Firstly, I love Dan Brown's writing because of it's intriguing plots and conspiracy theory-type story lines. The Da Vinci Code is undoubtedly his biggest selling book to date and the most popular among his fans. I've read it over and over again and it's a real page-turner. Entire weekends can be occupied with this great book. I've also learned a plethora of new words which has enriched my vocabulary as I've feverishly fingered through the dictionary. As an aspiring writer myself, I must say that Dan Brown has had the biggest impact upon my trail of thinking.
Dan Brown has the ability to mix fact with fiction so well that it generates discussion which can be heated and sensitive at times between people of different religions and Christian denominations, scientific circles and ethical supporters. I think one of Dan Brown's aims is to create awareness of certain issues, to make us think more closely about things and to learn to find out for ourselves what is true and what is not. We should learn to not just accept something as a fact because certain others say so. This is how many great religious founders began their search for truth, and how the great religions of the modern world started.
Secondly, Dan Brown does refer a lot to the Catholic church and attempts to highlight how it has strayed considerably from a certain Christian ideal presented by Jesus and his followers. The fact that there are thousands of different Christian churches today teaching various doctrines will tell you just how much it has deviated. But it is the same with Islam, which has different groups or bodies, most notably the "Shia" and "Shi'ite" populations in Iraq and close by. Buddhism today finds itself in a similar situation, with three main schools known as Theravada, Mahayana and Vajrayana, presenting differing teachings of Buddhism.
The Da Vinci Code goes through a lengthy process explaining how Jesus was married and his royal bloodline is still alive today through the character "Sophie". This however is a 'story' in the book and does not represent reality. There are no verses in the Bible that either reject or clarify the fact that Jesus could have been married during his mortal life, and I don't think there are any similar evidences in Quranic text either. We don't rule out the possibility that Jesus could have married during his mortal life, neither do we proclaim that he did enter into such a relationship. The fact that it is not included in current canonical scriptural text doesn't necessarily confirm that such a wedding didn't take place, but it's absence clearly demonstrates that such an event is not essentail to our spiritual well-being and life journey. Dan Brown merely uses this plot to reinforce his fictional work, and as a secondary reason, to promote an interest in the topic.
