One of the world's leading historians of early Christianity, says churches should thank God for The Da Vinci Code.
"Anything that gets people talking about Jesus is good," says Dr Tom Wright, Bishop of Durham in England.
On his first myth busting visit to Australia, Dr Wright will reveal the truth at a public forum at Macquarie University at 8pm tonight
Describing The Da Vinci Code as "a lightning rod for post-modern mythologies', he says the book and soon-to-be-released movie is a wake up call for churches whose evangelism strategies are not connecting with the younger generation.
"People are very interested in the idea that the Church has secret information they are hiding," says Dr Wright. "It demonstrates that we no longer live in the "modernist' world. You can not take some rational points and reason up from them."
"The saddest thing is that a lot of people are desperate for spiritual answers but the last place they'd look for them is in the church. That's a real indictment."
The answer, says Dr Wright lies with "connecting with people where they are at'.
He says there all sorts of mission responses that fit this bill, but the easiest place to start is to organise a Da Vinci Code event.
"Any church community can put on a seminar or a discussion evening, or have a post-movie coffee meeting," he says.
