About the Author
Lee Strobel (www.LeeStrobel.com), with a journalism degree from the University of Missouri and a Master of Studies in Law degree from Yale Law School, was the award-winning legal editor of the Chicago Tribune and a spiritual skeptic until 1981. His books include four Gold Medallion winners and the 2005 Christian Book of the Year (coauthored with Garry Poole). He and his wife live in Colorado. Lee Strobel tiene una licenciatura en periodismo de la Universidad de Missouri y una maestria en estudio de leyes de la Universidad Yale. Fue el galardonado editor legal del periodico Chicago Tribune y esceptico espiritual hasta el ano 1981. Es autor de exitos de ventas del New York Times de casi veinte libros y ha sido entrevistado por numerosos programas nacionales de television, incluyendo 20/20 de la cadena ABC, Fox News y CNN. Cuatro de sus libros han ganado el premio Medalla de oro y uno de ellos fue el ganador del premio Libro cristiano del ano 2005 (el cual escribio junto a Garry Poole). Lee sirvio como pastor de ensenanza en las Iglesias Willow Creek y Saddleback. Ademas, contribuye como editor y columnista de la revista 'Outreach'. el y su esposa, Leslie, residen en Colorado. Para mas informacion, visite: www.leestrobel.com
As Willow Creek Community Church's key evangelism leader for over sixteen years, Garry Poole is the innovator of seeker small groups and a strategist of creative outreach initiatives. Passionate about reaching people for Christ, Garry and his team have trained thousands of leaders to launch seeker small groups in their own settings. His award-winning book, Seeker Small Groups, provides a detailed blueprint for facilitating small group discussions that assist spiritual seekers with investigating Christianity. He also wrote The Complete Book of Questions, a collection of 1001 conversation starters and numerous group study guides including The Three Habits of Highly Contagious Christians; The Tough Questions Series, and Experiencing the Passion of Jesus (with Lee Strobel) to accompany Mel Gibson's film, The Passion of the Christ. In 2005, it became the first discussion guide ever to receive the prestigious Charles 'Kip' Jordon Christian Book of the Year award. Garry lives in suburban Chicago and consults on evangelism and seeker small groups at churches around the world. For more information about seeker small groups and bringing Garry to your area, contact: seekergroups@seekerministries.org Garry Poole es director de evangelismo en Willow Creek Community Church en South Barrington, Illinois y tambien es el autor de Seeker Small Groups, The Complete Book of Questions y The Three Habits of Highly Contagious Christians.
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Discussing the Da Vinci Code Copyright 2006 by Lee Strobel and Garry Poole Requests for information should be addressed to: Zondervan, Grand Rapids, Michigan 49530 ISBN-10: 0-310-27265-3 ISBN-13: 978-0-310-27265-6 All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the Holy Bible: New International Version. NIV. Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved. All quotations from The Da Vinci Code are from the Doubleday hardcover edition, 2003 by Dan Brown. The website addresses recommended throughout this book are offered as a resource to you. These websites are not intended in any way to be or imply an endorsement on the part of Zondervan, nor do we vouch for their content for the life of this book. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means --- electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, or any other --- except for brief quotations in printed reviews, without the prior permission of the publisher. Interior design by Beth Shagene Printed in the United States of America 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 * 19 18 17 16 15 14 13 12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 We want to hear from you. Please send your comments about this book to us in care of zreview@zondervan.com. Thank you. S e s s i o n 1 What Can History Really Tell Us? Blinding ignorance does mislead us. O! Wretched mortals, open your eyes! Leonardo da Vinci Watch It! (DVD Clip #1, 1 minute) In this brief video segment, Lee Strobel introduces the discussion topic for this session. Use the following space to take a few notes. Discuss It! 1What was your overall reaction to The Da Vinci Code? What did you like most about the book? Least? Give reasons for your answers. 2What questions, issues, or concerns about historical Christianity does The Da Vinci Code raise in your mind? W h a t C a n H i s t o r y R e a l l y T e l l U s ? 17 3Can historical events be verified? Why or why not? What do you think determines whether or not an historical event actually occurred? Watch It! (DVD Clip #2, 7 minutes) Use the following space to take notes as Lee Strobel interviews historian Paul Maier about: history being written by 'winners,' the reliability of historical documents, and the Priory of Sion. Dr. Maier, a professor of ancient history at Western Michigan University, has written over 250 scholarly articles and reviews in professional journals. His books include In the Fullness of Time, which examines secular evidence for Jesus; a new translation and commentary of the first-century historian Josephus; and a study of Eusebius, the first Christian historian. He also has written three novels, including A Skeleton in God's Closet, a number-one national bestseller in religious fiction. Discuss It! 4The Da Vinci Code says that 'history is always written by the winners. When two cultures clash, the loser is obliterated, and the winner writes the history books --- books which glorify their own cause and disparage the conquered foe' (p. 256). Do you agree or disagree? Why? Gauging Historical Accuracy 'Many historians now believe (as do I) that in gauging the historical accuracy of a given concept, we should first ask ourselves a far deeper question: How historically accurate is history itself?' Dan Brown
