Okay, so I was really looking forward to see what everyone would have to say about the book and I checked 3 times yesterday to see with no luck! So I guess that I will have to start. ( I finished the book and returned it to the library about 2 weeks ago, so I apologize that I can't give you page numbers or references and will probably be spelling names wrong. )
There was a discussion about Religion that really got me thinking. Robert and Vittoria were on the plane and she asked if he believed in God. And his response was one that I thought was perfectly acceptable, and yet she turned it around to more of a hands on "God". It got me thinking about what I believe and how God is truly into everything in my life. Even if I don't understand particle seperation, antimatter,etc...it is all such a complex networking of life that all connects and just works, I don't have to think about it, it really just happens.
But I do have one thing that just pushed me over the edge and made me think...ummm you had me until that! So Robert is all over the city all in one day and night, running, solving all the clues (those made my brain hurt to try to wrap my mind around all of the info) and doing all of these amazing super human stunts, and then he gets in the helicopter, the only way to survive is to jump...he is falling from a high elevation into the black nothingness of the Vatican and he is using the the shield cover from the helicopter and miraculously he survives...you had me until that! Not that I wanted him to die, I really did fall in love with the character and got to the point that one day as I was letting my mind wander I thought; "I wonder if I could take an online course in Symbology from Robert Langdon, I am sure that he is popular enugh that he would be online..." And then I snapped back into reality and remembered that this was a book, a well written book since it became part of my reality.
I have to get to work, so I will stop there for now. But I am loving this whole reading thing. I look forward to what everyone else has to say!
--Michelle Jamison
Showing posts with label Angels and Demons. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Angels and Demons. Show all posts
Tuesday, March 4, 2008
I'll go first
It seems to me like no one wants to be the first to post anything for discussion. So I guess I'll go. I don't really have anything all that intellectual to discuss - being the mom of three kids under the age of four, I don't have the energy for intellectual. But here are two points that I've been thinking about.
Science vs. Religion: This was a theme running throughout the book. Whether science and religion worked together or opposed each other. I, personally, am in agreement with Galileo. In the book it says that Galileo believed that science reinforced the existence of God, rather than undermining His existence. I believe that too. For example, the more I learn about the human body, how it functions, protects itself, sustains itself, works together with all its systems, creates new life, adapts...the more impossible I find it NOT to believe in God. There is no way all of that occurred by accident. The world too is a testament to the existence of a Supreme Creator. I could cite scriptural references as well, but I'll leave that for now.
Successors: Another thing that interested me was the way in which a new pope is selected in the Catholic Church. The first time I read Angels and Demons was just before Pope John Paul II died - when was that, 2005? It was interesting to watch the news coverage of a conclave and see how political a process that was, in spite of people saying that it was "God's choice." It really is an election and political ritual, as described by Dan Brown. On page 123, he writes that a conclave is a politically charged atmosphere and that "over the centuries they had turned deadly; poisonings, fist fights, and even murder had erupted within the sacred walls."
Compare that with the ease in the change of leadership of the LDS church. As we just experienced at the beginning of February, there is no political discussion, no vying for position, no campaigning, no disagreement, no ballotting or election at all. As outlined by revelation from the Lord, the senior-most apostle always becomes the next prophet. And who is the senior-most apostle at the time a current prophet passes away is also dictated by the Lord, as He controls how long any one of the brethren holds his calling. I don't know for certain, but I think it's fairly safe to say that it is a position that is not sought after, a responsibility that any of the brethren would really prefer not to have. There is no disagreement among the leaders about it. Who leads the LDS Church as prophet truly is chosen by the Lord. Isn't that so much easier?
Okay. That's all I have to say at the moment. You can't read this book and expect to not have a religious discussion. I suspect that most of you are also LDS, so you probably feel somewhat the same.
-Carly
Science vs. Religion: This was a theme running throughout the book. Whether science and religion worked together or opposed each other. I, personally, am in agreement with Galileo. In the book it says that Galileo believed that science reinforced the existence of God, rather than undermining His existence. I believe that too. For example, the more I learn about the human body, how it functions, protects itself, sustains itself, works together with all its systems, creates new life, adapts...the more impossible I find it NOT to believe in God. There is no way all of that occurred by accident. The world too is a testament to the existence of a Supreme Creator. I could cite scriptural references as well, but I'll leave that for now.
Successors: Another thing that interested me was the way in which a new pope is selected in the Catholic Church. The first time I read Angels and Demons was just before Pope John Paul II died - when was that, 2005? It was interesting to watch the news coverage of a conclave and see how political a process that was, in spite of people saying that it was "God's choice." It really is an election and political ritual, as described by Dan Brown. On page 123, he writes that a conclave is a politically charged atmosphere and that "over the centuries they had turned deadly; poisonings, fist fights, and even murder had erupted within the sacred walls."
Compare that with the ease in the change of leadership of the LDS church. As we just experienced at the beginning of February, there is no political discussion, no vying for position, no campaigning, no disagreement, no ballotting or election at all. As outlined by revelation from the Lord, the senior-most apostle always becomes the next prophet. And who is the senior-most apostle at the time a current prophet passes away is also dictated by the Lord, as He controls how long any one of the brethren holds his calling. I don't know for certain, but I think it's fairly safe to say that it is a position that is not sought after, a responsibility that any of the brethren would really prefer not to have. There is no disagreement among the leaders about it. Who leads the LDS Church as prophet truly is chosen by the Lord. Isn't that so much easier?
Okay. That's all I have to say at the moment. You can't read this book and expect to not have a religious discussion. I suspect that most of you are also LDS, so you probably feel somewhat the same.
-Carly
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