Errors in 'Da Vinci' covered

As for questions about Jesus' marital status, there's nothing wrong with asking the question, "but when the debate focuses solely on the question of his marriage, that does us a great disservice" by deflecting attention away from Christ's role as the Savior of mankind.

The book notes that many LDS leaders, including church founder Joseph Smith, "have inferred or believed that Jesus was married," including former church president Joseph F. Smith, who taught that Christ was married and "fulfilled the entire law of God and asked men and women to follow him."

Other LDS leaders, including Orson Hyde and former president Wilford Woodruff, concurred, while others have been more cautious on the subject. "In recent years, we have, in fact, been counseled by current prophets and apostles ... that where the scriptures are silent, we should pass over them with reverence and focus on those doctrines that are revealed with clarity."

As for future discovery of extra-biblical texts referenced in "The Da Vinci Code," Skinner said LDS scholars expect "a continual discovery of records from the Earth and other religious documents" to surface in years go come. As director of BYU's Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship, Skinner said the school is leading out in preservation and translation of ancient religious texts from a variety of faith traditions.

"They are not going to go away, but will continue to flood the market."

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