The Influences of Dan Browns Life Experiences on the Portrayal of Christ in The Da Vinci Code

THESIS Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Sarjana Pendidikan

Steaven Octavianus 112007007

ENGLISH DEPARTMENT FACULTY OF LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE SATYA WACANA CHRISTIAN UNIVERSITY SALATIGA 2012

The Influences of Dan Browns Life Experiences on the Portrayal of Christ in The Da Vinci Code

THESIS Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Sarjana Pendidikan

Steaven Octavianus 112007007

Approved by: Supervisor Examiner

Danielle D.Sims, M.A

Lany Kristono, M.Hum

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The Influences of Dan Browns Religious Background on the Life of Christ as Shown in The Da Vinci Code Abstract
This study is aimed at analyzing the influence of Dan Browns biographical background on his book, The Da Vinci Code. In the novel of DVC, the author, Dan Brown, presents Jesus as just a human. The idea of Jesus as a human is considered as a doubt toward Christians belief. The doubt that Brown presents in DVC could possibly caused by his biographical background. In the theory of biographical approach that Tomasevskij stated, biographical findings have a concern with personalities. There is an interrelationship between writers, their life experience, and their works. The analysis revealed that the authors background, in this case Dan Browns background, influences his apathy toward Christian belief in the DVC. Browns intensive encounter with science and faith has caused his apathy and skeptical ideas toward Christian belief about Jesus as God, as shown in DVC.

Keywords: author background, biographical approach, image of Christ.

Introduction
The Da Vinci Code is a famous literary work. Following the success of the novel, the movie was made. This study is triggered by my experience of watching the movie of The Da Vinci Code which was adapted from the novel by Dan Brown. After I watched the movie then I read the novel. I found the novel quite interesting; because the narrator used third person voice in the novel, and he portrayed the story as if he was the observer who knew everything in the novel, including the characterization and the plot of the story. Normally this isnt a problem because many writers do this. They write their stories as though their narrators can be omniscientwhich

means they know everything. However, when the authors are writing that they know specific things about God that contradict the Christian religion, then they become a problem. This story also involved the conspiracy in the secret societies that lies not only in Roman Catholic Church but also in the society in general. This case brings Langdon as the suspect of the curator. Later on Langdon tries to escape from the police. In his escape he found a lot of things related to the history of Da Vincis works, the hidden secret of Roman Catholic Church, including the prior of Sion, the secret society and also the descendant of Jesus. The things that are presented in the story make me more curious. Besides the code, which is related to the direction of Maria Magdalenes tomb and also into the descendant of Jesus, there is also one thing that makes the novel become more interesting, that is because the novel presents the fiction as if it is a real fact, like when the narrator adds some historical events and background on the plot of this story. When I was reading the novel, I found something interesting in the first part of the novel. Brown wrote that all historical evidence in this novel is accurate. This can lead the reader, especially Christians reader, to become anxious and perhaps intrigued or tempted to believe. This phenomenon can happen because in the DVC, Brown is questioning the Divinity of Christ by presenting a story that Jesus has a descendant from Marry Magdalene. In his work Sheafer stated that by some remarkable chains from Brown in his factual novel, he can revolutionize Christians religions and history as well (22). Some people may think it can be just a novel and not take it seriously, but just think on the contrary, when the writer put some evidences which claim the story as accurate or as containing historical facts or evidence and mix it with his thought and imagination, it can be a new thing that may confuse the reader as well

make them believe it wholeheartedly without questioning. The ideas on the novel can confuse the reader because the narrator blends his claims with the truth and belief of the Christians. As a Christian I think the DVC can be considered as the narrative that challenges Christians thinking. On the other hand, this phenomenon can enable Christians to think more deeply about their belief and have critical thinking toward issues on religious perspectives. Also I think it may help readers to realize that the lines of fiction and nonfiction are not always drawn clearly. By that I mean that there is some gray area present too. But sometimes we have a tendency to think of genres as being 100% true or 100% untrue. From these points this is what interests me to do a study on the novel of DVC. The controversy point in this story is about Jesus marriage with Mary Magdalene. This chase is very contradictory with the belief of Christian people. Christians believe that even though Jesus is human, at the same time he also is God and he is not married. This part of story is questioning the divinity of Christ and it can lead to a controversial issue. This controversial issue that is portrayed in DVC could have been created by the writers skepticism about religious ideas. Some studies have been done in the relation of the DVC. For example Keown (27) wrote about the Gospel of DVC, Lineham wrote about the conspiracy toward church, especially about Christ having a wife and descendant which are lies on the DVC (29) while Knight discussed the popularity of Dan Brown in DVC (2). Knight describes that, even though it is a novel, it can function as a seductive work of teaching and can make a real attack in the belief of Christianity (2). The DVC can be a real attack because the writer presents some historical facts in his novel. The writer blends the historical evidence with the plot of the story; this can influence the readers

perspective toward the story. Maybe even more so, not just the story, but also because there are historical facts in it, it is possible that the reader would too blend the twofact and fiction in his/her own life. That would be especially detrimental to a Christians faith. The other contra idea about DVC also comes from Lineham. Lineham describes that the novel of Da Vinci Code is a conspiracy theory toward the Church (30). There are a lot of contradictions about DVC, and questions about whether it is just a novel or it may contain some ideas which challenge the faith of Christians toward Jesus. The ideas which challenge the Christian faith in DVC lead me into curiosity about who created it; is it the author himself or there are events/reasons that influenced him. If the author is the one who made the ideas in challenging Christians faith, why did he do it? Are there any specific reasons for the writer to challenge Christians faith? The authors apathy could influence on how he thought, and his thought can be related to his background. Based on the reasons of authors apathy toward Christianity faith in DVC, I think the role of author as the one who made the story is an important point to be analyzed. The point worth discussing that will be discussed in this study is religious issues in the novel titled The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown. The specific problem that I will discuss is the relationship between the image of Jesus in the novel The Da Vinci Code and Dan Browns background. In DVC Jesus was shown as merely human being than as God. In DVC it was told that Jesus was made into God in Nicea Council by the Roman Emperor, Konstantin. So based on DVC Jesus was believed as God by Christians were the result of Council Nicea. Brown presents Jesus as a religious symbol only. Jesus is a man; he married Marry Magdalene and had offspring. The plotline of DVC relates Jesus as human and not as God; it is a story created by Brown who shows his apathy and doubt toward Christians belief.

The objective of this study was to analyze how the writers background can influence his works. Through this study I would try to analyze and consider the similarities between the biography of the writers life with his works. Perhaps by investigating some events in Browns life, I could find how his background can influence his doubt in Christian religion. Tomasevskij explained that biographical approach has something to do with the historical fact of the author as a part of fact of their lives (121). Moreover he stated that the biographies may be considered as external reference material. Based on what Tomsaevskij had explained about how biographical approach can be a historical part in authors life, I will compare how Browns historical background can influence his thoughts as shown in DVC. This study would include the comparison between the representations of the holy trinity whom are all extensions of God, according to most Christians. In addition the image of Jesus Christ presented in the DVC and the perspective that Brown attaches to Jesus as Browns views on the historical evidence presents on the novel. That comparison would be viewed through an ecumenical Christians perspective in Jesus as God and the Holy Trinity as well. This study can help students or any readers to build their critical thinking in responding to a reading passage or literary work. Especially for English Department students, it will be very important to create critical thinking by using their knowledge of literature, because English Department Students mostly are prepared to become teachers. If they do not have critical thinking and do not understand a text well, they might have a wrong foundation of thinking. As stated by Weiner, critical thinking is a process to enhance the individuals ability to manage information to learn and use the facts, figures and principles in specific discipline (82). In this study the specific discipline that I am going to use is the literary work. While Petress suggests that the definitions of critical thinking are often field dependent (461). Moreover Petress stated
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that one of definition in critical thinking is Critical thinking examines assumptions, discerns hidden values, evaluate evidence and assesses conclusions (Petress 461). The critical thinking can lead the reader into the deep seeking of the truth in literary work. Later on Petress explains that knowing the readers or authors background, such as education, political view, and ideologies might accomplish assessing assumptions, hidden values and also conclusions. I think this study can be an example of critical thinking toward literary work. Through critical thinking, readers can discern hidden values or examine the assumptions which are laid beyond literary work. English Department students whom are prepared to be teacher have to understand what issues or ideologies laid beyond literary works. I hope this study can be an example to the students of English Department so they can manage information and use the facts to figure out what really happen related to the issues spread in the society, so that they have critical thinking skills. What will possibly happen, if a teacher has an uncritical way of thinking, it will affect the way he or she teaches the students. In this study the critical thinking that aimed is about how readers not supposed to be skeptical in religious issues. As a reader we have to question about what facts or ideas or issues that are presented in literary works, especially if the issues totally attack the belief of certain people or groups, also if they blur the line between fact and fiction.

Biographical Approach
As a writer, Browns personal background can have an important influence in his work, DVC. Tomasevskij stated that biographical findings have a concern with the personalities, and with the interrelationship between the writers and their surroundings (116). The background of the author can be a part of factor influences his work. In this research the biographical image of
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Brown can construct how the author portrays religion and Christianity. So based on those biographical images between author and the works I will consider how the Authors background relates to the Christianity and faith with the image of Christianity in the DVC. As stated by Abrams firstly there is the work, and since the work is a human product so it has a connection to the artist or the one who made it (6). Based on what Abrams has stated, it shows that there is a relationship between the work and the artist, or in this chase the author. In addition, Abrams explained that the artist becomes the major element generating the artistic product and the judging criteria. Abrams called this way of thinking as the expressive theory of art (21). Moreover he stated that a work art is essentially the internal factor which made the external, so the work is a result of a creative process combined with the artist perceptions, thoughts and feelings.

The Da Vinci Codes Background

Browns popularity increased after his novel the DVC became controversial issues among Christians. Dan Brown is the author of number one bestselling novels; one of his novels is DVC. The DVC is very popular and has become the controversial debate ideas among readers and scholars, especially Christian people. DVC become controversial because Brown made some of his claims on it. The first claim is that Konstantin the emperor of Rome had a conspiracy in making his people to believe in Jesus as God. Moreover Brown explains that Konstantin personally choose the books in the New Testaments by himself. Christians believe that the testaments in Bible, especially new testaments are the word of God. If Brown explains that

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Konstantin personally chooses the books by himself that will be a controversial idea toward Christians belief. The most controversial claim that he raised is the marriage between Jesus and Mary Magdalene. This claim becomes controversial since Christians believe that Jesus is God and a part of Holy Trinity and he did not marry anyone. Based on the New Testaments in Bible, Jesus is not marrying anyone; Marry Magdalene was just one of His followers. Those controversial claims raised the popularity of DVC and then Browns popularity as well. Furthermore his popularity also influences his other novels. Brown's novels are published in 52 languages around the world with 200 million copies in printed edition. Browns track record as a novelist was not as smooth as it looks like. Browns first three novels-The Deception point, Digital Fortress, Angels and Demons- were not too successful, they sold fewer than 10,000 copies. Brown hit his success as a writer with his fourth novel. The facts about Browns career as a novelist proofed that his fourth novel, the DVC was the one who brought him into popularity. In 2003, The Da Vinci Code was released. The book became a bestseller, going to the top of the New York Times Best Seller list during the first week. The Da Vinci Code is now credited with being one of the most popular books of all time, with 81 million copies sold as of 2009.1 Based on the success and popularity of Browns novels, his fourth novel could be the tool to rise up his popularity and the selling of his novels. Perhaps based on his track record on writing novels Brown made some controversial religious issues toward Christians in DVC just to rise up his popularity.

http://www.danbrown.com/#/author/bio

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Browns Life/Biographical, Experiences with Religion

Browns life and family background can be one of the important parts to be analyzed as the influence factors in his doubts and apathy toward Jesus as God. Brown was born on June 22, 1964 in Exeter, New Hampshire. He grew up on the campus of Phillips Exeter Academy. His father, Richard G. Brown, was a teacher of mathematics in that academy, and he also wrote textbooks, while his mother is a churchs organist. 2 Browns educational background can be one of the supporting parts that also shaped his mind and thought. If his childhood is the basic foundation in his thought, perhaps his educational background is the rest parts that shaped his thought and made his apathy toward faith. Here is Browns educational background. After graduating from Phillips Exeter, Brown attended Amherst College. At Amherst he was a member of Psi Upsilon fraternity. In 1985 he spent his school year abroad in Seville, Spain. He enrolled in an art history course at the University of Seville during that semester. Perhaps the art history education background is a factor that may influence his works, DVC. In DVC Brown use some arts and their history to make the codes related to the proof about Jesus descendants with Marry Magdalene. The art history has played important roles in DVC, because if there is no any art history then Brown cannot put some historical evidences related to his doubt toward Jesus as God. So in this case Browns imagination in art history can be related to his educational background in Seville. After graduation Brown dabbled with a musical career before he decided to write novels.

http://bestsellers.about.com/od/authorprofilesaz/p/dan_brown.htm

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Brown has an art historical background on his education, that can be a source of his knowledge about Da Vincis artworks and perhaps the histories that lay on them. 3 Browns religious background will be one of important factors that perhaps influenced his apathy and doubt toward Jesus as god in DVC. As Bubeck and Dunn maintain, Browns religious belief is in pagan monism (24). Monism comes from the words mono and ism. Mono means one and ism means belief. The belief of monism is a belief that believes in one basic reality; which means there is only one reality in this world. The universe was not created by God; it exists and was developed by itself. The ideas of gods and God the creator is a manifesto from one whole idea. This perception comes from the ideas of God represented in Browns novels The DVC. This personal belief about pagan monism has been a background to present the ideas of Jesus as God in the DVC. As we know that monism believes in one reality, but Christians believe in Holy Trinity, which consists of Father God, Jesus as Son and Holly Spirit. Those ideas are contradictory one to another; this may be why Brown presents Jesus in DVC as merely a human being and not God. Brown pictures Jesus as a human by making a story of Jesus descendant with Mary Magdalene.(Bubeck and Dunn 313).

Influences of his Life on his Perspectives

The personality of the author is clearly portrayed in some parts of story that doubt the belief of Christianity toward Jesus and his divinity. The divinity of Jesus was explained in the Bible, especially in the new testaments. Christians believe that the Bible is word of God, and the Bible is their life holder. The four gospels in the New Testaments are considered as good news which tells about Jesus and all His miraculous work including his divinity. As stated in the
3

http://www.eduinreview.com/blog/2011/10/dan-browns-education-background/
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Gospel of John, Jesus knew that the Father had put all things under his power, and that he had come from God and was returning to God ( New International Version, John. 13.3) this verse is a confession of John as the writer of the Gospel toward Jesus Divinity in God. His life showed some miraculous evidences on it, for example healing the sick, walking in the water even rising of death. Jesus claims and also all his miraculous evidences that written in Gospels aimed His Divinity as Son of God and part of Holy Trinity, Father, Son and Holly Spirit. Moreover in the Gospel of John, Dont you believe that I am in the Father and that the Father is in me? The word I say to you are not just my own. Rather, it is the Father living in me, who is doing his work (New International Version, John. 14.1) this support the belief of Jesus as a part of Holy Trinity and His Divinity in Father God. In the case of authors apathy, the authors childhood builds his basic ideas toward religion. His confusion about religion can be could have started when he was on a childhood age. In his childhood age, Brown had two different ideas of life. His father was a teacher and a writer for math. Surely his father was a scientific person, he wrote science book, in this case math lesson. Science is related with logic, proof and evidence. As Rogak stated about Browns opinion: Where science offered exciting proofs of its claims, whether it was photos, equations, or visible evidence, religion was a lot more demanding, constantly wanting me to accept everything on faith. Faith takes a fair amount of effort, especially for young children and especially in an imperfect world. So as a boy, I gravitated toward the solid foundations of science. But the further I progressed into this solid world of science, the mushier the ground started to get.4
4

http://www.danbrownbio.com/excerpt1.html
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Those quotations above show how Brown struggled with the polar opposites between science and religion since his childhood. Even though there is not any specific information whether Brown has a broken home background or not, one thing can be seen is, in his household stand two different ideas in life, between logic and faith. The confusion about faith and science since his childhood leads him into the foundation of his thought toward religion. Browns childhood might contribute some of his opinion toward religion and life. According to Rogak (2005), Brown stated that his childhood had shaped him. Later on Rogak explains that one of the reasons Brown is so comfortable dealing with multiple disciplines is that two subjects the rest of the world might view as polar oppositesscience and religion coexisted peacefully and, in fact, even thrived in the Brown household. His father was teaching and writing about math while his mother studied sacred music and played the organ, and they got in touch one to another neither one was more or less important than the other. Dan Brown was raised as a Christian and he sang in the church choir, attended Sunday school, and spent summers at church camp. As what Rogak stated, Browns childhood has shaped him. His parents background can be an influencing factor which shaped his childhood. As I have mentioned before his father has something to do with science. Perhaps as a math teacher his father will teach him not to believe in something without testing the truth. While as a church organist and also immaculate examples of society his mother may teach him a lot about faith and religion.5 Actually those two ideas can walk peacefully together, but when someone was on his/her process in seeking the truth that can be really confused. The ideas of faith and science which actually can walk together can be oppositional ideas in the way someone thought and perhaps that can make apathy into the belief God, because somehow the existence of God cannot
5

http://bcb703.blogspot.com/2006/07/da-vinci-code-part-ii-dan-brown.html
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be proved by science, but science cannot proved the inexistence of God. As stated by Rogak in Browns biography, Brown needs a lot of effort on faith, especially as a young child in the imperfect world. Later on Rogak stated that Browns confession about his childhood that shaped him is a quite clear statement about his foundation of his thought related to the religion and faith. Browns thought related to the religion and faith aims for his apathy and doubt toward Jesus as God.

The Apathy Shown in the Story of DVC

In the DVC his apathy was shown in the character of Teabing and Langdon. Both characters show how they oppose against religion. This scene happened when Teabing explained to Sophie about the Churchs dark history and also the meaning of Da Vincis painting in The Last Supper. The imagination was clearer in the movie, there is a spot beside Jesus and the one who sits besides Jesus was not his apostles, but Mary Magdalene. It portrayed that Mary Magdalene actually was laying her head into Jesus shoulder and both couple actually was illustrated as the symbol of feminine or the symbol of womans sex organ. The dark history of church was explained by Teabing in the council of Nicea 325. Teabing explained that the Divinity of Jesus was also determined on that council. This explanation can be put as a doubt toward the Divinity of Christ. Teabing explained that actually Da Vinci paint Mary Magdalene besides Jesus, and the Holy Grail is the offspring of Jesus and Mary Magdalene. Indeed according to Gospels Jesus never married anyone, including Marry Magdalene. In DVC the author shows how religion is a political conspiracy toward paganisms. Its a conspiracy because old Roman Catholic Church must maintain their authority to people, so that paganisms cannot
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shake their authority and regard as astray. In this case the controversial issue is about the Catholic Church was behind this conspiracy and supported the lie. Another apathy that is shown in DVC is how a religious leader, Bishop Aringarosa, became an antagonist in this story. The thought that a religious leader can also become a villain can be a critic toward religion. In the story Aringarosa was a character behind the murder of Saussure. Even though they are religious leaders, they still have secrets of the dark side of church in their life that can save their position as leader. Some secrets that presents in this novel is the slaughtering toward women in middle-age. Based on this story the slaughtering was based on the seeking of Jesus offspring. The Church made use of their authority by accusing the women as witches. Those facts that lay in the story can be a supporting point to assure the reader that religious leader also has secrets. And if they represent the Christian religion then it is obvious to see how some people would doubt and start to believe all religion and all religious leaders are bad images. By presenting the ideas of even religious leader cannot be reliable; Brown can share his apathy toward readers. Just as his statement in his official website, "Religion has only one true enemy--apathy--and passionate debate is a superb antidote." 6 His own statement related to the religion has shown how apathy can be one true enemy of religion. This statement can also support his feeling and apathy. In his novel DVC, Brown uses how religion cannot be proven by factual evidence. The plot of the story shows how the truth of religion must be proved. From the beginning of the story, the main characters, Robert Langdon and Sophie were doing their journey to prove the truth about the mystery that Saussure left. Those mysteries lead them into some religious doubt about
6

http://bestsellers.about.com/od/authorprofilesaz/p/dan_brown.htm

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the divinity of Christ. The doubt was starting from the explanation of Jesus divinity that was just a result of Nicea council and also the marriage between Jesus and Marry Magdalene. In the end of the novel, all evidences about Jesus descendant aimed to Sophie, the girl that was protected by prior of Sion. Surely those claims are considered as a doubt and apathy toward Christians belief. Moreover Jeff and Dunn consider that Browns novels present only myths and gospel according to monism, while Christians Gospels consistently present the truth in Bible (41). The myths that Brown believe as a fact is more reliable than a history, this belief was shown based on Teabings estimation. Those myths in DVC can be shown as the doubts and apathy toward religion and its history. The doubt against religion and faith shown in DVC can be considered as the authors apathy toward religion and faith. In his sites Brown answered a question that asked whether he is a Christian or not, and he answered that he is a Christian (Jeff and Dunn 83), even though Brown didnt explain in what foundation he builds his faith toward Christianity. Moreover because Brown was raised in western culture and her mother was a church musician he is naturally Christian. Brown also attended Sunday school and Sunday services; he used most of his summer holiday in churchs retreat (Jeff and Dunn 81). If Brown was a Christian and perhaps he stills a Christian, why did he doubt the religion that he holds? Surely this doubt about religion can be caused by his foundation of thinking since his childhood. His parents were both from science and religion backgrounds. In one side science needs proof, while religion and faith need special effort, because people have to believe in something that is abstract or cant be proved by some experiments. Religion and science show differences and opposite backgrounds that might confuse Brown in how he thought about religion.

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Conclusion and Finding

Based on the background of the author that shows how science and religion blend into one belief, the blend of science and faith into one seems to be an odd blend because it can lead him into the skeptical ideas toward Christians belief. Browns personal background, especially his childhood backgrounds constructs his apathy toward religion and faith. Browns personal education background can make him be more apathetic toward religion and Christians belief. Brown has been taught about science by his father, which needs proof, but he also was taught about religion and faith by his mother. When the two things come together, especially when he was a young boy it may lead him to question the truth of faith and religion. By this research I found that Browns apathy is caused by his childhood background in science and faith. Moreover Brown put his apathy in his work the Da Vinci Code. Brown presents some contradiction about Jesus Divinity by giving some historical evidences in DVC. In this research I conclude that the Browns religious background could perhaps have influenced his perspective of Christ as God in DVC. For the next research in biographical approach I think it will be helpful if it is shown by two perspectives, the first perspective is come from the authors background, how his life and especially his ideologies or perhaps some special events or may be trauma can be a part that influence his work in literature. The second perspective that can be used is the perspective of how the literature or the work was seen from readers point of view. If the authors background can be seen on two different perspectives, it can be a fair and ideal analysis not only one side analysis. Another important thing is to look for the childhood age. In this case the childhood age
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of author can influence his/her thought toward something. Take for example, in his childhood the author was taught not to believe in God, so for the rest of the authors life, he /she will not believe in God. In Browns case, his father was a well-educated man in science and his mother was also a well-educated musician, especially in gospel music because she is a church organist. Brown is growing up in science and Christian environment. This childhood experience perhaps can be an exposure that influence him in writing the paradox of science versus religion

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References
Abrams, M.H. The Mirror and The Lamp: Romantic Theory and The Critical Tradition. New York: Oxford University Press Inc., 1953. Print. Brown, Dan. The Da Vinci Code. New York: Doubleday, 2003. Print. Brown, Dan. "The Official Website of Bestselling Author Dan Brown". 17 January 2012 <http://www.danbrown.com/#/author/bio>. Bubbeck, Craig and Dunn, Jeff. Injil Menurut Dan Brown. Yogyakarta: Penerbit ANDI, 2007. Print. Info. "Dan Brown's Educational Background". Edu in Review. 2011. 17 January 2012 <http://www.eduinreview.com/blog/2011/10/dan-browns-education-background/>. Keown, Mark. "The Gospel of The Da vinci Code." The New Zealand Journal of Christian Thought & Practice (2006): 27-32. Print. Knight, Philip. "Dangerous Fiction: the popularity of Dan Brown's The Da vinci Code." The New Zealand Journal of Christian Thought & Practice (2006): 2-6. Print. Lineham, Peter. "Da Vinci Conspiracies." The New Zealand Journal of Christian Thought & Practice (2006): 29-33. Print. Merwe, Elizabeth V.D. "Da Vinci Code Part II". Scientific Methods. 2006. 24 May 2012 <http://bcb703.blogspot.com/2006/07/da-vinci-code-part-ii-dan-brown.html >

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Miller, Collazo Erin. "Dan Brown". About.com. 17 January 2012 <http://bestsellers.about.com/od/authorprofilesaz/p/dan_brown.htm>. Petress, Ken. "Critical Thinking: An extended Definition." Education (n.d.): 461-466. Print. Rogak, Lisa. "The Man Behind The Da Vinci Code". Dan Brown Bio. 2005. 17 January 2012 <http://www.danbrownbio.com/excerpt1.html>. Sheaffer, Robert. "The Da Vinci Code Cult." Skeptic (2005): 22-26. Print. Tomasevskij, Boris. "Literature and Biography." Twentieth Century Literary Theory: An Introductory Anthology. Eds. Lambropulous, Vassilis and David N Miller. Albany, New York: State University of New York Press, 1987. 116-123. Print. Weiner, John M. "Is There A Difference Between Critical Thinking and Literacy? A Systematic Review 2000-2009." Journal of Information Literacy (2011): 81-92. Print.

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