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Wounded for me

The 2006 Boston University in London annual lecture was given by Professor Peter Hawkins, the Professor of Religion and Literature there. He commented that many who come to study the Bible at Boston assume they know what it means. He cited evangelicals — sure they know what the Bible means — though they have never read it.

Then he went on to describe the different gospels that are gaining currency: for instance, the prosperity gospel, the self-esteem gospel and the therapeutic gospel. Commenting on the prosperity gospel, he said that the idea that following Jesus leads to success and triumph cannot be sustained from Jesus’s own teaching. If success is the criterion for heroism, then Jesus doesn’t qualify.

First the novel, then the movie; the Da Vinci phenomenon continues to grow and gross millions for its author.

It has all the ingredients that appeal to us. As Dan Brown himself writes, “Everybody loves a conspiracy theory”. We are fascinated by the alternative stories of famous people.