Priest sex scandals aren't the only thing rocking the Catholic Church. Dan Brown's The Do Vinci Code is a modern day quest for the Holy Grail, which undermines the very foundations of Catholicism.

The novel revolves around the path of protagonist Robert Langdon and his accidental involvement with a covert brotherhood known as the Priory of Sion. It opens with the gruesome murder of the curator of Paris' Louvre museum, who is also a member of this society, which has, for 2,000 years, protected an ancient secret.

Langdon and the curator's estranged granddaughter, Sophie, are swept up into a French police manhunt as bizarre clues from the curator, which inadvertently name Langdon the killer, hint at the Priory's secret. The two race through France and England, through Catholic conspiracies, hidden riddles and underlying meanings to suggest a separate and believable outlook on the origins of Catholic faith.

As Longdon and Sophie learn more about the Priory and those who want to expose truths about Catholicism, they also face adversaries, such as the deeply devout sect, Opus Dei, which will go to any lengths to prevent the release of this secret.

Brown bases his writings on carefully researched documents, artwork and societies, as the book's preface points out. He manages to unravel the secret to the Holly Grail simply by observing the fresco, "The Last Supper: by Leonardo da Vinci, who was a former grandmaster of the Priory of Sion.

Looking at the fresco, the Grail is obviously excluded, although this is the point, according to the Bible, when it is supposed to appear. In fact, Brown claims the Grail is actually something drastically different than the interpretation by the Bible.

"The Last Supper" is only one of many intellectual observations. Brown also ties in much of Christianity to pagan traditions, points out hidden meanings in Walt Disney films, explains to the reader exactly why the "Mono Lisa" is smiling and describes a naturally occurring number known as the Divine Proportion.

The Da Vinci Code doesn't condemn or praise Catholicism, but tries to give an argument for Brown's perspective, the same argument that minds like Isaac Newton and Botticelli believed in. This view holds Jesus as a mortal prophet, unlike the Catholic decision that he was divine, and even claims that he was married and may have had children.

Many of Brown's deductions are based on recently uncovered scrolls and scriptures that say that Jesus' divinity was a result of a vote in the fourth century.

Although this novel revolves around Catholicism, its fictional aspects are what tie the book together. The interactions between the characters, the obstacles they face and the knowledge they discover weaves together fiction and history in a captivating blend.

If The Da Vinci Code and the points emphasized in the novel are true, then Dan Brown has challenged 2,000 years of faith and beliefs. If they are not true, he has simply written a good, action-packed book.

Either way, despite the vast amounts of historical, biblical and artistic references packed into The Da Vinci Code, only a basic knowledge of the Bible is necessary to understand the novel and none is required to enjoy it.