This panel will be a roundtable exploration of important questions raised both by Dan Brown’s book, The Da Vinci Code, and by its enthusiastic reception in the national and LDS markets. What makes the book so popular? The desire for the divine feminine? The possibility of Jesus being married? The connection between Mary Magdalene and the holy grail? The American citizenry’s penchant for conspiracy theories? The hope of uncovering new knowledge about Christianity’s origins? Panel members will examine the theological implications of the book, Dan Brown’s use of historical and scholarly sources, and what all of these questions have to do with Mormonism’s own cover-up of the divine feminine.

Margaret M. Toscano, Paul Toscano, Janice Allred, Jody England Hansen