Da Vinci Code – Is Dan Brown a Christian?

Is Dan Brown a Christian?

Newspaper articles report that Dan Brown was raised Christian. On his own website, Brown claims that he is a Christian, but then shows that he is very confused as to what a Christian is:

ARE YOU A CHRISTIAN?
Yes. Interestingly, if you ask three people what it means to be Christian, you will get three different answers. Some feel being baptized is sufficient. Others feel you must accept the Bible as immutable historical fact. Still others require a belief that all those who do not accept Christ as their personal savior are doomed to hell. Faith is a continuum, and we each fall on that line where we may. By attempting to rigidly classify ethereal concepts like faith, we end up debating semantics to the point where we entirely miss the obvious–that is, that we are all trying to decipher life’s big mysteries, and we’re each following our own paths of enlightenment. I consider myself a student of many religions. The more I learn, the more questions I have. For me, the spiritual quest will be a life-long work in progress.
– Source: The Da Vinci Code – FAQs Official Website of Dan Brown Last accessed online, March 28, 2006

A Christian is a follower of the historical Jesus as presented in the Bible. Christians hold to the essential teachings of the Bible. Alan Gomes writes that "’Central doctrines’ of the Christian faith are those doctrines that make the Christian faith Christian and not something else.", and says, "The meaning of the expression “Christian faith” is not like a wax nose, which can be twisted to mean whatever the speaker wants it to mean."

Someone who, even though he claims to be a Christian, rejects orthodoxy in favor of heresy is a heretic – a person considered to be outside of the Christian faith.