Apparently Steve Kellmeyer, a Catholic apologist and author of Fact and Fiction in The Da Vinci Code, thinks so. Yesterday he published a column, "Does Ignatius Press promote Gnosticism?", on the Renew America website. This came fast on the heels of a series of comments made by Kellmeyer on the Insight Scoop and Da Vinci Hoax blogs (go here and here for the pertinent posts and comments). In his article, Kellmeyer makes a number of strange and sensational statements, including:
Recently, Carl Olson wrote a column for Ignatius Insight complaining about the uproar over the Gnostic Gospel of Judas. Since his column accepts comments from readers, I pointed out that the uproar was in part fueled by his erroneous book and DVD — he and Ignatius have been promulgating information on a heresy that the Da Vinci Code never even refers to. Two years of Ignatius' hype concerning this straw-man argument undoubtedly played no small role in the rising interest in Gnosticism. [emphasis added]
That's an amazing and wild claim, without a doubt. He also writes:
So, when I heard about Carl's column, in which he laments the existence of an uproar he and Ignatius helped to create, I asked Carl and Mark to give me one example of Gnostic philosophy, theology or even general thought in the Da Vinci Code. They couldn't.
Really? Since I have yet to respond to Kellmeyer's comments and column (all of which were published in the last three days, when I've been both buried with work and away from my computer for long stretches dealing with various responsibilities), I'm not sure why Kellmeyer is so confident I cannot respond adequately. In fact, I now have a lengthy response written, but have decided to wait until Monday to post it — I think it can (and should) wait until after the Easter Triduum. But I did want curious readers to know that I'm aware of Kellmeyer's column and will be responding first thing next week.
Comments