Q: What should Christians and the Church be doing about that?

A: The Bible tells us in 1 Peter 3:15 that if you are a Christian you always need to be prepared to give an answer to anyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. And so we are told in Scripture, let's be ready to engage people on these issues that come up. Questions are a good thing; doubts can be a good thing if they propel you toward investigating the truth. I like the trailer on THE DA VINCI CODE that says, "Seek the truth." I would just modify that a little bit and I would phrase it this way: "Seek the real truth." Christianity has nothing to be afraid of from people who thoroughly investigate the truth behind it. I was an atheist. I was a skeptic for most of my life, and it was my wife's conversion to Christianity that prompted me to begin asking questions. Did Jesus every claim to be the son of God? Did he ever prove it by returning from the dead? Is there any historical evidence for that? I spent two years of my life systematically investigating the historical credibility of Christianity and other faith systems until I came to the conclusion that the evidence of history points powerfully towards Jesus Christ not only claiming to be the son of God, but proving it by returning from the dead.

Q: Some Church leaders are urging Christians to boycott the movie so as not to encourage Hollywood to make these kinds of movies. You seem to be encouraging Christians to see it so they can have a dialogue about it. What's your approach?

A: I can understand Christians who want to boycott the movie, picket it, ignore it and wish it would go away. I understand that, because I was indignant when I read the book and its allegations that are so far-fetched against Christianity. But I just don't think that's the most fruitful approach to take. We are not going to stop this movie. We are not going to stop this book. I would rather see us engage with it. I would rather see us engage in dialogue with people who have seen it and who have legitimate questions raised by the book and movie. Let's talk to them, let's ask them their opinions, [and] let's engage in a conversation about this stuff. I would say for Christians, if they are thinking of going to this film just for their own entertainment, I would say don't go. Why would you want to put money in the pocket of Hollywood and reward them for producing what is essentially anti-Christian propaganda? However, having said that I want to add that I'm going to see the movie, and I would say any Christian whose motivation is to engage with their spiritually curious friends who are going to see the movie and to get into a conversation about these very important issues, I think it's probably important to see the movie, because the first question you're going to get, if you try to talk to someone about THE DA VINCI CODE is, "Have you read the book?" or "Have you seen the movie?" And if you say no, then you are automatically branded as one of these know-nothing Christians who criticize things that they don't know anything about. I think that the ultimate spiritual condition of human beings is more important than whether or not we reward Hollywood. If there are people going to this film and being confused spiritually, there's a lot at stake here, and I think it is worth my time and my effort to be knowledgeable about the film and knowledgeable about the book so I can have a meaningful conversation and hopefully help bring people to the real Jesus.

Q: Is there a conversation to be had with Hollywood as well?

A: Hollywood is going to do what Hollywood is going to do. I think they are driven by the profit motive [and] often about ideology, and I think I would love to see them say there's a huge reservoir of interest in this country on spiritual matters. Look at "The Passion of the Christ," the box office that it did. Eighty percent of Americans at least make the claim that they are Christians, so a huge percentage of people are interested in this kind of material. I would hope Hollywood would see that positive films that explore in a legitimate way many of the issues involving spirituality -- that those can be successful financially, and they can also serve a social good. But I know Hollywood, having myself a television show on a network in Hollywood, understanding what it's like to pitch a show about spiritual matters to a network and getting the kind of response that we got. I understand that there is still a lot of resistance, still a lot of skepticism in Hollywood. I think it's going to take some time before there is a track record of positive films like "The Passion of the Christ," like the Narnia film, that tell Hollywood that there's not only profit to be made, but there is important spiritual content to be delivered, and I would hope they would take that seriously.

Q: This is, after all, just a movie, just entertainment. Are people overreacting about the impact it may or may not have?

A: I don't think people are overreacting, because Dan Brown claims this is more than a novel, and if you open the book he lists on one of the first pages on the book a series of so-called facts that he asserts are historically true. Even though things like the Priory of Sion, this organization that he says is founded in the year 1099 and through the centuries, according to documents discovered in the French National Library, has leaders like Leonardo da Vinci and Victor Hugo and other famous people. And he claims that's historically true. And yet when we investigate it what do we find? We find that the Priory of Sion was founded in 1956 by a convicted conman named Pierre Plantard, that he manufactured phony documents, he counterfeited them to create this phony history of this organization, and he planted these documents in the French National Library and when they were discovered people thought, "Oh, my goodness, here is a secret organization. Why did it exist? Well, Dan Brown tells us to protect the secret that Jesus had been married to Mary Magdalene; they had children and his bloodline continues today. So, here we have things that are asserted as being true by Dan Brown even though they don't check out when we investigate them. Dan Brown himself said to Elizabeth Vargas on ABC that he became a believer, that he was a doubter when he first investigated this stuff for his book. He looked at this whole Mary Magdalene issue and became convinced that indeed she was married to Jesus [and] he did have a child. He's making more than just a claim that this was just pure fiction. He's saying there is a historical backbone to it, and yet historians, secular and Christian, who investigate the claims that he makes find that they don't withstand scrutiny.

Q: What advice would you give to people who see this movie?

A: I would say seek the real truth. There are lots of materials out there. I did a book called EXPLORING THE DA VINCI CODE. There are many other books that are written to try to set the record straight [and] interviews with scholars, secular and Christian, who will debunk the allegations made by Dan Brown. I think it's a positive thing if, indeed, this does generate curiosity among people because, as I say, Christianity has nothing to fear from history. Christianity is an historical religion. It's not just a collection of amorphous beliefs, but it claims certain things in history: That Jesus actually lived at a certain point in time. That he did certain things. That he said certain things. That he was crucified under Pontius Pilate. That he returned from the dead and thus proved that he is the son of God. Those are historical issues. Are they true of not? We can investigate those as I did when I was an atheist and come to a conclusion whether or not they are supported by the historical evidence. I think if this book and this motion picture encourage people to go on that type of journey, then I have confidence as a Christian that they are going to, ultimately, if they will pursue it with an open mind, they are ultimately going to meet the real Jesus.