder.

Fiction Isn't Just Fiction Anymore
Pulp thrillers are becoming the new Bibles of our time.

The Illinois Conference of Catholic Bishops recognized this fact and
recently issued a statement describing the Left Behind series and its
creator, fundamentalist Tim LaHaye, as anti-Catholic. LaHaye denies
the charge, saying the bishops are "reading into these books something
that's not there." However, those familiar with the novels and with
LaHaye's books on "Bible prophecy" know the San Diego-based pastor is
a throwback to the nativist anti-Catholicism of the
nineteenth-century.

The Illinois Conference of Catholic Bishops recognized this fact and
recently issued a statement describing the Left Behind series and its
creator, fundamentalist Tim LaHaye, as anti-Catholic. LaHaye denies
the charge, saying the bishops are "reading into these books something
that's not there." However, those familiar with the novels and with
LaHaye's books on "Bible prophecy" know the San Diego-based pastor is
a throwback to the nativist anti-Catholicism of the
nineteenth-century.