All through history, people have made their thirty pieces of silver by trying to discredit the historical facts about Jesus Christ, and especially the Easter message.

Mal Fletcher

Dan Brown, author of The Da Vinci Code is just one in a long line of people who have either directly or indirectly tried to misrepresent, obscure or emasculate the power of the Christian narrative.

Within days of the crucifixion of Christ, Roman and Jewish guards were paid to peddle a false tale surrounding the resurrection. (The Bible's Acts of the Apostles says they were paid 'a lot of money'.) Their employers, avowed enemies of Jesus, needed to explain how the body of Christ came to leave its tomb while their guards had been watching over it.

Only a few months later, false witnesses were paid to discredit the early Christian leader known simply as Stephen. His powerful witness for Christ led to his death as the first Christian martyr.

Money was involved in each of these murky affairs.

Perhaps the most infamous example of this kind of thing is found in the story of Judas Iscariot. This one-time disciple of Jesus betrayed his Lord for 30 pieces of silver.

Of course, betrayal is not the same as denial. Betrayal means turning on someone who has trusted you; it is made worse when that someone has been good to you. Judas was in many ways more culpable that someone like Dan Brown, for he had spent three years living day-in-day-out in close proximity to Jesus.

Judas was an eye-witness to the remarkable goodness, healing power and uniquely humane teaching of this man from Nazareth. Jesus trusted him, even to the point of making him treasurer of his band of followers. Judas betrayed a friend to his enemies: a friend who turned out to be the most influential person in history. And he did it for the price of a small piece of land.

Mr. Brown, as far as I know, has never professed any sort of Christian faith, so he can't be accused of betrayal in the proper sense of the word. Yet he has betrayed truth, by insisting that Jesus did not die as the Bible suggests, but went on living and eventually marrying Mary Magdalene.

I'm not normally one to get too hot under the collar when opponents of the Christian faith speak out. They're entitled to do so, though we sometimes forget that rights bring certain social responsibilities.

Mr. Brown has written a novel - in effect, a modern fairy-story. On that basis, his fantastic distortion of facts might normally be tolerated: he is after all a myth-maker.

However, he makes the claim in his book that the historical events he represents are based in fact. This is hubris of the worst kind and can't be left unchallenged.

No reliable historian of any note has ever maintained that the death of Jesus by crucifixion is a myth. Even today, in the midst of an increasingly pluralistic and secular society, reputable historians might argue about what the crucifixion means, but they don't deny that Jesus died on a cross.

Even ancient historical texts which were either unfriendly to Christianity or totally disinterested in it - such as the writings of Josephus - recognize the manner of Jesus' death and the passion of the Christians' faith in his resurrection.