Last year, The DaVinci Code swept other books aside in sales as well as cultural impact. The plot consumed readers while its esoteric information piqued widespread curiosity and its religious themes struck a universal nerve—with the divine feminine, hidden in history, art, and culture, now emerging from obscurity. The book sparked a mass infatuation with Mary Magdalene and secret, heretical traditions—esoteric Christian, Gnostic, hermetic, pagan, templar, and Grail mysteries. The result is that a Medieval heresy has reached a 21st-century critical mass, creating a Magdalene zeitgeist. Yet how reliable are the book’s ideas? Panelists will discuss the novel and its impact on culture, religion, and theology.

Maxine M. Hanks, Dennis McDonald, George L. Gorse, Bradley A. Tepaske, Kristy Coleman