This article deals with the public sensation brought about by Dan Brown's Da Vinci Code. It traces the source of the claims of the author to the Gnostics that were especially prominent in the first few centuries AD.

People love conspiracies. They love it even more when it involves politics, noteworthy people, or such institutions as Christianity. After all, isn't it exciting to think that there is some sinister plot that lurks behind what we don’t know, or perhaps, don’t want to accept? It is in this context that so many people have latched on to The Da Vinci Code, a novel by Dan Brown. People use it as a vehicle to express their doubts.

This article discusses the Apostolic Fathers, the canon, the pope, martyrs, and the Da Vinci code.