June 1, 2005

Da Vinci Code angers yet another church with minor fabrications about, oh, Jesus . . .

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Officials at Westminster Abbey have issued information sheets to assist their tour guides in correcting “factual errors” in The Da Vinci Code, according to a Press Association report in the Guardian. The sheets were issued in response to numerous questions about the church, especially those from Americans; the church is featured in the bestselling novel. As the article notes, “Factual errors identified in the manuscript include mentions of metal detectors in the abbey which don’t exist, a claim that Alexander Pope delivered the eulogy at Isaac Newton‘s funeral, and the assertion that visitors can carry out brass rubbings.” Concurrently, a Reuters wire story notes that Westminster Abbey officials have refused to let scenes for the movie version of the novel, starring Tom Hanks, to be shot in the 940-year-old Abbey, explaining in a statement that in addition to the “factual errors,” The Da Vinci Code is “theologically unsound.” Officials said, “we cannot commend or endorse the contentious and wayward religious and historic suggestions made in the book.”

Dennis Johnson is the founder of MobyLives, and the co-founder and co-publisher of Melville House.

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