Angels and Demons

It’s the Holy Week and perhaps it is both the worst and the best time for me to write about this but I can’t help it since I got all too excited the other day when I saw the trailer of Angels and Demons. Being born as a Catholic like majority of the Filipino population, I know it’s a taboo to question Christianity but since I'm extremely sad these past few days and I can't even write about all that's going through my head right now, I guess discussing such a complex issue would somehow make me more relax.

We all know the story, from the Immaculate Conception up until that day of His fated crucifixion. We all know of his miracles, He can heal all kinds of sickness and he even brought a person back to life. Jesus and his divinity—the very foundation of our faith and the religion we all grew up with.

But, What if?

The greatest story ever told was a lie?

The Da Vinci Code and Angels and Demons made a controversy on a global scale. This is no surprise considering that 33% of the estimated 6 billion people on the planet are Roman Catholics. The perfect example of this statistics is of course—the Philippines being considered as the only predominantly Catholic nation in Asia. Our religion pretty much defines us in many ways. It influences our values and traditions in more ways that we can imagine. Many historians actually consider Catholicism as the greatest influence of the Spanish colonization in the country and perhaps that is why the outbursts against the Da Vinci Code were understandable.



Angels and Demons just like The Da Vinci Code focuses on Vatican’s attempt to suppress the truth behind Jesus Christ’s divinity and Christianity as a religion based on a supreme being. However, unlike The Da Vinci Code that used historical facts, Angels and Demons approaches the topic using science as a basis to disprove the teachings of the Church. Unlike most Hollywood movies where stories are exaggerated, I guess Tom Hanks' character Robert Langdon is actually softer compared to the Langdon on Dan Brown's books. Like what they did in the movie "Da Vinci Code", Langdon actually debated and argued against the idea that Jesus may actually have a descendant through Mary Magdalene's child. If you read the book, Langdon's character was more aggressive and that it actually appeared he was supporting the idea. I guess they intentionally soften his character for the movie to pass many countries film review board just like our MTRCB. I'm looking forward to the movie even if I read both books many times already.



Angels and Demons is about the secret organization called "Illuminati" whose member are supposedly composed by many influential people across all races. Historically, the group was persecuted by the church because of their advance and progressive ideas that contradicts the teachings of the bible. They eliminated the group back in the early years of Christianity because it posed a great threat to it's growth but it turned out that "Illuminati" and it's members lived on and the secret of the society is passed on. Like Da Vinci Code, the novel is fictional but it also contains historical facts interpreted in a way to support the story which makes it too difficult to separate which is fact and which is fiction.

The battle between History and Science against Religion is a matter of perspective--therefore there could be no end to this struggle unless one side is willing to think on that other perspective. Also, religion per se is not limited to Christianity and what is told in the bible. Though I personally believe in existence of God, I do not limit myself with just the teachings of the bible. I am in fact a non-practicing Christian--I do not attend the mass every Sunday and in fact I would probably avoid attending one whenever possible because I believe in the existence of God that much that I don't think attending a christian mass (or any religious ritual) is even a necessity for anything when it comes to worshiping God. I think, believing Him is well enough. On the same ground, I don't limit myself to ideas and concepts that history and Science has to offer because gaining a bit of knowledge of God's greatness is by no means againsts him. It's human nature to contradict each other but I personally think these things, despite of the competition that the differences implies...they can actually be put together to make much more sense.

Who are the Angels and Who are the Demons?

There is a clear distinction between God and religion. Unfortunately for Filipinos, we are often limited to just the teachings of the Roman Catholic church which gives us a very narrow stand on religious difference. Just consider how we treat our Muslim brothers in Mindanao and how we stare at them on the streets whenever we see them practicing what they believe in. As an exchange student, I was fortunate to actually be around not just Filipino Muslims but Muslims from other countries as well. I was also exposed to people with other religions and even to those who doesn't even have a religion. Religion is a double-bladed sword. It can do both harm and good but on some occasions it can actually do more harm. History tells us of those incidents in the past and even in the news today...we still see conflicts due to religious differences.


This issues is way too complicated to touch since each perspective has great ideas and means to prove them. In addition, no particular side can be considered as perfect and in fact, gray areas always outweighs those already proven facts. It's more than just a debate, like how Dan Brown put it...it's more a like a war in search of knowledge and truth. It's like a battle between what is true and what we would like to believe as true. A battle between faith and man's never ending curiosity.


P.s. If it's not too late. I wish everyone a blessed Holiday. ANG INIT!