Answers beyond 'Da Vinci' offered

Just days after a London judge decided that the "The Da Vinci Code" author Dan Brown didn't steal the foundational ideas for his novel, the author who sued him says he has potential answers for questions about early Christianity that go beyond the speculation fueled by Brown's best-seller.

Michael Baigent, the author who sued Brown for copyright infringement, told the Deseret Morning News this week that "all Dan Brown's questions on the subject of religion, the court revealed he took from us . . . Brown took all that material from (Baigent's earlier book) 'Holy Blood, Holy Grail.' The judge established that. We lost the case because they decided (Brown) hadn't taken enough to establish infringement."

A Hollywood version of Brown's book starring Tom Hanks — which builds its storyline around uncovering a religious secret: that Jesus and Mary Magdalene had a child together — is slated for release May 19. Catholic and evangelical scholars have widely criticized the novel. Dozens of "debunking" books have been published trying to help readers separate fact from fiction, and Christian leaders in some quarters are urging the faithful to avoid the film.

"The Da Vinci Code," though a fictional tale, raised questions among millions of readers that Baigent says were originally raised in his own book, "but (Brown) didn't explore" the questions in any detail. "I live and breathe this area. I care about this," he said, adding "it's dishonest to raise (questions) without asking the steps of how you got there. To just throw something out of the ether and confront someone with it — that's very contentious when you're dealing with some people's very deeply held beliefs."

And yet Baigent's new book, "The Jesus Papers," purports to "expose the greatest cover-up in history" — that Jesus may have survived the crucifixion — using evidence that evokes images "The Da Vinci Code" readers will recognize, including hidden clues to the truth in an artist's depiction of Christ's crucifixion and burial.

Baigent's book is not billed as fiction, but rather as historical possibility. It uses interpretations of the New Testament gospels, varying translations of them, extra-biblical texts and political theories to lay out a case that early Christians, and later, the Catholic Church, orchestrated a carefully construed image of Jesus long after the actual events in the gospels transpired in order to portray him as divine and hide key truths about his life. Those scenarios will also be familiar to "Da Vinci Code" readers.