Hello.

In May, The Da Vinci Code, starring Tom Hanks, will be released in theatres. The movie is based on Dan Brown’s book of the same title – a book swamped in controversy. This book has become very popular across the world and the release of a major motion picture will aid in the popularity. An issue we need to be aware of is that many people who read the book, see the movie, or do both will take what they read as factual. Given the amount of controversy surrounding the book, I decided to read the book. I am often asked my opinion about such things and I would like to actually know what I am talking about.

Upon investigation, I realized there is a sort of prequel book entitled Angels & Demons. It is a prequel in the sense that the main character, Robert Langdon (Tom Hanks), is the same. So I read Angels & Demons first.

Angels & Demons is an interesting read. The main plot of the book deals with the controversies between science and religion – and the feuds they have had with each other for centuries. I have always been fascinated with the Illuminati, the Knights Templar, the Masons, Opus Dei – secret organizations that are seemingly innocent, but have an undercurrent of potential evil. This book exposes quite a bit about the Illuminati. The problem with reading a historical fiction novel is that one never knows exactly what is truth and what is the author’s liberty. Dan Brown makes it clear at the beginning of the novel that much of what he writes about is completely factual.

I obviously do not know what Dan Brown’s beliefs are, but I can speak to his portrayal of religion in his book. In Angels & Demons, he portrays religion as primarily Catholic. The book has two camps – the religious camp and the scientific camp – and they are at odds with each other. Everyone in the religious camp is Catholic. The book is based in and around Rome and Vatican City and has much to do with popes, priests and conclaves. As someone who believes in the God of the Bible, and one who believes in Jesus, and one who is not Catholic, I found myself wanting. Some of the devoutly religious protagonists in the book also seem to have weakened faith – they adhere more to either a pantheistic view (everything is god) or a Universalist view (all gods are the same). In other words, The God of the Bible, Allah, nature itself – these are equal. One of the concepts of the book is that ultimate energy (antimatter) is God. The book seems to rest on the fact that God (ultimate energy) made the Big Bang. That is how religion and science can get along with each other. In our postmodern society, it is all to easy to simply accept everything that everyone else believes. Everyone has their story and we can all get along fine.

The problem is that many more people are reading Dan Brown’s books than are reading healthy Christian responses. People might be thinking, “If the information about the Illuminati is true, then the information on the church must also be true. They are both somewhat secret societies and only those near the top really understand everything. This author must have been an insider and acquired the information.”

I want to remind all of you about two basic things. There is only one God and there is only one Way to Him. The first commandment to the Israelites (Exodus 20:3) is this: “You shall have no other gods before me.” Allah is not God. Nature is not God. Cows are not God. There is one God. And Jesus makes it clear that He is the only Way to God (John 14:6): Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” We cannot get to God if we are good. We cannot get to God if we flawlessly follow another path. Jesus is THE Way.

The world around us is curious about God. They love reading books and watching movies that expose things about God. This is what we should do:

We should be AWARE that people around us believe other things. We cannot ignore that other beliefs exist.
We should ACCEPT that they believe something different. We cannot ignore them because they are different.
We should be a constant EXAMPLE of Jesus. We cannot ignore our responsibility to shine Jesus all around us.

And, for the record, God did not kick off the Big Bang (Genesis 1).

I have started reading The Da Vinci Code and I should be done by next week. I will respond to that book then…

-z

Tags: angels & demons, Gnostics

This entry was posted by zac on Thursday, March 16th, 2006 at 10:59 am and is filed under Weekly Jib Jab. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.