angels and demons

Just watched the show along with a few good men this afternoon. No doubt many people will be against it and stand up against what was shown in the film but I am amazed at how brilliant the mind of Dan Brown is, in that he can think and conjure up such well thought through and interesting twists that left me captivated throughout the show. For one, he probably would have done much research on the Catholic faith to be able to come up with such theories and put many to shame when it comes to the amount of things he know about it.

But one thing I am definitely thankful for after watching the movie is that what I am believing in now is simple, plain and the free gift of God that no man may boast about. The amount of customs, rituals, politics that was portrayed during the film (which may or may not be true of the Catholic faith), leaves me thankful that Christianity is not a religion, but a lifestyle. At one of the scene, one of the priests, Cardinal Strauss, mentioned, "Religion is flawed, because man is flawed." To a certain extent, I agree with what he says. The flawed man tries to create something that will ease his conscience and give him a hope to believe in. But because man is flawed, the by-product would naturally have traces of flaw within it, which can be seen if we look close enough. And no matter how hard the flawed man tries to patch up the holes that surface, there will always be another hole that will surface. Which gives me another good reason to cling on to my faith for I know that Christianity is not something born out of flawed man but from a perfect and righteous God who desires all man to be saved. Isa 44:9-19 says,

9All who fashion idols are nothing, and the things they delight in do not profit. Their witnesses neither see nor know, that they may be put to shame. 10Who fashions a god or casts an idol that is profitable for nothing? 11Behold, all his companions shall be put to shame, and the craftsmen are only human. Let them all assemble, let them stand forth. They shall be terrified; they shall be put to shame together.

12The ironsmith takes a cutting tool and works it over the coals. He fashions it with hammers and works it with his strong arm. He becomes hungry, and his strength fails; he drinks no water and is faint. 13The carpenter stretches a line; he marks it out with a pencil. He shapes it with planes and marks it with a compass. He shapes it into the figure of a man, with the beauty of a man, to dwell in a house. 14He cuts down cedars, or he chooses a cypress tree or an oak and lets it grow strong among the trees of the forest. He plants a cedar and the rain nourishes it. 15Then it becomes fuel for a man. He takes a part of it and warms himself; he kindles a fire and bakes bread. Also he makes a god and worships it; he makes it an idol and falls down before it. 16Half of it he burns in the fire. Over the half he eats meat; he roasts it and is satisfied. Also he warms himself and says, “Aha, I am warm, I have seen the fire!” 17And the rest of it he makes into a god, his idol, and falls down to it and worships it. He prays to it and says, “Deliver me, for you are my god!”

18They know not, nor do they discern, for he has shut their eyes, so that they cannot see, and their hearts, so that they cannot understand. 19No one considers, nor is there knowledge or discernment to say, “Half of it I burned in the fire; I also baked bread on its coals; I roasted meat and have eaten. And shall I make the rest of it an abomination? Shall I fall down before a block of wood?”

Strong words and in fact this is one of the reasons why my grandma choose not to believe in Christianity because someone shared this verse with her in her younger days and she felt insulted. But if we look at it squarely, it's true isn't it?